I went for a bird walk around the house I was dog sitting in Shelburne, VT on Saturday April 29th around 2pm. It was warm and bright and around 60 degrees. The houses were set back from the road and neighboring large fields behind them. I first could hear a Black-capped Chickadees singing their usual song but could not locate them in the neighboring trees. I then continued my walk around the area to see if I could spot anything else. That is when I noticed two European Starlings walking around and pecking at the ground. I thought it was very interesting to observe two of them together because I can probably conclude that they are a mating pair due to the time of the season. I then concluded that they could be nesting in the shed like structure that was located in the neighboring yard because these birds are cavity nesters. They will line their nest with pine needles, grass, and other materials the can find. They can find this all with in the neighborhood which is a great resource for these local dwellers. This may be different from other species like an American Robin who nest in trees and use twigs, mud, and other other materials to build a nest in the branches. They could gather there materials needed from the ground located close to their nesting site because small twigs and leaves are generally found under trees or bushes.

As I continued my walk I came across an American Robin singing so I stopped to listen to it for about 10 minutes to do the mini activity. The strongest song was the near by Robin and I began to hear other birds that were further away and I could not detect exactly what they were. The robin was standing tall and singing so I am assuming from this behavior that this bird could be potentially attracting a mate. I think if it was defending its territory I would have seen it move around more and sing in different directions to defend its territory. If this specific robin was defending its territory, I would consider it prime territory because it is located by a house with a bird feeder on the porch.

Nearing the end of my walk I noticed House Finches in the bushes along with what looked like a bird of prey flying over head but I could not ID it because it was too bright and I wasn't wearing sunglasses.

Posted on April 29, 2018 08:57 PM by cdenagy