Bird Walk #4

I went birding around my neighborhood (Pembroke, New Hampshire) on April 4th, 2020 from about 11am until 1 pm. Weather was warmer in the 50s and partly cloudy. My neighborhood is a suburban habitat with a good mixture of shrubs as well as tall, older trees.

One species I noticed throughout birding from the beginning of the semester has been the American Crow. They don't really appear to migrate, and if they do, they'd most likely only go a few states further south. Crows are known to be generalist eaters (from insects to seeds, other small animals, and even garbage) which most likely helps them survive harsher weather in the north during the winter. Another species that is a facultative migrant I have noticed more with the warmer weather is the Red-winged Blackbird. They appear to be coming from the southern/mid United States and heading up to the Northern United states. They may migrate because their diet is more specific than that of say, the American Crow. In the summer, they feed on seeds which can be found almost anywhere during that time. In the winter, they feed more on aquatic plants and insects - it is necessary to follow the insects further south where the weather is warmer in order to survive. I did not find an obligate migrant.

In the frequent flyer activity, I added up the rough total miles of the facultative migrants I saw and came to a total of 1600 miles. This seems a bit conservative since I only saw facultative migrants which likely only traveled to the mid/south US.

Posted on April 4, 2020 05:46 PM by egagne219