Nature in your local patch
OPAL West Midlands: Nature in your local patch
Monthly
May 09 notes
15/05/09 17:50
May is the month for listening to the dawn chorus. As the mornings get lighter the birds get noisier. Their songs are varied, beautiful and dynamic. One of most interesting and varied songsters are Greenfinches - a common bird of gardens, hedgerows and the like. It has a diverse range of songs that varies between cheerful chattering to wheezy screeched monosyllabic tones. Others to listen out for are our warblers (Blackcap, Whitethroats, Chiffchaff, Willow, garden and wood (if you are lucky) warbler in woodland and similar habitats, and the tumbling repetitive phrases of Seed, Reed, Cetti’s in wetlands areas). Most of these birds are migrants making a long flight from Africa every year to breed in the UK.
But have you ever wondered why they invest so much effort into this activity? As you walk around you local patch listen to where the birds are singing - you’ll soon see that they are frequently singing in similar places on your walk route. This is a form of spacing behaviour that caused an English ecologist (Eliot Howard) to think about why birds would expend such effort to create territories. He outlined his thoughts in his book ‘Territory in Bird Life’, which was published in 1920. Appropriately for OPALWM he was a Midlander born near Kidderminster and the bird he was watching was the Yellowhammer, a formerly common bird in agricultural landscapes. He noticed that as spring progressed male birds were quick to sing in response to another male’s song and if the intruder didn’t back down it was generally resolved with a few aggressive attacks. These encounters seldom led to injury, aside from a few lost feathers and some dented pride and they do generally result in a victory for the home team. Howard mused that activity served a dual purpose of creating territories and attracting mates. He noticed also that larger species had wider home ranges and territories. Other species hold smaller territories but defend them very vociferously and aggressively. The Robins are perhaps the best example of this. It is a world of sound at this time of year go and have a listen.
As the month progresses it is also worth looking for some of our other fantastic aeronauts, Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata). A good few species will be out as adults now and many of them are widely distributed like the Red Damselflies that were mating and ovipositing in one of our local ponds. The Odonata is great group to start to recording as there are relatively few of them and they are easily identified as adults (after some practice!). They are also great to watch as the males of some species of Hawkers and Darters are very territorial. If you are interested then check out the British Dragonfly Society website by clicking here. Happy hunting.
But have you ever wondered why they invest so much effort into this activity? As you walk around you local patch listen to where the birds are singing - you’ll soon see that they are frequently singing in similar places on your walk route. This is a form of spacing behaviour that caused an English ecologist (Eliot Howard) to think about why birds would expend such effort to create territories. He outlined his thoughts in his book ‘Territory in Bird Life’, which was published in 1920. Appropriately for OPALWM he was a Midlander born near Kidderminster and the bird he was watching was the Yellowhammer, a formerly common bird in agricultural landscapes. He noticed that as spring progressed male birds were quick to sing in response to another male’s song and if the intruder didn’t back down it was generally resolved with a few aggressive attacks. These encounters seldom led to injury, aside from a few lost feathers and some dented pride and they do generally result in a victory for the home team. Howard mused that activity served a dual purpose of creating territories and attracting mates. He noticed also that larger species had wider home ranges and territories. Other species hold smaller territories but defend them very vociferously and aggressively. The Robins are perhaps the best example of this. It is a world of sound at this time of year go and have a listen.
As the month progresses it is also worth looking for some of our other fantastic aeronauts, Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata). A good few species will be out as adults now and many of them are widely distributed like the Red Damselflies that were mating and ovipositing in one of our local ponds. The Odonata is great group to start to recording as there are relatively few of them and they are easily identified as adults (after some practice!). They are also great to watch as the males of some species of Hawkers and Darters are very territorial. If you are interested then check out the British Dragonfly Society website by clicking here. Happy hunting.