1. Let’s start with “An Avian Cold Case” - Read on: The last captive Carolina parakeet in the United States, a male bird named Incas, died in the aviary at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918—expiring within a year of the demise of his female companion, Lady Jane. Though the zoo tried to breed the pair for more than three decades, Incas and Lady Jane seemingly had no desire to prolong the existence of their species: Instead, the couple had a proclivity for evicting their eggs from their nest, and never successfully produced a chick.
By the time Incas expired, wild Carolina parakeets were rare, too. Even experts had a hard time spotting the birds in their last known habitat, the swamps of southern Florida. On a field trip to Okeechobee County in 1904, legendary ornithologist Frank Michler Chapman documented only a dozen Carolina parakeets. The last official sighting of a wild Carolina parakeet was in 1920, though unconfirmed reports of the birds in southern Florida and along the Santee River in South Carolina trickled in until the 1940s. The species was officially declared extinct in 1939. (via Mental Floss)
2. And then meet a movie star named Hoot: An owl that’s probably met more people than the Pope was among the guests during the recent Fort Bridger Rendezvous. The owl, named Hoot, is owned by a Farson, Wyoming, man named Jeff Shelburg, who has been raising and training birds of prey since he was 9 years old. Shelburg told Cowboy State Daily that Hoot has been in 124 movies and counting, and has worked with a wide range of famous people. Shelburg’s website, World Birds of Prey, shows photos of Hoot with a variety of celebrities, ranging from the late Robin Williams to Kevin Costner, Matt Damon and Kyra Sedgwick, to name a few. (via Cowboy State Daily)
3. More on our wandering American Flamingos: Flamingos have been popping up in the most unusual of places since Hurricane Idalia blew through parts of the U.S. Southeast last week. In recent days, dozens of sightings have been reported from Texas to Florida, as far north as Pennsylvania and most states in between. And though flamingos can be found in parts of Florida, it's safe to say they don't frequently hang out farther north in states such as Kentucky, Tennessee and North and South Carolina. The birds likely got caught up in Hurricane Idalia last week, according to Nate Swick, the American Birding Association's digital communications manager. (via National Public Radio)
4. Looking for seabirds on Matinicus Rock (Maine) and finding…a Kirtland’s Warbler?: One of the rarest birds in North America has made an appearance in Maine! A Kirtland’s warbler was photographed on Matinicus Rock on Sept. 10. For us, the Kirtland’s warbler has always been almost mythical. Their northern Michigan breeding grounds are incredibly small. The population there reached a low of 167 males in 1974 and again in 1987. As young birders, we desperately hoped that this special bird would not disappear from the face of the earth like the Bachman’s warbler had done, and that one day we would have a chance of seeing one. Fortunately, the species was added to the official list of species protected by the Endangered Species Act such that science and resources were focused on finding ways to increase Kirtland’s warbler numbers. (via Penobscot Bay Pilot)
5. Migration and climate change – an interesting Q&A with a postdoc researcher at Western University’s Advanced Facility for Avian Research: From wildfire smoke to changing temperatures, birds are facing threats from climate change, but there is still much left unknown about its full impacts. Researchers at Western University's Advanced Facility for Avian Research are looking into how some migratory songbirds can adapt to a changing environment, and push their physiological limits to escape the effects of climate change during migration. Afternoon Drive guest host Colin Butler spoke to Catherine Ivy, a postdoctoral researcher to learn more. (via CBC)
6. Our Stellar’s Sea Eagle is back in the news…well, actually in a study: Nature embraces order. So, when a cool bird shows up where it’s not supposed to be, it can be a big win for both local economies and nature lovers, say researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, who recently studied the impact of a lone Steller’s sea eagle that somehow found its way to and across North America a few years ago. The bird in question, whom birders dubbed “Stella,” had wandered almost 7,000 miles away from home. Stella was first spotted in Alaska in August 2020 before making its way (Stella’s sex is still unknown) to Texas in March 2021 and then to eastern Canada later that year. In winter of 2021, Stella took up residence in Maine and Massachusetts, drawing bird-watchers and curiosity seekers for miles around before moving on to Nova Scotia. Its latest known location is Newfoundland. (via Southern Illinois University)
7. Kicked out! (And…good luck with this plan): Virginia’s migratory seabird colony was kicked off of its former nesting site three years ago to make room for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project. In an attempt to protect the migratory birds, Virginia officials hatched a plan to relocate the colony to a newly created habitat on Fort Wool, a decommissioned island fortification steeped in American war history. While the move worked as a short-term solution, historians have expressed concern that the use of the island for the seabirds is depriving the public the chance to explore Fort Wool’s rich history. To address the concerns, state and federal officials plan to invest more than $10 million to build a new, permanent island for the migratory seabirds in the next several years — a move that should protect the birds while allowing Fort Wool to be restored. (via The Virginia Pilot)
8. Skip this story if you fly out of Denver: Mayday mayday mayday," came the call over air traffic control radio channels near the Centennial Airport last weekend. A Cessna-172 had hit at least one bird during takeoff — now the pilot was searching for a place to crash land. "Might have to put it on the golf course over here," he told air traffic controllers. Both the pilot and passenger were okay after landing safely on a Douglas County golf course. Their plane flipped after skidding about 50 yards. Since 2020, more than 530 pilots at DIA reported hitting wildlife. The vast majority reported no damage to the plane, but the FAA said a Delta flight had to abort takeoff last summer because a hawk caused "catastrophic" damage and an engine fire. (via NBC 9 News)
9. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Aussie Bird Count – with stamps!: Australia Post has released a series of stamps to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Aussie Bird Count and the birds they have chosen may surprise you. Unless of course, you are one of the more than 100,000 Australians who have taken part in what has become the country’s biggest citizen science project. You would know that when BirdLife Australia release the results of all the surveys that they participated in, the species that feature – rainbow lorikeet, noisy miner and Australian magpie – have been the three most common birds in every year of the Aussie Bird Count so far. (via The Guardian)
10. Every little bit helps: The Department of the Interior today announced that more than $50.6 million in funding has been approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, providing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners the ability to help conserve, restore or enhance more than 106,600 acres of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, shorebirds and other birds across the United States. The Commission approved more than $39.4 million in North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grants that will be matched by more than $74.1 million in partner funds. In addition, the Commission approved $11.24 million from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to conserve land on two national wildlife refuges. (via U.S. Department of the Interior)
11. A primer on the Nuttall’s Woodpecker: A Nuttall’s woodpecker measures approximately 7.5 inches long with a 13-inch wingspan. Females lack the red cap, which is positioned on the crown, toward the back of the head. The white belly is speckled with dark spots. Also look for white horizontal stripes across the back. These birds closely resemble ladder-backed woodpeckers, which have a larger range across the southwestern United States and into Mexico. Like their relatives, Nuttall’s woodpeckers are cavity nesters. The male excavates a hole in a live or dead tree, and the female lays three to four white colored eggs that hatch in approximately two weeks. Both parents share the work of feeding and caring for the fledglings, which stay in the nest for about a month. (via Birds & Blooms)
12. Rare bird alert: A Crested Caracara in southern Canada: Birders on P.E.I. are thrilled by a crested caracara that has taken up residence on the Island this summer. The bird was first sighted in mid-July at East Point in the far northeast. More recently, it's been spending time in Mount Vernon, around the area where Cindy Esau lives. "It's pretty exciting when you step out your front door and it's there, or the neighbour calls and says it's in the backyard," Esau said. "You can get not very far from it and just watch it. It's pretty amazing." (via CBC)
13. Unruly photographers upsetting birders in China: Each spring and fall, the organization Beijing Birders teams up with Peking University and hoists listening devices onto the 15th-floor roof of the Asian International Investment Bank to count the birds. What they hear is a cacophony, as more than a hundred species pass through Beijing’s sky each migration cycle. Watching the birds is a niche yet growing hobby that brings together specialists, enthusiasts, and the curious alike. But with the increased interest has come increased risks to the birds. Ma Chenyue, program manager of International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), told the Roundtable China podcast that its Beijing Raptor Rescue Center received more than 90 distressed birds of prey in June. Happy that more people were taking action, she worried it meant incidents were becoming more frequent. (via The China Project)
14. Finally, this is odd – for downtown Washington, D.C., at least: By the time I grew weary of counting and stopped, I’d counted a whopping 148 ducks in the photo John Hoskinson took last Friday evening in Farragut Square. “You can try counting them, but I think there were more than that,” John told me. “I didn’t take the whole park.” So let’s round up: On Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, there were easily 150 mallards just chilling in downtown Washington. The ducks are perfectly distributed, as if placed by the copy-and-paste tool in Photoshop. The ducks don’t seem to mind the people sitting on benches in the park. The people on the benches don’t seem to mind the ducks. Some of the ducks are sitting, but most are standing. (via The Washington Post0
Bird Videos of the Week
Video by Science News, “Male cockatoos keep the beat”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Albatross Weigh-in.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Picky Blue Jay.