Field Observation 1: ID and Flight Physiology

I went out birding around campus on February 12th at 4:00 PM. The temperature was cold but the sun was out with minimal clouds, nonetheless. The two species of birds that I ran into that day were the Cedar Waxwing, as seen in the image I have attached to this journal, and the American Crow.

I embarked on the birding excursion with two other peers in our Ornithology class so that we could provide each other with help if we ran into a species of bird one of us was unfamiliar with. I spotted a group of Cedar Waxwings (I counted about 16) in a tree that I was unable to identify, but concluded that it was probably an ornamental species. The Cedar Waxwings were consuming the berries on the unidentified tree. The American Crows, on the other hand, were not concentrated in any one area, rather, they seemed to be everywhere I looked--for the most part, I spotted them flying in the air or on the ground.

The flight patterns between the two birds, are quite different, as I observed. When I saw the Cedar Waxwings, I noticed that their wing flapping was quick and after a few flaps they would tuck their wings against their bodies, and then start the process over again. The American Crow's flight pattern seemed to be pretty consistent, their wings didn't move in a particularly fast pace, but at a more moderate pace. I am looking forward to going back out this semester to bird, especially as the weather gets warmer and more and more birds are around

Publicado el 21 de febrero de 2019 a las 04:27 AM por emquirk37