Field Blog 11

Locations: 1637 Menlo Ave, Arcade US-CA (38.5948,-121.3499) (26 m)

Site Description: This week, I went birding in my neighborhood — mainly the front and back yard again. There are various trees and shrubs in my yard. Some are just bushes at ground level, while others are much taller trees with lots of branching. Overall, the area is pretty flat and quiet, but the trees being tall adds to the elevated aspect of birding. I saw birds at mainly at eye level or above on this trip. Most of the birds I saw in trees were high up, far above eye level. Other birds were seen flying at eye level. Overall, the birds seen were mainly smaller in size, with the American Crow I saw being the largest. There were lots of bird calls and chirping. I was able to get a visual on most of the birds this trip except for the Great Horned Owl that I recorded. Sometimes there was lots of bird activity, while other times were extremely quiet. It was also a slightly difficult to get good angle of birds flying in and out of the trees because of the branching. The fences restricted me from getting a better angle. As usual, the small birds were quick to flit from branch to branch. This trip I also noticed that trees that used to be only twigs and branches were starting to grow leaves and bloom. I saw about 8 different taxa and the key bird species seen included: Mourning Dove, Black Pheobe, American Crow, Oak Titmouse, Tree Swallow, Great Horned Owl, Yellow Warbler and Anna’s Hummingbird.

Species Account: Yellow Warbler was a key new species I identified while I was birding this week. These birds were extremely vocal and repetitive with their calls. When I first saw one, I thought it might be a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, but it I realized its call was very different. I used the Sibley app recording to match the song to the Yellow Warbler for sure. The behavior of the Yellow Warbler was much more flamboyant and out in the open. It kept flying in circles and chirping loudly and would land on a powerline, clear in sight. It was as if it was calling for others because it soon attracted many more Yellow Warblers and they were all chasing each other. According to Sibley, these birds are only found in this area during the summer or during migration. They are bright yellow overall and had distinctive striping of black and white on the wing. Their chirping is a song of high and clear notes (Sibley). They are known to breed in shrubby thickets and woods, particularly in wetlands, which made me surprised to see them in my yard (All About Birds). The Yellow Warbler’s diet mainly includes insects like caterpillars, moths, and sometimes berries (Audubon). It is a small sized song bird (All About Birds). They are thought to lay 4-5 eggs per brood and both parents help in the nesting/feeding — while the female tends to do more(Audubon).

Narrative: I went birding for about an hour in my front and back yard. I started birding in the morning around 11 am because I heard a hooting like call. After listening outside and using the Sibley guide. I identified it as a Great Horned Owl. I hear it in a neighboring yard and was not able to hear a visual. But I was surprised the hooting was so clear and loud. It was sunny outside and the weather has been warming out quite a bit lately. It was clear and pretty quiet outside. I mainly was looking in the tree branches for any movement. I did not see many soaring birds high in sky. They were mainly at eye level and in tree branches. I saw many of swallows flying overhead quickly. I identified them easily by their undulating flight and their song and coloration helped me identify them as Tree Swallows. I saw a bright yellow bird flying back and forth in circles. They were very vocal and loud to attract other yellow warblers and I saw a total of 5. They were chasing each other in circles and into the tree branches and powerlines. The Oak Titmouse was seen again on a tree branch. They were very quick to flit back and forth from bush to bush. I saw Black Phoebes a couple times and they either landed on powerlines or the roof of the house. Overall, I was happy with this trip because I saw some different birds from the last time I birded in my yard. I think the Yellow Warbler was migrating through this area as it was an infrequent find on eBird.