Date: 02/20/2021
Start time: 1:55 pm
End time: about 3:20 pm
Location: Area around UHS and Patrick Gym
Weather: 25 degrees Fahrenheit, cold, windy, gray skies, light snow off and on
Habitats: various species of trees next to road and commonly used pathways

During my 90 minute birding excursion, the only species of birds that I had found was the American Robin. The more populated places was two trees outside of the Mosaic center and in front of MAT. The other was a tree outside of the Patrick Gym and one that was directly across from in on the side of Harris. A lot of the time they were sitting in the branches of the trees but a few of the birds would fly back and forth between the different trees.

An American Robin has an elliptical wing shape. This type of wing shape is most common in birds because it is built for the ability to move. It is made for birds to move in tight species such as in the woods or even between buildings in a populated area such as the Robins. The American Robins flight pattern from what I saw between them moving between the two trees was that they have a slightly rapid beat. In order to land on the branch the birds would fly to land straight on the branch pretty quickly due to their speed. Because during this walk I found no other birds I cannot compare it to another species I observed.

There is an evident relationship between wing shape, flight style, and habitat niche. Different types of wing shape allow for birds to have different move-ability. The bigger/longer the wing usually allows birds to be able to glide without having to flap a lot. When a bird has shorter wings it is often to be able to fly fast in smaller, tighter spaces. These types of wings and flight pattern play into where each of the birds habitats are. The longer wing birds often live in open spaces where there is plenty of room to fly while the smaller wings are suited for birds who live in tighter spaces such as the woods. You might be able to use a birds flight and flapping pattern to identify the species by using context clues. If you are in the woods you know it is probably not a bird who has high aspect ratio wings and is gliding. This can help doing process of elimination.

This was my first time officially birding. The only species found was the American Robin in the general area of where I was looking. This might be because where I was there were only so many trees that were suitable for birds to perch in or build a nest in. I also went when it was pretty cold and windy out where it was starting to snow off and on for the hour or so. This isn't really the best weather for birds to be flying in so I am sure that many were staying put somewhere away from the snow. A better time for me to go would have been on a sunny day maybe closer to morning when they are all starting to wake up. I also should expand where I was looking to go to the Redstone Pines where there are a lot more trees and is more dense "woods".

Mini Activity:
For the mini activity I drew a generic looking song bird. When I identified the American Robin it was fairly easy to do because they have the orange patch on their face/belly area. As well as the brown back and light gray/white belly. These were the key features that helped me in identifying them.