WFB 130 - Field Journal 3
3/17/21, 4:30-6:00 pm, From UVM’s Redstone campus to church street (primarily walked along roads that were lined with a few trees, but once I got into town it was mainly just buildings), it was somewhat chilly and windy. The species I observed were the American crow and the Rock Pigeon. I saw one American crow perched on top of what looked like the very top of a tree at about 4:55 pm until 5:00 pm, the tree was right outside of the Agriculture frat house. I didn’t see any other crows, but I did hear what sounded like at least two other crows calling. As for the Rock Pigeons, I saw at least eight birds flying between buildings across from the store Home & Garden at about 5:15 pm until 5:55 pm. It seemed like a flock was perhaps scavenging food, as they seemed to fly back and forth between buildings as well as rest on the rooftops.
The Rock Pigeons’ behavior may stem from this group sharing a common winter territory, which they were still holding onto until now for the benefits of spring territorial breeding. So, some of the birds I observed may have not been actively looking for food, but rather patrolling/defending the area from potential intruders. The American crow was communicating with other crows through its call, perhaps looking for a potential mate since it was the first day of spring or it could have just been responding to a yell from a communal roost about a discovered food source. The American Crow has a dark, almost completely black plumage while the rock pigeon has a lighter gray color with some iridescence. Both of these birds don’t have a significant multi-colored pattern, which could be indicative of their tendency to group together (as color badges tend to lead to hierarchies).
For the mini-activity, I was too far away too try making a pisshing sound to disturb the birds, but it seemed like they were already getting disturbed from the sounds of cars passing by. It seemed that, with the Rock Pigeons at least, although they did in startle from the sound of cars they still remained in the area and returned shortly to the spot they were scavenging at before. This may be a behavioral adaptation the Rock Pigeons evolved since they are commonly found in heavily human inhabited areas. As for why this sound is so effective to small birds overall, I think may sound like an imitation of a bird call that could either drive them away (sounding like a larger bird claiming territory) or attract them (sounding like a small bird calling to share a food source).
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