When I woke up this morning (April 22nd), I was surprised to see a thick blanket of snow on the ground, with the skies showing no sign of it letting up (so the sun was blocked). The wind was fairly strong, and kept blowing snow out of the trees. The temperature was fairly warm, hovering around 25ºF. I ended up going outside around 10:30am (stayed out until 12:00), and noted that there were at least three inches blanketing even the forest floor.
Starting from my house, I walked around in the woods for a little over an hour and discovered that there were very few birds out and about in this weather, at least where I was. On my forest walk, I saw the occasional American Crow flying overhead (7 of them), Black-capped Chickadees (2 in one place, 4 in another), 2 Hairy Woodpeckers, 1 Blue Jay, and 3 Wild Turkeys. However, upon nearing my house on my way back I noticed that the bird feeder was absolutely teaming with birds, as there were more than 40 of them all in my front yard. (4 more American Crows, 2 Hermit Thrushes, 9 Black-capped Chickadees, 12 Dark-eyed Juncos, 4 Mourning Doves, 2 American Robins, 2 Song Sparrows, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 3 Blue Jays, 1 Brown-headed Cowbird, and 1 White-throated Sparrow). I spent close to another hour there, taking photos and walking down my long, winding driveway observing birds hopping around the stones and flitting between the trees overhead. The two Mallards that have taken up residence in our pond were seen around 8am, but were nowhere to be seen on my walk.
What behaviors (visual and aural) are you seeing that are related to mate selection, nest selection, or territory selection?
The most noticeable mate selection was definitely the Wild Turkeys. There were 2 males and 1 female, and both males were trying to impress her. However, one was much more mature (a tom with a huge fan and long beard), while the other was a younger jake (the one I took pictures of, the others were too far and ran before I could take a photo), with a short beard. The second male was much farther from the female, seemingly boxed out by the tom. From a distance, I had heard both males gobbling, which is how I found them. I also noticed that the Hairy Woodpeckers seemed to be a mating pair, as the male (with the red crown) was constantly following the female (no red crown). They were also both flapping their wings and drumming on the dead trees they were on. I think these two were in the process of making their nest, as they kept grabbing sticks in their beaks and flying to what looked like a cavity high up in one of the pines nearby.
Where, specifically, on the property might some of your observed species be nesting? How do these habitat requirements differ from species to species?
The Hairy Woodpeckers were definitely nesting in some of the old Eastern Hemlock snags, further into the woods on my walk. They typically nest in the excavated cavities of older trees that are either dead, dying, or have old branches that have died. In contrast to them, American Robins typically nest near human structures, such as gutters, rafters, or porches. These Robins have actually been building a nest in the rafters of our covered steps leading up to the house from the garage. Black-capped Chickadees, like woodpeckers, usually nest in excavated cavities in trees (often an old woodpecker nest). Since I saw a few of them in the dead trees bordering a marshy/beaver area, I think that they might have set up there.
Find a bird that may be defending a territory (i.e. singing). Is it defending a prime or poor territory compared to other members of its species? What might this indicate about that birds’ fitness?
I noticed that the Blue Jays were much more aggressive than the other birds. The Blue Jay I saw in the woods was in a mixed-forest area, and when an American Crow flew overhead, it sounded the alarm for quite some time. Although jays do prefer these types of forested habitats, I think the three others of its species who kept chasing away the smaller songbirds back at the feeder had the better territory at the moment, since the surrounding forest was still mixed, and there was an abundance of easy-to-get food at the feeder. However, because of this abundance, there wasn’t as much need for defense at the feeder, and the group of jays eventually flew away. I would say that a bird with a more desirable territory would probably have better fitness than a bird with a lesser territory, as it would have to spend more energy on defense (more birds would want to trespass), and they likely have more food.
Pick a different bird and describe what it may be using to build or line its nest. Where, specifically, would it have to go to acquire these materials?
American Crows typically build their nests using twigs, pine needles, vegetation, soft bark, and animal hair. Since the area I observed was all forested, they would have no problem finding materials. However, they could definitely visit my barn to pick up some hay, as well as hair from the horses (they are shedding and I also combed their manes, so there was a lot of hair lying around). I also noticed a lot of crows in the marshy area, which had a lot of old downed woody debris from the beavers, so that could be a good place to get some softer bark/wood.
Note: the drawing of the sound map should be attached to the Mourning Dove entry.