The birds of summer
A Hawaiian finchON THE BRINK
Sparrow ID
CLIMATE CHANGE AND tropical birds
August 2018
Attract • Find • Identify • Enjoy
AMAZING DIVERSITY OF BEAKS • GIVING BOBWHITE QUAIL A HAND
EASTERN BLUEBIRD
is one of more than
a dozen North American
species that often nest
near our homes. Page 26
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Visit us online:www.BirdWatchingDaily.com
IN EVERY ISSUEFEATURES
July/August 2018 Vol.32 No.4
Follow us on Twitter:
@BirdWatchDaily
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Flickr: BirdWatching
group photo pool
2 From the editor
5 Birding briefs News about climate change and tropical birds, a new name for a northern jay, potential changes to our checklists, an ancient seabird that had teeth, and recent rare-bird sightings, including four out-of-range warblers.
6 Since you asked JULIE CRAVES Hybridization among bluebirds, and whether male birds ever reject females.
8 On the move EBIRD Summer and winter eBird maps for Stilt Sandpiper and Tennessee Warbler.
14 Birder at large PETE DUNNE
Bad weather? Go birding!
38 ID tips KENN KAUFMAN Identifying Henslow’s Sparrow.
44 Amazing birds ELDON GREIJ The diversity of beaks and how they evolved.
46 Attracting birds LAURA ERICKSON Tips for attracting quail.
55 Classifieds
56 ID toolkit DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY What to look for as birds molt their worn-out feathers.
FROM OUR READERS
47 Your view Sensational photos taken by our readers: Keel-billed Toucan, Orchard Oriole, Harris’s Sparrow, Prong-billed Barbet, and many more.
54 Your letters
16 Sparking a connection with quail How teachers are turning Long Island schoolchildren into
advocates for Northern Bobwhite. BY KEVIN WALSH
20 Last of its kind Extinction claimed the Palila’s closest relatives from the main
Hawaiian Islands, and now it also looms for the distinctive big-billed honeycreeper. BY ALEXANDER CLARK
26 The birds of summer COVER STORY Despite an innate fear of humans, some birds choose to rear
their young right outside our door. BY JO ANN ABELL
30 11 new books A little-known artist’s biography, the collected works of a
pioneering author, a guide to bird photography, a comedic take on birds and birding, a true-crime tale, and six more additions to your bookshelf. BY MATT MENDENHALL
41 Hotspots Near You Tips, maps, and directions for places to bird in North Carolina
and Tennessee. BY ERIC HARROLD AND PATRICIA MITCHELL
Birds through readers’ eyes,
p. 47
Orc
hard
Ori
ole
/Dave W
eth
COVER PHOTO Eastern Bluebird
by Steve Byland/Shutterstock
2 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
EDITORIAL
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fromtheeditor
Web 3.0
Matt Mendenhall, [email protected]
Like any other media resource, websites must evolve with the times. So, for the third time since 2011, we are redesigning our site, www.BirdWatchingDaily.com. The new, fresher look is scheduled to launch in late June, right around the time this issue hits mailboxes, newsstands, and our apps.
We’re retaining the vast majority of the current content — more than 1,600 articles and 17,200 reader-submitted photos. The stories will be organized in a more user-friendly way, so they’re easier to locate, and for those of us who don’t like squinting (i.e., everyone), the typography will be larger and easier to read. The site will continue to feature a calendar of upcoming birding festivals and events; if you’re involved in a festival and don’t see it listed, please submit information about it through the available form, and we’ll post it right away.
Of course, you can also use the site to subscribe to BirdWatching, give a gift subscription, or contact us with questions or comments.
If you haven’t visited our site recently, you’ll notice that we cover the broad interests of birdwatchers: from feeding and attracting tips to conservation and science news. We also offer bird-identification info, but it’s not what you’ll get from lots of other sites. Certainly, other websites present ID info similar to what is available in printed or app-based field guides, and believe me, I’m happy they’re out there.
On our site, however, you’ll find bird-ID content that you won’t see elsewhere: Kenn Kaufman’s “ID Tips” and David Sibley’s “ID Toolkit.” Kenn and David are both authors of outstanding field guides and other books — and longtime contributing editors for BirdWatching. Their columns are among the most popular parts of the magazine, so I’m delighted to present many of their past articles in an easy-to-navigate format on our updated site.
Our online address, www.BirdWatchingDaily.com, hasn’t changed, but I think you’ll like the improvements we have been working on. Please take a look and let me know what you think.
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w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 5
Dale
Morr
is
The wildlife species most often associated with the risks of climate change (loss of sea ice, warming oceans, more precipitation) are the so-called charismatic megafauna: polar bears, penguins, cranes, seals, beluga whales, sea turtles, and other well-known animals.
A less-than-six-inch-long wren that lives in dry forests of Central and South America, on the other hand, is an unlikely candidate for your “birds-affected-by-glob-al-warming” list. Nonetheless, biologists at two Canadian
universities have reported that the warming climate has led to problems for Rufous-and-white Wren, a species that occurs from southern Mexico to Panama and also in Colombia and Venezuela.
The researchers studied a population of the wren in the Guanacaste Conservation Area in northwestern Costa Rica. Every year for 15 years, they captured birds in mist nets, gave each a distinctive combination of colored leg bands, and then surveyed the population to see which birds were still alive and
which had perished.They found that as
temperatures rose, more wrens died. For example, during the 15-year period, wren survival was 15 percent lower in the hottest April than in the coldest April. The research, by Brad Woodworth of the University of Guelph and Dan Mennill of the University of Windsor, is the first to document tempera-ture-induced mortality in a tropical insect-eating bird.
The findings suggest that climate change is putting many tropical wildlife species at risk,
even those that already live in warm environments. The authors, writing in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, say: “Although declines of tropical bird species have primarily been attributed to direct habitat loss and degradation caused by humans, the observed negative effects of increased temperature on survival in an undisturbed habitat reveals a mechanism by which climate change could drive future population declines in the tropics independent of habitat loss.”
Trouble in the tropicsStudy: Climate change affects survival of a Central American wren — and likely many other tropical birds
CANARY IN A COAL MINE: A study of Rufous-and-white Wren in Costa Rica raises new concerns for nonmigratory tropical birds.
EYE ON CONSERVATION
sinceyouasked
6 Bi rdWatc h i ng
A
Q
B. P
eyto
n/U
.S. Fis
h a
nd W
ildlif
e S
ervi
ce
GOING STRONG: The Laysan Albatross Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, grooms her chick in
February 2018 on Midway Atoll.
Albatrosses now lead-free on Midway
Albatross chicks hatching on Midway Atoll
National Wildlife Refuge now have one less
hazard to face on their journey to adulthood. The
atoll, home to the world’s largest population of
Laysan Albatross, has been declared lead-free
after a decade-long effort to remove the toxic
substance from buildings, sand, and soil.
The cleanup has been a high priority for con-
servationists because of the
site’s ecological signiicance.
Set in the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands, Midway
Atoll provides essential hab-
itat for millions of seabirds
and hosts a huge diversity of
species, including tropicbirds, terns, and petrels.
The atoll’s three islands are home to Laysan,
Black-footed, and Short-tailed Albatrosses. A Lay-
san named Wisdom, who at 67 is the world’s oldest
known wild bird, returns here every year to nest.
Midway’s lead contamination was a byprod-
uct of the atoll’s history as an important air and
submarine base during World War II. The Battle
of Midway in 1942 served as a critical turning
point in the war. In 1996, the U.S Navy handed
the Midway Islands over to the Department of
the Interior for management.
The property transfer included 135 buildings,
many covered with lead-based paint. Over the
years, deteriorating paint landed on the ground
and was picked up and eaten by young birds.
Lead is highly toxic, and chicks that ate paint
developed “droop-wing,” a paralysis that made
light impossible and doomed tens of thousands
of young birds to premature deaths. Research-
ers sampled blood from the
chicks and proved deinitively
that lead paint was the culprit.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and American Bird
Conservancy spearheaded
the cleanup, made possible
with support from Audubon California and by a
legal analysis from the Center for Biological
Diversity. The cleanup began in 2011. As
of 2016, more than 20,000 cubic yards of
lead-contaminated soil had been treated and
safely disposed of. By the end of 2017, the
cleanup was complete.
The last of this year’s newly hatched Laysan
Albatross chicks will ly out to sea by August.
And for the irst time in more than 50 years,
none will be left behind on Midway because of
lead poisoning.
Julie Craves is supervisor of avian
research at the Rouge River Bird
Observatory at the University of
Michigan Dearborn and a research
associate at the university’s
Environmental Interpretive Center.
(continued on page 8)
Is this a Mountain Bluebird? I photographed it in late September in Yellowstone National Park. — Scott Yerges, Verdale, Washington
Male Mountain Bluebirds are en-
tirely bright blue above and duller
blue-gray below, but this bird
has hints of chestnut coloration
on his underparts, reminiscent of
Eastern and Western Bluebirds.
His appearance matches descrip-
tions of hybrids between Moun-
tain Bluebirds and Eastern or
Western Bluebirds. These mixed
pairs have been recorded mul-
tiple times. Their offspring are
also usually fertile, evidenced
by successful nestings of hybrid
adults with pure individuals.
Historical reports of mixed
pairs have been most common
between Mountain and Eastern
Bluebirds, which are more closely
related to each other than either is
to Western Bluebirds. Many of
these reports have come from
where the ranges of Mountain
YOUR QUESTIONS
ANSWERED BY
BIRD BANDER
JULIE CRAVES
American Bird Conservancy is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization whose mission is to conserve native birds and their habitats
throughout the Americas. You can learn more about its work to protect seabirds at https://abcbirds.org/program/seabirds.
Probable Mountain x
Western Bluebird
Sco
tt Y
erges
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 7
birdingbriefs
RT Im
ages/
Shu
tters
tock
Say goodbye to Gray Jay. The common resident of northern forests, Perisoreus
canadensis, is officially known, once again, as Canada Jay. The North and Middle America Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society decided this spring to restore the name that had been used for the bird from at least the 1830s through 1957.
Gray Jay had been adopted as the official name of the species in 1957, with the publication of the American Ornithologists’ Union’s fifth checklist. But a group of seven ornithologists argued in a recent proposal to have the name changed back to Canada Jay. Part of the reason, they said, is that Canada’s govern-ment might adopt the species as the country’s national bird, and it would be more likely to do so
if it were named Canada Jay. The classification commit-
tee is also considering several other proposals that, if adopted, would affect birders’ checklists. They include the following:
• Split Yellow Warbler into two species. Yellow Warbler, the most widespread warbler in the Americas includes the familiar migratory group as well as resident groups in Middle America and the Caribbean that have chestnut-colored heads. If they’re split, the common names would probably be Tropical Yellow Warbler (for the resident groups) and American Yellow Warbler (for the migratory groups).
• Split Red-eyed Vireo into two species. The proposal is to separate the resident subspe-cies in South America from the migratory subspecies that
breeds in North America. The name Red-eyed Vireo would likely be retained for the migratory birds while the South American birds would be called Chivi Vireo.
• Change the English name of Rock Pigeon back to Rock Dove. This would avoid a naming conflict with an unrelated family of Australian rock-pigeons and bring the North American checklist in line with other checklists.
• Recognize Mexican Duck as a species. The darker, southern subspecies of Mallard may be more closely related to American Black Duck than to Mallard, research suggests.
• Split Barn Owl into three species. Recent studies suggest that the 28 subspecies of Barn Owl around the world are in fact three species: Western Barn Owl (in Africa, Europe,
and southwest Asia), Eastern Barn Owl (in Australia and South Asia), and American Barn Owl (in the Americas).
• Split LeConte’s Thrasher into two species. This proposal would elevate a subspecies found in Mexico’s Baja California, Vizcaíno Thrasher, to full species status. The name LeConte’s Thrasher would be retained for birds in the U.S.
• Lump Taiga Bean-Goose and Tundra Bean-Goose. These Eurasian relatives of Greater White-fronted Goose sometimes turn up in Alaska and other spots in North America. They were split about a decade ago, but new evidence questions that decision, suggesting the birds be known as a single species.
• Rename Common Gallinule and Common Moorhen. The names of these marsh birds have been confusing for a long time. This proposal would change the name Common Gallinule to American Moorhen and Common Moorhen to Eurasian Moorhen. The Eurasian species has been spotted only once in North America (in 2010 on an Aleutian island).
• Split Cory’s Shearwater into two species. This change would recognize Cory’s Shearwater of the eastern Atlantic as distinct from Scopoli’s Shearwater of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Split White-collared Seedeater into two species. This proposal would separate birds from western and central Mexico (Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater) from the eastern group that occurs from southern Texas to Panama.
The committee’s decisions are expected to be announced in July.
The ever-changing North American checklistCommittee restores an old name for Gray Jay and considers numerous
splits, lumps, and name changes
O CANADA! The bird officially known as Gray Jay for the last 61 years will now be called Canada Jay.
8 Bi rdWatc h i ng
sinceyouasked
(continued on page 10)
A shorebird and songbird to watch for now
eBird is the real-time online checklist operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon. “On the Move” is written by
eBird’s Garrett MacDonald, Chris Wood, Marshall Iliff, and Brian Sullivan. Submit your sightings at eBird.org.
ON THE MOVE FROM eBIRD
Stilt Sandpiper
Tennessee Warbler
Stilt Sandpiper is a medium-size wader that breeds in the arctic and sub-arctic of Alaska and Canada and winters in the southern United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and in portions of Argentina and Uruguay. As the map at left shows, in August, the sandpiper has primarily vacated its breeding range; most individuals take a southerly migration route through the Great Plains and Midwest, though some birds use the Atlantic Coast for stopovers, and fewer still are found in the western states. By January, the species occurs from the Gulf Coast of the U.S. south to the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay. Unlike most of its relatives, this sandpiper often forages in shallow pools rather than tidal mudflats, where it often blends in with flocks of dowitchers and yellowlegs.
Despite being one of the most abundant breeding warblers of the Canadian boreal forest, relatively little is known about the breeding biology of Tennessee Warbler, likely due to the inaccessibility of its breeding grounds and the difficulty of finding its nests. In August, the species shows a marked southerly push into the northern Great Plains, the Midwest, and the northeastern U.S., though some individuals linger within their breeding range from Quebec to Yukon. In January, during the non-breeding season, the Tennessee Warbler is common and widespread from southern Mexico to Colombia, where it occurs from sea level to mid-elevations in a variety of habitats like gardens, second-growth forests, and coffee plantations. Listen for the emphatic, staccato song of males in the spring (including migration) and occasionally in the fall, when some males also sing.
August 2007-17
August 2007-17
January 2007-17
January 2007-17
(continued from page 6)
and Eastern Bluebirds overlap
— in the southern prairie provinc-
es of Canada and the northern
Great Plains states of the U.S.
However, mixed pairs have been
recorded in Nebraska, eastern
Minnesota, and even southern
Ontario, aided by the wanderlust
of Mountain Bluebirds.
The tendency of Mountain
Bluebirds to disperse has
contributed to their hybridizing
with Western Bluebirds, too.
When new habitats are created
— often by ire that opens up
forested areas and results in
snags that provide nest cavities
— Mountain Bluebirds often
colonize them irst. When the
sites are within the range of
another bluebird species, the
scarcity of potential mates of the
“right” species can promote
mixed pairs.
The connection between
ephemeral successional habitats
and bluebird hybridization was
tested with Mountain and
Western Bluebirds in western
Montana. Researchers created
“new” habitat by putting up nest
boxes and followed numerous
pairs over many years. They
found Mountain Bluebirds moved
in irst and were eventually
displaced by more aggressive
Western Bluebirds as they arrived
over subsequent years. Hybrid-
ization was more common early in
the experiment, when Mountain
Bluebirds were more common
and dominant Western Bluebirds
had begun to use the habitat.
Given the location of the
photo, it seems more likely this
bird is the offspring of a Mountain
x Western pair. Wildires in
western North America have
increased in number and extent
in recent years. With so much
early successional habitat
being formed, we may see
more of these hybrid bluebirds
in the future.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 9
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Secret life of birdsTARGET IN SIGHT: At the moment
that a diving Brown Pelican’s bill
touches the water, a ripple appears
on the surface while the bird’s
eyes remain locked on its prey. The
scene occurred on a recent spring
day on the Gulf of Mexico, when
huge numbers of a fish called
mullet came toward shore to
spawn, in turn causing a pelican
feeding frenzy.
Ala
n M
urp
hy
Q
A
10 Bi rdWatc h i ng
sinceyouasked
(continued from page 8)
Send a question
Send your question to ask@
birdwatchingdaily.com or visit
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com
and look for “Contact us.”
In many species, male birds are rejected by females. Are there any instances of females being rejected by males? — Mark O’Keefe, Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
In a few bird families, includ-
ing some shorebirds such as
phalaropes, females compete for
males. In these situations, males
are the choosy sex, in which case
females can be rejected. However,
in most families, the males are the
competitive sex and females the
choosy sex. There has been little
study of female trait preference by
males in this familiar system. The
most frequent examples are in
polymorphic species, when birds
occur in more than one color form.
These species can exhibit “as-
sortative mating” in which birds
choose mates some or all of the
time based on their color form. For
example, Gouldian Finches, which
are often kept as pets, have three
naturally occurring head colors:
black, red, and yellow-orange.
Male Gouldian Finches have a
strong tendency to only mate with
females of their own color form.
Researchers have also found
evidence of a subtler type of
assortative mating not based on
morphology. High-quality males
may choose high-quality females
(those that will help achieve the
highest reproductive success),
while less competitive males
focus their attention on lower-
quality females. More study is
needed to understand cues used
by birds to signal “quality” and
under what conditions this type of
choosiness is implemented.
FIRST IN COLORADO: In May, this Golden-crowned
Warbler, a bird of Mexico and Central America,
was seen on an eastern Colorado ranch.
FIRST IN THE UNITED STATES: On April 24, this
juvenile Great Black Hawk was spotted near the
shores of South Padre Island, Texas.
Javi G
onzale
z
Dennis
Lane
FOURTH IN NEW YORK STATE: Birders found this
Kirtland’s Warbler in mid-May in Manhattan’s
Central Park, the first ever for the popular hotspot.
Bru
no O
liveir
a
Gle
nn W
alb
ek
FIFTH IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: In mid-April, this
female Great-tailed Grackle was observed in
downtown Vancouver, a first for the city.
SECOND AT MAGEE MARSH: This Black-throated
Gray Warbler was seen May 14 from the boardwalk
at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in northwestern Ohio.
Lucia
n P
ars
hall
Adam
Dhalla
Recent rare-bird sightings in North America
PHOTO GALLERY
FIRST IN CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA:
This Fan-tailed Warbler turned up on Hilltop Rd.,
northwest of Portal, in mid-April.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 11
birdingbriefs
Puget Sound Bird Fest
This annual fall celebration of birds and
nature, held in Edmonds, Washington,
includes speakers, guided walks, land-
and water-based ield trips, exhibits,
and educational activities for children
and adults. Noah Strycker will discuss
his global Big Year and lead ield trips.
September 14-16
Birding Festival of the Keys
This event in the Florida Keys will feature
full-day ield trips, birding hikes, species
workshops, lectures, keynotes, and boat,
kayak, and pelagic trips. Target birds
include White-crowned Pigeon, Man-
grove Cuckoo, Magniicent Frigatebird,
Cuban Yellow Warbler, Black-whiskered
Vireo, Peregrine Falcon, pelagic species,
and migrant raptors, warblers, songbirds,
and shorebirds. September 27-30
Monterey Bay Birding Festival
Participants in this festival at California’s
Monterey Bay will have the chance to see
Golden Eagle, California Condor, Bushtit,
Townsend’s Warbler, and Sooty Shear-
water. And they’ll hear from keynote
speakers John Muir Laws and Jonathan
Franzen. September 28-30
Alabama Coastal BirdFest
This event, in its 15th year, features bird-
and nature-watching spots around Bald-
win and Mobile Counties, including Fort
Morgan, Dauphin Island, Weeks Bay, and
the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Exhibits and a
raptor show are planned. October 3-6
Festivals + eventsFour festivals where you can enjoy fall migration
For festival contact info, or to list your event in our calendar, visit our website:
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/events
1-800-728-4953 fieldguides.com
Cory Gregoryin Alaska, Arizona,
Australia, Cape May,Colombia, Colorado, CostaRica, Jamaica, New Mexico,
Oaxaca, and Oregon
Seriously fun birding!
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Terry Stevensonin Ethiopia, Hungary,
India, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa,
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Jay VanderGaastin Alberta, Australia,Costa Rica, France,Holland, Jamaica,
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Bret Whitneyon 8 distinct
Brazil itinerariesacross this great
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“I like the people-centeredphilosophy of Field Guides. The trips are beautifully organized and thought out, and the guides are superb. ”—From a 2017 participant on
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With great guides and stellar office service, hereare a few options for some seriously fun birding:
What to read onlineTwo important stories we
published recently on our site
The Orange-bellied Parrot is one of the most endangered wild birds on Earth. It breeds at only one known place — Melaleuca, Tasmania — and winters on the Australian mainland.
More than 300 parrots are part of a captive-breeding program, but the wild population numbered just 19 birds in early September 2017, when they returned to Tasmania. The wild birds and 23 captive-bred adults that were introduced to the wild produced 29 juveniles this past year, bringing the total to 71.
We recently published a thorough report about the species on our website.
Just as our Founding Editor Eldon Greij was finishing his “Amazing Birds” column for this issue (page 44), which is about the evolution of modern birds’ beaks from reptilian-like snouts, a research team published new details about an iconic toothed bird that represents a pivotal moment in the transition from dinosaurs to modern-day birds.
Ichthyornis dispar holds a key position in the evolutionary trail that leads from dinosaurian species to today’s birds. It lived nearly 100 million years ago in North America and looked something like a toothy seabird. New specimens with three-dimensional cranial remains — including a complete skull and two previously overlooked cranial elements — showed the bird had “a modern-look-ing brain along with a remarkably dinosaurian jaw muscle configuration,” said paleontologist Bhart-Anjan Bhullar.
The article about the discovery on our site includes a video of Bhullar discussing Ichthyornis.
Read more about these stories at www.BirdWatchingDaily.com.
Orange-bellied Parrot
JJ H
arr
ison
/Wik
imedia
Com
mons
Small package, sharp resultshe all-in-one superzoom capabilities of Sony’s RX10 IV
allow birders to shoot stunning wildlife images without the
weight of traditional DSLR gear
Text and photograph by Bob Krist
GREAT EGRETS NEAR SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MEXICO,
APRIL 5, 2018. SONY RX10 IV, FOCAL LENGTH 177.9MM.
EXPOSURE: 1/1000 SEC. F/4, ISO 100.
DON’T YOU HATE IT when you’re on the
road or traveling on vacation when an unex-
pected birding possibility pops up? More oten
than not, your camera with the big glass is siting
back at home or maybe at the hotel.
Either way, you may be able to spot your
quarry but not get a good shot of it.
I experienced that very situation recently
on a trip to San Miguel de Allende in the cen-
tral high desert of Mexico. It’s a charming colo-
nial town known for its beautiful and colorful
architecture, culture, food, and shopping. But
not for its birding.
And yet, there they were, a colony of Great
Egrets basking gloriously in the late-aternoon
sun, perched in a gorgeous purple jacaranda
tree in full bloom. It turns out that the trees on
the edge of Juarez Park are a favorite seasonal
rookery for the birds. Who knew?
I pulled out my Sony RX10 IV, zoomed
it out to 600mm, and framed up my shot.
he phase-detection autofocus quickly
locked onto my target, and the multi-
segment meter gave me a perfect expo-
sure in the tricky backlight.
I didn’t have a tripod, but the camera’s
Active Image Stabilization was giving me
sharp results handheld. Because of the
large 1-inch-square backlight sensor, I
was able to use an ISO high enough to
allow for action-stopping shuter speeds
and still get a noise-free image with great
dynamic range.
his camera has changed the ballgame
for me. It’s small and light enough to carry up and
down hilly cobblestoned streets, like those in
San Miguel, all day without making me feel like a
camel at the end of a trans-Sahara trek.
he 24-600mm equivalent zoom range is
versatile enough to handle a variety of subject
mater, from architecture to street scenes, por-
traiture, and yes, even wildlife. he large backlit
1-inch chip makes it usable indoors and in low
light and night scenes. And the light weight
and compact size make it easy to carry; it won’t
require you to buy an extra seat on a regional
or charter plane on safari, and it won’t need a
backpack that deies the newer and ever more
restrictive carry-on size and weight dimensions
(especially on foreign airlines).
here’s an old saw that says “the best camera
is the one you have with you,” and while there
have been other superzoom bridge cameras
with impressive zoom ranges before, none of
them featured the bigger 20-megapixel chip, or
the Carl Zeiss glass, that makes the results from
the RX10 IV publishable and printable to some
impressive sizes.
My stock agency happily takes the images
from this camera, and I’ve illustrated a couple of
travel articles in magazines with the photos from
the RX10 IV. My only regret is that I didn’t have
this camera earlier in my career.
I’ve converted a few of my skeptical
pro-shooting friends who found themselves
experiencing more and more fatigue and achy
knees and backs as they lugged their big tradi-
tional DSLR gear around (none of us are spring
chickens!). One of them, a network cameraman,
now uses his RX10 IV as a second camera for his
network footage; that’s how good the camera is
in video, too — 4K, 120fps HD slow motion, it’s
all in there.
So, if you’ve been looking to lighten your load
without compromising your lens reach or image
quality, consider the Sony RX10 IV. Your back,
your knees, and your eyes will all thank you!
Bob Krist is an award-winning freelance
photographer who works regularly for
magazines such as National Geographic
Traveler, Smithsonian, and Outdoor
Photographer. he Society of American Travel
Writers has named him “Travel Photographer
of the Year” three times, and his work has been
featured in many books and videos.
ADVERTISEMENT
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RX10 IV’S INCREDIBLE TECHNOLOGY AND VERSATILITY,
VISIT WWW.SONY.COM/ELECTRONICS/CYBER-SHOT-COMPACT-CAMERAS/DSC-RX10M4.
14 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
birderatlarge BY PETE DUNNE
I believe I experienced a first this past spring. On April 16, I turned out at 7:30 a.m. for my regular Monday morning South Cape May Meadows field trip, and no participants showed. Yes, the steady, pelting rain and 40 MPH winds certainly had something to do with this, but when it comes to out-and-out perseverance, no avocational group seems more impervi-ous to inclement weather than birders.
Or as one co-leader confided, “No matter how bad it is, you can almost always count on at least one person to show.” So hardy are birders that during
the 1987 World Series of Birding, a day likened by one participant to “birding in a car wash,” not a single team quit the field. Anticipating a day-long deluge, I packed three sets of premium rain gear in my kit. Shedding my second, sodden set around 3 a.m., I didn’t even bother to don the third. It was apparent that wet was just what we were going to be all day and I might as well get used to it.
Personally, I hate being cold and wet, but as a result of my avocational predilections, I have been cold and wet more times than anyone I know who
hates being cold and wet. Back in 1978, I helped conduct a hawk watch on the coast of Alaska, 60 miles north of Yakutat. This corner of the planet averages 156 inches of precipitation per year in the form of rain, sleet, and snow — typically all three at once. It rained every day but one for two weeks. So rain-soaked were our tented living quarters that the bolt-action 30-06 rifle brought along for bear protection rusted in its case inside the tent. My single set of wool gloves, hung nightly from a chord in the tent to dry, dripped icicles every morning.
Typically, on wilderness outings such as this, the sound of your bush plane approaching kindles disappointment. On this trip, on “pickup day” it signaled salvation. But, back to Cape May.
It is something of a tradition for our annual Cape May Autumn Festival to enjoy rainy conditions. It makes the vendors in the convention center happy, and it often spawns some good birds — jaegers, lots of Peregrines, migrating sea ducks, and other birds impervious to weather. The festival is also a matter of some mirth for non-birding residents of Cape May. A local friend once confided that it was a tradition to invite house guests down for the festival weekend to gawk at the ranks of the “silly” birders all standing in the rain.
Silly, no. Determined, yes. One of my former colleagues, Rich
Kane, was famous for conducting field trips “no matter what.” His streak ended with a hurricane that cut off access to key coastal shorebird sites.
As many birders know, bad weather often results in good birding. Migratory fallouts or “groundings” along the Gulf Coast are frequently caused by storms penetrating the gulf. The best fallout of Bay-breasted Warblers I ever encoun-tered was the direct result of a grounding rain in late May. On that momentous day, the trees along the Patriots’ Path in Morristown, New Jersey, were absolutely festooned with the rakish cinnamon- breasted birds. Rainy conditions can also make birds very approachable.
The late, great birder and ornitholo-gist Harold Axtell once told me about
Bad weather? Go birding!Why a little (or a lot) of rain shouldn’t stop us
from getting out thereJohann S
chum
acher
DETERMINED: Two birders at Point Pelee National Park, Ontario, don’t seem to mind the rain.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 15
coming upon an exhausted Black- throated Green Warbler asleep in a puddle on Point Pelee, Ontario. When he relocated the bird to a branch, he said it barely stirred. Harold wore galoshes and a weather-worn fedora in all conditions, so he was always prepared for rain.
Me, I’ve learned over time to dress for the weather. My current favorite trick is to double bag, i.e., wear a set of stretchy rock climber’s rain gear under an outer layer of double-ply Gore-Tex. But when it’s really bad, I drag out my trusty ol’ industrial-strength Helly Hansen bibbed bottoms and hooded jacket, whose rubberized coating sheds anything
nature can squeeze out of the sky. It comes in drab green, so you don’t look like the sullen kid your mother used to send out to the bus stop in that univer-sally hated yellow rain slicker.
Look, you (probably) own waterproof binoculars. Why not put the manufac-turer’s boast to the test? See you Monday, rain or shine. But if it makes you feel better, if the weather is rough, we have been known to vacate the Meadows and relocate to the Sunset Grill on Delaware Bay, whose roofed outdoor eating section offers dry viewing on all but west winds — winds that push jaegers and hurri-cane-spawned tropical vagrants onshore.
Anyone up for a tropicbird or two? It’s happened.
You bring the high expectations, we’ll supply the rain. And in case your binoculars are not waterproof, we’ll have a supply of loaners on hand.
It’s up to you to figure out how to keep the ocular lenses free of water. Rain guards are a fine solution, or you can shorten the neck strap and use your chin and brimmed cap as a rain guard. Hands placed loosely over the lenses work, too, but remember to leave a gap between your hand and the eyecups to keep the lens from fogging.
Staying home is not an option. We have a reputation to live up to.
Pete Dunne is New Jersey Audubon’s birding
ambassador at-large. He is the author of many
books, including Birds of Prey, The Art of Bird
Finding, and Bayshore Summer.
Personally, I hate being cold and wet, but as
a result of my avocational predilections, I have been
cold and wet more times than anyone I know who
hates being cold and wet.
www.fotopro.comFotopro US 492C Cedar Lane #545, Teaneck, NJ 07666 � [email protected]
16 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
SPECIES PROFILE
SPARKING a connection to
Tim
Zuro
wski/
Shu
tters
tock
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 17
How an outdoor educator and classroom
teachers are turning Long Island
schoolchildren into caretakers and advocates
for Northern Bobwhite
BY KEVIN WALSH
quail
My family’s first encounter with Northern Bobwhite quail came shortly after moving from New York City
to the suburbs of Long Island 40 years ago. Relocating from the city to the suburbs not only comes with a whole new cast of human neighbors but also an unknown cast of furry, scaly, and feathery ones as well.
My dad loves to tell the tale of the day my mother excitedly called him at work to declare our new home came with our very own flock of chickens. In reality, the chunky, earth-toned birds that were contentedly scratching and pecking at the ground outside our kitchen windows were bobwhite quail.
Once a common occurrence on our property, quail sightings have not happened in 25 years. Every location where I reliably saw them or heard their iconic call of bob-white has grown silent.The subject of my mother’s humorous misidentification is quickly vanishing across much of its former range.
Birdwatchers in eastern North America have witnessed a continuing plummet of bobwhite populations. From 1966 to 2014, the overall population dropped by about 85 percent. This precipitous decline has been due primarily to loss of habitat, as farmland reverts back to mature forest or is subdivided for development. Fire- suppression practices have also resulted in thicker, brushier woodlands, not the open, grassier woodlands favored by bobwhite.
The decline has occurred despite the fact that the bobwhite is a popular gamebird and “one of the most intensive-ly studied birds in the world,” according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds
of North America reference series. The species also holds the distinction of being the first wild animal to have its life history examined in a modern systemat-ic study. The conservationist Herbert Stoddard published The Bobwhite Quail: Its Habits, Preservation, and Increase in 1931, a landmark study in the field of wildlife management. And in 1933, Aldo Leopold wrote about bobwhite populations and how prescribed fire could help manage their habitat in a report that became “a cornerstone of fire ecology research.”
Today, conservation work on behalf of bobwhite is overseen by the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (https://bringbackbobwhites.org). It coordinates 25 state fish and wildlife agencies and various conservation organizations to restore wild popula-tions of bobwhite quail in the U.S. to levels comparable to 1980. Its efforts include an online Geographic Informa-tion System-based conservation tool to help state biologists and others improve the bird’s habitat.
BOBWHITES AT SCHOOL
In addition to the important work by government agencies, bobwhite conservation also occurs in elementary school classrooms, you might be surprised to learn.
Long Island-based biologist Eric Powers, who runs the website Your Connection to Nature (www.yc2n.com), is an outdoor educator who often leads field trips guiding students through woods and fields to study the flora and fauna. Over the years, he began to experience a disturbing trend: The students were picking up more and more ticks.
WIDESPREAD BUT
UNCOMMON: A male Northern
Bobwhite struts in a Texas
refuge. The bird’s range
includes eastern North
America, Mexico, and several
Caribbean islands.
18 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
In 1999, while conducting a BioBlitz, an event during which biologists and volunteers scour parkland to catalog species, Powers noticed that at the same time the tick population was skyrocket-ing, ground-dwelling birds, especially bobwhite, were disappearing. The BioBlitz, which was held in a New York state park, also revealed an invasion of house cats: free-roaming pets and an ever-growing feral cat population. The cats had decimated the quail, a vora-cious consumer of low-lying insects, including ticks. The ecosystem was out of balance.
When ticks bite people, of course, they transmit diseases, most notably Lyme disease. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention estimate that 300,000 people per year are afflicted with Lyme, which can lead to many complications and in rare cases death.
With this in mind, in 2002 Powers turned to teachers who typically raised ducks or chickens in their classrooms to educate kids about animal life cycles. He asked them instead to raise bob-white in place of domestic fowl and release them when they are 10 weeks old. The birds then do their part to control ticks. It’s called the “Bobwhite Quail vs. Tick Study: A Community Conservation Experiment.”
The bobwhite pied piper has rallied his legion of volunteers each year since starting the study. Ranger Eric, as he is
affectionately known, visits participat-ing schools annually to educate students about the plight of the bobwhite, tick safety precautions and responsible pet ethics, and to inform them of their upcoming role as quail caretakers.
NUMEROUS LESSONS
I teach fourth grade in a Long Island school, and when I first heard about the study and reintroduction program, I jumped at the opportunity to enroll my class. It has allowed me to address many aspects of the science curriculum with my students, including predator/prey dynamics, the perils of non-native species, instinct, adaptations, life cycles, ecosystem balance, and the humane treatment of animals.
For a modest investment, I bought a Hova-Bator incubator and automatic egg turner capable of housing 120 quail eggs. Each spring, I order eggs from bobwhite quail farms as far north as Maine and as far south as Georgia. Every time, the
The bobwhite pied piper has
rallied his legion of volunteers each
year since starting the study.
DIFFERENCES: A female
bobwhite has a buffy throat and
eye stripe, characteristics that
are white on males.
Dennis
W. D
on
ohue/S
hu
tters
tock
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 19
eggs have weathered shipping in their little cardboard boxes, unbroken and viable, to the amazement of the students.
I’ve learned the hard way that a quality thermometer/hygrometer is critical. It helps maintain the tempera-ture and humidity at the ideal tempera-ture range of 99-100 degrees F. An inaccurate temperature reading can lead to deformities or, as in our case, a complete failure of the eggs to hatch. With a reliable thermometer now in place, our hatch rate has averaged around 80 percent each year.
Year after year, when the optimum temperature has been maintained, the chicks have hatched precisely on the 23rd day of incubation. Since hatching may begin overnight or on a weekend, we install a live camera that can be viewed via the Internet.
A heat lamp and donated fish tank serve as the indoor brooder. From the beginning each spring, the students are mesmerized by the antics of the precocial chicks.
When quail reach about two weeks of age, most participating schools transfer their chicks to a centrally shared outdoor quail coop. But thanks to a local Eagle Scout, Kyle Thompson, who constructed our courtyard quail coop as his Eagle Scout project, my students have been able to witness the entire quail life cycle on school grounds.
The coop enables us to acclimate the birds to the sights and sounds of the great outdoors without immediately throwing them to the wolves. We’ve witnessed Red-tailed Hawks and crows investigating by day and discovered Great Horned Owl feathers shed next to the coop at night. Vigilance is practiced without the risk of casualty.
A heat lamp and shelter from the elements are essential. The unpredict-ability of springtime weather along with the absence of a mother to brood over the young birds makes regulation of body temperature a real concern.
The instant the chicks are outside, their keen eyesight and insectivorous
instincts are on display — readily consuming anything that mistakenly enters the coop. To satisfy the chicks’ growing appetites, students collect insects from home that are then combined together and mixed with leaves. When first placed in the coop, the neophytes move in ever so slowly, necks fully extended, cautiously inspecting the heap. Eventually, hunger overcomes fear and a frenzy of oversized feet begin furiously kicking and scratching, revealing the treats beneath. Worms, grubs, beetles, ants, termites, crickets, pill bugs, and daddy longlegs all succumb to our voracious covey of quail. To the delight of the students, tugs-of-war break out as two or more chicks clamp their bills down on the opposite ends of a worm. They slip and slide and roll about until a winner is declared or a worm equitably snaps in two.
CELEBRATING THEIR RELEASE
At about 10 weeks of age, the release date is scheduled. This has become a celebratory gathering and source of community pride. Students transport the birds in small animal carriers down park pathways to the release site. Evident in their smiles is pride in knowing they have raised the birds they are about to release. In typical bobwhite style, when the cage doors open, the birds bolt to freedom as if they were shot out of a cannon. Occasionally, one or two alight on the head or shoulder of an astonished student before responding to the chorus of locator calls coming from the rest of the flock.
For some students, the program’s benefits extend beyond mere academic enrichment. I’ve witnessed students’ birdwatching hobbies take flight. Their passion unfolds as they scour our library shelves for bird books, purchase binoculars, install feeders, and report their daily sightings to me. For others, the experience has provided a much-needed emotional escape. For one student whose father died mid-year, collecting insects to feed the quail instilled a sense of peace and purpose to
his school day. In one sense, the birds became an extension of family.
As a birdwatcher, I long to see a return to the days of my youth, when the call of bob-white announced spring had sprung. This charismatic bird awakened in me a love of nature from an early age. I would always make sure to scatter cracked corn on the ground below my backyard feeding station in anticipation of their arrival. When danger was detected, which often was my movement on the other side of the window, the covey of 10 to 15 birds would scamper into the brush, instinctively forming a circle with all eyes facing outward for a 360-degree view of the potential threat.
They were my backyard’s miniature version of musk oxen. No other bird seemed as social as bobwhite, meander-ing the mosaic of my neighborhood as a team. No other bird’s camouflage could match their cryptic concealment, nor the heart-stopping adrenaline rush experienced when they would bolt from cover in every which direction from right under foot!
With the winter’s first snowfall, I religiously set out to track them down. Following their one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, winding, crisscrossing tracks was this budding birdwatcher’s version of hide-and-seek!
It may take many years to determine whether our effort bolsters our local bobwhite population. In the meantime, we are inspiring many students to become the caretakers of birdwatching’s future. And as one recently diagnosed with Lyme disease thanks to a tick bite, I find satisfaction in knowing that our bobwhite may be enjoying a few juicy ticks as you read this article.
Kevin Walsh is a fourth-grade teacher, a
naturalist, and a lifelong birdwatcher who
lives on the north shore of Long Island, New
York. In our December 2016 issue, he wrote
“An Owl Box of Your Own.”
ATTRACTING QUAIL
For advice on how to attract
bobwhite and other quail species
to your yard, turn to “Attracting
Birds” by Laura Erickson, page 46.
As a birdwatcher, I long to see a return to
the days of my youth, when the call of
bob-white announced spring had sprung.
CONSERVATION
HANDSOME AND ENDANGERED:
A Palila perches in its habitat on Mauna
Kea, on the Big Island of Hawai’i, in spring
2016. Its population has fallen to fewer than
2,000 individuals.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 21
Last of its kind
Extinction claimed the Palila’s closest relatives from
the main Hawaiian Islands, and now it also looms for
the distinctive big-billed honeycreeper
By Alexander Clark
Ale
xander
Cla
rk
22 Bi rdWatch i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
Ninety percent of this bird’s diet is lethally toxic to anything else its own size. It can only be found on a
volcanic mountain located on the most isolated island chain on the planet. It relies almost entirely on one species of tree to survive, and its total population is now estimated to be fewer than 2,000 individuals. It is the last of the incredible seed-eating finches on the main Hawaiian Islands, and it’s called the Palila; Loxioides bailleui.
The Hawaiian Islands are typically thought of as paradise, and in certain aspects they are. Images of black sand beaches, clear blue water, palm trees, and sea turtles are brought to mind when people think of this magical place. On the Kona coast of the Big Island, the sunset appears to illuminate jewels lying deep in the ocean as the sun’s rays touch the gentle waves. While the sunsets and waves are breathtaking, the true gems of the islands can be found in the trees.
Hawaii’s endemic honeycreepers include four main groups: the nectari-vores (I’iwi, ‘Apapane, ‘Akohekohe), the generalists (Amakihi and ‘Elepaio), the insectivores (‘Akiapola’au and its cousins), and the seedeaters (Palila, Nihoa Finch, Laysan Finch, and their extinct kin like Greater Koa Finch). Each species contributes (or contribut-ed) to a complex and delicate ecosystem on the islands of the 50th state.
THE BIRD ON THE MOUNTAIN
The Palila is unmistakable: a yellow, gray, and white bird that sports a robust black bill. Unlike the elegant and often seemingly delicate bills of many other honeycreepers, the Palila has evolved a big can-opener of a bill. Its song is sweet and gives a tenderness to the dry landscape that it calls home.
On the main Hawaiian Islands, the Palila is the last of the seed-eating honeycreepers. Its closest cousins, the Laysan and Nihoa Finches, are found on islands 450 to 1,100 miles from the Big Island. Similar in size, shape, and color, they belong to a different genus, Telespi-
za, while Palila belongs to Loxioides. For the last 70 years, the Palila has
been found only on the volcanic mountain of Mauna Kea, which is roughly in the middle of the Big Island. According to sub-paleontological
records, before Polynesians colonized the islands, the species was common on Hawai’i as well as O’ahu, Maui, and Kaua’i. The entire population now resides on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea, in the midst of the Māmane forests ranging from 2,000-3,000 meters (6,500-9,800 feet) in elevation. The species currently occupies a mere 10 per-cent of its historical Big Island range, having once extended to the coast.
While the Palila’s home range is small, its diet is just as limited. It feeds almost exclusively on young Māmane seed pods, which are toxic to most other wildlife. The young pods contain quinolizidine alkaloids, which, if digested, would likely make ill or even kill any other small animal in a short amount of time. Even within the first few days of life, Palila feed their young a mashed version of the highly toxic plant. Around 40 percent of the bird’s day is spent foraging, according to Paul Banko, a biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey who has worked with the Palila for decades and has a thorough under-standing of the species and its ecology.
How the bird evolved such an odd diet is still being researched, but Banko and his colleagues have an idea about how it happened. “Palila eat flowers and leafy parts of other plant species,” he says. “So, their pathway to Māmane seeds may have been through general-ized herbivory and selection for tolerance to increasing levels of alka-loids.” In other words, natural selection built a resistance in Palila to withstand the detrimental impacts of the seeds. Once the problem of digesting alkaloids was overcome, the Palila was able to take advantage of this nutritious yet “untouchable” food source.
The bird’s breeding habits are just as fascinating. Palila may not breed every year due to drought and a lack of Māmane pods. Since Palila are dietary specialists, their breeding behaviors difer from those of many other passerines. The female is responsible for both nest-site selection and most of the brooding. The nest usually consists of only two eggs. Incubation takes about 16 days, and the chicks ledge at least 21 days after hatching. By comparison, Field Sparrow, a common mainland bird, incubates for 14 days, and the chicks fledge after only five days.
Not only is the nesting period longer in Palila than in other birds, but also the young’s dependence upon on their parents is also much longer. Even after obtaining the skill to ly, the young stay close to their parents for up to four months before becoming completely independent. In this time, the young learn vocalizations, danger avoidance, and the all-important skill of peeling open Māmane seed pods. Young Palila typically eat Māmane lowers instead of pods because it takes time to successfully learn to peel open the tough seed pods.
Once the birds are independent, they remain close to home. Individuals rarely move far from where they hatched; this can be problematic for the population due to invasive species and drought in
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 23
the diminishing habitat. The species often moves in small groups, so if you’re lucky enough to find one Palila, others can often be seen nearby. The groups are typically comprised of family members, but they can also be made up of individuals of the same sex seeking better foraging habitat.
FINDING THE UNICORN
In recent years, I have worked as a bird researcher, including in Hawai’i. Few experiences rivaled the feeling of hearing a Palila’s song in the early afternoon. While I spent the majority of my time on the Big Island in lower- altitude forests, I tried to make it up to Mauna Kea as often as I could to visit the incredible Māmane habitat.
The Māmane forests are quite different from the jungles in and around Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, about 30 miles southeast. Instead of wet ferns and towering ‘Ōhi’a, the Māmane forests of Mauna Kea are humbler. Vegetation is more spread out, the Māmane usually don’t grow higher than 10 meters (33 feet), and the sounds are very different. Instead of the constant ambiance of ‘Apapane, the skies are filled with the sounds of Eurasian Skylarks and the occasional House Finch lock.
I’ll never forget witnessing a family group of Palila interacting with one another on Mauna Kea one afternoon.
Watching the male, female, and recently fledged juvenile, still with a bicolored yellow and black bill, was truly remark-able. Seeing the critically endangered birds was, for me, the equivalent of finding a unicorn riding a tricycle. Best of all, I was able to photograph and video their interactions.
A STACKED DECK
While witnessing this incredible bird is nothing but pure bliss, there is also the stark reality that the species faces two major threats: invasive species (intro-duced ungulates, birds, plants, rats, and cats) and drought. People are the source
HUMBLE HOME: The foraging habitat of Palila is mostly comprised of Mamane and naio trees, as this
view from the Palila Discovery Trail shows. The Hualalai volcano is visible in the distance at right.
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of both factors that plague the Palila and its environment. (The recent eruptions on the Big Island aren’t a major concern for the bird; the Kilauea volcano is too far from Mauna Kea to have a big impact.)
While the majority of other honey-creeper species have been decimated by avian pox and malaria, the Palila, for now, has avoided the diseases. In Hawai’i, mosquitos carry pox and malaria, but luckily, the insects haven’t made it to the Palila’s elevation (yet). As global tempera-tures rise due to climate change, however, the mosquito’s elevational “threshold line” continues to rise. The upslope movement of the insects has been measured across all the Hawaiian Islands and doesn’t show any signs of ceasing.
Invasive species aren’t just limited to exotic animals; they can also include plant species. Fountain grass, a plant native to Africa, has filled Hawaii’s high-altitude dry forests, where it seems to flourish. Unfortunately, the species is perfect fire kindling. While native plants tend to be fire resistant, fountain grass is
seemingly made of kerosene. Kalā Asing is the project coordinator
for the Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project. It includes biologists, environ-mentalists, and volunteers who tackle huge challenges on the slopes of Mauna Kea in order to restore the mountain to what it once was. The group has four main goals: massive planting of native tree species, controlling invasive predators by trapping, managing invasive plant species, and monitoring a fence line that protects Palila habitat.
The fence helps to keep invasive moulon sheep out of critical Māmane habitat. The sheep trample the roots of native plants, such as the endangered Mauna Kea silversword, and feast upon them when given the chance. The team checks the fence every month — all 64 miles of it. Invasive plant species, Asing explains, greatly impact the Palila’s environment. “Species like the German/
Cape ivy, once found in an area, will start to spread rapidly,” he says. “The invasive vine climbs to the canopy of the dominant high-elevation tree species, inhibiting growth, and will also cover ground intensively over a wide area, thereby preventing seeds from germi-nating or growing. It is also toxic to animals who eat it and to fish where it trails into waterways.”
The other critical issue that occasion-ally affects Mauna Kea is drought. Before 2015, a major drought exacerbat-ed by climate change occurred on Mauna Kea for many years. “In times of drought, tree species will revert to a state of hibernation and reserve their energy for survival by restricting flowering,” Asing says. “If the trees do not flower, they will not set seed. Palila rely on Māmane pods for their survival, and if there is minimal seeding, then the birds have no food.”
MEALTIME: A Palila picks a seed pod from a Mamane tree. After picking a pod, the bird will fly to
another branch to begin prying it open.
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POPULATION IN STEEP DECLINE
The population of Palila has been monitored carefully for the past 38 years. Since 1980, biologists, as well as volunteers, have conducted annual surveys of the species in its environment. Surveys are also held just outside of the “density” areas, in case the birds begin to disperse across the mountain. Not only is this localized survey conducted every year, but the entire mountain of Mauna Kea is surveyed every five years.
I have been lucky enough to participate in this monumental event, and it will forever be one of my fondest memories in my avian- related career. The annual survey is the longest-running forest-bird survey in Hawai’i and most likely one of the longest-running counts for a single species on the planet. The surveys attempt to document all Palila either heard or seen along transects up and down Mauna Kea.
Because the surveys have been conducted for so long, scientists have been able to document population trends that wouldn’t be noticeable if the surveys had only occurred every few years.
“The main story is the steep decline in [population] estimates since 2003, when there were about three times more Palila than there were in 2016,” says Banko of the USGS. In the past 10 years, the total population has decreased by an estimated 66 percent.
The point needs to be understood: Palila are on such a downward trend that their extinction could be likely in the near future. Their path might follow those of other Hawai-ian fauna. Although the outlook for the species is bleak, rigorous research projects are still being carried out by USGS, the Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project, and the Hawaii Cooperative Study Unit to better understand the bird’s ecology and hope- fully assure its survival into the future.
The southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea contain an avian jewel like no other. If you, dear reader, are lucky enough to one day see a Palila, pause and appreciate the moment. The robust little yellow and white bird is the last of its kind, and its existence merits far more than a fleeting observation.
For the past three years, Alexander Clark has been a bird researcher, working from the grasslands of Kentucky to the rainforests of Hawai’i. He intends to study evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology in graduate school, and he works as a wildlife photographer. In our December 2017 issue, he wrote about Hawaii’s three ‘elepaio species.
WHERE TO LOOK
As noted in the December 2016 issue of BirdWatching, the Mauna Kea Forest
Restoration Project and the American Bird Conservancy recently teamed up to
build the Palila Discovery Trail on the slopes of Mauna Kea. The mile-long trail
winds through Palila habitat and is a great way to see the birds of the mountain.
You’ll need a 4x4 vehicle to reach the trailhead. Take Saddle Road to the main
entrance of the Ka’Ohe Game Management Area and pass a hunter check-in
station. Continue up the mountain for another 20 minutes to the trail. Palila are
hard to �nd, and pinpointing where to reliably see them is next to impossible,
but the trail is in the middle of a nice Mamane patch.
Palila are not guaranteed, but it may be your best chance to locate the bird.
Listen for its quiet, canary-like song and its chee-klee-o or pa-lee-la call. When
searching for the bird by ear, be wary; introduced House Finches do their best
to imitate it.
HOW TO HELP
To aid in the work to conserve Palila and its habitat, please
visit the Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project’s website
(www.restoremaunakea.org) and Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/MKFRP), where you can donate and volunteer.
Also, one of the critical things that can be done to help the species is to spread the
word about it. Ignorance has contributed to what has and is killing many species
worldwide. Many extinct birds of the Hawaiian Islands exist only in cultural song or
feather capes. My hope is that the Palila will remain for many years to come. —A.C.
A SMALL HOME ON THE BIG ISLAND
Hawai‘i Island
Current range
Historical range
MAUNA KEA
BACKYARD BIRDS
AT HOME: A female Eastern Bluebird peers from atop a
nest box while one of her chicks takes in the view
from the entryway. The species nests in boxes and
natural tree cavities located in areas with short grass.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 27
M I D S TF
or the past several years, Eastern Phoebes have chosen to nest on the porch that wraps around my
house. This spring, they built their mud, moss, and grass nest on a ledge above the side door, which happens to be the most-used door in the house. Mama phoebe found out soon enough what it’s like when three barking dogs come charging out the door to defend my husband and me against any real or imagined four-legged invader that might happen to venture into the yard.
Despite all the coming and going, mama remained on the nest, flying off when the door opened and returning a few minutes later. I wondered if she might get tired of all the activity and bail on the eggs, but soon five sets of eyes could be seen peering over the rim of the nest. Once the chicks were big enough to watch the activity below, they seemed mildly entertained and took it all in as if completely normal. Unfazed by the noise and commotion, even the time a fox ventured into the yard, setting the dogs into momentary pandemonium, the phoebes grew and thrived and eventually left the nest to start their new life.
While the vast majority of passerines prefer to secrete themselves away from
people, making the raising of their family a private affair, others take a different approach, purposefully seek a nesting site close to human activity. Every spring, phoebes and other birds that normally shy away from people choose to raise their offspring literally at our doorstep, begging the question: If birds have such a distrust of humans, why, then, do they take the risk of raising their family where we could easily cause them harm?
My answer came while reading a passage by author, naturalist, and professor emeritus of biology at the University of Vermont Bernd Heinrich in his book The Nesting Season. “There are almost no Eastern Phoebes in the wild nesting on cliffs as they did before human settlement,” Heinrich writes. “Phoebes have learned to take advan-tage of human protectors, and those birds that build their nests in human structures are spectacularly successful. Owing to their nesting success, in recent years phoebes have become so habituated or adapted to nesting near humans that they now rarely nest in the wild places of their ancestors.”
Here in rural southwestern Virginia, the natural predators of birds and their eggs have been shot at, trapped, and
poisoned for their habit of preying on chickens and their eggs and other livestock, teaching them to stay out of the cross hairs of their two-legged enemy. With plenty of wild food resources available in the hills and valleys of the Blue Ridge, predators tend to avoid places where they would come into contact with humans. As a result, many birds have learned to exploit the areas avoided by predators. Sensing that their offspring will be safer if located close to human activity, the birds are able to temporarily overcome their fear of humans and use their hosts as a sort of insurance policy against the predation of their nests.
WRENS IN A BASKET
Carolina Wren is another species that of-ten makes the choice to nest near people. One year, we had a hanging planter filled with petunias on our front porch that we enjoyed all summer long. When winter came, the dried plant material, planting mix, and sphagnum moss provided the perfect medium for a pair of wrens to burrow into at night, where they would be safe from the weather and nocturnal predators. Every evening at dusk, the wrens, which pair up for life, made their way to the basket, first stopping on the
DESPITE AN INNATE FEAR OF PEOPLE, SOME BIRDS CHOOSE TO REAR THEIR YOUNG RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR DOOR
BY JO ANN ABELLI N O U R
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porch railing for a look around to make sure the coast was clear before swooping into the basket. With a few adjustments, it made a safe, dry place to raise their young the following spring.
Described in the late 19th century as a bird with “a wild nature, demanding the freedom of the forests,” this usually shy bird has shown considerable adaptability in its choice of a great variety of nesting sites close to human structures, later observers noted. While wrens still nest in old woodpecker holes, in the roots of upturned trees, and in rotted tree stumps, many individuals of this adaptable species are now commonly found nesting under the eaves of houses and porches, on windowsills, in mail-boxes and flower pots, and even in the pockets of old coats hanging in sheds.
The Barn Swallow, which got its name from its habit of building its nest in the lofts and rafters of barns, has long been associated with humans. Years ago, I worked on a horse farm that had a wash stall for bathing the horses. The barn was a popular nesting place for swallows, and one pair had built their nest just a few feet above the wash stall, sometimes forc-ing the parents to fly through a sheet of water while bringing food to their young. Undoubtedly, the activity going on
around them was an annoyance, but for the swallows, it seemed a simple trade-off: put up with the pesky humans for a short time in return for a greater chance of survival for their offspring.
In prehistoric times, the swallows nested in the walls of caverns and the deep overhangs of cliffs, but with human settlement, many have abandoned their ancestral nesting sites, preferring to nest under bridges and in the eaves of barns, sheds, and other outbuildings. For those that do choose to nest in the wild, they face a hefty list of predators, including American Kestrels and other raptors, Eastern Screech-Owls, gulls, grackles, rats, squirrels, weasels, raccoons, bobcats, and snakes.
Like many other habitat generalists with flexibility in their living require-ments, the swallows have learned that nesting around humans adds an extra measure of security against their enemies. And if their nesting attempt is successful, they will likely return to the same spot to nest in successive years, passing on the preference for nesting around people to future generations.
Purple Martins also have a close association with people. Historically, martins nested in abandoned woodpeck-er chambers, rotted-out cavities in
GET INVOLVED
In addition to the species
described in this article,
other birds that often nest
near houses and other
buildings include American
Robin, chickadees, Tree
Swallow, Mourning Dove, and
House Finch. You can learn
more about nesting birds,
contributing information
about nests you observe,
or learn how to install and
maintain nest boxes at
the following websites:
NESTWATCH
A nationwide monitoring
program designed to track
status and trends in the
reproductive biology of
birds, sponsored by the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
https://nestwatch.org
NORTH AMERICAN BLUEBIRD SOCIETY
A nonpro�t education,
conservation, and research
organization that promotes
the recovery of bluebirds
and other native cavity-
nesting bird species.
www.nabluebirdsociety.org
PURPLE MARTIN CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION
A nonpro�t dedicated to
the conservation of Purple
Martins through scienti�c
research, state-of-the-art
management techniques,
and public education.
www.purplemartin.org
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CHECKING THINGS OUT: Male
and female Purple Martins
perch outside their nesting
house. The species largely
relies on nesting structures
maintained by people.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 29
stands of dead trees, or naturally occurring holes in cliffs and steep banks. In some places, they still do, but where humans began offering real or artificial hollow gourds or martin houses, they are now almost entirely dependent on such structures. The availability of artificial nesting structures is certainly a contrib-uting factor to this behavior shift. Another factor to consider, however, is that where nest structures are monitored to prevent them from being overrun by European Starlings and House Sparrows, two introduced species that frequently outcompete or displace native species, nesting success rates are high.
Like the martins, cavity-nesting Eastern Bluebirds lucky enough to find a nest box or a hole in a tree or fence post suitable for nesting are frequently ousted by the more aggressive starlings and House Sparrows. Both are super-com-petitors that have demonstrated their ability to successfully displace a variety of North American cavity nesters, from woodpeckers to chickadees. My husband and I are fortunate that these two dreaded species stay away from the house (as long as there are no bird feeders in use), and the absence of the nest competitors might at least partially explain why every year like clockwork, a
pair of bluebirds chooses to rear at least one clutch, and sometimes two, in a nest box on our side porch.
HELPING MAMA BLUEBIRD
One day while in the garden, I heard a loud and persistent chit-chit-chit. At first, I didn’t pay any attention to it, but I kept hearing it, and when I finally looked up, I saw a female bluebird perched on the railing below the nest box in a very agitated state. The phoebes and bluebirds had frequent dust-ups during the nest-building period, so my initial thought was they were at it again, but when I walked over for a closer look, I saw the source of her distress: a 5-foot black snake curled around one of the porch rafters just a few feet from the nest. The nestlings’ calls begging for food had alerted the snake to their pres-ence, and having no defenses, they were extremely vulnerable. Mama bluebird knew her babies were in trouble.
Snakes, domestic cats, and rats are the chief predators that pose a risk to birds nesting in human-dominated areas. We don’t have cats or rats, but living in a wooded area, we do have black snakes that, if given the chance, will eat eggs or chicks. With a little encouragement, I was able to get the
snake to wrap itself around the tines of a pitchfork, dump it into a trash bag, and relocate it away from the house. Black snakes help keep the mice and rat population under control, so any that come around the house or the chicken coop are relocated. Once the predator was removed, mama was satisfied and resumed feeding her young.
At the appropriate time, the parents call the nestlings out of the nest to teach them survival training for a couple of weeks to learn how to make it on their own. For the rest of the year, the birds that have settled on our farm will live out their lives in the woods and fields around us. We will see them winging their way across the meadows and hear their calls, but rarely will they venture as close as they did during the nesting season. However, it’s a sure bet that the same birds or their offspring will be our house guests next spring, once again seeking the protection of humans.
Jo Ann Abell is a freelance writer from Lexington, Virginia, where she lives on a farm with her husband and three dogs. She profiled Downy Woodpecker in our October 2000 issue, and she has written often for Bird Watcher’s Digest and Virginia Wildlife.
FEEDING TIME: A Carolina Wren feeds its
hungry chicks at a nest in Georgia. The
shy bird of the Southeast is often found
around homes and gardens.
BOOKSHELF
11NEWBOOKS
INSPIRING,
INFORMATIVE,
AND SURPRISING
ADDITIONS TO
YOUR BOOKSHELF
We call your attention to an assortment of recently published titles that we love: a biography
of a little-known artist, the collected works of a pioneering author, stunning collections of bird
photography, a true-crime tale, a comedic take on birds and birding, and several more.
By Matt Mendenhall, Editor
32 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
BOOKSHELF
America’s sage-grouse have arguably never needed a groundswell of advocates as much as they do now. The Trump administration has allowed more oil and gas drilling in its habitat, and Congress is moving to prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the bird under the Endangered Species Act for 10 years.
The bird and those of us who care about it could not have asked for a more talented champion than nature and conservation photographer Noppadol Paothong. In this gorgeous coffee-table book, he shows us the bird’s entire life history — eggs and nestlings, courting adults, and, like the astounding image above, a sage-grouse in flight. We also meet other wildlife that share its habitat — Golden Eagle, Brewer’s Sparrow, pronghorn, and others.
Natural history writer Kathy Love adds lively text to fill in the bird’s story. And a few scientists and a Native American spiritual leader contribute essays as well.
Here’s hoping Paothong’s work inspires more people to speak up for this iconic American bird.
Sage Grouse: Icon of the West Photography by Noppadol Paothong, written by Kathy Love
Laguna Wilderness Press, 2017, hardcover, 180 pages, $45.
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w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 33
Maria Martin was a talented nineteenth-century artist whose story was largely unknown except to the most astute students of natural history and art history. Now, thanks to author Debra J. Lindsay, a history professor at the University of New Brunswick, Martin’s role in the celebrated art of John James Audubon and other nature artists will come out from behind the curtain of obscurity. Martin painted the botanical and insect components that appeared in volumes two and four of Audubon’s The Birds of America, as well as other books of the mid-1800s. For example, on Audubon’s chickadee plate at right, she painted the nest and willow oak branches and leaves. It’s great to see Martin finally getting the credit she deserves.
When Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, it quickly became a bestseller, and it’s now considered one of the landmark books of the twentieth century. In this collection, readers will find it together with rare letters, speeches, and other writings that reveal the personal courage and passionate commitment of its author. The materials include previously unpublished and newly collected letters to biochemists, ecologists, ornithologists, and other experts as Carson was writing Silent Spring. The book concludes with the speech she gave a few months before her death in which she accepted the Audubon Medal, one of the highest honors in conservation.
Rachel Carson: Silent Spring and Other Writings on the Environment Sandra Steingraber, editor
The Library of America, 2018, hardcover, 605 pages, $35.
Maria Martin’s World: Art and Science, Faith and Family in Audubon’s America
By Debra J. Lindsay
University of Alabama Press, 2018, cloth,
328 pages, $49.95.
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BOOKSHELF
Simon Barnes, a British author and former journalist, is the author of many books, including the bestselling How to be a Bad
Birdwatcher (2005). His premise in his new book is that people need birds, and if we pay attention to them, they can help us under-stand the world we share. The book is illustrated with stunning black-and-white illustrations of all kinds of birds, such as the Paradise Whydah at left.
In this book, Daniel Lewis, an award-winning historian, author, museum curator, and globe-traveling birder, tells the story of evolution and extinction among Hawaii’s native birds. He builds his text around four species: the Stumbling Moa-Nalo, the Kaua‘i ‘O‘o, the Palila, and the Japanese White-eye.
The moa-nalo was a flightless duck that is known only from fossil records. It was eradicated rapidly by early Polynesians more than 2,000 years ago. As the name Kaua‘i ‘O‘o implies, this bird was endemic to the island Kaua‘i. It was last heard in 1987 and is presumed extinct. In fact, its three closest relatives are also all extinct. The ‘o‘o is important, Lewis writes, because it represents a time when scientists were just beginning to work to save Hawaiian wildlife. The Palila, as we write on page 20, is hanging on to life on the Big Island; its survival, Lewis says, is “entangled with law, politics, culture, and biology.” And the introduced Japanese White-eye is a critical piece of the story because some non-native birds “have been here long enough to have evolved into something unique to the islands.”
Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai‘i By Daniel Lewis
Yale University Press, 2018, hardcover, 320 pages, $45.
The Meaning of Birds
By Simon Barnes
Pegasus Books, 2018, hardcover,
328 pages, $26.95.
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w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 35
Tim Boyer, an award-winning photographer, bird-photography workshop leader, and a graduate of Seattle Audubon’s Master Birder Program, offers a complete guide to bird photography. He describes cameras, lenses, and other tools, the best settings for beginners and intermediate photographers, and the basics of light, composition, exposure, depth of field, and fieldcraft. Boyer also offers advice about “designing the image” — working with backgrounds, framing, and other techniques that can elevate a photo’s impact. If you want to get started shooting birds or improve your photography skills, pick up this book.
Why do people do feed wild birds? Does the food even benefit the birds? What are the unintended consequences of providing additional food to our winged friends? Darryl Jones, a behavioral ecologist at Australia’s Griffith University, takes us on a wild flight through the history of bird feeding. He pinpoints the highs and lows of the practice. And he ponders the odd but seriously popular form of interaction between humans and wild animals. Most important, he points out that we know very little about the impact of feeding birds despite millions of people doing it every day. He also digs at deeper issues raised in research studies, such as whether feeding affects the timing of breeding.
The Birds at My Table: Why We Feed Wild Birds and Why It Matters
By Darryl Jones
Cornell University Press, 2018, paperback, 352 pages, $19.95.
Learn the Art of Bird Photography
By Tim Boyer
Tim Boyer Photography, LLC, 2018, softcover, 154 pages, $29.95.
This masterful work chronicles the stranger-than-fiction tale of a 20-year-old American who, in 2009, stole hundreds of invaluable exotic bird skins from England’s Natural History Museum at Tring, home of one of the largest ornithological collections in the world. He stole the skins of Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Resplendent Quetzel, bowerbirds, cotingas, and birds-of-paradise to use their feathers for tying fly-fishing hooks. (Seriously!) It took a year and a half before he was finally caught. Author Kirk Wallace Johnson dives deep into the history of ornithological collecting, the fly-tying subculture, the obsession that drove the crime, and its consequences.
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century
By Kirk Wallace Johnson
Viking, 2018, hardcover, 308 pages, $27.
36 Bi rdWatch i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
BOOKSHELF
This book is unlike nearly every other bird book on my bookcase: It’s really funny! The author, Rosemary Mosco, is a science writer and artist who created the popular web comic Bird and Moon. Here she offers delightfully amusing comics about nature, including animal dating profiles, wildlife wine pairings, and the threat displays of completely non-threatening animals. Mosco has a wry sense of humor, as you can see in the panel at right. More importantly, she is the rare humorist who under-stands nature and biology well enough to make even the most cranky birder crack a smile.
In this useful new guide, three of Canada’s top birders reveal their favorite destinations for spotting local birds in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. They highlight 36 of the region’s most highly recommended sites, each of which has been expertly selected for the unique species that reside there. With exclusive lists of specialty birds, splendid color photography, and plenty of insider tips for finding and identifying birdlife year-round, the book is accessible and easy-to-use. The next time you head to the prairie provinces, use this book to set your itinerary — and find great birds!
Best Places to Bird in the Prairies
By John Acorn, Alan Smith, and Nicola Koper
Greystone Books, 2018, paperback, 280 pages,
$24.95 (Canada), $19.95 (U.S.).
Birding Is My Favorite Video Game: Cartoons about the Natural World from Bird and Moon
By Rosemary Mosco
Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2018,
paperback, 112 pages, $12.99
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w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 37
This stunning book is one of the ways National Geographic is celebrating the Year of the Bird, the 2018 effort to draw the public’s attention to birds. The book features photos by famed photographer Joel Sartore. He founded the National Geographic Photo Ark, a documentary project in which he travels the globe to photograph every animal species under human care. His subjects are captive, of course, and are photographed in controlled conditions, usually in front of white or black backdrops.
The photos shown in the book cover a wide range of hundreds of birds: Great Blue Turaco, Scarlet Ibis, Yellow-rumped Tinker-bird, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Capuchinbird, California Condor, the Himalayan Monal on the book’s cover, and the Northern Bald Ibis shown above.
The book is organized into seven chapters, including “What’s in a Bird?,” “First Impressions,” and “Bird Brains.” Our good friend and contributor Noah Strycker wrote the informative, vibrant text that accompanies the images. Together, Sartore and Strycker have created a bird book for the ages.
Birds of the Photo Ark
Photography by Joel Sartore, text by Noah Strycker
National Geographic Books, 2018, hardcover, 240 pages, $30.
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Sar
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38 B i rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
idtips BY KENN KAUFMAN • PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN E. SMALL
When I was 18, I hitchhiked to Chicago, where another teenaged birder, Joel Greenberg (now a famed author and naturalist), had promised to show me a Henslow’s Sparrow. On a chilly June morning, we visited the beautiful Goose Lake Prairie. Later I wrote a poem about the day; it began like this:
A breezy norther chilled the blood, as little sun was shining.
We slogged across the sticky mud of field and marsh combining,
While all around us, Henslow’s Sparrows laughed, and stayed in hiding,
Eluding birders with their craft, and freaky kids deriding ...
I won’t bore you with the rest, but this fragment conveys a couple of points:
Henslow’s Sparrow, adult May in Muskingum County, Ohio
Rich reddish brown accents on back and wings
Size and shape. A small sparrow with a relatively large bill, large
lat head, and short tail.
Overall color. Olive-green wash on face, contrasting with
tones of rich reddish brown on the back and wings.
Face pattern. Distinct black mark set back behind (and
separated from) the eye, and two very narrow black moustache
stripes.
Pattern of underparts. A “necklace” of very thin, black
streaks on buffy chest, and a few equally thin streaks on the
lanks.
What to look for
Head strongly washed olive-green
Fairly short tail
Large bill and �at-headed look
Black mark behind eye and two thin moustache streaks
Henslow’s Sparrow
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 39
Kenn Kaufman (www.kaufmanfieldguides.com) has
written several books on birds and nature. Brian E.
Small (www.briansmallphoto.com) is a nature
photographer whose photos illustrate many books.
Seen up close, the lack of strong markings around
the eye gives Henslow’s Sparrow a blank
expression; a very narrow white eye-ring is
seldom noticeable. The black triangular mark
behind the eye is conspicuous but unconnected to
other marks, and two very narrow black
moustache streaks are also isolated on the plain
face. A pale stripe through the center of its crown
is seldom obvious. Thin black streaks arranged
across the buffy chest seldom or never come
together into any kind of dark central spot. The
streaking on the chest helps to separate
Henslow’s from the adult Grasshopper Sparrow,
but beware that juvenile Grasshoppers are
strongly streaked, and even some adults have
dark streaks at the sides of the chest.
This sparrow was discovered in 1820 by John
James Audubon, who described it to science and
named it for the British priest and naturalist John
Stevens Henslow. Apparently, Audubon never heard
the bird’s song. He didn’t miss much. Many North
American sparrows have complex and beautiful
songs, but Henslow’s Sparrow achieves fame for
having one of the simplest and worst. The song is
distinctive enough once learned, however.
Territorial males usually take an exposed perch
while singing, providing the best chance to spot and
study this elusive creature. Like related species,
Henslow’s Sparrow seems to put a lot of effort into
its modest vocal output, throwing its head back and
opening its bill wide to deliver a simple tsslick!
Henslow’s Sparrow, adult male May in Muskingum County, Ohio
Henslow’s Sparrow, adult May in Muskingum County, Ohio
Henslow’s Sparrows live in dense grasslands, and they are elusive creatures.
Indeed, this sparrow has played hide-and-seek with birders for the last two centuries. It’s a specialty of the eastern states, with a breeding range (current and historical) extending from the Atlantic to the eastern Great Plains and a short distance north into Canada. It winters entirely in the southeastern states.
Within that range, its known breeding distribution has changed over time. In the early 20th century, Henslow’s Sparrows were locally common in summer along the Atlantic seaboard from New England south to New Jersey, but they’re now essentially gone from that region. In Ohio, they increased dramatically in the 1920s and ’30s but have declined since. In Kentucky, the expansion was noted later, from the 1940s to the ’60s. In the western part of their range, Henslow’s were first found nesting in Oklahoma in 1987, Arkansas in 1988, and North Dakota in 2001. States like Minnesota, Illinois, West Virginia, and North Carolina have seen big increases and declines in the past.
Habitat is the key. For nesting, Henslow’s Sparrows require areas of tall, dense grass with a thick dead grass layer on the ground, scattered wildflowers, and standing dead stems, but no trees. Within this cover, the sparrows stay down out of sight except for singing males, which will perch at the top of a weed or a dead stalk barely above the top of the grass. The song is a shockingly simple tsslick! Males will sing at any time of day and even all night.
The birds also seek out dense habitats in winter in the Southeast. Open savannahs with scattered tall pines and an understory of grass or sedges may be ideal, but such sites must burn every few years. If they don’t, too much brush will grow for the sparrows’ liking. Pitcher-plant bogs are also favored sites. Needless to say, the birds are very hard to see in such places.
Despite their elusive nature, Henslow’s Sparrows are favorites with many experienced birders. Sometimes we even wax poetic about them. See the photos and captions with this article for details on how to identify this subtle creature.
4 0 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
An elusive nomad
Henslow’s Sparrows have
changed their distribution over
the long term, as land-use
practices have altered the
landscape. But increasing
evidence suggests that indi-
viduals move around from year
to year, or even within a single
season, more than most birds.
In a recent study, Mark
Herse and others, working out
of bird ecologist Alice Boyle’s
lab at Kansas State University,
did thousands of point-count
surveys across eastern Kansas
throughout two nesting sea-
sons. They found Henslow’s
Sparrows at 98 sites, but only
four of those sites were occu-
pied in both years of the study.
Furthermore, even within
seasons, the birds often
changed locations. At
three-quarters of the sites
where Henslow’s were found,
they were recorded only once.
This nomadic behavior is an
adaptation to the changeable
nature of their habitat. Birds of
mature forest can use the
same territory every year, but
Henslow’s Sparrows favor an
early stage in the natural
succession of habitats. When
a plot of land in eastern North
America is cleared, it will grow
back up — �rst to a grassy
�eld, then to a brushy mead-
ow, and eventually to forest.
Henslow’s like the early
stages — dense �elds of tall
grass, which are maintained
only by frequent cutting or
�res — so as their favored
sites grow up to thickets or get
mowed down, they have to
move on to fresh �elds. By
staying loose and mobile, they
can take advantage of new
sites quickly.
Very similar to Henslow’s Sparrow in shape and
behavior, the Grasshopper Sparrow is much more
numerous and widespread. It’s another grassland
species, but it seems far more adaptable, occurring
in a wider range of open fields, including much drier
sites than those used by Henslow’s. On Grasshop-
per Sparrow, the face is mostly buff, not olive,
usually with a bright yellow spot in front of the eye.
It shows hardly a hint of dark moustache streaks,
and only faint streaking at the sides of the chest, so
the lower part of the face and the underparts are
much less marked overall than those of Henslow’s
Sparrow. A narrow white stripe through the center
of its dark crown is often noticeable.
An uncommon specialty of the northern Great Plains
in summer, wintering mainly in grasslands of Mexico
and Arizona, Baird’s Sparrow is unlikely to overlap
with Henslow’s except perhaps during migration.
Related to Henslow’s and Grasshopper Sparrows, it’s
similarly large-billed, flat-headed, and short-tailed.
Best field marks for Baird’s Sparrow involve the
colors and pattern of the head and chest. Its head is
washed with ochre yellow, contrasting with the
whitish throat and chest. Its crown is finely streaked
with black, with a gap in the middle revealing a
yellow stripe, and the black moustache streaks are
thick and obvious. Its back and wings lack the strong
reddish brown tones usually shown by Henslow’s
and Grasshopper Sparrows.
Grasshopper Sparrow, adult May in Muskingum County, Ohio
Baird’s Sparrow, adult June in Kidder County, North Dakota
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/hotspotsmap 41
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IN THIS ISSUE, WE introduce you to two hotspots
that are only about a three-hour drive from one
another. The first is Doughton Park (pictured above),
along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. It’s
named for Robert Doughton, a congressman who was
instrumental in the creation of the Parkway. In the
portions of the park adjacent to the Parkway itself,
you’ll find open pastured hills and early successional
forbs and grasses — remnants that serve as reminders
of the influence of fire on the park’s landscapes prior to
European settlement of the area. The second is Seven
Islands State Birding Park, in eastern Tennessee. As a
park, it’s only four years old, but we love that it pro-
motes birding in its name. — Matt Mendenhall
upinthehillscasey/Shutterstock
hotspotsnearyou
Dougthon Park, North Carolina
no. 277 doughton park laurel springs, north
carolina
no. 278 seven islands state birding park
kodak, tennessee
HOTSPOTS 277-278
doughton park laurel springs, north carolina 36°25'43.66"N 81°9'15.74"W
42
Sparta
DoughtonPark
ThurmanChatham WMA
221
VIRGINIA
NORTH CAROLINA
21
Stone MountainState Park
LaurelSprings
113
Blue
Ridge
Pkw
y.
18
21
21
18
113
Longbottom
Rd.4 mi4 km
18
I’ve spent many hours birding and hiking at Doughton Park, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. The 25 miles of hiking trails traverse its elevation range, which reaches 3,800 feet near the Parkway on Bluff Mountain and descends to 1,425 feet in the valley of Basin Cove.
Forests in the park offer a variety of songbird species during the breeding season. Black-throated Green Warbler can be heard throughout most of the park. Listen for Ovenbird, Hooded and Worm-eating Warblers, and Scarlet Tanager along trail segments traversing ridges above the valley. Wood Thrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Yellow-throated Warbler sing in the valley along Basin Creek.
At the park’s lower entrance off of Longbottom Rd., early-successional habitat resulting from a fire about a decade ago has attracted Kentucky Warbler, which is an uncommon nesting species in the area. Thick rhodo-dendron masses in the park’s upper elevations offer habitat attractive to Black-throated Blue Warbler. In early spring, listen for drumming Ruffed Grouse along most trail segments. It takes a bit of luck to lay eyes on the grouse. Wild Turkey, Eastern Screech-Owl, Common Raven and a variety of diurnal raptors can be viewed throughout the year. — Eric Harrold
Eric Harrold is a naturalist, environmental educator, and tour guide. He has written past reports on hotspots in Virginia and the Carolinas.
AT A GLANCE
HABITAT
Pastured meadows and ridge crests, mixed
hardwood forests, pine-hardwood forest, and
cove hardwood forest.
TERRAIN
Ranges from relatively flat riparian segments to
steep ridges.
BIRDS
Migration and breeding seasons: Acadian and
Great Crested Flycatchers, Eastern Phoebe,
Wood Thrush, Northern Parula, Ovenbird,
Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Hooded, and
Black-throated Blue Warblers, Dark-eyed
Junco, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Whip-
poor-will, Scarlet Tanager, White-breasted
Nuthatch, Indigo Bunting, Red-eyed and
Blue-headed Vireos. Fall: migrant songbirds
and raptors. Winter: Golden Eagle, Northern
Saw-whet Owl.
WHEN TO GO
Year-round. Best in spring and fall.
AMENITIES
Public campground open from May to October.
Camping, lodging, dining options are available
in the nearby communities of Laurel Springs,
Sparta, and Roaring Gap.
ACCESS
Park operated in conjunction with the Blue
Ridge Parkway under the National Park
Service. Open year-round and requires
no entrance fee. In winter, access may be
restricted as gates on the Parkway may be
closed during periods of inclement weather.
TIPS
To view fall raptor migration, go to the
Mahogany Rock Overlook at milepost 235 or
the park’s picnic area. Overlooks along the
Parkway and the picnic area offer viewing
opportunities for visitors with limited mobility.
FOR MORE INFO
Blue Ridge Parkway Bluffs District Office,
(828) 348-3400, www.nps.gov/blri. Carolina
Bird Club, www.carolinabirdclub.org. North
Carolina Birding Trail, http://ncbirdingtrail.org.
sites nearbyStone Mountain State Park
More than 14,000 acres, just east of
Doughton Park. Accessible via John
P. Frank Pkwy. Great for spring and
fall songbird migration.
Thurmond-Chatham Game Land
Adjacent to Doughton Park and
the Blue Ridge Parkway. Entrance
is at Bell Branch Rd. Good spot
for Hooded Warbler, Blue-headed
Vireo, Ovenbird, and other woodland
passerines.
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Doughton Park is a 7,000-acre recreation area, the largest on the Blue Ridge Parkway,
America’s longest linear park. From Wilkesboro, take Hwy. 18 north for 20 miles to the
Blue Ridge Parkway. Turn right and drive 8 miles to the park’s campground and parking
area, at milepost 239.2 on the left side of the Parkway.
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/hotspotsmap
Having lived in Tennessee most of my life, I take great pride in our state parks system. It consists of 56 properties, all free to access. The state’s newest park is Seven Islands State Birding Park. As the name implies, it was created as a place to go birding.
The park had been a farm for most of the 20th century, and in 2002 it became a wildlife refuge through a collaboration between the Seven Islands Foundation, a nonprofit land conservancy, and the Knox County Parks and Recreation Department. It opened as a state park in July 2014.
The best way to enjoy the park is by walking one of its four main trails. They range in round-trip length from 1.6 miles (the Upland Trail Inner Loop) to 3.4 miles (the Seclusion Bend Trail).
More than 200 species have been recorded here, including waterfowl, waders, raptors, shorebirds, owls, and songbirds. On a visit this spring, another birder and I saw common species like Cedar Waxwing, Brown Thrasher, Carolina Wren, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Downy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Field Sparrow, and best of all a Harris’s Sparrow, which is rare for Tennessee. — Patricia Mitchell
Patricia Mitchell is an archivist at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. She has written for Alabama Heritage, a quarterly history magazine.
43
Seven Islands State Birding Park
Midway
Seven IslandsState Birding
Park
1 mi
1 km
40Exit 402To Knoxville
40
French
Broa
d R
iver
Kelly Lane
Midw
ay Rd.
Kodak Rd.
Seven Islands State Birding Park protects 416 acres along the French Broad River, about
19 miles east of Knoxville. From the city, take I-40 east to Midway Rd. (exit 402). Head
south on Midway for 2.6 miles and turn left onto Kodak Rd. In 0.4 miles, turn right onto
Kelly Lane, and continue south into the park.
AT A GLANCE
HABITAT
Grassland, wetlands, forest, and river.
TERRAIN
More than 8 miles of trails through rolling hills.
A wheelchair-accessible trail and a pedestrian
bridge across the river expected to be completed
in fall 2018.
BIRDS
Kelly Lane Greenway: Summer Tanager, Indigo
Bunting, Yellow-breasted Chat, Common Yellow-
throat, Northern Bobwhite, Eastern Bluebird, Tree
Swallow, American Kestrel, Northern Harrier, and
White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp, Song,
Field, and Savannah Sparrows. Seven Islands
Loop Trail: Red-bellied and Downy Wood peckers,
Prairie Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Wild Turkey, and
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Upland Trail Inner Loop:
Northern Harrier, Field, White-throated, Fox,
and White-crowned Sparrows, Hermit Thrush,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Shumpert’s Pond: Green
Heron, waterfowl. Seclusion Bend Trail: Belted
Kingfisher, Green Heron, Prothonotary Warbler,
Orchard Oriole, Wood Duck, Osprey, Bald Eagle,
Great Blue Heron, and Eastern Kingbird.
WHEN TO GO
Year-round. Best in morning and late afternoon.
AMENITIES
Portable restroom next to parking lot. Bird
walks, banding sessions, photography classes,
and other events; check upcoming events page:
https://tnstateparks.com/parks/events/seven-
islands. Checklist on park website.
ACCESS
State park. Open sunrise to sunset. Plentiful
parking. No entry or parking fees. Dogs
permitted but must stay on leash at all times.
TIPS
Wear good walking shoes and bring a trekking
pole for wet days.
FOR MORE INFO
Seven Islands State Birding Park, (865) 407-8335,
https://tnstateparks.com/parks/about/seven-
islands. Tennessee Ornithological Society,
www.tnbirds.org. Tennessee Birding Trails,
www.tnbirdingtrail.org.
no.
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www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/hotspotsmap
sites nearbyHouse Mountain State
Natural Area
About 15 miles north of Seven
Islands, in Corryton. Mountain forest
featuring Broad-winged Hawk,
warblers, Indigo Bunting, Pileated
Woodpecker, and Scarlet Tanager.
Ijams Nature Center
About 30 minutes west of Seven
Islands, on Island Home Ave. in
Knoxville. More than 150 species.
Great for warblers and other migrants.
seven islands state birding park kodak, tennessee 35°57'0.06"N 83°41'43.15"W
4 4 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
amazingbirds BY ELDON GREIJ
The evolutionary history of bird biology is fascinating. For years, scientists debated whether birds developed from dinosaurs or reptiles closely related to dinosaurs. It was settled in recent years that birds were derived from feathered dinosaurs.
Fossils of primitive birds indicate that they were already on their way to flight. To master the air, however, would require solving critical problems. For starters, the skull and the rest of the skeleton were too heavy, and specialized
wings were needed. Developing a lightweight skull required getting rid of the teeth, which was compensated for by creating a gizzard — a special compartment of the stomach with heavy muscle layers to which grit is added by ingestion. The gizzard also helped move the center of gravity over the wings. Hollow bones helped with weight reduction, as did increasing the amount of spongy bone (with large air spaces) and decreasing the amount of hard compact bone.
To fly, of course, meant sacrificing the “hands,” which were prominent in the ancestral reptile. The loss of fingers would have huge ramifications for food getting and nest building. Something was needed for grasping, something like fingers. Toes are not enough. Birds answered by making a grasping tool out of their snout — an elongate forceps-like structure at its tip — called a beak.
The beak has been modified more than any other avian structure into myriad sizes and shapes, each with a special function. Consider the short delicate beaks of kinglets, long stabbing beaks of Anhingas, chisel-like beaks of woodpeckers, sharply hooked beaks of raptors for tearing and similar beaks of parrots to crush large nuts. And then there is the flamingo. Its beak is huge and houses a water-pumping tongue and delicate filtration system. In spite of the tremendous variation in size and shape, beaks have a common origin.
In reptiles, the upper jaw consists of two central premaxillary bones that are rounded with blunt ends and are separate, and two lateral maxillary bones. In birds, the two premaxillary bones are narrow, with pronounced elongation, and fused. The extension of the premaxillary bones becomes the boney core of the upper beak. The boney core for the lower beak comes from the mandible. The first bird beaks were likely rather simple structures, similar to generalized modern beaks, with size influenced by body size of the bird.
In humans, for comparison, the two premaxillary bones and two maxillary bones are fused into one solid bone called the maxillary. The four upper incisors are embedded into the part of the maxillary formed from the fused premaxillary bones.
A MODIFIED MOUTH
Another skeletal change needed by birds was in the roof of the mouth. In vertebrates, the roof of the mouth is formed from a large flat bone called the palatine. In crocodiles and mammals, it is large and fuses with the premaxillary and maxillary bones of the upper jaw to make one large, solid bone. In birds,
From snout to beakHow the many sizes and shapes of beaks came to be
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WIDE VARIATION: Photos of Golden-crowned Kinglet, Anhinga, Pileated Woodpecker (opposite),
Blue-and-yellow Macaw, and Greater Flamingo show the wide assortment of birds’ beaks.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 4 5
however, the upper beak must be moveable, so the avian palatine must be smaller and hinge with the upper beak.
So how does a bird beak form from a crocodile snout? Arkhat Abzhanov and his team at Harvard and Kansas universities, specialists in developmen-tal evolutionary biology, took on that problem. They studied the facial portion of skulls of modern and ancient birds and crocodilian reptiles to learn where particular facial changes were made.
Next, they wanted to examine these regions in developing chicken and
alligator embryos. Growth and modifi-cation of new cells during development are directed by regulatory genes, of which there are many. Two genes are responsible for growth and differentia-tion of cells in the facial region of vertebrates. While genetic activity of these genes is most prominent in the lateral part of the face of most verte-brates, it is more pronounced in the center of the developing face of birds. Increasing the amount of growth factor in this region causes the developing chick’s beak to enlarge.
This is where Abzhanov and his group made a decision of great conse-quence. If these specialized genes were necessary to develop a beak in a chick embryo, what would happen if they were to inhibit the effects of these genes? The experiment was described in an article published in a 2015 issue of the journal Evolution.
By inhibiting the effect of the regulatory genes, the beak of the chick did not develop. Moreover, the elongate, fused premaxillary bones were short-ened with rounded ends and not fused. These changes resulted in a developing chick without a beak that instead had an alligator-like snout. Not only did the beak structure revert to an ancestral state, so did the palatine bone in the roof of the mouth. This, I believe, was the first example of scientists creating reverse evolution in a living organism by inhibiting the genes that caused an evolutionary change.
Traditionally, biologists have studied evolutionary relationships by comparing anatomy, behavior, and ecology, among others. The manipulation of regulatory genes in embryos is a welcome addition to the arsenal of tools of evolutionary biologists and helps explain the evolution of those amazing birds.
Birds made a
grasping tool out
of their snout — an
elongate forceps-like
structure at its tip —
called a beak.
Eldon Greij is professor emeritus at Hope College,
located in Holland, Michigan, where he taught
ornithology and ecology for many years. He is the
founder of Birder’s World magazine. You can find
an archive of his “Amazing Birds” columns on our
website at www.BirdWatchingDaily.com.
New research reveals that a
toothed bird that lived nearly
100 million years ago in North
America represents a pivotal
moment in the transition from
dinosaurs to modern-day birds.
Read more on page 11.
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4 6 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
attractingbirds BY LAURA ERICKSON
Laura Erickson, the 2014 recipient of the
American Birding Association’s highest honor,
the Roger Tory Peterson Award, has written
11 books about birds and hosts the long-running
radio program and podcast “For the Birds.”
Not looking for lawnsTo attract quail, grow plants that provide food and cover
Robert
L K
oth
enbeu
tel/
Shu
tters
tock
CALIFORNIA QUAIL: It and other quail species will eat seeds such as sunflower and millet at feeders.
plantings may be perfect, but if your neighbors have traditional lawns, quail are unlikely to discover your backyard.
The most important thing you can do to attract quail and to help them, individually and as local populations, is to plant the right kinds of vegetation to provide food and cover. The Oregon State University Extension Service recommends planting grasses and legumes along with such shrubs as serviceberry, snowberry, huckleberry, blackberry, currant, and grape.
Native trees that provide small nuts and acorns can also be useful. No matter where you live, locally native plants are always the best food sources for native birds.
Locally native conifers can provide safe roosting and nest sites for some quail. Thickets, tangles, and brush piles can also give the little birds excellent cover.
Water features can be wonderful attractants, especially when situated near cover. Quail seldom enter raised bird baths but are quick to discover artificial ponds and shallow bowls of water set on the ground; bubblers or drips make discovery even quicker. And water features lure in a lot of other birds as well, so even if no quail live nearby, you’ll reap rewards.
The Oregon State University Extension Service cautions against setting corn and seeds — exactly the foods quail like — on the ground in areas where you might attract rats or where outdoor cats may be lurking. Unfortunately, quail in most areas are reluctant to alight on feeders off the ground. But since skulking is the order of the day for quail under the best of conditions, providing natural habitat and water will afford you opportunities to observe them the way they want to be observed, and really, isn’t that what birdwatching is all about?
In 2014, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative identified 33 bird species that were once fairly abundant but are now in steep decline. Among them are two quail: Scaled Quail, which ranges from southern Colorado to north-central Mexico, and Northern Bobwhite, which occurs in the eastern and central states, southern Ontario, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
While some quail species are holding strong, such as California and Gambel’s Quail, others are struggling. The main problems for many species are habitat loss and degradation and growing pesticide use. In particular,
agricultural lands are now managed so intensively that hedgerows and other fallow spots where quail once gathered to feed and roost are increasingly hard to come by.
In some areas, quail visit feeding stations, although they definitely prefer natural food. If you live in most urban or suburban kinds of habitat, you won’t have much luck attracting them to your yard unless a tame one escapes from a nearby game farm, but more open areas away from dense forests can be ideal. Quail try to avoid short vegetation that doesn’t offer cover, so they shun manicured lawns. Your yard’s natural
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 47
Fromour
readers!yourview Birding experiences and photographs submitted by readers
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 47
Lookin’ buff
WINTER VISITOR: A Buff-bellied Hummingbird zips
through the Castellow Hammock Preserve in Miami-Dade
County, Florida, in January 2018. Pierre Deguire of
Casselman, Ontario, shot the photo with a Nikon D500
camera, a 300mm F/2.8 lens, and a 2x teleconverter.
4 8 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
A sparrow’s transformation
A Harris’s Sparrow arrived in its beautiful tawny juvenile plumage at my home near Long
Beach, Washington, along the Pacific Coast, on November 10, 2017. It was way out of its
normal range in the central United States. It showed up most days with a flock of
Golden-crowned Sparrows to consume cracked corn on the ground. In late March 2018,
I noticed the bird was starting to transform. I started to photograph it daily, not knowing
when it would depart. In over 35 years of birding, I had never seen a bird molt from a
juvenile into adult breeding plumage. It was a privilege to witness. The sparrow departed
on May 5. — Suzy Whittey, Long Beach, Washington
December 8, 2017
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 49
March 31, 2018
May 4, 2018
5 0 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
A BIRD OF MANY COLORS: Kevin
McCarthy spotted this Keel-billed Toucan in
February from the roof deck of the Canopy
Tower in Soberanía National Park in
Panama. He took the photo with a Nikon
D3S camera and a 500mm f/4.0 lens.
GORGEOUS: Dave Weth of Normal,
Illinois, photographed this Orchard Oriole as
it burst into song near Evergreen Lake, a
reservoir north of Normal. He used a Nikon
D7100 with a Sigma 150-500mm lens.
ACROBATIC BATTLE: A pair
of Blue Jays squabble in December
2017 in a southern Ontario corn
field. The birds were “arguing over
a few kernels of corn,” says Wayne
Fulford. He used a Canon 7D
Mark II camera and a Sigma
150-500mm lens.
WAITING OUT THE RAIN: A Prong-billed Barbet momentarily
stops feeding to survey its surroundings at the La Paz Waterfall
Gardens in Costa Rica. Adam Dhalla of Vancouver, British
Columbia, shot the photo in January with a Nikon D500 and
a Nikon 200-500mm lens.
52 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
Let’s hear from you!
Submit photos as full-resolution, high-quality JPG files via email (no TIFFs,
please). Include a short description of the photo; include the bird name,
the equipment used, and the location. Please include your name, address,
phone number, and email address. If we publish a story or photo of yours,
we’ll send you a complimentary copy of the issue in which it appears.
There’s no payment for use of text or photos in “Your View.”
Send your photos and stories to:
Your View Editor
BirdWatching Magazine
VISITOR FROM THE ARCTIC: A young
dark-morph Gyrfalcon flies at Quidi Vidi
Lake, in St. John’s, Newfoundland,
Hotspot Near You No. 84. Geoff Smith saw
the raptor and two other Gyrs in early
March. He used a Canon 80D and a Sigma
150-600mm lens.
VISITOR FROM MEXICO: This Northern
Jacana turned up at the South Texas
Botanical Garden in Corpus Christi in
mid-April. Andrew Lyall shot the photo
with a Nikon D7200 camera and a Tamron
150-600mm G2 lens.
HIGH-MOUNTAIN SONGBIRD:
Dennis Lane found this stunning
Red-faced Warbler in Gila National
Forest, not far from his home in
Silver City, New Mexico. “I’ve had
many close encounters with this
species over the years while hiking in
the Gila,” he tells us. He used a
Canon 7D Mark ll with a 100-400mm
L Mk ll lens.
w w w. Bi rdWatc h i ng Da i ly.c om 53
WELL HIDDEN: Jane Bramley pointed her Nikon
Coolpix B700 through a knot hole in a backyard gate in
Milpitas, California, to photograph this nesting female
Allen’s Hummingbird. Bramley’s friends had watched
the bird build the nest with spider silk collected from
nearby trees and finish it with lichen. When the photo
was taken, the bird was sitting on two eggs.
DRAGONFLY ON THE MENU: Marvin T. Smith
photographed this leucistic Northern Cardinal at a
neighborhood lake in Valdosta, Georgia, in mid-May.
Smith has been watching and photographing this bird
since December 2016. “I hope it is feeding babies,” he
says. “It will be interesting to see what they look like.”
He used a Canon 5D Mark IV and a 300mm f2.8 lens
with a 2X extender.
5 4 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
Fromour
readers!yourletters
NATIONAL PARKS AND BIRDS
I was very interested in the article “Climate change and national parks” in the June 2018 issue of BirdWatching (“Birding Briefs,” page 9).
While the article may be correct in identifying an increase in species in parks over the next few years, there are many other factors to consider. The two national parks in my area (Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains) provide me with examples.
First, the parks are now surround-ed to the east with oil and gas development, pads, pipelines, power lines, roads, fracking, and frack pools in addition to a high increase in population locally. From the 1950s until about four years ago, the population of Carlsbad was in the 25,000-30,000 range. Now it is in the 70,000-90,000 range, and it continues to grow. A lot of this oil activity is in
addition to the hydrocarbon footprint of the area and with burning f lares at night (and during the day), it increas-es the impact even more.
For over 15 years, the National Park Service has yet to address this issue. At one time, visitors leaving the park at night would be greeted by a night sky and light traffic. Staring about 2005, oil and gas started exploring the lands on the eastern boundary of the parks.
Now, standing on the edge of the escarpment, it looks like a large city to the east of Carlsbad Caverns NP. And now, they are planning on moving onto lands that directly abut the park.
This is only one factor that is affecting the parks. There are others, including exotic species (Eurasian Collared-Dove, fox squirrels) and even an overabundance of Brown-headed Cowbirds that has caused serious declines in Bell’s Vireo, Northern
Cardinal, four species of orioles, and other species. NPS is doing nothing to even address this issue. Southwestern Willow Flycatchers now breed at Rattlesnake Springs, and nothing is done by the park to even survey the area for nests and success of breeding. This is a federally listed subspecies.
I know that parks can act as refuges for wildlife, but only if the local park sees this as part of their mission. Otherwise, it’s more of the same. — Steve West, Carlsbad, New Mexico
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5 6 Bi rdWatc h i ng • Ju ly/Au g u s t 2 018
idtoolkit ART AND TEXT BY DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY Look for our next issue
On sale August 28
Late summer is the time of year when many birds replace their feathers in a process called molt. Old feathers, most of which have been worn for about a year, fall out, and new feathers grow in their place. Gulls, for example, molt their wing feathers only once a year, and we generally don’t notice any change in their appearance. The color and pattern of their wings remain the same all year. After a year of constant wear and exposure, it’s amazing that feathers still function, let alone retain essentially the same appearance.
If you are at the beach at this time of year, you will probably find feathers on the sand. Virtually all of these will be old feathers, “used” by the birds for up to 12 months and then dropped in the normal process of molt. Among them you might find large wing feathers dropped by gulls. It’s illegal to keep these feathers, but you can pick them up
and examine them.When you find a feather, take a close
look at it, checking for signs of wear. Pay special attention to which parts are more worn. If it’s a typical worn feather, as shown here, most of the light-colored parts will have disintegrated, while the darker parts will be a bit frayed but more or less intact. This is because the dark pigment, melanin, strengthens the feather, making it more resistant to the elements. Gull feathers often end up with notches at the tip or along the sides, where lighter colors have worn away, and the dark parts of the feather have not. This is why birds in very worn plumage generally look darker, because the lighter edges and markings have simply worn away, and all we see is the darker parts that remain.
This also explains why so many birds have dark wingtips. The tips of the longest feathers are subjected to the
most wear and tear, but they’re also extremely important for f light and cannot be allowed to deteriorate or change shape. An infusion of melanin at the tips is a sort of protective treatment that birds have evolved to let their feathers remain functional for an entire year.
Wear and tearWhat to look for as birds molt their worn-out feathers
David Allen Sibley is the author of The Sibley
Guide to Birds, Second Edition, Sibley’s Birding
Basics, and field guides to the birds of eastern
and western North America. In our last issue,
he explained how waterfowl hide their wings
while swimming.
NEW AND OLD FEATHERS: Here are two
views of the sixth primary of a Ring-billed
Gull. It’s freshly grown in the fall (upper)
and very worn in the late summer of the
following year (lower).
After a year of constant
wear and exposure, it’s
amazing that feathers
still function, let alone
retain essentially the same
appearance.
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The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America
Taught by James CurrieBIRDING EXPERT
LECTURE TITLES
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6. Introduction to Birding Optics
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8. Using Bird Behavior to Identify Birds
9. Understanding Variations in Plumage
10. Birding by Ear
11. Essentials of Bird Migration
12. Birding at Night
13. Pelagic Birding
14. Waterbirds, Shorebirds, and Game Birds
15. Diurnal Raptors
16. From Doves to Kingfi shers
17. Passerines: From Flycatchers to Thrushes
18. Passerines: From Thrashers to Warblers
19. Passerines: From Tanagers to Finches
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21. Birding Sites in Eastern North America
22. Birding Sites in Western North America
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BONUS PHOTO GALLERY
EXCLUSIVE FOR READERS
OF OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS
TARGET
BIRDS
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Enjoy this photo gallery of species that
you can see at the locations featured in
this issue’s “Hotspots Near You.”
doughton park laurel springs, north carolina
Indigo Bunting
Yellow-throated Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Worm-eating Warbler
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Cre
dit
s T
K
seven islands state birding park kodak, tennessee
Hermit Thrush
Prairie Warbler
Summer Tanager
Green Heron
Belted Kingfisher
Watch for bonus digital content with our September/October 2018 issue, available on August 28!
RETURN TO MAGAZINE
White-eyed Vireo
