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23 Articles

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SCIENCE A new study of North American migratory birds is the first to identify a direct link between cognition and animal response to human-made climate change. The implications spell trouble for many songbirds. PHOTOGRAPHY In February, professional photographer Marie Read presented a webinar about taking eye-catching photos of birds’ behaviors. A recording of the webinar is available to watch on our member benefits page. Follow, like, and share! FACEBOOK: BirdWatchingMagazine INSTAGRAM: @birdwatchingmagazine TWITTER: @BirdWatchDaily FLICKR: BirdWatching group photo pool…

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Earth to Congress: Help!

IN EARLY MARCH, Congress passed its budget bill for fiscal year 2022. Reading through the details, I had to wonder what planet members of Congress think they’re living on. Are they not aware of the twin emergencies of climate change and the extinction crisis? The Democratic-controlled Congress gave modest increases to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior, but both amounts were far less than the Biden administration requested. As the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) noted, the nation’s 1,800 endangered species received a total increase of $3 million, or about $1,600 per species. Funding to address the 400 species still waiting for protection is frozen at last year’s level. And yet again, Congress kept a rider in the budget that prevents the government from listing the…

Earth to Congress: Help!

7-year study widens view of Andean Condors

The lead paper in the March 2022 issue of The Journal of Raptor Research presents a fresh understanding of the conservation priorities for the world’s largest bird of prey, the Andean Condor. In 2015, a team of 38 condor experts from throughout the bird’s South American range as well as the Wildlife Conservation Society, The Peregrine Fund, and other U.S.-based groups began gathering information about the bird’s distribution, including where it roosts, nests, and feeds. The new paper, the culmination of their work, presents findings about: - The condor’s historical range. A 1990 study estimated its historical range to include 2.36 million square km, but the new study expands the area by almost 37 percent, to 3.23 million square km. Argentina accounts for 43 percent of the new range and…

7-year study widens view of Andean Condors

Avian flu surges in North America

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a virus that is deadly to wild birds, poultry, and, in some cases, humans, was detected in two North American locations — South Carolina and Newfoundland and Labrador — in December 2021. By mid-March, the virus had spread to about 20 states and several provinces. It is the first HPAI outbreak on the continent since 2016. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is keeping tabs on reports of the outbreak in the U.S., reports that most of the affected wild birds are ducks and geese — Snow Goose, Ross’s Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Lesser Scaup, and American Black Duck, among others. Non-waterfowl on the list include Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Black Vulture, and Sanderling.…

Avian flu surges in North America

Parrot on the road to recovery

In a two-week period in September 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico, devastating the island — and further threatening the endemic endangered Puerto Rican Parrot. Some parrots died from the storms, and others were lost to starvation or increased hawk predation in their aftermath. The high winds of Maria especially shredded leafy parrot habitat at El Yunque National Forest and elsewhere. Local and federal conservation agencies, however, redoubled their efforts to protect the species. The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has been releasing birds at Río Abajo State Forest since 2019, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service restarted a parrot-release program in December 2020. Since then, it has released 81 birds at El Yunque and Maricao State Forest. Most recently, FWS released 32 parrots…

Watching kites fly

On a bright morning last June in a South Carolina forest, a Great Horned Owl perched conspicuously just above a dirt road. In the sky, six Swallow-tailed Kites circled, their long, forked tails acting as rudders as they scolded this perceived intruder. Finally, one kite broke into a dive, headed straight for the owl…and into a waiting mist-net. Four concealed conservationists burst from their hide to carefully extract the captured kite and safely remove their trained owl, which had been positioned just behind the waiting net. They gently fitted the football-sized black-and-white bird with a solar-powered GPS transmitter to provide crucial insight into the elegant raptor’s future movements. This might seem like a mean trick to play on an unsuspecting bird, but it’s for a good cause. Along with two…

Watching kites fly

JAY SPECIES SHOW SIMILAR LEARNING ABILITIES

The California Scrub-Jay, a generally non-social bird, can learn just as well as another species of jay that lives in groups, a finding that surprised animal intelligence researchers who devised a novel food puzzle to study cognition in the wild. The research illustrates the complexity of the link between social behavior and the evolution of intelligence, say the scientists, who had expected the group-oriented Mexican Jay to outperform the scrub-jay. Findings were published in Nature Scientific Reports. The researchers put bird food behind four different types of doors on two identical puzzle apparatuses, each fashioned from a log. Three of the four doors had a simple lock; the other was unlocked but contained a less-desirable type of food – sunflower seeds rather than peanuts. The researchers trained “demonstrator” birds of…

JAY SPECIES SHOW SIMILAR LEARNING ABILITIES

Torpor in hummingbirds variable and flexible

If you’re a fan of hummingbirds, then you probably know that at night, they lower their body temperature and metabolism drastically by dropping into an energy-saving state of inactivity called torpor. A new study finds that the birds have more than one level of torpor — shallow and deep — plus a transition stage between levels of torpor and the normal sleep state. The findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology in January. “There have been a few hints that this ability to fine-tune thermoregulation was possible,” said lead author Anusha Shankar, currently a Rose Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “But the studies were done under laboratory conditions, not the conditions a bird would encounter in the wild. It was really exciting to see that…

Torpor in hummingbirds variable and flexible

BOOK Vagrancy in Birds By Alexander Lees and James Gilroy, Princeton University Press, 2022, hardcover, 400 pages, $35. What causes birds to stray from their typical ranges? Why do some places attract so many vagrant birds? Why are some species more predisposed to long-range vagrancy than others? The authors of this impressive book present readers with everything known about the subject, and they bring together different lines of evidence to make the case for vagrancy as a biological phenomenon with important implications for avian ecology and evolution. The bulk of the book, which is richly illustrated with photos of vagrant birds, is devoted to accounts of vagrancy in each avian family around the world. Some families with no tendancy to wander require only brief entries, but others, like hummingbirds, falcons,…

Summer precautions

SUMMER BIRD FEEDING requires so much conscientious attention that many people close their feeders for the duration. That’s not necessary if we ensure that we’re helping, not hurting, birds. March and April are dangerous for winter finches, who often eat on the ground. Seeds and seed shells pile up under feeders, fostering bacteria and mold growth. Periodic thawing as spring progresses hastens the process, and so every year, disease outbreaks kill ground-feeding backyard birds. Rake up spoiled seed whenever weather and ground conditions allow, and screen compost bins to exclude birds. Seed catchers help if emptied before seed in them gets too wet, too. Seeds sprouting on the ground, in seed catchers, and in feeders indicate that a cleanup is in order. Sunflower hearts eliminate the mess of seed shells…

Summer precautions

A harvest of audio riches

AS A SIGHT-CENTRIC birder, I am surprised at how many of my most cherished birding memories involve sound. This audio ambivalence of mine harkens back to childhood. While I was gifted with exceptional eyesight, my hearing was only so-so. Naturally, I played to my strength. I would eagerly anticipate the annual vision test in grammar school. As I sat in the folding chair, one hand over one eye, the school nurse would roll her eyes and say, “Oh, here we go again.” Ignoring the top lines, I would immediately go for the fine print at the bottom of the page and read it with ease. But when the earphones were placed over my ears for the hearing test, there would be gaps in the tonal sequence accompanied by quizzical looks…

A harvest of audio riches

A PASSION FOR PROTHONOTARIES

Most weeks during the spring and summer, Jackson Audubon Society’s PROW team is a group on a mission. PROW is ornithological shorthand for Prothonotary Warbler, the drop-dead gorgeous wood warbler that is even more stunning in person than in photos. The PROW team is the adopted name of our volunteers who brave the biting insects, alligators, and muggy Mississippi weather to document the success of our long-term nest box project. This bird is known by some as the “golden swamp warbler” or “swamp canary.” Most birders and ornithologists prefer Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea). The name is thought to originate from prothonotaries, clerks in the Catholic Church who wore yellow vestments. The location of our project is LeFleur’s Bluff State Park, a 305-acre urban green space that borders the Pearl River…

A PASSION FOR PROTHONOTARIES

If you are lucky enough to live or bird in locations that have Prothonotary Warblers, place some nest boxes, stand back, and enjoy the birds! If you’re not trained and experienced with this kind of project, please leave the boxes untouched during the breeding season while the birds are using them. This eliminates any chance of nest disturbance or forced fledging. Before the birds arrive in the spring and after they leave in the fall, the nest box should be cleaned out and any repairs made. To learn how to place nest boxes for the species, see this excellent resource from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/birds/prothonotary-warbler. For more information about the bird’s nesting behaviors, nest box requirements, and much more, see www.sialis.org/prow.htm.…

SURROUNDED ON PIPELINE ROAD

March 2013. It was a misty morning in Gamboa, along the Panama Canal. The sun had yet to rise, but I stumbled out of bed to the tune of Palm Tanagers and Clay-colored Thrushes. Red-legged Honeycreepers hopped around frenetically in a tangle of vines in the backyard, while a couple of White-necked Jacobins took turns drinking their breakfast from a hummingbird feeder hung outside the kitchen window. Water bottles and field guides packed, and binoculars and cameras in hand, we excitedly piled in the car and headed down the road. I was on a spring break birding trip with a few college friends. Jack, whose house served as our base of operations for the endeavor, ate a quick breakfast while flipping through the Birds of Panama field guide. Ben fiddled…

SURROUNDED ON PIPELINE ROAD

Dozens of bird species follow ant swarms in the jungle, and many of their names are frustratingly similar. Many of the ant-followers are named after familiar groups of birds that we know and love, like thrushes, wrens, vireos, and shrikes, but the tropical residents aren’t closely related to those with whom they share their names. The names are based on physical and behavioral similarities rather than genetic affiliation. Let’s look at some of Central America’s ant-followers from the ground up: Antpittas almost always stay on the forest floor, hopping around in search of insect prey. They appear almost comical, with their round bodies, extremely short tails, large eyes, and long legs. There are about 50 species of antpittas, all of which live in the neotropics. Antthrushes also spend much of…

Eleven years ago, when I was 6, my dad and I were taking a winter walk along Boundary Bay, in southern British Columbia, when we encountered a group of adults. My curious eyes followed the direction of their numerous binoculars and giant telephoto camera lenses. The object of their collective gaze? Several large birds, perched on logs strewn along the coastline. Their pristine white feathers glistened in the sunlight. It was an irruption of Snowy Owls, which had flown south from the Arctic tundra, in search of food. Since that fateful day, I spend much of my free time birding in my native Canada and other countries. One thing regularly struck me when out in the field — the lack of children. Unfortunately, most kids I knew were more into…

ID TIPS: Violet-green Swallow

Violet-green Swallow, adult male June in Mono County, California WHAT’S THE MOST beautiful swallow in North America? That’s a matter of opinion, of course. But more than one author — from John James Audubon to Florence Merriam Bailey — has been moved to superlatives in describing the Violet-green Swallow. Of course, no shade of green can be described accurately as “violet-green.” Technically this species should be called the “Violet-and-green Swallow,” to denote the colors of the upperparts; but the current name has been firmly entrenched since the 1830s, and it’s unlikely to change. Among North American swallows, the Violet-green is most closely related to the Tree Swallow. Both have iridescent colors on the back and bright white underparts, and both nest in tree cavities or similar kinds of holes. But…

ID TIPS: Violet-green Swallow

Many species of swallow have relatively broad ranges, surviving under a variety of conditions. This is partly because of their generalized food source, flying insects caught in midair, available in practically any warm climate. The Violet-green Swallow provides a prime example of adapting to a wide range of environments. Because temperature is partly linked to elevation, many species of plants and animals live at low elevations in the north and much higher to the south. Violet-green Swallows are common breeders near sea level in Alaska; in the Southwest and Mexico in summer, most are in the mountains, up to 9,000 feet or higher. Most, but not all. Some pairs nest in holes in cliffs at low elevation along the lower Colorado River, and others nest in holes in giant cactus…

Appreciating wingbars

BIRDERS TALK A lot about wingbars — contrasting bands of pale markings across a bird’s folded wing. The presence or absence of wingbars is one of the first things we learn to look for when we are learning to identify birds, and it is extremely helpful to sort through a bunch of potential species quickly. Even the most experienced birders will still make comments like, “Well, it has wingbars, so it can only be species A or B.” But wingbars come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and thinking of them simply in terms of presence or absence leaves out a lot of interesting and useful information. Wingbars are formed by pale tips on the greater and median secondary coverts. The main wingbar — the longer one that goes across…

Appreciating wingbars

The home field advantage

IT’S SUNRISE — a new day’s first rays of light are just peeking over the nearby mountains and illuminating the surrounding vegetation in a warm bath of golden light. As the day starts, I’m sitting quietly in my photo blind waiting for a great bird photography opportunity to happen. The predawn is quiet, but as the sun climbs higher in the sky, the chip notes of Yellow-rumped Warblers catch my attention. A Black Phoebe snaps nearly invisible insects from mid-air and then returns to the same perch again and again. Lesser Goldfinches chatter and squabble among the flowering plants next to me, and an Anna’s Hummingbird buzzes back and forth, searching out small morsels of food. So where am I? Tucked into the remote wilderness of California’s Santa Monica Mountains?…

The home field advantage

HOTSPOTS NEAR YOU

Badlands National Park INTERIOR, SOUTH DAKOTA 43°44'57.15"N 101°56'30.41"W Badlands National Park contains unique geological features and is known as the world’s greatest mammal fossil bed. Specimens that have been found here date back as much as 40 million years. This beautiful and vast park covers more than 242,000 acres (379 square miles) of buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. It is home to more than 500 species of plants, more than 200 bird species, and mammals such as bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets. Badlands is one of the easternmost public lands for seeing bird species more commonly encountered in the western United States, including Rock Wren, Say’s Phoebe, Bullock’s Oriole, Black-billed Magpie, Lark Sparrow, Mountain Bluebird, Long-billed…

HOTSPOTS NEAR YOU

CONTEST WINNERS

Last fall, we sent out a call for entries to our 2021 Bird Portrait Contest. And, wow, did bird photographers deliver! We received the most entries ever — 979 — since we started hosting contests a few years ago. Thanks to all who entered! The selection of images was outstanding, giving the judges a difficult task. We announced the finalists, honorable mention images, and the winners on our website in late February, and we’re presenting the top three winners on the following pages. Enjoy! FIRST PLACE Karen Griggs Winchester SANDHILL CRANES Karen Griggs Winchester of North Port, Florida, won first place with this stunning photo of Sandhill Crane colts resting on their mother’s back while being sheltered by her wings. She photographed the moment in mid-March 2020 in Sarasota, Florida.…

CONTEST WINNERS

MARIE READ Black Tern Wildlife photographer Marie Read photographed this intimate moment between an adult Black Tern and its newly hatched chick from a kayak at Perch River Wildlife Management Area in upstate New York. The photo marked the culmination of a project that Marie undertook during May and June 2008. With special permission to enter a restricted wetland, she monitored the progress over several weeks of the numerous Black Terns nesting among the floating vegetation, providing valuable data to New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. This let her calculate approximately when the eggs in this particular nest might hatch. After paddling in at the predicted time, she wedged her kayak into the reeds for stability at a safe distance and used a pullover blind to conceal her presence. Black…

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