Taiga Bean-Goose on the Loose.
Bird News Items
1. Let's start with an article from Vanity Fair on Hummingbirds and the devastating LA fires: Type “hummingbird rescue” into any search engine, and the top results will lead you to Terry Masear, a healer for all feathered things that whiz and dart and zing. People seeking such help have usually discovered a wounded little bird in the wild that is unable to fly, while others sometimes have a healthy one trapped inside their homes or businesses. Masear is the expert who can talk you through how to tend to the creature or safely guide it back outdoors. She's also the focus of the uplifting new documentary Every Little Thing about her efforts to personally rehabilitate a handful of hummingbirds who are broken or damaged. Not every one of them has a happy ending, but some do—and each benefits from her care and compassion. (via Vanity Fair)
2. Tracking an "epic journey" of a Jack Snipe: A rare bird that was fitted with a tracker a year ago has flown back to its winter home of Staffordshire, revealing an epic journey across Europe. The BBC met the team behind the fascinating project. The jack snipe is a small and secretive bird and I'm squelching through the site of a former South Staffordshire colliery trying to spot one. Despite the fact there could be as many as 45 in this football pitch-sized patch of soggy ground they are almost impossible to spot. This isn't just because of their small size and excellent camouflage - it's also down to behaviour. Jack snipe don't tend to fly away when you get close to them, instead they hunker down and stay still. You can be right on top of one and never know. (via BBC)
By Hap Ellis, Barred Owl - Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA.
3. A close look at effects of Hurricane Helene on Southern Appalachian neotropical migratory birds: The rain had stopped but the wind was still whipping in downtown Asheville the afternoon Hurricane Helene exited western North Carolina. Branches and leaves were everywhere. Mysteriously, there were views of distant mountains that were not there before. Large stands of trees were gone. Most were snapped in half, while others were pulled out of the ground completely. The storm had destroyed forests everywhere, including over 187,000 acres — about 20% of the total forest acreage — within the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. Today, recovery is still far from over. As those efforts continue, we wonder what happened to the wildlife and their habitats we work so hard to protect. And with spring approaching, we are curious about what is in store for migratory songbirds that rely on these forests as breeding grounds. (via Defenders of Wildlife)
4. "It was the small birds..." - notes from an African safari: It was shortly after sunrise when we spotted the leopard slinking among the parched shrubbery of the open plains. Our guide manoeuvred the open-sided Land Cruiser closer, bouncing, crunching over the dusty terrain, his eyes following the feline into the cover of a dense bush before he announced: “He’s got a kill.” It was late November, and I was with a small group on my first safari in the Savute region of Botswana’s Chobe National Park. The primal spectacle we were about to witness was in line with what I had both expected and anticipated from such an expedition: lions, leopards, elephants and other magnificent beasts revered for their speed, size and ferocity. And yet, by the end of the trip, it would be the smaller, feathered inhabitants of the region that I would be most unexpectedly enamoured with. (via The Globe and Mail)
5. And then winter birding in India - a fun article if for no other reason than you get to see some cool birds: We are almost in the second half of winter, which may seem like a tad late to get started on birdwatching in the Indian subcontinent. Warmer days are getting closer in Visakhapatnam – aren’t we late already to spot winged winter visitors? Not really, say birdwatchers of the city, who are witnessing an intriguing shift. Traditionally associated with peak birdwatching season, January this year has surprised enthusiasts with a late arrival of migratory birds. But rather than being discouraged, Visakhapatnam’s birders see this as an opportunity to extend the joys of birdwatching well into the year. (via The Hindu)
6. Always special to come upon this winter visitor in the field: Walking along a dirt road last winter, I heard a collection of pleasant, sputtering trills coming from a stand of conifers and hardwoods nearby. I’m used to the winter conversation of chickadees around feeder and woods, the cawing of crows and blue jays in the yard, and the high-pitched calls of golden-crowned kinglets sounding from the trees in winter – but I didn’t recognize this sound. Although I typically keep my phone tucked away on walks, I was glad to have it with me now. My Merlin Bird ID app told me the twittering I heard was Bohemian waxwings. A few days later, just around the corner from the spot where I’d heard them before, a huge flock – more than 100 – rose from a giant white pine tree as I passed along the road, then alit in another tree and nearby snag. (via New York Almanack)
By Hap Ellis, Savanah Sparrow - Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA.
7. Gulls and The Great Lakes: In the birding world, gulls don’t always get the most respect. Some people slander them as mere “beach rats” or “rats with wings.” Amar Ayyash attributes this to how people often fail to see wonder when it’s right in front of them all the time. “We tend not to be impressed by ordinary organisms that can thrive around us,” he recently told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “Whether it be a crow or a goose or a duck at the pond, it’s not as fascinating if it’s able to thrive around Homo sapiens for some odd reason.” Nevertheless, some rare gulls are among the most treasured birds for birders to catch sight of in the wild. (via Wisconsin Public Radio)
* Amar Ayyash's The Gull Guide: North America is Here
8. A shout out to the Virginia Rail: Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke recently shared a video of a cute little bird named the "Virginia Rail" (Rallus limicola) that, surprisingly, makes "oink" sounds just like a pig. It's unexpected, that's for sure! In their post, they provided some information about the curious creature, which they describe as "cute, spicy, and leggy." They explain that the bird lives in freshwater marshlands and likes to keep to itself, hiding in the tall reeds and other water plants so it won't be spotted by predators. (via Boing Boing)
9. New York (again) is all a flutter over a very rare visitor: Don't be surprised if there's a random traffic jam headed to Greenwich, NY. Birdwatchers from across the country are making their way to the small upstate town for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While New York State is full of its own impressive wildlife (have you seen a mink or a black bear with your own eyes?), the current animal in question is in a category of its own, since it actually belongs thousands and thousands of miles away. In what Cornell University calls a "rare bird alert", the sightings are mostly remarkable due to the fact that the Taiga Bean-Goose is native to Siberia, an area more than 5,000 miles away. While other (and closer) parts of Europe regularly see the bird, the New York sighting may be the first of its kind in the United States. (via WRRV News)
* Link to Taiga Bean-Goose - Anser fabalis - Birds of the World
By Hap Ellis, Snow Bunting - Castle Island, Boston, MA.
10. As are Ohio birders with a most unexpected visitor: A little blue bird touched down in the Buckeye State this month, and no, we’re not talking about blue jays. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife says the lazuli bunting was spotted in Meigs County earlier this month, and officials said it’s possibly the first documented report of the species landing in Ohio. Lazuli buntings are very small birds, similar to finches, that are named after the gemstone lapis lazuli. Both male and females have the brilliant blue hue, but males have a pumpkin-colored chest whereas females have a tan-colored chest. The males are mostly blue from head to tail, and females have touches of blue on their tail and wings. (via Spectrum News 1)
11. And why wouldn't they? A new study says songbirds may "talk" to other species as they migrate: The night sky teems with migrating songbirds, aloft in their millions following routes etched in evolutionary time. But those flight paths may not be entirely innate, according to research led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Evidence from over 18,300 hours of recorded flight calls suggests songbirds may "talk" to other species as they migrate, forming social connections and—just maybe—exchanging information about the journey. Work from last year by the study's co-authors at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Appalachian Laboratory suggested birds "buddy up" with other species at stopover sites during migration, but there was no evidence until now that different songbird species pair up or communicate vocally on the wing. (via Phys Org)
12. Not sure how many readers are actually wondering about this, but experts have the answers: Despite what you may have seen on social media, wind chimes are not the best way to deter birds from your garden. The truth is that there aren’t any studies to prove if wind chimes deter or attract birds—just anecdotal evidence and common sense approaches to making sure birds are attracted (or kept away from) your yard, whatever your preference. Ditto if you’ve noticed birds aren’t coming to your feeder or bird bath: It’s probably not the wind chimes that’s keeping them away. Reasons they may not use a feeder include the location, type of seed, or time of year. They may not visit a birdbath because it’s too deep, dirty, or too high off the ground. Read on to see what our wildlife experts have to say about birds and the use of wind chimes in your garden. (via Southern Living)
By Hap Ellis, Merlin - Chestnut Hill, MA.
13. Ouch! Farmers turning to lasers: Wild birds are a common problem around many farms, and Keith Gutshall believes he has found a common solution. The owner of Fur Bandit Wildlife Pest Control in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Gutshall has been installing laser deterrent systems around poultry, dairy and fish farms across the state. The technology is relatively new, he said, but Gutshall is convinced it works. “I’m often skeptical about things, but with this I’ve seen the results myself,” he said. “The laser resembles a big club coming toward the bird, and it keeps chasing them.” The system that Gutshall installs is called the AVIX Mark II, which emits a green laser that can cover 15 acres. Using an app on a phone, waypoints are set to establish the path of the laser, and it can be programmed to run continuously or at certain times of the day. (via Lancaster Farming)
14. For backyard birders, tips on disease-proofing your feeders: Recently, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) removed flat “table” bird feeders and associated items from its website sale offerings because the evidence suggests that this style of feeder may be helping spread fatal diseases amongst wild birds, especially finches. The most vulnerable are wild European greenfinches, Chloris chloris, which have been experiencing a severe population decline throughout the U.K. since the mid-2000s due to trichomonosis, a parasite that infects the tissues in a bird’s mouth, throat and esophagus, creating ulcers that make it difficult for the bird to eat and breathe. This nasty parasite, Trichomonas gallinae, spreads through saliva-contaminated water and seeds (ref) — but fortunately cannot infect humans. (via Forbes)
15. And let's close with news from another place we may never get to - China's Hebei Province, self-proclaimed "Birding paradise": An international bird-watching cultural exchange event was held on Wednesday at Hengshui Lake in North China's Hebei province, attracting over 100 participants, including international bird experts, students, photographers and tourists. Every autumn and winter, tens of thousands of migratory birds stop here to rest, with numbers exceeding 100,000 at peak times, according to the local government. In 2024, 336 bird species were recorded, accounting for 69.1 percent of the bird records in Hebei, earning the province the title of "Bird Paradise”. (via China Daily)
* More on the critically endangered duck mentioned: Baer's Pochard - Aythya baeri.
Bird Videos of the Week
Video by Firstpost, “Birding Boom: How AI is Revolutionizing Birdwatching, Boosting Economies”
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Evening Grosbeaks.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Northern Royal Albatross.