Journal Entry #1 Update

This is my updated journal entry. I could not recover my original writing, so I will re-enter what I remember.

Time: 0800
Date: 19 Feb, 2019
Location: Centennial Woods, Burlington, VT
Weather: Cold (~11 degrees Fahrenheit) , clear & blue sky, a light breeze
Habitat: Mixed forest. Pine stands and hemlock stands amidst maples, beeches, and hickories.

I observed the flight patterns of the American Crow and the Black-capped Chickadee. The chickadee darted from one tree to the next in short, explosive bursts. It flew so fast, it was hard to capture the movement of the wings or the line of motion through the air. Far above the chickadee, the American Crow was sweeping through the air with more of a strong flap and glide. They are much too large to be darting from one branch to the next, but they are powerful enough to soar higher in the air (though in short spurts) and with smoother flight patterns.

A chickadee's wing is more elliptical while the American Crow has a higher aspect ratio, allowing it to have longer-distance flights and a larger habitat range. American Crows have a diverse set of niches, where as chickadees might not be able to fly as far or as fast based on their size and wing shape. The chickadees I observed stayed in localized places. They were hopping between two or three trees, whereas the crow I noticed was flying higher above the canopy and was quickly moving in a smooth motion through the air. These two birds are easy to distinguish from each other based on their flight patterns, but their individual behaviors are not unique to their species. Many small birds move like the Black-capped Chickadee (like the Tufted Titmouse) and tons of birds fly smoothly above the trees like the American Crow (such as the Common Raven).

I would like to mention one more thing. Since I am still new to iNaturalist, I tried to submit my sketch (reproduced on the computer) into my Black-capped Chickadee identification entry because I was not sure how to upload a sketch within a journal. Also, I was not able to access my sound recording due to some malfunction across devices.