Marvelous Spatuletail via American Bird Conservancy

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Mark Willis

I’ve often thought that I’d like to have a tail. Maybe in another life I’ll get one as outrageous as the Marvelous Spatuletail. Via Marvelous Spatuletail | American Bird Conservancy

This hummingbird—like so many of South America’s hundreds of hummingbird species—has a name that is both charming and descriptive. The male’s unique tail features two long, wire-like outer feathers ending in bluish-purple disks. The birds wave these spatules around during communal courtship displays, which females visit to select a mate.

The species occurs only in the Rio Utcubamba Valley, in the Andes of northern Peru.

Here, in a bid to prevent the species’ extinction, ABC and Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN) helped establish the Huembo Reserve in 2005.

Since the Marvelous Spatuletail is so rare, it has been classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; it’s also considered an Alliance for Zero Extinction species.

The main threat to the spatuletail is habitat destruction, caused by illegal wood-cutting and burning for agriculture. Other threats include illegal hunting and invasive plants, which crowd out native flowering plants that provide food.

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Naturalist Notebook – August 16, 2015

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Mark Willis
  • Lake Erie Birding Trail
    Tremendous numbers and diversity of migrant songbirds fill lakeside woodlands in spring and fall. Waterbirds galore pack marshes and the open lake waters, and interesting marsh birds breed in coastal wetlands. Winter brings hardy northern ducks, gulls, and raptors. There is never a dull season. | The sites included in the Lake Erie Birding Trail are the best of the best, and collectively nearly 400 species have been seen in these areas. There is a wealth of information for each site, and we hope that our trail helps to make your visit to Ohio and Lake Erie a bird-filled adventure! | The Lake Erie Birding Trail is divided into seven loops. The sites within each loop are similar in habitat type and landscape. You may choose to visit the entire trail in one trip or explore the trail loop by loop. For ease-of-use, this website is organized by loop.
  • Marcia Davis: Hummingbird Festival at Ijams starts at 8 a.m. Aug. 22 – Go Knoxville Story 081515
    Experience the wonder of hummingbirds at the fifth annual Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22, at Knoxville’s Ijams Nature Center. The festival, sponsored by the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and Ijams Nature Center, celebrates the ruby-throated hummingbird, one of Tennessee’s most popular and fascinating birds. | Hummingbird banding conducted by licensed bird bander Mark Armstrong is always a top crowd-pleaser. Hummer activity at feeders is greatest in the morning and evening. Since feeding activity slows down in the middle of the day, the banding station where hummers are captured at a feeder will operate from 8 a.m. until noon. | Visit the banding station to enjoy up close views of hummers. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn about bird banding. Banding involves a lot more than just putting a tiny uniquely numbered metal band on a bird’s leg. You’ll learn how bird banders sex and age hummingbirds and how they determine how much body fat a migratory bird has stored. In late summer, southbound migrating hummers stopover at local hummingbird feeders for a day or longer to replenish their fat reserves. Stored body fat supplies energy needed for migration.
  • Killing cormorants: Study finding culling to have no impact ignored, Audubon Society says – Free – The Daily Astorian 081315
    Despite the analysis, earlier this year U.S. Fish and Wildlife authorized the Corps to kill about 11,000 cormorants — or 5,600 breeding pairs — on East Sand Island at the mouth of the Columbia between Oregon and Washington. The uninhabited island is North America’s biggest cormorant nesting colony. The agency also authorized the Corps to oil 26,000 nests to prevent the eggs inside them from hatching.
  • Eastern Whip-poor-will | American Bird Conservancy 081415
    Soul-snatcher: One New England legend says the Whip-poor-will can sense a person’s soul departing, and capture it as it leaves. Native American lore considered the singing of these birds a death omen. | Recovery in Progress: Eastern Whip-poor-will populations have experienced steep declines, and the species was one of several added to the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. ABC and partners are working to help address the decline of aerial insectivores like the Whip-poor-will and Purple Martin. Our Migratory Bird Program also aims to address the reasons for decline of this and many other birds throughout their life cycles. |ABC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as partners of the Central Hardwoods Joint Venture, have contributed to an ongoing project in the Missouri Ozarks that is documenting habitat use by whips and Chuck-will’s-widows in the Mark Twain National Forest. Led by Dr. Frank Thompson from USDA Forest Service Research, this project is part of an effort to assess the response of these and other Watch List species to the national forest’s shortleaf pine and pine-oak woodland restoration efforts.
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Naturalist Notebook – August 9, 2015

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Mark Willis

  • It Took A Musician’s Ear To Decode The Complex Song In Whale Calls : NPR 080615
    Humpback whales don’t just sing songs — they compose with the whales around them, singing a song that evolves over time. Scientists didn’t know that until they started recording whale sounds in the 1960s and spent years listening. The evolution of this “culture of listening” among researchers is the focus of Morning Edition’s weekly summer series, Close Listening: Decoding Nature Through Sound. | Katy Payne, a researcher in acoustic biology at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and her husband, Roger, were the first scientists to realize that the intricate and eerie calls of some humpback whales are actually songs. At a recent visit with Katy in a Cornell sound studio, we played this archived recording of the first whale they ever heard, and she recognized it right away: | “It’s the voice of a male humpback whale off shore of Bermuda, in 1964,” Katy explained. “It was recorded by a Navy engineer.” |The Paynes met the engineer, Frank Watlington, on a trip to Bermuda. A friend of theirs had recommended they look him up because he shared their passion for whales, and Watlington invited the Paynes aboard his ship. | “We had no idea we were going to hear anything,” Payne told us. “He said, ‘I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard the sounds these animals make?’ ” |And then he played the song of the humpback whale for them. |”I had never heard anything like it,” Katy said. “Oh, my God, tears flowed from our cheeks. We were just completely transfixed and amazed because the sounds are so beautiful, so powerful — so variable. They were, as we learned later, the sounds of just one animal. Just one animal.”
  • The search for the next great bee | Michigan Radio 080415
    Honey bees pollinate about a third of the crops in the U.S—that’s about $15 billion of the agricultural economy. But honeybees have had a tough time lately: a combination of diseases, stress, parasites and pesticides have all hurt the honey bee population. | Scientists are starting to look at how other species of bees could help pick up the slack. | The bee world is a lot bigger than just honey bees; in fact, there are more than 20,000 species of bees in the world. Penn State researchers like Dave Biddinger are finding out that some of these unsung bees could start filling gaps left by honey bees.
  • One Of The Nation’s Biggest Urban Forests Isn’t Where You’d Expect : NPR 080615
    WADE GOODWYN: “The Trinity Forest is a place that’s in the process of becoming. What it’s becoming isn’t completely clear yet. We walk through acres of meadows, forest, river bottom. Massive hardwood soar above our heads. But at spots along the Trinity River, it’s disgusting. Because this place is both remote and close to Dallas, forest advocate Ben Sandifer says it’s long been a dumping ground. | Jack likes being outside all morning, the fishing hiking, birding, insecting. I just made that word up. And going to the Dallas Zoo beats being bored at home. But it’s not all good. There’s the bad and the ugly, too. Eleven-year-old Dylan Malone says she was dismayed at the condition of the riverbank while they were kayaking.”
  • My township calls my lawn ‘a nuisance.’ But I still refuse to mow it. – The Washington Post 080415
    Sarah Baker: “In June, my partner and I received an official written warning from the trustee board of St. Albans Township, stating that our yard had become “a nuisance.” Ohio law allows local governments to control any vegetation on private property that they deem a nuisance, after a seven-day warning to the property owners. But the law does not define what “a nuisance” is, effectively giving local leaders the power to remove whatever grass or plants offend them. In our case, the trustees decided that our lawn was too tall and thick and would attract “nuisance animals” such as “snakes and rodents.” If we didn’t cut it, they would hire someone to do so and bring law enforcement with them. | But the main point of growing a natural yard is to attract wildlife and build a self-regulating environment. The un-mowed plants in our yard attract plant-eating bugs and rodents, which in turn attract birds, bats, toads and garter snakes that eat them. Then hawks fly in to eat the snakes. Seeing all this life emerge in just one growing season made me realize just how much nature manicured lawns displace and disrupt. | There are 40.5 million acres of lawn in the United States, more than double the size of the country’s largest national forest. We disconnect ourselves from wildlife habitat loss by viewing it as a problem caused by industry and agriculture. But habitat loss isn’t a problem happening out there somewhere; it’s happening in our own back yards. | This has serious consequences. About 95 percent of the natural landscape in the lower 48 states has been developed into cities, suburbs and farmland. Meanwhile, the global population of vertebrate animals, from birds to fish, has been cut in half during the past four decades. Honey bees, which we depend on to pollinate our fruits and other crops, have been dying off at an unsustainable rate. Because one in three bites of food you take requires a pollinating insect to produce it, their rapid decline is a threat to humanity. Monarch butterflies have been even more affected, with their numbers dropping 90 percent since the 1990s. Butterflies are an important part of the food chain, so ecologists have long used them to measure the health of ecosystems. | Nature preserves and parks are not enough to fix the problem; much of wildlife is migratory and needs continuous habitat to thrive. Natural yards can act as bridges between the larger natural spaces.
  • Is Your Lawn Giving You A Hard Time? Let It Grow : NPR 080515
    Sarah Baker’s yard is a nuisance. At least that’s what the trustees of her township in central Ohio say. Baker and her partner have been letting their yard grow wild. They haven’t mowed it since last year. Now the Baker’s yard care has become the subject of national debate. Sarah Baker joins me to talk about both the outrage and the support that have germinated from her wild yard.
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Destinations: Magee Marsh

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Mark Willis
  • Magee Marsh Wildlife Area – map
    Magee Marsh Wildlife Area 13531 State Route 2, Oak Harbor, OH 43449 (614) 265-6561
  • Birding Magee Marsh
    Magee Marsh, situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, is a prime stopover for North American warblers during spring migration. Every year thousands of birders, photographers, and nature lovers flock to this location in spring to witness the unforgetable spectacle of large songbird concentrations preparing to migrate across the great lake toward their breeding grounds in the north. Many birders make the trip annually. Some have been doing so for twenty five or thirty years. Magee Marsh is just one of those special places that you have to come back to year after year. | Here you’ll find all the information you need to plan a trip to this warbler mecca. We’ve collected this information into one convenient place, in hopes that more people will make the trip to Magee in the spring to witness the warbler migation. And more importantly, we hope that more people will come to see the value of birds as beautiful co-inhabitants of this small planet we’ve been entrusted to care for.
  • Friends of Magee Marsh – Home
  • The Biggest Week in American Birding – Home
    2015 Biggest Week: May 8 – 17, 2015
  • Black Swamp Bird Observatory – HOME
    Black Swamp Bird Observatory 13551 West State Route 2 Oak Harbor, OH 43449
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Krapu et al 2014 |Spring Migration Ecology of the Nid-continent Sandhill Crane Population | Wildlife Monographs 2014

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Mark Willis

Ssandhill crane [Source: USGS]
Ssandhill crane [Source: USGS]

  • Spring migration ecology of the mid-continent sandhill crane population with an emphasis on use of the Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska | USGS | Wildlife Monographs 2014
     Abstract: We conducted a 10-year study (1998–2007) of the Mid-Continent Population (MCP) of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) to identify spring-migration corridors, locations of major stopovers, and migration chronology by crane breeding affiliation (western Alaska–Siberia [WA–S], northern Canada–Nunavut [NC–N], west-central Canada–Alaska [WC–A], and east-central Canada–Minnesota [EC–M]). In the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) of Nebraska, we evaluated factors influencing staging chronology, food habits, fat storage, and habitat use of sandhill cranes. We compared our findings to results from the Platte River Ecology Study conducted during 1978–1980. We determined spring migration corridors used by the breeding affiliations (designated subpopulations for management purposes) by monitoring 169 cranes marked with platform transmitter terminals (PTTs). We also marked and monitored 456 cranes in the CPRV with very high frequency (VHF) transmitters to evaluate length and pattern of stay, habitat use, and movements. An estimated 42% and 58% of cranes staging in the CPRV were greater sandhill cranes (G. c. tabida) and lesser sandhill cranes (G. c. canadensis), and they stayed for an average of 20 and 25 days (2000–2007), respectively. Cranes from the WA–S, NC–N, WC–A, and EC–M affiliations spent an average of 72, 77, 52, and 53 days, respectively, in spring migration of which 28, 23, 24, and 18 days occurred in the CPRV. The majority of the WA–S subpopulation settled in the CPRV apparently because of inadequate habitat to support more birds upstream, although WA–S cranes accounted for >90% of birds staging in the North Platte River Valley. Crane staging duration in the CPRV was negatively correlated with arrival dates; 92% of cranes stayed >7 days. A program of annual mechanical removal of mature stands of woody growth and seedlings that began in the early 1980s primarily in the main channel of the Platte River has allowed distribution of crane roosts to remain relatively stable over the past 2 decades. Most cranes returned to nocturnal roost sites used in previous years. Corn residues dominated the diet of sandhill cranes in the CPRV, as in the 1970s, despite a marked decline in standing crop of corn residues. Only 14% (10 of 74) of PTT-marked migrant cranes stayed at stopovers for ≥5 days before arriving in the CPRV, which limited the contribution of sites south of the CPRV for fat accumulation needed for migration and reproduction. Body masses of cranes (after adjusting for body size [an index of fat]) at arrival in the CPRV varied widely among years (1998–2006), indicating the importance of maintaining productive habitats on the wintering grounds to condition cranes for migration and reproduction. Average rates of fat gain by adult females while in the CPRV remained similar from 1978–1979 to 1998–1999 but declined among males. Distances cranes flew to feeding grounds in the CPRV increased as the percentage of cropland planted to soybeans increased and as density of cranes on nocturnal roosts increased. These results suggest that as habitats of limited or no value to cranes increase on the landscape, more flight time and higher maintenance costs may reduce fat storage. An estimated 40% of diurnal use occurred north of Interstate 80 (I-80) where ≤5% of lands dedicated to crane conservation are located. Seventy-four and 40% of PTT-marked EC–M and WC–A cranes had spring migrations that included staging in eastern South Dakota for an average of 11 and 10 days, respectively. Cranes of the NC–N, WA–S, and WC–A subpopulations staged an average of 25, 17, and 12 days in central and western Saskatchewan/eastern Alberta. Females in these affiliations increased their fat reserves after leaving Nebraska by an estimated 450, 451, and 452 g, respectively, underscoring the key role of these staging areas in preparing the 3 subpopulations for reproduction. After departing Nebraska, MCP cranes roosted primarily in basin wetlands. Most of these wetlands are in private ownership and lack adequate protection, emphasizing the need for effective laws and policies to ensure their long-term protection. The continued success of the current management goal of maintaining the MCP at approximately its current size and providing diverse recreational opportunities over a wide area of midcontinent and western North America is predicated on the ability of MCP cranes to continue to store large fat reserves in the CPRV in advance of breeding. For the CPRV to remain a key fat storage site, active channel maintenance (e.g., clearing of woody vegetation) likely will need to continue, along with establishing minimum stream flows. These actions would help ensure nocturnal roosting habitat remains sufficiently dispersed to provide cranes with daily intake of high-energy food adequate for major fat storage and limit risk of high mortality from storms and disease. Published 2014.

[Krapu et al 2014] This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. DOI: 10.1002/wmon.1013

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Sandhill Crane Migration Powers Nebraska Uplift

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Mark Willis

Sandhill cranes land on Platte River sandbar roosts west of Rowe Sanctuary’s Iain Nicolson Audubon Center southwest of Gibbon, Nebraska. [Photo by Lori Porter| Kearney Hub]

“I have been in Rowe blinds many times without having a perfect evening or morning experience — until I had both in four days,” writes Lori Potter, who took this photo for the Kearney Hub. “On March 19, waves of cranes landed on river sandbars with an orange sunset in the background. Hundreds woke up in front of me at sunrise on Monday.” Read more

  • Changing climate means sun might begin to set on sandhill cranes’ migration through Nebraska – Omaha.com: Hunting, Fishing And Outdoor Activities In Nebraska And Western Iowa | 031615
    By David Hendee/World-Herald staff writer: “KEARNEY, Neb. — The migration clock that brings sandhill cranes to the same places at the same time along central Nebraska’s Platte River during the fading days of winter may be winding down. | A changing global climate could be a new headwind for sandhill cranes to battle in coming decades, according to the National Audubon Society. | “It’s hard to predict the future, of course, but there might not be as many sandhill cranes passing through Kearney,” said Joe Ryan, director of Audubon’s climate initiative. | Ryan is a featured speaker Saturday at Audubon’s Nebraska Crane Festival in Kearney. | Kearney bills itself as the “Sandhill Crane Capital of the World” because of its location near the epicenter of a 60-mile stretch of the Platte River that hosts an estimated 500,000 migrating cranes from mid-February to mid-April each year. | The experience of witnessing 80 percent of the world’s cranes feeding and loafing in fields and wet meadows or flying to and from river roosts attracts thousands of people. The birds’ prehistoric ka-ro-ro-ro call rolls up and down the river. Wind whooshes off wings of swirling flights of cranes buzzing sandbars and islands. It’s considered one of the continent’s greatest wildlife spectacles. | Fossil evidence indicates that migrating cranes have fed and rested in Nebraska for millennia on their way to nesting grounds in the tundra of North America and Siberia. But changes in what Ryan calls the “climate envelope” of temperature, precipitation, seasonal changes and other variables that cranes need to survive could tweak the birds’ environment enough to trigger noticeable alterations in migration patterns, he said.”
  • Rowe Sanctuary | Audubon Nebraska
  • Home | Crane Trust
  • Peak Season For The Sandhill Crane Viewing | 032315
    LINCOLN, Neb. It is peak season for viewing the cranes in the Grand Island area, Alda, Nebraska. | The cranes come to this area during migration season, which begins mid-February and continues through mid-April. Mid-March is when the Crane Trust Nature center explains, you see “peak numbers.” | The Platte River Valley is a pivotal stopping point for the cranes as it is a time when they can find a mate and also consume nutrients. | The Crane Trust Nature Center is a non-profit organization that seeks to protect and enhance the critical habitat of the cranes and other water birds.
  • Let the sandhill crane viewing begin – Kearney Hub: Local 032015
    Sandhill cranes land on Platte River sandbar roosts Thursday night west of Rowe Sanctuary’s Iain Nicolson Audubon Center southwest of Gibbon, including the three at right that got a drink before settling in for the night. After a late migration start because of ice storms between Nebraska and their wintering grounds in south Texas and Mexico, thousands of cranes now are arriving daily in the Kearney area, just in time for Audubon’s Nebraska Crane Festival, which runs through Sunday.

A sandhill crane busts a move in a mating dance. Photo: Rick Rasmussen [WSJ 031315]
A sandhill crane busts a move in a mating dance. Photo: Rick Rasmussen [WSJ 031315]

How to Experience Nebraska’s Crane Migration

  • Why Sandhill Cranes Are Worth a Trip to Nebraska – WSJ 031315
    By Charu Suri: “As the sun appeared, the birds greeted the day in a deafening tidal wave of trills and cries that washed over us in an avian rite of spring lasting for at least 10 minutes. A surge of sandhill cranes flew toward us in dozens of V-shaped, chimerical formations. Some glided gracefully on air currents, some broke into ribbons and swooped down toward the sandbars in the middle of the river, while others veered away from the Platte to gobble up corn in nearby fields. The entire scene was accompanied by what sounded like countless chamber orchestras riffing simultaneously on Stravinsky.”
  • Naturally Speaking: The sandhill crane migration shouldn’t be missed | Ames Tribune
    Steve Lekwa: “We spent a gorgeous 70-degree evening watching cranes through binoculars and a spotter scope just a few miles southwest of Grand Island. We rejoined them before sunrise the next morning to watch the massed flocks head out to feed for the day. We were never out of sight or hearing of cranes the rest of the day as we explored back roads along the river and visited crane-themed nature centers. | The Crane Trust operates a visitor center just west of Grand Island and south of Interstate 80. They also manage a preserve of some 10,000 acres of critical crane habitat along the Big Bend area of the Platte River. The Rowe Sanctuary and Visitor Center is operated by the National Audubon Society and is southeast of Kearney. | We were lucky to spot a small flock of prairie chickens and numerous other species of ducks and geese during the day. A small flock of white fronted geese feeding in a cornfield near one of those back roads included a most unusual bird. The very small goose showed an entirely dark body and neck with some white on its rump but sported an entirely white face. It turned out to be a very rare dark color phase of the normally all white Ross goose, a small and uncommon snow goose look-alike that isn’t much bigger than a mallard duck.”
  • Sometimes you hit a sandhill crane jackpot – Kearney Hub: Lori Potter 032715
    “I have been in Rowe blinds many times without having a perfect evening or morning experience — until I had both in four days. On March 19, waves of cranes landed on river sandbars with an orange sunset in the background. Hundreds woke up in front of me at sunrise on Monday.”
  • Craning toward Kearney – TheGazette (Cedar Rapids IA) 032815
    Rich Patterson “We were in a blind — actually a huge plywood box — situated along the river at the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center. It’s also known as the Rowe Sanctuary and is just southeast of Kearney, Neb. | We had reservations and arrived 90 minutes before dawn. We checked in, enjoyed a brief introduction to cranes and were split into three groups of 30. A volunteer then led the groups out to the blind. | Everyone walked silently so as not to spook roosting cranes. Many were loaded down with binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras. Everyone was dressed warmly with coveralls or layers of pants and coats, thick socks and boots, long johns, hats and mittens. Even on this relatively mild morning, we knew we would chill quickly. | Reservations: Visit rowe.audubon.org or call (308) 468-5282 at the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center near Kearney, Neb.”
  • Sandhill Cranes Described Poetically | Rosemary’s Blog 032615
    Rosemary Washington: “Their beauty may lie beyond words, but as I was reading about sandhill cranes in preparation for my trip to Nebraska, I came across so many wonderfully descriptive and poetic passages by expert writers. Sometimes the writing was as lyrical and beautiful as the physical birds. While I was crane watching, it was rewarding to overlay my observations with these writers’ words.” | Paul Gruchow: “… the primeval sound rushed in, halfway between a croak and a song, the music of dry bones rattling. It surged and fell in a regular rhythm, like waves of water washing against a shore. . . . The sound of the sandhill cranes is like the roaring of the sea in a conch shell; when you have finally heard it, you recognize that you have always known it. It is like the cry of a loon or the howling of wolves or the warning rattle of a snake, an article in the universal language.”
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Rowe Sanctuary’s Crane Cam on the North Platte River

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Mark Willis

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Rowe Sanctuary’s Crane Cam on the North Platte River in Nebraska.

The Lillian Annette Rowe Sanctuary was established in 1974 by the National Audubon Society. Audubon’s vision is to protect and increase essential habitat for cranes, least terns and piping plovers on the Platte River.

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