Wandering Hinesburg Forest

Hinesburg Forest; 3/7/19; 11:30-4; overcast w/ patches of sun, slightly breezy; neighborhood forest intertwined with mtn. biking and XC-ski trails

When walking through Hinesburg Forest, I stumbled across three species: a Downy Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal and a European Starling.
Now Downy's are non-migratory; however, they are widely dispersed according to Birds of North America. Now migration alludes to a movement that eventually returns home; but these woodpeckers don't do that, they simply wander in some cases. Research points to them moving in tangent with species that do migrate. In this situation, lack of resources happens to be the reason due to less shelter and more or even less food distribution depending on the season. However, Downy Woodpeckers have adapted to harsh winters. Due to their ability to bore holes in trees, they live in these cavities sheltering from the weather eating insects living within the bark of these trees.
European Starling are different, because they are mostly migratory with records of them traveling from New Brunswick, Canada to southern Texas, stopping in the mid-West for a trip of about 3000 miles. (Birds of North America). The other side of this species is that they don't migrate large distance, but rather moving South a few miles or a few dozen. It should be noted that younger individuals do migrate farther than their older counterparts, and change as they mature. An observation of this species notes that migrating over land results in more accurate navigation than over water and that they flock in groups ranging from a few individuals to thousands. This behavior stands out as it can follow the Group Flock Theory, which results in higher flock densities causing more conflict between individuals because more individuals means more foraging––>less food. This can be a disadvantage, but larger numbers also means less threat from predators, which of course is beneficial.
The migrants are here, let's go find them!

Posted on 09 de abril de 2019, 04:27 AM by