FJ3: Ecological Physiology
This week's site was around the Old North End neighborhood. I walked around the neighborhood from 10:00 to 11:50. It was March 3rd and it was a warm and sunny day with a temperature of 46 degrees. The warmth and rainy day prior, allowed some of the snow to melt.
I started off my walk at the waterman fountain and got my first sighting, 8 Cedar waxwings. When first observing them, they were in a flock. Being a part of flock can serve a major purpose during the winter as they could huddle together to retain heat. Also during the winter, they attempt to conserve energy. However, since it was a relatively warm day they didn't practice this behavior. Instead, they were flying from branch to branch and sining which both require energy. This is more like spring time behavior since they are expending energy to sing instead of conserving energy like they do in the winter. Similar behavior was observed by 5 rock pigeons which were perched on top of a building.
As I continued my walk, a European starling was found perched on a chimney making calls. I thought this was spring behavior because of the calls and since it was perched on a high area, it would make it visible to mates. Another starling was spotted perched on a porch, making calls. I through they both were portraying spring behavior since they didn't have to conserve energy as much as they usually do during cold winter days.
Finally, I ended up by the forested landscape by McAuley Square. Here I observed 2 downy woodpeckers. The first one I spotted was flying from branch to branch for a few seconds, until it perched itself on a Northern Red Oak and started pecking at the bark. it remained there feeding or looking for food for a couple of minutes until it flew onto another tree. Downy woodpeckers rely on larvae that are burrowed into the bark, so it uses is beak to hunt for its food within the bark. The second woodpecker was spotted on a snag, and I observed it portraying the same feeding behavior as the first one I spotted. On the snag, I observed the cavity sizes were relatively small. Cavity size is dependent on size of the bird species which could mean that downy woodpeckers nest in small cavities compared to bigger species like owls. These cavities are important for species as they are used for nesting and roosting.
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