Wildfowl and Wetlands.

Bird News Items

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Jun 04, 2022

1. Latest from the “Lights Out” front: During migration season, millions of birds fly though Oregon as they head north for the summer. “We’re talking about songbirds, we’re talking about waterfowl, we’re talking about birds of prey,” said Portland Audubon Society conservation director Bob Sallinger. Most of their journey happens after the sun goes down. “You can’t see them at night, but the sky is literally full of birds,” Sallinger said. The Audubon Society shared a “lights-out alert” on Tuesday, based on data published by Colorado State University’s AreoEco Lab. The lab forecasts bird migration patterns across the country and suggests varying levels of lights-out alerts based on how many birds are passing overhead. (via OPB)

2. More Piping Plovers in the news: As birds like the federally endangered Piping Plover nest and raise chicks on beaches across the Long Island Sound and Atlantic Coast, a coalition of bird conservation leaders are testing the theory that beachgoers can save birds’ lives. At Lido Beach in the Town of Hempstead, and Jones Beach State Park, Audubon New York is conducting a three-month study to see if beach-nesting birds can raise more chicks when given space to nest and rest. (via Audubon)

*By Hap Ellis, Northern Flicker, Arnold Arboretum (Boston, MA).*

3. The power of Cornell Lab’s eBird: To experience nature is to delight in it. To reckon with nature is to understand that we’re dealing with an unfathomable amount of loss. A 2019 study published in Science discovered that in North America, nearly 3 billion birds have vanished. The staggering decline of bird populations over the past 50 years is the result of “human-altered landscapes” and “an indicator of a coming collapse of the overall environment.” You know, climate change. The data that eBird collects is obviously useful in the field of ornithology. But its more urgent application, according to Chris Wood, director of eBird, is comprehending our dying planet. Birds especially, because of their susceptibility to minor temperature fluctuations, can be more reliable signals of change. (via The Verge)

4. The profound impact of bird song (with a shout-out to Cornell Lab’s Merlin app): My foray into amateur birding started with a pop song. It was 2017, and I woke up to a catchy avian rhythm outside my tent in a remote corner of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, not long after flying in from New York. Maybe it was the jet lag, but to me, the beat had an uncanny resemblance to Mellow Yellow, the hit ’60s song by the Scottish musician Donovan. From that point, I was on a mission to name that bird. Luckily, I soon met two huge bird nerds: Peter Allison and Ralph Bousfield, well-regarded private safari guides with outfitter Natural Selection tasked with leading our group on a tour around the country. As we bumped along together in a car on a dirt path through the salt-encrusted Makgadikgadi pans, I hummed the Donovan beat to the duo in the hope of finding an answer. (via Bloomberg)

5. Helping UK Curlews one egg at a time: Curlew eggs are being rescued from nests on airfields, then reared and released to help the threatened bird. Eggs are taken from military and civil airfields in the east of England before releasing them in a habitat to thrive. The eggs, collected by Natural England and partners, are hatching at Pensthorpe Natural Park, Norfolk, and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's reserve in Gloucestershire. Ground-nesting curlews are attracted to airfields, which mimic the natural open grassland they prefer. They are also relatively safe from predators such as foxes due to the high security fences that surround them. (via BBC)

*By Hap Ellis, Common Yellowthroat, Kennebunkport, ME.*

6. Borrowing a trick from birds: While chatting to a customer in the family bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur Wright was idly twisting a piece of cardboard that had once contained an inner tube, when he came up with an idea. The “semi-rigid” way in which the cardboard could be deformed yet still retain its stiffness might, he considered, provide an answer to a little problem he was working on with his brother Orville: how to design a wing for a heavier-than-air flying machine. The Wright brothers knew, from ornithological observations, that if a wing on one side of a bird’s body meets the oncoming flow of air at a greater angle than the opposite wing does, then that wing will rise. (via The Economist)

7. Trying now to save what they helped endanger: Tossing flowing crests back and forth, three snow-white Bali mynahs share a branch, squawking and looking around with the trademark blue patches around their eyes catching sunlight. Minutes later, four more join — a sight that would have been impossible in the wild two decades ago. But by working with bird breeders and sellers — the very group that contributed to the prized birds becoming critically endangered — conservationists are releasing them in Bali province, hoping to boost the wild population. Experts say more research and monitoring is needed, but the conservation model has shown promise over the past 10 years and could be replicated for other vulnerable birds in Indonesia. (via The Washington Post)

8. Pitt’s Peregrines: On a dreary Thursday morning, a small group of ornithologists, wildlife biologists, birders and bird enthusiasts gathered on the 40th floor of the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning lobby, aflutter with anticipation. It’s a big day, one not possible since before the pandemic: Banding day for three juvenile peregrine falcons temporarily calling the Cathedral’s nest home. Such “banding” is important to conservation. Birds are tagged with small metal bracelets that allow the birds to be tracked and accounted for throughout their lives. This banding was organized by Pitt, the National Aviary and Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), with Pitt and PGC developing a safety plan. (via PittWire)

9. And speaking of Peregrines, a fun story with great pictures: With an eye for the sky, one man has kept his focus on urban dive-bombing birds of prey, like the peregrine falcon or red-tailed hawk. From the banks of Lady Bird Lake to the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, it’s easy to spot Chris DuCharme with his long grey beard and huge camera lens, always pointed upward. His images show the value and simple pleasure of disconnecting, if only for a moment. In this video from Texas Country Reporter, Ducharme discusses his work and how his passion is fueled by encouragement from his late wife. (via Texas Monthly)

*By Hap Ellis, Piping Plover, Kennebunkport, ME.*

10. Ingenious solution: Montana, rightfully nicknamed the big sky country, is a beautiful state with abundant wide open landscapes, mountains, and wildlife. It’s a fantastic place to visit or live, but if you happen to reside in the city of Butte, that amazing Montana landscape is marred by the remnants of an enormous open pit mine. Not only is it an eyesore, but the water that has filled the pit is deadly to any bird that lands there. As a result, a group of people have taken to some ingenious methods to deter birds from landing in the man-made toxic lake for too long. When they first started, the only tool they had available was a rifle. Scaring birds this way is not the most effective way for all species, though, so lately they have been turning to other tools. One of which is a custom boat built on a foam bodyboard which uses a plethora of 3D printed parts and sensors to allow the operator to remotely pilot the boat on the toxic lake. The team also has a drone to scare birds away, plus an array of other tools like high-powered lasers, propane cannons, and various scopes in order to put together the most effective response to help save wildlife. (via Hackaday)

11. And a solution to a different problem: Birds regularly eat large quantities of crops, and often become accustomed to stationary devices designed to scare them away. That's why scientists are now looking at using autonomous drones to do the job. In a study recently conducted by a team from Washington State University, cameras were installed around small plots of land, accompanied by customized multicopter drones. The live output of the cameras was continuously analyzed by a machine vision algorithm, which had been trained to recognize the wing-flapping movement of birds. The system was able to identify those movements approximately 92 percent of the time, responding by deploying a drone to hover at the relevant location. (via News Atlas)

12. An interesting podcast if you have time: Open space in the West is at a premium, as development continues at breakneck speeds. One of the casualties is wildlife habitats. But a conservation project is partnering with ranchers to protect birds and promote sustainable agriculture. (via WBUR)

13. And we close with this from the New Yorker: It is our pleasure to send you this free copy of the “Wine for Dummies Guide to Birding (for Dummies)” pamphlet. Why? It has come to our attention that many readers of “Wine for Dummies,” the leading unpretentious guide to the world’s most beguiling beverage, have become really, really into drinking wine. And we get it. Wine is so good! It’s why we wrote the book. Plus, the pandemic? The stress? Makes sense. Birding is also a great way to diversify your interests beyond wine. We would sincerely like you to try it. And good news: you don’t have to give up your wine-for-dummies skills. They totally translate. Once you set up your feeder, and maybe buy some binoculars, wait for some birds and then get to work. (via The New Yorker)

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