Tag: Q & A

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Wildfile Q & A: Bird Call Vs. Bird Song

A Carolina Wren sings to define and defend its territory.

Q: What are the differences between a bird call and a bird song?

A young Red-bellied Woodpecker calls to its parent for food.
A young Red-bellied Woodpecker calls to its parent for food.

A: A bird call tends to serve a specific function and is primarily
innate rather than learned. A bird song is almost always learned and
is often customized by individual males.

EXAMPLES OF CALLS

Alarm calls alert every bird within hearing range that danger is
present, and all innately understand what the call means and act
accordingly. The alarm call of one species can be recognized by birds
of many other species.

Location calls let mates or birds in a flock know where the others
are. For example, when a Barred Owl calls during the day, a mate often
answers, sometimes from a good distance away. Each then knows where
the other is. Location calls can also identify good feeding and
nesting habitats.

A chick’s “feed me” call triggers a parental response to find and
bring food to its offspring. As the chicks get older, begging behavior
complements the call for food.

A Carolina Wren sings to define and defend its territory.

A Carolina Wren sings to define and defend its territory.

EXAMPLES OF SONGS

Male birds tend to sing more than females, and unmated males sing more
than mated ones. Males use songs to attract mates and to identify and
defend territory. The song warns other males to stay out of its
territory, and it invites females to come in. Males can recognize the
songs of neighbors and usually don’t pay any attention to them, but
they sing furiously if they hear the song of a stranger who might
enter their territory.

In selecting a mate, females may use the size and complexity of the
song to determine a male’s potential fitness as a partner. More mature
males usually have more elaborate songs which may indicate to the
female that the male is a survivor with more breeding experience and
better health.

A majority of songbirds have at least two different songs. The extreme
singer is the male Brown Thrasher which is estimated to have over
3,000 song types.

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By Dick Brewer

http://www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html

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Wildfile Q & A: How old are the bigger slash pine trees?

pine_0604Q: How old are the bigger slash pine trees?

A: Slash Pine in South Florida lacks data, probably because there is not a local lumber industry.

However,  Roy DeLotelle, a researcher for Red-cockaded Woodpecker habitat in Collier County, has collected data on the age of pine trees important for the woodpeckers. It comes from coring pines in the woodpecker’s habitat in Picayune Strand in Collier County.

Slash Pines grow a little larger in the drier pine/palmetto forests (mesic flatwoods) than in the wetter pine/grass forests (hydric flatwoods), and there is a good deal of difference between individual trees. Note the variations between the individual dots and the
“average” line in the graph, so a tree’s diameter in DeLotell’s graph below may not tell the precise age.

In the field, biologists use a different indicator of an “old” pine tree: a flat top shape to the pine canopy.

In DeLotells’ graph of his data, DBH is the Diameter at Breast Height. The R-squared values show how well the line fits the data points. R-squared ranges between 0 and 1 with the higher number showing the line is a good fit for the data.

Slash Pines can easily live past 200 years, and there are many that old in Collier County.

-By Dick Brewer
pine tree graph

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Wildflie Q&A: Florida Black Bears

A Florida Black Bear looks, listens, and sniffs the air. By Dick Brewer

Q: What should people do if they see a black bear on one of the trails?

A Florida Black Bear looks, listens, and sniffs the air. By Dick Brewer
A Florida Black Bear looks, listens, and sniffs the air. By Dick Brewer

A: Florida Black Bears are the only bear species that inhabit Florida. Safety tips are different with different species of bears due to their varying life histories. The following safety tips refer to black bears and not necessarily brown bears, Grizzly bears, or other bear species.

Think of a black bear as a large, stray dog in your neighborhood. Precautions you’d take with a stray dog apply to black bears too. Don’t make direct eye contact (a threat gesture), don’t run, and don’t turn your back to it.

First, make some noise (clapping hands, bell, whistle) so the bear knows that you are there. Surprising any wild animal is not a good thing.

Stand tall and make yourself look larger by raising your hands above your head. Adults should pick up and hold small children.

Then, back away slowly and get a safe distance away from the black bear. Just like dogs, black bears have a chase instinct and will go after something running from them even if they do not mean any harm. Once you are at a safe distance, you can snap a few photos and enjoy the moment.

Black bears in the wild are shy animals and generally not aggressive towards people. Exceptions would be a black bear that is strongly food conditioned and smells any food you are carrying, and a female black bear who is protecting her cubs. If you see a small cub seemingly by itself, back off immediately. The mother black bear is somewhere very close, and she is watching her cub and she is watching you.

A black bear is a large, powerful, wild animal. It pays to be cautious and to not provoke it, so know a little about black bear behavior before meeting one.

If a black bear stands on its hind legs, it’s not a threat; it just wants to get a better look and smell of the situation.

However, stamping its front legs, jaw popping (snapping its jaws together to make a popping noise), huffing (blowing air out of its nose and mouth quickly), or bluff charging (rushing toward a person but stopping before physically making contact) means it is nervous, and you need to back away from the black bear. Allow the black bear plenty of room to escape, which is all it really wants to do.

If a black bear does approach you and attack, hold your ground and fight back.

If camping at CREW, never store food or any heavily scented items (toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) in your tent. Always store it in a hard topped vehicle, hung from a tree at least 10 feet off the ground and 5 feet away from trees, or in a bear proof container that can be purchased at an outdoor recreation store. Food coolers are not bear proof containers. Click here to camp at CREW.
Online resource:
http://www.myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/black-bears

By: Dick Brewer