Re: [MDOsprey] Wow! Lots of shorebird info!
Jlstasz@aol.com
Tue, 27 Jul 1999 08:24:31 EDT
Hi Folks!
There is lots of shorebird information, but we can make it even better. The
easiest thing is counting how many of each kind. A checklist of all the
species will eventually yield arrival and departure dates, but counts will
help create the timing of population migration.....the changes in bar widths
in the Yellow Book.
Also, it is well know that adults and juveniles of many species migrate at
different times. The adults tend to be the first wave, and the juveniles the
second wave. Counting the numbers and assigning them to age groups [ad. or
juv.] helps estimate population changes. We can start getting a handle on
what proportion of the Fall population are adults and the proportion that are
juvenile, and then evaluate the Summer nesting success.
I try to do this for many species. Two winters back, there were essentially
no immature Tundra Swans. A field of 2000 might have had 20 immatures. Last
year the proportion of immatures was much higher.
There is so much more we can learn about birds if we take the additional time
and effort to observe a bit more take notes of what we find, and then report
them.
Good Birding!
Jim
Jim Stasz
North Beach MD
jlstasz@aol.com