Journal #3 Social Behavior and Phenology
Bailey Smith
3/21/21
This bird watch took place in both Shelburne VT and Ferrisburgh VT. The temperature was 60 degrees, sunny skies, and 3 mph wind from the south. I saw a total of 4 bird species. These included the Eastern Turkey, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Canada Goose. All four of these bird species that I saw today were doing the same thing and that was feeding. The two species that were interacting with each other were the Eastern Turkeys and the Canada Goose. There were 14 turkeys, 10 of which were hens and 4 of which were jakes. There was one dominant jake of the group, and he was showing his dominance and pecking order by being in full strut walking right behind the hens, with the other three jakes following him, not in strut. The geese were flying together, and feeding in the same fields as each other. As for the woodpecker and chickadee, I only saw one of each, and they were both eating bird seed. The only bird species that I heard were the geese. The only real sound that I heard them make was a honk, and that is just a general call they make. It is used to alert the other geese when there is danger, used as a mating call, used in flight, or just as a meeting or locator call. I wasn't able to hear any of the other birds make noise because I was too far away from the turkeys. The Woodpecker and Chickadee just didn't make any noise.
When looking at the Eastern Turkey and the Red-bellied Woodpecker, both of the males are similar in their plumage. They are both more attractive than the female birds. The male turkey has a bright colored head that changes colors from red to blue to white depending on their mood. They also have black feathers, with some iridescent colors. The Red-bellied Woodpecker has a yellow front end, red head, and checkered back. These two bird species are similar in the black color, and the noticeable head colors. Turkeys have lots of matching feathers that make patterns, just like the woodpecker does on its back. The pretty colors on these birds help them to attract a female during the mating season.
For the birds I was able to locate on this walk, I feel like the Canada Goose is the best fit for having a circannual rhythm. When I spotted these geese, they were flying in groups, and then landing in fields where there was corn. The geese were walking around the fields looking for corn and any other source of food that they could find. A circannual rhythm is this internal biological clock that birds have that provide their major basis of temperature orientation. When the temperature starts to warm up above freezing, you will see Canadian Geese start to migrate North to Canada. Everyone sees geese migrating in the spring and also in the fall because there are so many of them. Canadian Geese have a circannual rhythm that lets them know when it is time to migrate. Canadian Geese will winter in the United States and when spring and summer come along, they will migrate back up north to Canada to breed. The temperature is a big indicator of when Canadian Geese will start to migrate. When these Canadian Geese decide that its time to start heading up north, they are focusing on eating whatever food they can find.
I tried the "pish" call when I saw the Black-capped Chickadee and the Red-bellied Woodpecker and it scared both of them away. I think it was just because I scared them and I only saw one of each species. I think that this calling tactic works on some birds because most small bird sounds are somewhat similar. Birds will hear you making this call and will get curious as to what the sound is and come check it out. This entices other small birds because it sounds similar to the sounds that they make.
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