Forum Role: Participant
Active Since: May 17, 2020
Topics Started: 0
Replies Created: 9

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Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Veronica
    Participant
    I found the fact that the spiderwebs help the nest expand as the chicks grow to be fascinating, too.  I had never considered that.  Before this course, I also didn't realize that they would feed on sap and insects around sapsucker holes.  I know that everything in an ecosystem is connected, but actually seeing how useful these small things (a spiderweb, a sap hole) are makes me appreciate and want to protect those small characteristics of the environment even more.
  • Veronica
    Participant
    This section has been amazing.  I have learned so much already from this course.  I did not realize there were so many structural differences to hummingbird wings and muscles that help them hover and fly.  I love how you have included diagrams as well as the descriptions to explain flight and also to explain how their tongues work.  I am amazed that the tongue wraps around the back of the head, and now will have a whole new respect for the process when hummingbirds return to my feeders next spring. In regards to torpor, do other bird species use this strategy at night to survive?  Particularly those that return to the north in the early spring or stay all winter.  If so, which species use this adaptation?
  • Veronica
    Participant

    @Jim Enjoy your trip :)

  • Veronica
    Participant
    Wonderful pictures!  Thank you for sharing them.
  • Veronica
    Participant
    Thank you for the ideas of some more plants to add to my yard.  :)  We get ruby-throated hummingbirds, and they love the wild bergamot in the garden here too.  I have also seen them getting nectar from zinnias, butterfly bush, and bleeding hearts.
  • Veronica
    Participant
    I have Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds that nest in the woods near me and come to my feeders in the summer.  Ruby-throats are the only hummingbird common in Michigan, but I have seen a few other species while visiting Arizona.  I would love to be able to travel to see more of the variety that you are sharing in this course.   It was fascinating to learn how the iridescence works.
  • Veronica
    Participant
    Thanks for sharing the pictures.  That is very cool that you have Barred Owls nesting in your nest box.  I, too, live in Michigan and we have had Barred Owls nesting out in the woods near by, but I have only every seen the adults.  I put up a nest box for Screech Owls, but so far have not had anyone nest there.  Hearing that it took 3 years to get renters, gives me hope that eventually someone will move in :)  My nest box has only been up 2 years.  I hope you enjoy watching the babies.
    in reply to: Who Is That Owl? #970498
  • Veronica
    Participant
    When I lived in Saginaw, Michigan, I loved watching the crows flying in from the farm fields in the evening as I drove home from work.  They liked to congregate on Ojibway Island, which is a park area in the city along the Saginaw River.  This small island has many large trees for the crows to roost in.  I saw the largest numbers of crows flying in during the fall and winter.  I would then see them leaving in the morning to head back out to the countryside.  I found them fascinating to watch.  I often thought of it as a crow convention, and thought of them having conversations as they shared details of their day or caught up with friends.   Before sunset, the roost was very active, with much movement and crows calling to each other.
    in reply to: Roosts #960919
  • Veronica
    Participant
    It was interesting to learn why you used the wing tags as well as the leg bands.  I also found it interesting to learn that they do not return to the same nest and that they nest so high up at the top of the trees.  This year I hear them frequently in the woods behind one of the neighbors, and it makes me wonder if the nest is up in one of the white pines.  Thank you for the fascinating information.
Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)