1. Let’s start by looking at how BirdNET and Merlin are enabling much quicker conservation efforts around the globe: New bioacoustic tools are revolutionizing scientific research and enabling much quicker conservation efforts around the globe. Christy Hand, a biologist with the state of South Carolina who’s been studying the eastern black rail for nearly 10 years, tried a couple of computerized sound-analysis systems known as call recognizers. These artificial intelligence tools examine sonograms of field recordings to try to distinguish, amid the layered and jumbled visual representation of an outdoor soundscape, the sonographic shape of a certain bird’s call. In Hand’s case, that was the eastern black rail’s distinctive kickee-doo, caught amidst the clangor not just of other birds but all the bugs, frogs, cars, and planes that fill the marsh air with noise. (via BioGraphic
2. A “vast inland sea” is back: Crisscrossing the dry flatlands of the San Joaquin Valley last week, I drove along a narrow country road just outside this small agricultural town known as the “Farming Capital of California,” tilled dirt fields on either side of me as far as the eye could see. And then, suddenly, water. A vast inland sea rose beside the pavement, and the waters glittered far out into the horizon. An egret flapped its snowy white wings along the banks of the newly formed lake. Shorebirds twittered and blue-gray waves lapped and whooshed, bringing the sounds of the beach to the Central Valley. For the first time in decades, Tulare Lake had returned. Once the biggest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi, Tulare Lake was four times the size of Lake Tahoe, home to bands of Yokut Indians and millions of birds and other wildlife, but it was sucked dry by farmers before fully disappearing by the mid-20th century. The lakebed is now home to some of the planet’s major suppliers of cotton, tomatoes and other crops. But occasionally, during an especially wet winter, the lake comes back to life. (via The New York Times)
3. Each state has a State Bird. But what if we used actual data from “eBird Status and Trends” to determine which bird should hold this honor? – some fun answers: All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the 13 provinces and territories of Canada have official birds. A campaign in the 1920s by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs got the ball rolling, and over the course of the 20th century state and provincial governments used acts, proclamations, or in some cases the strength of tradition to come up with their bird of honor. State birds are meant to pay tribute to local wildlife while inspiring people to get to know their avian neighbors. But for birders, some of the official state and provincial birds are a bit, say, uninspiring—and there’s an amazing amount of overlap. A birder might ask: With more than 700 native bird species to choose from, is the current selection of state birds really the best that our societies can come up with? (In fact, Nick Lund, aka “The Birdist,” tackled just this question in a hilarious 2013 post State Birds: What They Should Be on his blog.) (via Living Bird Magazine)
4. What Walden Pond can teach us about our spring migrants: The detailed record of bird sightings and phenological observations around Concord, Massachusetts—from Thoreau’s notes 170 years ago to today’s studies by scientists at Boston University—provides a key to studying how climate change is affecting bird migration. One early spring morning in 1858, on hearing a Purple Finch singing, the environmental philosopher Henry David Thoreau noted in his journal: “How their note rings over the roofs of the village! You wonder that even the sleepers are not awakened by it to inquire who is there, and yet probably not another than myself observes their coming.” His detailed records from 1851 to 1854 are some of the earliest systematic observations of the timing of seasonal biological events, or phenology, in the United States. (via Living Bird Magazine)
5. Time to “move on”, or “not so fast”? The debate continues: In Texas, a man claims to see the mysterious black-and-white woodpecker a few times a week on his land near an airport in Longview. A woman in North Carolina says one regularly visits bird feeders at her home. Another insists she encountered it nearly 20 years ago in Florida. “I KNOW what I saw, and I’m thrilled to have seen him,” she wrote in July to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The federal agency isn’t entirely convinced. In late 2021, the U.S. government sparked a fierce flap in ornithological circles when it said the ivory-billed woodpecker—a majestic bird with a nearly 3-foot wingspan—was gone for good, after official sightings hadn’t been documented in roughly eight decades. The declaration has divided both hobbyists and professional birders alike. (via The Wall Street Journal)
6. Cattle egrets as “coach potatoes” - really?: While you might not know them by name, you’ve undoubtedly seen the stocky white birds that follow cattle and tractors around as they move through fields. Scientifically speaking, these are cattle egrets but, depending on where you live or even who pointed them out to you for the first time, you might call them something else. Personally, I grew up calling these birds Charley birds. And while I can’t exactly tell you why, I can tell you that these birds go by a lot of different names. Regardless of what you call them, these birds are incredibly adaptable. They’ve been documented following pretty much anything—tractors, cows, camels, hippopotamuses, and even fire—that will help them and their pals on their quest for food. (via Victoria Advocate)
7. “Lights Out” efforts – this from Denver: Birds flying through Denver as they migrate north could use a little help to get them to their final destinations alive. Twice a year, during spring and fall migration, more than 300 bird species fly through Denver along the "Central Flyway," according to Denver Parks and Recreation. Denver is sadly a hotspot for birds colliding with windows. “What happens when they’re flying north, is they see the bright lights at the Front Range, and they’re attracted in particular to Denver because it’s our biggest city for hundreds of miles around. They wind up in this really window-dense environment where unfortunately they wind up flying right into windows.” Luethke helps run “Lights out Denver,” a city program started in 2018 which aims to increase awareness of migratory bird collisions with buildings. (via 9 News Denver)
8. Encouraging migration news from Iowa - Big numbers at Big Sioux Recreation Area: Sioux County Conservation park ranger Alex Lynott normally has her binoculars and a bird book close at hand while working around Big Sioux Recreation Area in Hawarden, ready to document notable bird species or notable amounts of certain birds. This spring has already kept her unusually busy, and others throughout the region are noticing the swarms of waterfowl gathering in the region. Lynott has so far observed 19 waterfowl species at BSRA, which she expects is similar to other wetlands in the region with open water available. Those species include the American wigeon, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, cackling goose, Canada goose, canvasback, common goldeneye, common merganser, gadwall, greater white-fronted goose, lesser scaup, greater scaup, mallard, northern pintail, northern shoveler, redhead, ring-necked duck, snow goose and trumpeter swans. (via NWest Iowa News)
9. And good news (and numbers) from Down Under: It has been a tumultuous time on the flood plains of the Murray-Darling Basin. The triple La Nina’s trail of destruction includes massive fish kills, livestock and crop losses and damage to property. With that important caveat in mind, it’s also “a time of ecological celebration”, says Matt Herring, an ecologist who specializes in the region. For domestic travelers, even those with only a passing interest in Australia’s feathered flocks, conditions have produced a birdlife bonanza. Some of the colonies of egrets, ibis and herons are in the tens of thousands, and people are starting to see the juveniles that have fledged, dispersing and scattering beyond the Murray Darling Basin to coastal wetlands. (via The Australian)
10. Persistent avian flu and millions of spring migrants – cause for concern in Canada? Across Canada, an estimated seven million birds and counting have been infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) during a devastating global outbreak that shows no signs of winding down. The virus is also striking and killing other species, from farmed mink to wild sea lions to a domestic dog in Ontario, federal officials announced last week. Now, with millions of birds crossing the continent and flying north to Canada in the months ahead, scientists warn it's yet another opportunity for this virus to spread and evolve. Canadian researchers are watching this year's migration season closely. They aim to gauge how it impacts ongoing virus transmission, and to determine which species are being hit hardest by HPAI — and which ones are, somehow, beating the odds. (via CBC)
11. “Bird Girl” – a fun podcast with birder and author Mya-Rose Craig: We travel for all manner of experiences—culinary, adventure, music, and more. Mya-Rose Craig travels to spot birds. Lale chats with the 20-year-old ornithologist about birdwatching in some of the world's most spectacular places, sharing a platform with climate change activist Greta Thunberg, and her new memoir Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future. Plus, we hear from Condé Nast Traveler contributor Betsy Andrews about her own birdwatching trip to Bonaire. (via Conde Nast Traveler)
12. Finally, we’ll pose this question: Do House Sparrows hold up a “mirror to humanity”? Read on: Readers who cracked open an 1897 issue of a popular birding magazine called The Osprey found something shocking. Alongside articles about “The Taking of a California Condor’s Egg” and a hunter’s notes on “the table qualities of the Sage Grouse” was a blistering takedown of renowned ornithologist Thomas Brewer by his colleague, Elliott Coues: “Everybody knows that Dr. Brewer made a fool of himself . . . the fact that he then died does not alter the other fact of what he did when he was alive . . . The harm he did is incalculable, and his name deserves to be stigmatized . . . Dying makes a great difference to the person chiefly concerned, but has no retroactive effect upon the events of his life, and only sentimentalists allow it to influence their estimate of personal character.” Brewer had been dead for 17 years. What was Coues still mad about? The quarrel started back in the 1870s, when these men clashed over a little brown bird that had been imported from Europe: the House Sparrow. (via Audubon Magazine)
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Hap Ellis, Steller’s Jay – Portland, OR.
Bird Videos of the Week
By ABC 5 Boston, “Massachusetts town warns about aggressive turkeys amid breeding season”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Cornell Nesting Hawks.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Cornell Hawk Parents.
Happy Easter!!!