1. Let’s begin with this Audubon piece on the Intermountain West Shorebird Surveys - “Migrating shorebirds are indicators of ecosystem quality at a grand scale—they tell us how Earth itself is doing…”: This past April, more than 300 participants gathered at over 200 wetland sites across 11 states in the Intermountain West, armed with binoculars and spotting scopes, joined together for one purpose: to survey shorebirds. Facing inclement weather and an overwhelming sense of urgency to time their effort to capture peak migration perfectly, the data collected will contribute to a much larger effort—the Intermountain West Shorebird Surveys (IMWSS or surveys). Initiated in the Fall of 2022, the Intermountain West Shorebird Surveys are a monumental endeavor to map out the distribution and abundance of migratory shorebirds as they move through the interior portion of the Pacific Flyway in hopes the results will help wetland managers across the country to sustain the wetlands shorebirds depend on, even in an age of changing water systems. (via Audubon)
2. More on this theme - “Alas Seguras” (Safe Wings): To address the unprecedented decline of migratory birds across the Americas, conservation practitioners must decide where to focus their efforts to provide the greatest benefits. Colombia boasts the highest bird diversity on Earth, and habitats across the country are home to hundreds of migratory species. To provide conservationists with information to make these decisions, the National Audubon Society and partners have developed Alas Seguras (Safe Wings), a decision support system that helps users create custom maps of the important places for migratory birds and areas where investments in bird conservation can also benefit ecosystems and people. The first phase of Alas Seguras has focused on Colombia. (via Audubon)
By Hap Ellis, Least Tern - Wells Reserve at Laudholm, Wells, ME.
3. And speaking of critical migratory habitat, this refuge is an absolute must if you are in Salt Lake City area: I recently drove through the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Auto Route Tour alongside Sheri Quinn and Colleen Meidt. Come along with us as we weave around the wetlands of Great Salt Lake with prime viewing of thousands of migratory birds. ‘Birding’ often gets a reputation as a hobby for elderly people or something that you need skills and tools to start. Sure, binoculars, a bird book, or a bird-nerd friend are helpful, but you can certainly learn these skills yourself and with few tools. For this experience, all you really need is a car, and even that is up for debate. We saw quite a few people biking along this path. The refuge is roughly 80,000 acres of habitat for migrating birds. (via KSL News Radio)
4. But then a (very) few birds don’t need to stop at all - 10 months in the air says a new study from Lund University on Common Swifts: Can you do anything for 10 months straight without stopping? No, humans aren't set up for that sort of thing. But when it comes to endurance, the swift bird takes the crown. Biologists have discovered that a little bird called the common swift (Apus apus) can fly for 10 months straight without landing. Using a new type of data logger that detects both light and the movement of the birds, a study from Lund University in Sweden discovered that while some individuals might land occasionally for brief periods, most remain airborne for their entire 10-month migration period, landing only for their two-month breeding season. (via HowStuffWorks)
5. The effects of forest fire smoke on birds - volunteers needed: Last summer, Carrie Brown-Kornarens spent 10 minutes every week observing birds in her Los Angeles backyard and at nearby Griffith Park. Brown-Kornarens, a ceramicist with a background in graphic design and animation, looked and listened closely for birds amid the coastal sagebrush, scrub, oak and walnut trees. She was already collecting data for a local raptor study, and she liked the idea of learning even more about birds and their behavior. Just 10 minutes a week: That’s all it takes for volunteers to help scientists like Olivia Sanderfoot, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, understand how birds respond to wildfire smoke. (via High Country News)
6. Winners and losers as sea levels rise, say experts: Global sea level rise is accelerating every year due to climate change, and it could threaten the very existence of some coastal bird species. High tides are becoming higher because of sea level rise, allowing storm surges to push saltwater farther inland towards saltwater marshes and upland forests. When saltwater floods these coastal ecosystems, it can cause significant changes to the vegetation that birds rely on for food and shelter. "If you want to understand how sea level rise affects birds, you have to begin by looking at how it affects plant communities," said Chris Moorman, a professor of fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology at NC State. Moorman, whose research focuses on conserving wildlife in the face of global change, added that the compositional and structural characteristics of plant communities determine the kinds of birds that live within an ecosystem. (via Phys Org)
By Hap Ellis, Common Eider - Kennebunkport, ME.
7. Study of climate effects on two Old World warblers: Research staff from the Gandia Campus of the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology of the Universitat de València have assessed the effects of climate change on the productivity of two species of passerine birds. The results reveal that extreme weather events such as increasingly warmer temperatures and more frequent torrential rains could compromise the conservation of the populations of these birds. The work, published in Bird Study, is part of the Ph.D. thesis that Pau Lucio, Associate Lecturer in the Animal Science Department at the Gandia Campus, is developing between the UPV and the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology of the University of Valencia. (via Phys Org)
8. Who uses “descriptive population genetic statistics”? These researchers…: You may soon start to see plenty of Swinhoe’s white-eyes pop up in parks and yards across Southern California, as their population appears to be on the brink of explosion. They’ve been in Orange County since 2006, and have begun to multiply rapidly in recent years, though it’s unclear why. It's a bit surprising, as our local habitats are much different than their native range. It doesn’t seem as if the Swinhoe’s white-eye is invasive, as it's not displacing any native birds or destroying local habitats, however more research is needed. Download the iNaturalist app to take photos of any Swinhoe’s white-eye that you see, as researchers utilize user submitted data from it to help track movement and population size. You can also submit photos to eBird from Cornell University. (via LAist)
9. Hmmm…Birds as “non-human stakeholders” in AI-driven tree designs: Grassy box gum woodlands once covered millions of square kilometres in southeastern Australia, but today less than 5% remains. The loss of large old trees has been a crisis for the many species of birds and other animals that depend on them for habitat. Replacing this habitat is not easy. There is no quick way to create a centuries-old tree. One thing we can do is make artificial structures that mimic the features of large old trees in degraded environments where trees cannot live or are too young and small. And to find that out, we developed ways to use AI and machine learning to include non-human stakeholders – in this case birds and trees – in the design process. In effect, we enrolled large old trees as lead designers, and birds as discerning assessors of their work. (via The Conversation)
By Hap Ellis, Eastern Bluebird - Kennebunkport, ME.
10. Birds and glass - “anything that disrupts the reflection of trees in the windows will work”: As many as 1 billion birds die each year in the United States after striking windows, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Silent spring is coming,” Canterbury said, referencing the famous Rachel Carson 1962 book that inspired the environmental movement of the 1970s. “The urgency is now.” Canterbury and his students have been studying the problem of fatal bird strikes in Cincinnati. While the glass of skyscrapers can stretch hundreds of feet in the air, Canterbury said the problem area is closer to the ground — in the first couple floors of a building where glass reflects trees and bushes. Glass walkways, particularly those around landscaped courtyards, can also be deadly traps for birds that are trying to reach the safety of cover, he said. But there are many options. (via University of Cincinnati)
11. One vote for the “Sawdust City” becoming “The Crow City”? A paean to the American Crow: “Sawdust City.” “City of Bridges.” “Portland of the Midwest.” “Horseradish Capital of the World.” There are all kinds of nicknames for Eau Claire, Wisconsin, but I’ve come to increasingly think of it as “The Crow City.” Is it just me? It seems that anywhere I go there are crows, sometimes lots of crows. I hear them throughout the day, particularly at dawn when they begin rallying up for the day’s quest for food: some spilled French fries in the McDonald’s parking lot, that squirrel pancaked on Water Street, or maybe a few squashed blueberries from the Farmer’s Market. But don’t get me wrong, apart from the raucous reveille in the mornings, I’ve got nothing against crows. (via Wisconsin Life)
12. One of BNI’s favorite nature writers on baby birds: This is a particularly amusing week in the bird world. From the middle of May to the end of June, birds are focused on mating, nesting and feeding. Then the nestlings fledge, right about now, and all heck breaks loose. Maybe you’ve noticed. Baby robins are chasing their parents everywhere. Look for their ragged color and spotted breasts. Gray catbirds had a great nesting season. Catbirds nest low in bushes, often in residential areas. They are shy when nesting. The parents would like to remain shy this time of year, but the kids won’t let them. Young catbirds are chasing their parents everywhere, and noisily. Ovenbirds, a type of warbler, are off the nest, though males are still singing. Ovenbirds are forest ground-foragers, and they need sufficient territory to feed their young. While their brood is still in the nest, males will challenge intruders solo.” (via Bangor Daily News)
13. For Piping Plovers, if it isn’t gulls, crows, racoons, and vehicles they have to worry about, it’s …fire?: A fire burned through an area of the dunes at Hampton Beach early Saturday morning. The dunes are home to a delicate ecosystem, including the nesting grounds for the endangered Piping Plovers. Hampton fire Chief Michael McMahon said the call around 3 a.m. for a report of a bonfire on the beach. McMahon said multiple crews responded and found a fire spreading in the marsh grasses on the sand dunes near the south end of Hampton Beach State Park. Once the fire was put out, biologists with New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife arrived to survey the damage and its impact on the plovers. Biologist Brendan Clifford said while the fire burned more than an acre of the dune grass, all the birds were still accounted for and appeared to be unharmed. (via WMUR 9 News)
By Hap Ellis, Glossy Ibis - Kennebunkport, ME.
14. One woman standing up for nesting red-winged blackbirds and common grackles… in a shopping plaza: Caelin Graber is now banned from entering the Market Basket grocery store in Milford, so she has to conduct an interview from across the street. This was my Market Basket that I shopped at regularly,” she says, ducking into some shade on a recent sunny afternoon. Nearby, cars and trucks on Route 101 barrel past. There’s a DMV office and a quick lube mechanic shop all within easy reach. Not exactly a serene locale. And yet, at the edge of the Market Basket parking lot, a little slice of nature emerged. In the mid-1990s, the company constructed a retention pond to catch stormwater runoff from the parking lot. Over the years, cattails and other plant life rooted in the ditch, attracting birds and other species. (via New Hampshire public Radio)
15. What USFW says it takes to save the Spotted Owls from its invasive cousin (spoiler alert: grim): To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, US wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan: hire trained sharp-shooters to assassinate its rivals. The US Fish and Wildlife Service strategy released Wednesday is meant to prop up declining spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington state and California. Trained shooters will be deployed to the dense forests of the West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their endangered cousins. Documents released by the agency show up to about 450,000 barred owls would be shot over three decades — a solution designed to level the playing field after this invasive species of owl from the eastern US encroached into western territory. (via Daily Mail)
16. Finally, an amusing little piece on a bird nest in an odd place - “…refused with operatic rage”: Brace yourselves. That abandoned bird’s nest is still seated in the mouth of the large, ancient, carved stone human face hanging high on a wall in the northernmost corner of the outdoor garden known as “Michelangelo’s Cloister” in the National Roman Museum in Rome. A University College London (UCL) professor discovered it while visiting the museum this past April then reported it to a colleague who is the director of one of the Netherlands’s great natural history museums. The director then visited the National Roman Museum the next day and asked officials if he could remove the nest, saving them the trouble of destroying or discarding it. He thereafter brought it back to his museum in Rotterdam to add to a collection of biological curiosities, a request greeted with eager gratitude by two officials of the Rome museum. However, a third official who happened upon the scene when the first two officials fetched a ladder for the Dutch museum official to use to climb up and remove the until-then-unnoticed nest from the open mouth of the sculpture then declared that not a twig, not a pebble, must ever leave his museum. (via New Scientist)
Bird Videos of the Week
Video by KMOT TV, “Birds, Bovines, and Biology”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - The Rufous MotMot
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Black-chested Jay