Category Archives: Bird conservation

Fall Woods Walk 1

Ginger and I have been exploring a local forest and its network of trails. Yesterday, we walked and birded for nearly three hours and never saw anyone. 

It was quiet: there were no road noises, chainsaws, people, or dogs – all was I could hear was the jingle of her harness, the chirps and trills of the ever-present chickadees, and calling of crows and the drumming of woodpeckers. It was lovely as the temperature climbed from 45 into the sixties – a perfect Fall morning and a welcome break from the onslaught of disturbing news in the nation and the world.

I took my time and saw a lot of birds but thought I’d first give you a flavor of the trek. I’ll sort the birds out next post. 

These old farmlands have a variety of stone walls, old foundations, interesting debris, and lots of natural features that catch your eye. This massive boulder right near the start has a big crack and missing piece that piques the imagination.

Just across the trail is an old hubcap which probably has a story behind it.

The leaves are starting to turn and it’s goldenrod and aster time in Vermont.

A Common Yellowthroat enjoying fall color

Some of the forest is being used for sugaring.

The sap transmission lines are left up year-round.
Ginger explored some of the old pails
This tree had an interesting burl
This tree had an interesting family using it.

Here are a few more shots from the walk:

My Birding Buddy – ready for the next adventure

It is heartening to know that these trails and quiet forest have been preserved and protected for future generations.

Common Loon Reproductive Success in Canada

Bird Studies Canada recently published an article in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology summarizing patterns in Common Loon reproductive success between 1992-2010 across southern Canada, using data collected by participants in BSC’s Canadian Lakes Loon Survey. The reproductive success of the Common Loon is a good indicator of the health of waterways, especially in relation to mercury and acid precipitation. The overall goal of the study was to indirectly describe the health of lakes in southern Canada in relation to these pollutants.

Photo: Frank & Sandra Horvath

Photo: Frank & Sandra Horvath

The authors found that the number of young produced was higher in the western provinces than in Atlantic Canada; was lower in 2010 than it was 19 years earlier; was higher in larger lakes than in smaller ones; and was lower where lake acidity was higher. These relationships are likely linked to mercury exposure and acid-related reductions in food. The results show that citizen science is powerful for monitoring ecosystem health, and indirectly support action to reduce emissions of mercury and the harmful components of acid precipitation.
Visit the ACE website to read the full article by Dr. Doug Tozer, Myles Falconer, and Debbie Badzinski. For a summary of the research from BirdWatch Canada, select this link.

Drilling for “oil” in the nursery

A disturbing article on the effect of tar sands on birds from Canadian blogger Sharon McInnes:

Some of Enbridge’s oil tanks are decorated with illustrations of lovely Canada Geese in flight. Let’s just hope they don’t land in the tar sands tailing ponds.

Enbridge tanks

Almost all the largest oil companies are currently mining and drilling in the Boreal forest and wetlands where more than half of the birds of North America nest. According to The Boreal Forest Region: North America’s Bird Nursery the Boreal Forest is the preferred breeding ground (i.e. they do over 50% of their breeding there) of 96 Western Hemisphere bird species. And a total of 276 species breed within the area when you count species that do at least 5% of their breeding there.

Boreal Forest. Photo by Olga Oslina. Flick’r CC image.

Here’s the bad news: according to the National Resources Defence Council’s December 2008 report, Danger in the Nursery: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada’s Boreal Forest, over the next 30 to 50 years between 6 million and 166 million more birds could be lost as a result of tar sands development, this in addition to the ever-increasing number of species already declining at alarming rates.

Athabasca_2011_jpeg_492x0_q85_crop-smart

Tar sand deposits lie under 141,000 square kilometres of boreal forest and muskeg. NASA photo 2011

Let’s be clear: tar sands are not oil. They are a mixture of approximately 10% bitumen mixed with sand, clay, silt, and water. Bitumen is “what a desperate civilization mines after it’s depleted its cheap oil.” (Tar Sands, Andrew Nikiforuk, 2010) Getting it from its raw state to a state in which it will flow through a pipeline takes a mind-boggling amount of fresh water, a complex network of roads, pipelines, well pads, compressor stations, energy generation facilities, and tailing ponds. It means the devastation of the forest covering the tar sands along with every living thing that called that forest home. Whether the tar is extracted by open-pit mining using 400-ton 3-story high trucks and electric shovels worth $15 million each, or by ‘in situ’ drilling, the result is the same: massive habitat loss and fragmentation, contaminated air and water, loss of huge volumes of water from wetlands, lakes, and rivers, and greenhouse gas emissions triple those of conventional oil drilling. Global warming is just one of the nasty results.

Read the rest of the post

Declining Grassland Birds & Pesticides

Grasshopper Sparrow Photo: Nick Saunders

Grasshopper Sparrow Photo: Nick Saunders

A new paper by Canadian scientists Pierre Mineau and Mélanie Whiteside identifies pesticide toxicity to birds as an important factor in grassland bird declines. “Pesticide Acute Toxicity is a Better Correlate of U.S. Grassland Bird Declines than Agricultural Intensification” was recently published in the peer-reviewed, open-access online journal PLOS One. The study found that acutely toxic pesticides (rather than habitat loss) were the most likely leading cause of the widespread population declines of grassland birds in the United States. “The data suggest that loss of birds in agricultural fields is more than an unfortunate consequence of pest control; it may drive bird populations to local extinction,” said Dr. Mineau in a related American Bird Conservancy media release. To read the full article ,select this link.

Foresters for the Birds wins national recognition

The Foresters for the Birds project has won national recognition from the U.S. Forest Service Wings Across the Americas program for its collaborative approach to forest and bird habitat conservation in Vermont and along the Atlantic Flyway. Every year, the Forest Service recognizes outstanding work by Forest Service employees and their local, regional and international partners in conserving birds, bats, butterflies, dragonflies, and their habitats. The Foresters for the Birds project is an innovative partnership between Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks, and Recreation that started in 2008 with support from the U.S. Forest Service State and Private Forestry Program. It is being recognized for breaking down perceived barriers between tree-cutters and bird-lovers in order to achieve common goals of assisting private landowners with protecting and improving forest health, productivity, and habitat for birds of conservation concern.

The program is designed to improve timber and forest songbird habitat for species including wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler. photo by dick mansfield.

The program is designed to improve timber and forest songbird habitat for species including wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler. photo by dick mansfield.

As home to some of the highest diversities of breeding birds in the continental United States, Vermont’s northern forests are globally important for birds. However, forest fragmentation and conversion threaten birds, forest health, and Vermont’s local forest-based economy. Songbirds need forests, and in order to keep forested land available, “we need to make sure there is some economic benefit to landowners in keeping their land forested”, stated Michael Snyder, Commissioner of the Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation. ”The beauty of this project is that it is a way of connecting human needs with the needs of wildlife. Managing working forests provides economic benefits to landowners and assists them in keeping their land forested, which in turn provides important habitat for wildlife.”

“Vermonter’s overwhelmingly value our working landscape and treasure the birds breeding in our forests. This partnership builds on these complementary interests by giving woodlot owners and their foresters the skills and tools to create a great bird nursery and a vibrant forest industry,” added Jim Shallow, Audubon Vermont’s Conservation and Policy Director.

US Forest Service Forest Stewardship Representative, Roger Monthey, agrees. “The Foresters for the Birds project is a great example of a way forward that integrates Vermont’s working forests with migratory bird habitat management goals,” states Monthey. “Many woodland owners in Vermont are interested in nature, privacy, aesthetics, leaving a legacy, and we feel this project is an excellent fit for these landowners. It’s the strong partnership between foresters, biologists, and woodland owners that makes this project unique.”

The Wings Across the Americas awards will be presented as part of the 78th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference to be held in Arlington, VA, March 25-30, 2013.

Sign up by RSS feed or via email to have future articles sent to you. 

Foresters for the Birds

On Saturday, January 26, 2013, Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (VT FP&R) will be hosting a woods tour of an active logging job that demonstrates concepts and practices developed through a unique and innovative partnership between the two organizations: the Foresters for the Birds project. The tour will take place at the 255-acre Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington, Vermont where a timber harvest designed to improve timber and forest songbird habitat for species including wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler is underway. The tour is open to the public and press, and will run from 9:00 am to noon. Space is limited; pre-registration is required. Forest landowners, municipal volunteers and officials, foresters, and other natural resource professionals with an interest in applying similar practices on land they manage are especially encouraged to attend. Featured highlights of the event will be meeting with the foresters, biologists, landowner, logger, and other leaders who are all working together on this harvest, and seeing the logger and his equipment in action.

The timber harvest is designed to improve timber and forest songbird habitat for species including wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler. photo by dick mansfield.

The timber harvest is designed to improve timber and forest songbird habitat for species including wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler. photo by dick mansfield.

The harvest at the Audubon Center is one of nine being done across Vermont and New Hampshire as part of the Foresters for the Birds project to test and demonstrate how timber management can be used as a tool to improve bird habitat while also generating income from forest products to offset land holding costs and keep forests forests. The tour will be led by VT FP&R county foresters and Audubon Vermont biologists. VT FP&R Commissioner, Michael Snyder, and Agency of Natural Resources Secretary, Deb Markowitz, will also discuss how the Foresters for the Birds project is making a positive difference for forest stewardship, forest health, and the forest-based economy in Vermont.

The tour will begin with a brief introduction at the Birds of Vermont Museum located at 900 Sherman Hollow Road in Huntington. The group will then take a short walk to the harvest area at the Audubon Center to see how forestry practices such as thinnings, crop tree management, and selection harvests are being used to benefit birds and other wildlife as well as the long-term vigor and growth of the forest. Participants will learn about services and resources available to landowners interested in doing a similar harvest on their own land. Logistics and financial considerations, including Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) incentive programs, will also be discussed.

For information and registration visit the Audubon Vermont website or call Charley Wilkinson at (802)434-3068. Registration is $10 for Audubon Vermont members and $15 for non-members. Come ready for a winter walk in the woods; snowshoes are recommended. Hope to see you there!

Increase in bird song activity later in the nesting season.

Written by Norm Famous on maine-birds@googlegroups.com

I first experienced a rise in bird song activity while mapping the distribution of breeding bird species inside 20-acre blocks of forest. Song or territorial activity for the early nesting species that arrive inApril and early May such as white-throated sparrows, juncos, hermit thrushes and winter wrens are likely birds bringing off a second clutch, or renesting pairs whose first attempt was unsuccessful. In general, this increase can occur in both mid-June as well as July since there are two different nesting attempts involved.

Song production from species that winter in the tropics (Neotropical migrants) whose populations typically arrive in May through early June (mostly from mid-May onward), slows down after territories are firmly established and birds are well into incubation and gathering food for nestlings.

In early July when Neotropical migrants begin to fledge, the broods wander out of their parent’s territories into neighboring territories. That seems to result in an increase in song activity.

Periods of cold weather in June may result in higher nest mortality causing renesting later in June and early July. This adds to the increased song activity. I experienced this about ten years ago after a very cold and damp June in the form of a large increase in dependent young black-throated green warblers, American redstarts, blue-headed vireos and magnolia warblers throughout August. At the time, I was conducting fall migration counts every 10 days from August 1 through October.

Unmated males, by contrast, and birds attempting to renest during this period will sing vigorously in mid June. Unmated or wandering males are easy to detect when you have all the established breeding territories delineated or mapped and extra singing males show up and wander through the plot for one to several days. It is kind of fun to witness as the established males react, sometimes coming over from one to two territories away.

To summarize, the answer is not simple but after the mid-June lull of bird song activity, the increase is due to a combination of renesting attempts, the breakdown of territory boundaries by wandering broods and unmated wandering males. I am sure there are contribution physiological factors and other causes, some species-specific.*On another note!*

In regards to new unmated wandering males of the same species interring a territories (that is, new birds singing unfamiliar song renditions to the local population), you get a similar reaction when using song playbacks to lure target species into view.

*This practice can cause chaos to the entire local breeding population to both the target species as well as related species.*

I was working on an experiment at Bass Harbor Head on MDI where I was attempting to evaluate if warblers nesting in spruce-fir forest would react to playbacks of songs from other co-habiting warbler species when played in close proximity high in the canopy (e.g., within 40 feet). I attempted this work in response to studies that established that there was a ‘pecking order’ among the some of the spruce woods nesting warblers (the diminutive northern parula was at the bottom).

I suspended speakers 35-40 feet into the canopy (on light aluminum poles with a wire running down to a small amplifier) and played songs of a different species when I had a target male in view.

*Well, all ‘hell’ would break out in the middle to upper canopy. *The target male often looked toward the speaker and pauses or stops singing. However, neighboring males of the playback species went crazy and charged the speaker and chased any nearby birds regardless of species (again mostly warblers and golden-crowned kinglets). Within a half a minute or so, males of the playback species from neighboring territories charged into the ruckus and started chasing one another. I only played 3 to 5 (max) song renditions to the target species). If there was going to be a reaction, I expected it to be instantaneous.

*How large can the disturbances caused by playbacks be?*

Birds from up to three territories away joined the activity (some greater than 100 meters away). From the perspective of the study, this was extremely frustrating because it took over a half hour to assemble the pole segments and raise them through an opening in the canopy before having to wait for a target bird to come into view; the combined time usually exceeded an hour.

Once the local bird population was disturbed, you could not repeat the experiment at that location with 1/4 mile. Moreover, disturbances sometimes extended beyond a half hour (both inter and intra-specific chasing).

Needless to say, I did not gather enough information to address the original question about interspecific territoriality among birds within the same feeding guild, which at this location was comprised of 7 to 9 species of high- and mid-canopy insectivorous foliage gleaners (say that three times in a row).

*What are the implications regarding using playbacks during the nesting season? *

*Using playbacks will create chaos within the local breeding population of both the target species and other species, at least within the same size and taxonomic groups. I cannot speak to interactions beyond these warblers and kinglets. However, bird song is the standard form of mate selection and territory establishment and defense. *

*What happens when there is chaos? *

Birds are more susceptible to predation because their attention is elsewhere.

Birds were flying through and above the canopy for extended periods of time. They waste energy.

If the weather is marginal or the foliage very wet, females drawn to the commotion leave nests exposed or fledglings (think of toddlers) follow adults into the action and are more susceptible to predation.

Think about this the next time you use playbacks during the nesting season. The species that you are broadcasting often contain songs of other species. The temptation to use playbacks increases when the woods are quiet in the afternoon or during bad weather. On a more upbeat note, other than increased vulnerability to predation, the energetic and weather related risks appear less during the migrations.

When casually using playbacks, these disturbances are not typically apparent. I have no reason to suspect that this does not happen. However, when you know the locations or distribution of most the territories of all species in a local population, you can observe the chain of reactions.

I have to remember this when I am tempted to use playbacks to attract a species. I used playbacks while surveying a local population of Bicknell’s thrush along a logging road and observed the chaos among both Bicknell’s thrushes and Swainson’s thrushes. I followed singing and calling Bicknell’s thrushes from over 150 meters away work their way over to the disturbance caused by the playbacks. I did not pay attention of other species in the vicinity. In retrospect, I had forgotten about the study described above.

*Be cautious!*
*
*
*Birds are great!*
*
—
Norman Famous, Wetlands and Wildlife Ecologist
513 Eight Rod Road
Augusta, ME 04330
(207) 623 6072

Secretary Salazar Releases 2011 State of the Birds Report

The full report is available at www.stateofthebirds.org.
U.S. Department of the Interior
AMERICA’S GREAT OUTDOORS: Secretary Salazar Releases 2011 State of the Birds Report
Report Shows Public Lands and Waters Crucial to Birds; One Out of Four Birds Species on Public Land in Peril
05/03/2011

Contact: Hugh Vickery, DOI (202) 208-6414
Alicia F. King, FWS (571) 214-3117

WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Harris Sherman today released the 2011 State of the Birds Report, the nation’s first assessment of birds on lands and waters owned by the American people. The findings indicate tremendous potential for bird conservation: these publicly owned habitats support at least half of the entire U.S. distributions of more than 300 bird species.
The report concludes that America’s public lands and waters, ranging from national wildlife refuges to national parks to national forests, offer significant opportunities to halt or reverse the decline of many species. More than 1,000 bird species inhabit the U.S., 251 of which are federally threatened, endangered, or of conservation concern. The report provides a scientific tool to help public agencies identify the most significant conservation opportunities in each habitat.
“The State of the Birds report is a measurable indicator of how well we are fulfilling our shared role as stewards of our nation’s public lands and waters,” Salazar said. “Although we have made enormous progress in conserving habitat on public lands, we clearly have much more work to do. The good news is that because birds so extensively use public lands and waters as habitat, effective management and conservation efforts can make a significant difference in whether these species recover or slide towards extinction.”
“The 2011 State of the Birds report reflects significant achievement by public agencies and all of our long-standing partners in improving bird habitats,” said Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Harris Sherman. “The USDA programs are innovative and creative. Over the last two years, the Natural Resources Conservation Service has played a critical role in working cooperatively with landowners to conserve migratory birds in the Gulf of Mexico, sage grouse in the great plains, and others. The Forest Service has developed a draft Forest Planning rule that will ensure our National Forests support birds and other wildlife for decades to come.”
The report assessed the distribution of birds on nearly 850 million acres of public land and 3.5 million square miles of ocean. It relied on high-performance computing techniques to generate detailed bird distribution maps based on citizen-science data reported to eBird and information from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Protected Areas Database of the United States.
The report highlighted the wide variety of bird habitats on public lands. These include:
Aridlands: More than half of U.S. aridlands are publicly owned. Thirty-nine percent of aridland bird species are of conservation concern and more than 75 percent of species are declining.
Oceans and Coasts: All U.S. marine waters are publicly owned and are home to 86 ocean bird species and 173 coastal species. At least 39 percent of U.S. bird species restricted to ocean habitats are declining and almost half are of conservation concern, indicating severe stress in these ecosystems.
Forests: Public lands include some of the largest unfragmented blocks of forest, which are crucial for the long-term health of many bird species, including the endangered Kirtland’s warbler, which has 97 percent of its U.S. distribution on public lands.
Arctic and Alpine: Ninety percent of boreal forest, alpine, and arctic breeding bird species in Alaska rely on public lands for habitat, including 34 breeding shorebird species of high conservation concern. There are more public lands in Alaska than in the rest of the U.S. combined, offering huge potential to manage lands for conservation.
Islands: More birds are in danger of extinction in Hawaii than anywhere else in the U.S. Public lands in Hawaii support 73 percent of the distribution of declining forest birds. Among declining Hawaiian forest birds on Kauai, about 78 percent rely on state land. Four endangered species in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands are entirely dependent on federal lands.
Wetlands: Wetlands protection has provided the “gold standard” for bird conservation. On the whole, 39 species of hunted waterfowl have increased by more than 100 percent during the past 40 years as nearly 30 million acres of wetlands have been acquired and management practices have restored bird populations.
Grasslands: Grassland birds are among our nation’s fastest declining species, yet only a small amount – 13 percent — of grassland is publicly owned and managed primarily for conservation. Forty-eight percent of grassland-breeding bird species are of conservation concern, including four with endangered populations.
The 2011 State of the Birds report is a collaborative effort as part of the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative, involving federal and state wildlife agencies, and scientific and conservation organizations. These include the American Bird Conservancy, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Bureau of Land Management, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Department of Defense, the National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service, the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The full report is available at www.stateofthebirds.org.