1

Course Project What are the five most common Birds species in my area?

Introduction:The purpose of this project was to learn about the five most common bird species in my area. I conducted my

study in the months of March and April. My observations for the project were done at the Jo Smith Nature Trail which is located in the Sacramento county.

Method:To conduct these observations I used binoculars and a camera to help perceive subtle details of the plumage, beak and other characteristics of the bird. The books used for reference were either suggested by my instructor and those that I found online from reviews. I also referenced information from the websites like ebird and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I conducted all my observations between the timings of 7:00-8:00 am or 11 am-1:00 pm. My observations were all travelling counts. I observed between 45 minutes to an hour .

Observations were conducted at : The Jo Smith Nature Trail begins at Arcade Creek Park. The length of the trail that I walked is half a mile of natural riparian wetland(wet areas that are adjacent to the creek) in which I did not deviate from. It is surrounded by trees, shrubs and grass that creates a habitat for birds. The weather was mostly sunny and in the mid 60s.

table is for the year 2012 Bird Species March 13th 1 2 2 6 March 22nd 3 2 5 5 April 2nd 2 1 1 2 April 4th 0 1 4 7 April 6th 2 0 1 4 April 7th 0 0 4 2 Total Birds 8 6 17 26 Abundance Frequency

Western Scrub - Jays Mourning Dove American Robin House Finch

1.3 1 2.8 4.3

66.7% 66.7% 100% 100%

Annas Hummingbird California Towhee Lesser Goldfinch Mallard duck

0.83

66.7%

0.3

33.3%

10

34

5.67

100%

0.5

33.3%

Nuttall's Woodpecker Bushtit

10

1.67

66.7%

1.17

66.7%

Red shouldered Hawk Black phoebe

0.17

33.3%

66.7%

Oak Titmouse

17

2.8

100%

White breasted Nuthatch Bewicks Wren

1.5

83.3%

12

66.7%

Discussion The project was based on observations to learn about the most common birds in my county and also to know more about the migratory birds. Reading about these birds I learned what they eat, what type of nests they make. Since I conducted only eight of these observations to collect data my conclusions(table) would not be reliable as it would take more observations to arrive at more accurate results. Also my observations might have been different had I conducted the experiment at different times of the day or different months and my knowledge of birds is at a very novice level and I could not identify many of the birds I observed. For example I saw a bird that was medium sized and had a brown upper body and is white breasted. Its tail was quite long and had red like specks on it. As well, the weather might have made a difference, I conducted a few of these observations just before the rains. I read that birds usually quiet down before the rains.

What I researched about the following birds:

Lesser Goldfinch Carduelis psaltria Range/Habitat: Male with black backs and napes are mostly seen in eastern parts of the US. Lesser Goldfinches with green backs and only a black cap are seen around the western parts of the country. Commonly seen in dry fields that are brushy or farmlands, gardens, parks and weedy areas.(Seattle Audubon Society) Appearance: It is a small bird. Its conical beak is pointed and dark in color. It has a short notched tail. Food: It feeds on seeds, buds, flowers or fruits. Sometimes when foraging for food, it hangs upside down to harvest the food. Occasionally they will eat small insects like the plant lice in order to supplement its diet. Nesting: The females will build their nests using leaves, bark strips; catkins; yucca fibers; cocoons and spiderwebs. It is compact and open cup like, with a lining of hair, wool or some other fiber. The nests are found in a vertical fork branches of pine trees or fruit trees like apricots. The female incubates 3 to 6 eggs for 12 to 13 days.The male brings her food while she incubates. When the offsprings are able to leave the nest, both the parents continue bringing food to the young ones. Behavior: It is a social bird that forms flocks. They only defend the space near their nests. (Seattle Audubon Society) Sounds: It has a clear tee-yee song.

White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis Range/ Habitat: They are found in deciduous forests and some are found in coniferous forests. (Seattle Audubon Society) Appearance: The white-breasted Nuthatches have a bright white breast the upperparts are slate-gray or black. (Seattle Audubon Society) They look like they wear a hood. They also have strong legs and toes, long curved talons, and a long strong bill. (Seattle Audubon Society) Food: Their main food in the summer is insects and spiders. In winter they feed on insects that they pry from tree barks.(Seattle Audubon Society) They also eat seeds and nuts, including acorns, corn and sunflower seeds. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Nesting: Nuthatches usually nest in already existing cavities or holes. (Seattle Audubon Society) The females will build the nest using fibers from bark, grass, hair and feathers. To keep predators away they will coat the nest with a chemical secretion. The females will incubate 5 to 9 eggs for 12 to 14 days.(Seattle Audubon Society) Behavior: They probe in the bark crevices for food by walking up and down including sideways on tree trunks.(Seattle Audubon Society) White-breasted Nuthatches live in pairs year round. They will chase other nuthatches from their space. In the months of winter, they join groups of chickadees, titmice, and woodpeckers to forage for food. Sounds: A fairly low-pitched wha-wha-wha.(Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Bewick's Wren: Thryomanes bewickii Habitat: They inhabit the shrubby areas along the rivers, wetlands, and parks. They prefer a mixture of shrub vegetation and open woodland. (Seattle Audubon Society) Appearance: They are slender with upright long-tails, The underparts are gray and have brown backs. Both males and females look alike.(Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Food: They prey mainly upon insects and spiders and other small invertebrates. Adults occasionally may consume pebbles and mud to help in digestion of food. Nesting: The nest is cup-shaped. The base is made of sticks; grasses; rootlets; leaves and moss along with different other material. Both the male and female build the nest together. The clutch size is usually 3-8 eggs and the nesting period is usually 14-16 days. Other nesting places include nest boxes and abandoned automobiles. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Behavior: They forage for food in pairs during the breeding season. (Seattle Audubon Society) and are solitary rest of the time. After a meal, these birds may use a twig perch as a napkin to wipe its bill for as many as 100 times. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Sounds: They stay in contact with short notes that sound like plink plink or pee pee. The females make a sound like sker.

Nuttall's Woodpecker: Picoides nuttallii Habitat: Found primarily in a mix of deciduous riparian and adjacent oak habitats,. Appearance: It is a small black-and-white woodpecker. The female Nuttall's is similar to the male, but lacks the red on the crown. (National Audubon Society) Food: Feed mostly on insects such as beetles, caterpillars and ants. They also feed on berries, poison oak seeds; nuts and sap. (National Audubon Society) Nesting: They nest in tree cavities. The eggs are incubated by both parents who alternate in their role. The young will hatch after 14 days. (National Audubon Society) Behavior: They forage by gleaning, probing; prying and tapping. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Sounds: It is a sharp, rising two- or three- note pitik. (National Audubon Society)

Annas Hummingbird: Calypte anna Habitat: Mountain meadows, parks; residential streets; eucalyptus grove;, riverside woods; savannahs and coastal scrub. Appearance: It has a bronze-green back and dull grey chest with a belly of green flanks on the tail with a reddish-pink throat. Food: While collecting nectar they also assist in plant pollination. They aim for the flying insect consumes tree sap, currant and gooseberry. Nesting: The female bird builds a large nest in a shrub or cattail, willow, leaves, thistle. The clutch size is 2 eggs. They are known to nest early as mid-December and as late as June.(Wikipedia) Behavior: Males and females do not form pairs. They will sometimes hybridize with other species, but this is not very common. (Wikipedia) The male Anna's Hummingbird sings during courtship. The male will be led by the female to her nest site. Sounds: It is a series of short, sharp chip notes.

I also researched about migratory birds in California and plotted a line graph as seen on the next page, that shows the relation between Birds per party hour and the weeks they are seen, using data from 19002012.

Which months are these migratory birds in greater numbers? According to the graph, Purple Martin migrate to California in beginning of March. Their numbers peak per hour in the months of July and then again they disappear come September. Other migratory birds were American wigeon and Swainsons Hawk. The American Wigeon count per hour is high in the months of January, topping the month of March and then there is is a rapid decline. They again begin to go up in the months of September through December. The bird that I researched to gain more knowledge is the Swainsons Hawk. What do they look like? They are slender with long wings and pointed tail. The tail is mostly grayish in color with dark bands. The last band is wider than the rest. Where do they breed? They breed throughout the rocky mountains and also within 70 miles of Sacramento. Their habitats usually are the grassland; shrubland, and agricultural areas. (National Audubon Society) What do they eat? They mostly eat insects when not breeding or feed on bats, ground squirrels and grasshoppers. (National Audubon Society) A few interesting facts about this bird: Swainson's Hawk have the second longest migration of all raptor species. Their population declined at the turn of the century as it was considered a nuisance species in the late 1800s. To sum it up this bird population has gone down to 90% from that of its historical count. Conservationist plans are to maintain the nesting trees inhabited by these birds. Also they are planting more trees in areas that lack trees in an attempt to increase the number of Swainson's Hawk.

I enjoyed going out to the trail to observe these birds and hope to continue observing and learning more about birds even after I have completed this course.

Reference:

eBird. 2011. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. Version 2. eBird, Ithaca, New York. Available: http://www.ebird.org. ((Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Arcade Creek Recreation and Park District. 2011-2012. The Jo Smith Nature Trail. [web application]. Available: http://www.acrpd.com/Jo_Smith_Nature_Trail_LHLV.html (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Cornell University. 2011 All about birds:[web application]. Lesser Goldfinch Available: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lesser_Goldfinch/id (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012])

Cornell University. 2011 All about birds: [web application]. White-breasted Nuthatch http:// www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/id (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012])

Seattle Audubon. 2011 White-breasted Nuthatch [web application]. http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/ white-breasted_nuthatch (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Seattle Audubon. 2011 [web application]. Bewick's Wren http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/ bewicks_wren (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Cornell University. 2011 All about birds: [web application]. Bewick's Wren http:// www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bewicks_Wren/id (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Copyright 2010 by National Audubon Society, Inc., 225 Varick Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10014, USA. [web application].Nuttall's Woodpeckers http://audubon2.org/watchlist/ viewSpecies.jsp?id=145 (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Cornell University. 2011 All about birds: [web application]. Nuttall's Woodpeckers http:// www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Nuttalls_Woodpecker/lifehistory#at_food (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012] ).

Cornell University. 2011 All about birds: [web application]. All about birds Annas Hummingbird http:// www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Annas_Hummingbird/sounds (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Wikipedia. 2012 at 16:24 [web application]. Annas Hummingbird http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Anna's_Hummingbird (Accessed: Date [9 April, 2012]).

Copyright 2010 by National Audubon Society, Inc., 225 Varick Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10014, USA. [web application]. Swainson's Hawk http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp? id=199, (Accessed: Date [ April, 2012]).

Introduction to Northern California Birds, Herbert Clarke, 1995. National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, fifth Edition edited by Jon L. Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer, 2006.

National Geographic Field Guide to Birds, Mel Baughman, 2004.