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Winter Foraging Habits of Communal Flocking Birds

Winter Foraging Habits of Communal Flocking Birds. John Rudolph Winter Field Ecology, Spring 2010 Mountain Research Station, University of Colorado at Boulder. Species in Flock. Introduction.

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Winter Foraging Habits of Communal Flocking Birds

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  1. Winter Foraging Habits of Communal Flocking Birds John Rudolph Winter Field Ecology, Spring 2010 Mountain Research Station, University of Colorado at Boulder

  2. Species in Flock

  3. Introduction • How do birds that flock together in the winter forage in a group without competing with each other for food? • It goes against common sense that birds would group up to forage in winter when there is less food

  4. Observation Location • My house – Fourmile Canyon • Ponderosa Pine dominate woods • Riparian – Fourmile Creek, lots of large cotton woods and willows • Feeder on the 2nd flood porch

  5. Observation Methods • Early morning observation • Record bird’s location of foraging by voice • Feeder time vs. Tree foraging • 2 minute intervals

  6. WBN and BBC foraging locations 3 – Tree trunk 2 – Tree Branch 1 – Feeder

  7. Observation Results • WBN – even in locations with feeders it still primarily feed on the trees • The WBN rarely ventured off the trunk when foraging

  8. WBN Foraging Patterns • Only foraged large branches near the trunk that had rough bark, similar to the trunk • Special adaptations to walk on trunk • No preference for foraging height in tree

  9. Compare to BC Chickadee • Constantly going back and forth from feeder to twigs on the trees • Caches from the feeder in nooks all over tree, usually where branches split • When foraging on cottonwoods, it stays on the twigs almost exclusively, feeding on buds

  10. Forage Niche Separation • WBN & BCC foraging location in unique to that species • Lets birds flock together in winter, but not directly compete for food • I was unable to tell a difference in foraging locations on the trees between male and female WBN

  11. Works Cited On Sex-Specific Foraging Behavior in the White-Breasted Nuthatch Thomas C. Grubb, Jr. Journal of Field Ornithology, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Autumn, 1982), pp. 305-314 http://www.jstor.org/stable/4512753 Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/id

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