This is from the BNA article on Carolina Chickadees, supporting Geo's observation: Winter flocks move horizontally at an average rate of 6 m/min, with a daily pattern of rapid movement in early morning (07:00–10:00: 8 m/min) and in late afternoon until roosting (15:00–19:00: 7 m/min), with slower movement during midday (10:00–15:00: 5 m/min; Wallace 1970). As flock size increases, so does rate of movement (Morse 1970).
Eben McLane On Jan 9, 2013, at 9:52 AM, Geo Kloppel <geoklop...@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Laura, When gathered in large flocks they actually strike me as being _more_ skittish; perhaps it's a compounding effect. Makes sense in a way. There may be no predator around at the moment, but they know that by concentrating at a rich food source in a landscape of scarcity they create a magnet for any predators in the area. -Geo > On Jan 9, 2013, at 9:14 AM, Laura Stenzler <l...@cornell.edu> wrote: > >> Hi, >> This morning there was a flock of at least 100 Redpolls in the trees near >> our feeders. A few were at the feeders, but after sticking around for a few >> minutes they alldisappeared. Here’s a question – why would they leave a >> rich food source? Our feeders are full, there are 7 to choose from, and >> they clearly are happy when they decide to land. I’ve seen this happen >> before, when there is no obvious evidence (to me) of predators in the area. >> Other birds keep happily visiting the feeders – chickadees, woodpeckers, >> nuthatches, etc. There are other feeders at neighbors’ houses, close by. >> >> Any thoughts? >> L -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
