From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 3:53 PM
To: Paul J. Baicich
Cc: Wayne Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - March 2009

 


THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
March 2009
 
 
This Birding Community E-bulletin is being distributed to active and
concerned birders, those dedicated to the joys of birding and the protection
of birds and their habitats. You can access an archive of past E-bulletins
on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
 
 
RARITY FOCUS
 
On the morning of 4 February, Richard Webster found a Blue Mockingbird at
the Slaughter Ranch in southeastern Arizona, adjacent to the San Bernardino
National Wildlife Refuge. The ranch is a historic site maintained by a
private foundation.
 

Blue Mockingbird is normally a resident of Mexico (from s. Sonora and s.
Tamaulipas to Oaxaca) with only about five records along the U.S. side of
the border since the 1990s. If you are unfamiliar with this species, you may
want to check the latest edition of the National Geographic field guide (pp.
362-362).
 
The Blue Mockingbird was originally located just a short walk from the ranch
parking lot. The bird was shy and wary of the many visiting birders that
came to see it. Nonetheless, it was regularly seen frequenting an area just
southeast of the main pond, not far from a small visitor center and a large
hackberry tree with fruit and an adjacent tangle.
 
For more details (including map) and to view excellent photographs from
multiple photographers, see: 
http://www.azfo.org/gallery/2009/html1/BLMO_Douglas_Moore_20090205.html 
 
The mockingbird remained at the Slaughter Ranch through the month.
 
 
TIMBERDOODLE, ANYONE?
 
Now is the time when American Woodcocks are migrating from their southern
wintering grounds to their breeding grounds in the northern and central
states and southern Canadian Provinces. Woodcocks, nicknamed Timberdoodles,
will also begin their remarkable courtship display flights. This elaborate
"sky dance" is a delight to behold.
 
In November 2005, we reported on the developments for a "Woodcock
Conservation Plan" to identify conservation and management goals for this
species:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/novSBC05.html#TOC10
 
The U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service has recently estimated that American
Woodcock numbers over the last 30 years have declined on average 1.2 percent
each year. This adds up to an estimated loss of 839,000 displaying male
woodcocks across the species' range since the 1970s. Multiple studies have
shown that hunting is not the cause of the woodcock population decline,
however. The problem appears to be a continuing loss of habitat that
woodcocks need for feeding, migration stopover, and nesting.
 
For more details about woodcocks, check out the Woodcock Conservation Plan
at:
http://timberdoodle.org/
 
 
MORE ON BIRDSTRIKES
 
Immediately after the February Birding Community E-bulletin was sent out,
the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicated that there was
organic material - "snarge" - found in both engines of the commercial jet
that was dramatically ditched in the Hudson River on 15 January. (Snarge is
the name used by investigators when referring to organic remains found on
planes. Snarge actually means "snot and garbage.") To see our February
report, check:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/febSBC09.html#TOC03
 
By mid-February, researchers at the Smithsonian Institution confirmed that
the snarge removed from the A320 aircraft was from Canada Geese. There is no
way to know how many geese were involved in the incident.
 
To read an interview with Carla Dove, director of the Smithsonian's feather
identification lab, see: 
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Fighting-the-Perils-of-Bird-Pla
ne-Collisions.html 
 
 
SHEDDING SOME LIGHT
 
Also on the topic of birds and aircraft, in early February the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) announced plans to conduct a study to
determine whether steady-burning sidelights on tall communications towers
can be safely eliminated without endangering air traffic. These
steady-burning sidelights are known to attract nocturnal migrating birds and
cause fatal collisions with such structures.
 
Current FAA guidelines on towers over 200 feet require the utilization of
red or dual-type lighting systems including the use of steady-burning
sidelights mounted at various intermediate levels (depending on tower
height). These requirements, now over 30 years old, may no longer be
applicable, based on current lighting technology. Furthermore, blinking
lights are suspected of causing far fewer bird deaths than steady-burning
lights.
 
The study should begin later this year, with a report and recommendations
hopefully announced before the start of 2010.
 
 
SODSAVER: WALLFLOWER
 
We have reported multiple times in the past on the expectations for
"sodsaver" in the last Farm Bill, most recently in June 2008:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/junSBC08.html#TOC10
 
A "sodsaver" element in the Farm Bill would be vital to an entire spectrum
of grassland birds. The "sodsaver" provision was originally intended to
eliminate taxpayer incentives to cultivate crops on virgin native
grasslands, and it was that it would be mandatory nationwide. (Ripping up
10,000-year-old prairie would not have been forbidden, just not eligible for
subsequent federal subsidy.) Final passage altered the bill's language to
apply only to parts of five prairie states (i.e., Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota), and then only at the option of those
states' individual governors.
 
The sign-up target for the governors to respond was 15 February 2009. Guess
what? To date the governors have passed on taking advantage of this
conservation opportunity. Democrat? Repubican? No matter. No takers. The
"sodsaver" so far remains ignored and unused. Still, some optimists feel
that the governors may be waiting for some further ruling on language.
 
If anything, an almost toothless "sodsaver" on the books is evidence for the
need to strengthen the provision in the next Farm Bill, as well as the need
to make it compulsory across the country. America's native prairies deserve
as much.
 
 
CONCERN OVER THE SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
 
Astute bird conservationists are well aware of the plight of the Red Knot -
a situation closely associated with the decline in the availability of
horseshoe crab eggs at the crucial Delaware Bay stopover site for Red Knots.
Researchers have recently raised concern over yet another species,
Semipalmated Sandpiper, whose decline may also be linked to the Delaware
Bay.
 
In late January, a team of five researchers with the New Jersey Audubon
Society along with a Dutch scientist, completed weeks of field work in
northern South America, announcing that they had found evidence that
Semipalmated Sandpiper is also in serious decline.
 
Only 400,000 of the sandpipers were located in South America, where in the
1980s the population was estimated at upward of 2 million.
 
"We had already found a 50 percent decline over 15 years by 2006. Now, this
is a 70 to 80 percent decline since the survey in the 1980s. I think it's
alarming," said David Mizrahi, from New Jersey Audubon. 
 
While there does not seem to be a significant change in the South American
wintering areas or in the Arctic breeding grounds, the bottleneck for both
this species and the Red Knot seems to be the Delaware Bay.
 
"About 80 percent of the world's population of Red Knots goes through the
Delaware Bay on their return north. About 60 percent of the world's
population of Semipalmated Sandpipers comes through at the same time,"
Mizrahi added.
 
"The Semipalmated Sandpipers cement the underpinning that something more is
in play here than just a problem isolated to the Red Knots," said Eric
Stiles of New Jersey Audubon. "The Semipalmated Sandpipers don't winter in
the same area as the Red Knot, or breed in the same areas. They only share
this one stopover area, the Delaware Bay, and they, too, are in decline." 
 
Further investigation is probably warranted at the breeding grounds, but
continued monitoring at the Delaware Bay will likely reveal new concerns
over declines in Semipalmated Sandpiper numbers.
 
For more details, see this news summary:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/123346595820269
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BOOK NOTES: A UNIQUE RICE BOOK
 
Ducks Unlimited and the Rice Foundation teamed up late last year to produce
a 180-page book on the issue of conservation in rice lands, with a special
emphasis on birds in these managed landscapes. The issue of rice and birds
is one we have written about in the E-bulletin multiple times in the past. 
 
The compact book, CONSERVATION IN RICELANDS OF NORTH AMERICA, is edited by
Scott W. Manley of Ducks Unlimited.
 
Readers of the E-bulletin may have particular interest in two sections, one
on "Wildlife Values and North American Ricefields," and the other on
"Wildlife, Rice, and Water, Building Common Ground."
 
You can find more information here:
http://www.ducks.org/states/19/news/pub/article1717.html
 
The small book may soon be available as individual chapter-by-chapter
downloads.
 
 
TIP OF THE MONTH: THINKING LIKE A BIRD
 
When you are in the field, and especially when you are examining a
particular habitat, ask yourself: "If I were a bird, and not a human, where
would I go in this habitat?" Look for the best brushy tangle, the best
mudflat, the best dead limb, the best cove, the best burned-over area, the
best scrubby transition zone, the best stretch of beach.
 
And if you are searching for a particular species in that habitat, look for
the sub-habitat that could be most productive for the species in question.
You may be surprised how well this strategy works! 
 
Yes, try thinking more like a bird next time you're in the field.
 
 
STREAMER PLAN SPREADS AMONG WEST COAST FISHING BOATS
 
In July 2005 we reported on the practice used by most fishing-vessels in
Alaska where streamer-lines and other avoidance devices were being required
to keep seabirds away from longline fishing gear. See here for details:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/julSBC05.html#TOC10
 
Because seabirds often follow fishing vessels looking for an easy meal, they
can also readily drown when they try to take bait attached to longline
fishing hooks. The use of streamers has proven successful in discouraging
many seabirds from trying to snatch some bait.
 
Last month, the Fishing Vessel Owners' Association (FVOA) which represents
longline captains in the halibut and sablefish fisheries along the West
Coast, instructed its members to use streamer lines when longline fishing in
Washington, Oregon, and California waters. The program, based on Washington
Sea Grant marine research, is voluntary.
 
Find more details, see this Oregon story:
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/02/fishing_vessels_agre
e_to_save.html 
   and this summary from the American Bird Conservancy:
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/090212.html
 
 
BIRDER BAND: HELPS BIRDS IN MAINE, HELPS SECURE BINOCULARS
 
Steve Walker and Judy Camuso from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries
and Wildlife have come up with an innovative way for birders to support
Maine's non-game bird activity, and at the same time label their binoculars
with a lost-and-found system. 
 
The Department has started selling metal "Birder Bands" which can be easily
locked onto binocular straps. Each of the Birder Bands has a unique
registration number and each has the phone number where lost and recovered
optics can be reported, thus allowing the Department the ability to notify
the registered owner and then reunite him/her with their binoculars.
 
To participate in this system, each individual band costs $20 per year, with
the funds going to state-based bird conservation projects.
 
For details, see:
http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/species/endangered_species/birder_band.htm

 
- - - - - - - - -
You can access past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association
(NWRA) website:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
 
If you wish to distribute all or parts of any of the monthly Birding
Community E-bulletins, we simply request that you mention the source of any
material used. (Include a URL for the E-bulletin archives, if possible.) 
 
If you have any friends or co-workers who want to get onto the monthly
E-bulletin mailing list, have them contact either:
 
            Wayne R. Petersen, Director
            Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program
            Mass Audubon
            718/259-2178
            
                        or
            Paul J. Baicich
            410/992-9736
            
 
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