Field Observation 1: ID and Flight Physiology

Time: 8:45am

Date: 2/14/18

Location: Lily Lane, Colchester, VT, United States

Details: Pileated Woodpecker flew around the yard before landing on the railing close to the end. It climbed up towards the top bar and pecked at the railing before taking off. It flew into the trees behind the house and was lost in the branches. The “yuk yuk” call was audible for a few moments after losing sight of the bird.

Weather: Semi-cloudy, no wind, sun came through a little bit but not much. Actual temperature unknown, but felt like 40°F.

Habitat: Backyard at the second to last house in a quiet and small neighborhood. The fenced in backyard has two small wooden porches, one with a suet feeder and the other with a sunflower and millet mixed feeder.

I was in Colchester on February 14th, 2018 in the morning. I happened to look out the window and noticed that there were two new feeders in the backyard. One containing a millet-sunflower seed mix, and the other with a suet block. On the seed-mix hanger, I saw a Black-capped Chickadee. It hopped from the metal hanger onto the seed-mix feeder, pecked once, and then flew to the ground and began to forage in a pile of melting snow for fallen seeds. It’s flight pattern was smooth in comparison to that of a heavier species. It jumped in the air and was flying. The wing flaps seemed to be no stronger at the beginning of lift-off than during its leisure flight to the trees behind the backyard fence. Something that I had never noticed before about the Black-capped Chickadee was that the wing beats were so fast. It did not have the flap drop flap drop that some finches seem to have. It appeared to follow a smooth line through the air, although it did rise quickly and then make a hook around to the woods.

There was also a Pileated Woodpecker in the backyard. I did not see if it had been to the yard that day before this. I saw a flash of red outside the window and noticed that there was some sort of woodpecker flying around. It seemed to stay on a relatively steady course and did not dip too much. In comparison to the Black-capped Chickadee, it did dip a little bit. It had larger wings with wide spaces in the wing tip slots. I am not sure that the flight pattern would have been useful in identifying this species. Perhaps to a more experienced bird-watcher it would be more obvious upon seeing this bird flying overhead and having its markings blocked by a shadow or by the sun what the species was. But for me, I relied mostly on the tuft of red on the Pileated’s head. I also looked at the size in comparison to the Black-capped Chickadee. It was much larger than the Chickadee. The only part of the bird’s flight that was also helpful in identification was the outside of the wings when the bird was in a down stroke. I was able to see the white segments of the flight feathers that had a blackish edge. They looked like the keyboard of a piano.

When it did land, Woodpecker hopped across the deck railing with both feet landing and the tail dragging. It could have been the fact that the Pileated Woodpecker was in the shade the entire time, but it did not seem to have any shine in its wings. They seemed dull. It was constantly looking around at its surroundings, its head pointing in all directions. It paused after every few hops to peck once or twice at the deck. It flew into the trees behind the yard and I soon lost sight of it. I could only make it out by its “yuk yuk” calling, but had to open a door to do that. My drawing the attention of two small yapping dogs to the door was what I would guess to be the reason that no more species of birds were observed.

Once the Pileated Woodpecker flew away, I did not see any other species of bird besides two more Black-capped Chickadees. In total, I saw one Pileated Woodpecker and three Black-capped Chickadees. They all seemed to have been drawn to the yard by the feeders and or the wooden decking. I think that the time of day may have influenced the birds as it was still morning and it seems that most foraging birds are active in the morning. The time of year was a factor because during the warmer months, birds are probably less likely to need supplementing of their diets by humans. I think that they would be less likely to come to the feeder in the summer because there might be more competition from other species or have more variety if they foraged on their own.

Publicado el 04 de marzo de 2018 por