Field Journal #5

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2020

Location: Muir Beach, CA (37.86126, -122.57530)

Site descriptions: Our sighting location was a trail by Muir Beach. About a half-mile from the coast, we walked through an area with lots of shrubbery and willows. Although the land was mostly dry, we walked across an empty patch of grass (pictured below) during one instance to identify a species. Some of the key species we saw were the American Crow, Black Phoebe, and four different species of sparrows.

Species account: A new species we came across for the first time was the Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans). This species is in the order Passeriformes and family Tyrannidae. We first came across this species at the beginning of our walk, and we were able to observe it in great detail sitting above a willow tree. Black Phoebes are fairly small, plump birds with large heads, a long, squared tail, and straight, thin bills. They have blackish-brown plumage on the upperparts and chest, with a darker  head. Their underside is typically white. A behavior I observed from this species is their tendency to flick their tails up and down when perched. We observed this behavior when one bird was perched on a wooden fence, most likely keeping an eye out for prey. This species is found near water, along streams, lakes, and rivers where mud can be used for nest building Their diet mainly consists exclusively of insects and other arthropods. Pairs of Black Phoebes are often territorial and will chase away others of the same species as well as other birds. They are also monogamous, and males and females are usually together for upwards of five years.

Narrative: During this trip, I observed a total of 26 species, which was the most I’ve seen in any of our past field labs. The weather was slightly breezy, but mainly clear skies. Initially, we didn’t make it far in our walk the first hour due to us seeing an abundance of new species. There was on point in the trip where we came across four different species of sparrows on the ground: the Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Song Sparrow. They were very hard to distinguish at first because of their similarity in color and pattern, but I was eventually able to spot the differences in plumage. Besides our usual species observed (Anna’s Hummingbird, Turkey Vulture, American Crows), we were able to identify so many more. I believe this was mainly due to the weather and the close proximity to water. Near the end of our trip, we walked to an overlook by the beach and were able to see some seabirds using the scope (and dolphins!)

eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S65220931?share=true

Citations:

“Black Phoebe Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.” , All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe/lifehistory.

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