grady_jakobsberg's Journal

Date - Februrary 20, 2021
Start time - 9:00 am
End time - 10:30 am
Location - UVM Campus, Burlington VT
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - temp: 20° F, wind: 5-10 mph NW, precipitation: none, 70% cloud cover
Habitat(s) - An urban/suburban environment with some deciduous tree cover and a bit of coniferous forest at Redstone Woods.

The first birds we saw in flight were 3 Common Ravens flying over the Redstone woods. Compared to the American Crows we say, the Ravens had long wings with a relatively high aspect ratio and long, separated primary feathers. They're probably better adapted for high, soaring flight whereas the Crows are more adapted to maneuverable flight in wooded areas given their more elliptically shaped wings. I could see that the Crows had to do more flapping during flight than the Ravens, showing the different adaptations of wing shape.

We observed the interesting flight patterns of other birds, such as the American Robin which uses its smaller elliptical wings by flapping a bunch, ascending several feet, and then dropping back down before flapping again. This up and down motion looks arduous and they don't seem as adapted to higher soaring flight, but this makes sense given their tendency for staying in the ground in search of worms and berries. The last bird's flight that I'll mention is that of the House Sparrow. They too have small, elliptical wings, which they use to dart around between shrubs and bushes. They seem very explosive and able to move rapidly, but less capable of higher, extended flight. They fly like the Robin, but a smaller, quicker version. One of the reasons House Sparrows may be so comfortable and social around humans is that their quickness makes them less fearful of predation risks.

During our walk, we found a few other interesting birds. We saw a Pileated Woodpecker hammering away high up in a pine tree. There were some elongated holes in the surrounding trees, evidence that Pileated Woodpeckers had been to the Redstone Woods before. We also found one tree on Robinson Parkway that had a bunch of different songbirds, including a Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, and House Finch. I'm not sure what attracted them to that tree, but I bet there are several bird feeders on that block that they are interested in. They all seemed pretty active too, going in and out of the tree in surrounding bushes.