FJ5: Migration

Date: April 4, 2021
Start time: 9 am
End time: 10:30 am
Location: Redstone campus, UVM country club.
Weather: 34° F, 7 mph NW wind, 60% cloud coverage
Habitat(s): On campus (urban), isolated trees, open field (Burlington Country Club)

Some of the year-round residents that we observed on this walk were American Robins and Black-capped Chickadees. These year-round birds are able to adapt in their environments without having to migrate unlike other species. Birds like the American Robin are generalists and are able to make use of the resources they have available. During the spring their diets consist mainly of invertebrates such as insects, earthworms, spiders, and millipedes, meanwhile in the winter when those food sources are unavailable, their diets consist mostly of seeds, fruits, and berries.
One of the facultative migrants we observed was the Red-winged Blackbird. These birds are short-distance migrants and don’t migrate as far south as other birds, so they could be returning from their wintering grounds in the southern United States. One of the advantages for arriving this early in Burlington is that since the flock that has just arrived seems to be exclusively male, they are perhaps able to establish territory early on. Some southern and western populations of Red-winged Blackbirds don’t migrate at all but other populations migrate up to 800 miles south and then return up north during spring for breeding. The temperature in Burlington is getting warmer, new vegetation is starting to grow and food resources like insects will start increasing.

Mini activity: Some of the facultative migrants that were seen on this day were the Red-winged Blackbird, Turkey Vulture, and Eastern Phoebe.
Total miles traveled:
Red-winged Blackbird: 800 miles
Turkey Vulture: 671 miles
Eastern Phoebe: 3263.07 miles

Julkaistu huhtikuu 7, 2021 12:13 AP. käyttäjältä magdalenalopez246