From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 3:14 PM
To: Paul J. Baicich
Cc: Wayne R. Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - March 2011

 


THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
        March 2011


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. 

This issue is sponsored by NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and the wonderful bird and
birding books they make available:
www.shopng.com/birdbooks 
  
[]

You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of the National
Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html


RARITY FOCUS

Once again the focus of this month's rarity is in Texas.

On 27 January, Larry Geiger found a Yellow-faced Grassquit at Goose Island
State Park, north of Rockport, Aransas County, Texas. Three days later,
Samuel Taylor confirmed and photographed the male grassquit near campsites
204 and 205 in the park. To see some of Taylor's photos visit: 
http://picasaweb.google.com/BrushFreeman/Grassquit2#

Yellow-faced Grassquit is a resident in the Greater Antilles, the Gulf slope
of northeast Mexico (central Coahuila and southern Tamaulipas), south
through Central America to the Pacific slope of northern Ecuador and western
Colombia. It has occurred in the U.S. as an accidental visitor in south
Florida, with about five reports, and also in south Texas, with about three
reports. In Florida, reports have been of the West Indian race, "olivacea."
In Texas, previous records have been of the darker Mexican race, "pusilla."

If you are unfamiliar with this handsome little bird, check a Mexican, West
Indian, or similar field guide to see an illustration, or also check the
National Geographic guide (5th edition), pages 402-403, or the new Stokes
North American guide, page 650. 

The Goose Island State Park bird remained through February, obliging many
visiting birders from coast to coast. It was usually found in the northeast
section of the park, near campsites numbered in the 200s, often frequenting
the brushy edges, mowed lawn, or pathways, making it sometimes difficult to
observe, and often seen associating with a small flock of Field Sparrows.


IBA NEWS: FLINT HILLS OPPORTUNITY

In the previous two issues of the E-bulletin we highlighted two National
Wildlife Refuge innovations that embrace entire "Conservation Areas,"
regions congruent with multiple IBAs, specifically in the Dakotas and the
Everglades Headwaters region:
www.refugenet.org/birding/JanSBC11.html#TOC04
and
www.refugenet.org/birding/febsbc11.html#TOC04

This month our emphasis is a similar NWR project, the Flint Hills Legacy
Conservation Area in Kansas. This proposed project is intended to conserve
up to 1.1 million acres of tallgrass prairie through voluntary, perpetual
conservation easements. (About 45,000 acres are already protected in this
region.) New easements would further protect habitat for scores of species
of nesting, migrating, and wintering grassland birds and about 90 native
species of grasses. These working landscapes would also ensure that the
region's ranching culture is sustained. 

Sadly, Kansas is one of the states without an ongoing and functioning IBA
program, although the Flint Hills region clearly ranks as a deserving IBA.
In The American Bird Conservancy Guide to THE 500 MOST IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS
IN THE UNITED STATES (2003), this region was called "one of the great
remnant source areas for grassland birds on the continent." For example, the
area in eastern Kansas supports important populations of Greater
Prairie-Chicken, Short-eared Owl, Lark Bunting, and Henslow's Sparrow. 

This project deserves careful watching and support. You can find details on
the proposal here:
www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/planning/Habitat%20Protection%20Plans/Kansas/fl
h/flh_lpp_factsheet.pdf

For additional information about worldwide IBA programs, including those
across the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area
program web site at: 
www.audubon.org/bird/iba/


SAVE AN OWL; SHOOT AN OWL

Given a series of disappointing previous results in the effort to save
Northern Spotted Owls in the Pacific Northwest, a new and controversial plan
is now being considered.

In an Environmental Impact Statement expected to be issued in a few months,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may suggest controlling the spread of
Barred Owls to encourage rejuvenation of the Spotted Owl population. Barred
Owls are doing well in the Northwest because of their supposed adaptability,
while the Spotted Owls apparently have more demanding environmental
requirements.

A limited experiment on private California timberland showed that Spotted
Owls returned every time Barred Owls in the area were removed.

Still, the expected plan is already controversial, with few clear winners.
Some see the plan as interfering with natural selection; others claim we
have already interfered by changing the environment; still others are simply
hesitant about the idea of this drastic action to "level the playing field."
Industry supporters say that ongoing restrictions on federal timber sales
have already been directed to benefit a species that may not be recoverable.

Lowell Diller, a wildlife biologist from Northern California who holds a
collecting permit to shoot Barred Owls, estimates that a reduction of 10 to
20 percent of the Barred Owl population would be effective. But then again,
it might not. "The worst thing would be to spend millions, kill a bunch of
Barred Owls, and get no treatment effect," he said. 

Clearly, this development merits further attention.


RUSTY BLACKBIRDS AND LEAD SHOT 

The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued a final rule concerning its
"depredation order" for native blackbirds and corvids. Depredation orders
are periodically issued by the USFWS to allow the killing of migratory birds
such as crows, grackles, and other blackbirds which are deemed to be causing
damage to public or private property, pose a health or safety hazard, or are
damaging agricultural crops or wildlife. The new regulation in this case has
two beneficial changes that should interest E-bulletin readers.

First, it removes Rusty Blackbird from the list of species that may be
considered under such depredation orders. Rusty Blackbird is a species in
serious decline, a subject and species we have covered previously in the
E-bulletin, and the species' status actually warrants further protection,
including its removal from the potential "pest" list. Mexican "Tamaulipas"
Crow was also removed from the depredation order, although its status in the
U.S. has become such that inclusion from the list is inconsequential.

Second, this new rule precludes the use of lead shot to kill other species
of blackbirds covered under the depredation order. Despite pressure on the
Service to reverse this particular provision, the USFWS has stood firm. The
Service has stated that "Poisoning of many. species of birds by lead shot
has been well documented. We reasonably infer based on this information that
lead [toxicity]. provides sufficient justification to ban the use of lead
shot in bird control under this order."

The lead-shot ban is partial, limited to this particular depredation order,
but it does contribute to the body of evidence supporting the pernicious
effects of lead, and its effects on birds in particular. This is a topic we
have covered in the E-bulletin previously, including most recently in
December, 2010:
www.refugenet.org/birding/DecSBC10.html#TOC08

For more details on the new ruling, see the following from the American Bird
Conservancy:
www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/110120.html


HOUSE TARGETS CONSERVATION/BIRD SPENDING

It's Congressional budget-slashing time, and it's also open season.

Last month, the House of Representatives passed H.R.1, the Full Year
Continuing Resolution (CR) for 2011. That bill proposed a whopping $60
billion cut in the federal budget, mainly from domestic programs. Besides
the reduction of programs as varied as NASA, Amtrak, state law enforcement,
and education, the Republican-led formula for cutting the budget and keeping
the government operating also included major cuts in essential
bird-and-wildlife spending. Some of the more essential conservation programs
- familiar programs to regular readers of this E-bulletin - facing proposed
cuts included:
     State Wildlife Grants - This effort leverages more than $100 million
per year in state, tribal, local, and private dollars- associated with State
Wildlife Action Plans. Funded previously at $90 million, this program is
facing $0. Yes, zero.
     North American Wetlands Conservation Fund- This program (NAWCA) has
leveraged over $2 billion in matching funds, impacting 20 million acres
through the work of more than 4,000 partners for migratory bird
conservation, flood control, erosion control, and water quality. Funded in
FY10 at $47.6 million, it would have $0.
     Land and Water Conservation Fund - One of our favorites, LWCF uses
offshore oil and gas revenue, "recycling" the funds back to federal, state,
and local land-based conservation and acquisition. While it is authorized
(since 1977) at $900 million, it historically receives a lot less. In the
last year it received more than usual, about $450 million. The proposed CR
would reduce that by over 86%, to $59 million. This would be the lowest
amount ever for LWCF.
     Refuge System Operations and Maintenance - Funded in FY10 at $503
million, the refuges face a cut of $12 million, bringing essential services
down to $491 million. Simply to "stand still," NWRs would need at least $511
million. Important restoration, management, and visitor services would
suffer.

Other drastic cuts would include the Cooperative Endangered Species
Conservation Fund authorized under Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act,
Farm Bill elements (such as the Wetland Reserve Program - WRP - and the
Environmental Quality Assistance Program - EQUIP), the USDA National
Resource Conservation Service, and enforcement aspects of the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).

Virtually all the wildlife, land-preservation, environmental, hunting, and
bird-conservation organizations have recently come out against this
onslaught, often citing the package of essential conservation elements
outlined above.

The Senate indicated that it would not take up the House bill, and President
Obama stated that he would veto the House approach as it stood. At the start
of March, an alternative short-term Continuing Resolution - or even
consecutive CRs - may be expected, thus kicking the can down the road, so to
speak, but at least avoiding a complete catastrophe with government
shutdown.

Although stopgap CRs with incremental cuts are expected, the core
conservation programs will remain on the chopping block. More on this next
month.


TIP OF THE MONTH: THE PATAGONIA PICNIC TABLE EFFECT

Traditionally we start the E-bulletin with coverage of a rare bird found
somewhere in the U.S. or Canada. Sometimes, when birders show up to look for
the rarity in question other remarkable birds are found. This simply proves
that with enough birder coverage, and enough eyes, the discovery of one
unusual bird often leads to the discovery of another.

This phenomenon has a name: the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect, and its
origin goes back several decades. Sometime in the late 1960s, birders
realized that there were nesting Rose-throated Becards at the wooded
roadside picnic area on Arizona 82, about four miles south of the small
ranching community of Patagonia. The stop is no more than 0.3 miles of old
pavement, with concrete picnic tables under cottonwood and ash trees
abutting an arid thornscrub hillside. Regular stops at the rest area and
along the wooded trail on the opposite side of the road often seemed to
produce other interesting sightings: Thick-billed Kingbird, Black-capped
Gnatcatcher, Five-striped Sparrow, Yellow Grosbeak, and more. To this day,
birders regularly pause at the picnic roadstop, rather than simply drive by
on the way to someplace else.

Thus evolved "The Patagonia Picnic Table Effect:" one good bird attracts
birders, who often discover yet another good bird, which brings more
birders, ad infinitum. 

In reality, similar scenarios play out several times a year somewhere in
North America. The end result is a the locality becomes "well known for rare
birds," even though it may be little or no better than other similar nearby
localities!

Stay alert and stay tuned, because you may find this very phenomenon in
action in the next few months or in the coming year somewhere near you!


BOOK NOTES:  BIRD LESSONS

Sy Montgomery has given readers another engaging and well-written book about
animals. With care, originality, and humor, she delivers BIRDOLOGY (Free
Press 2010). It's a different look at birds, with birds as characters, even
as individuals, sometimes almost bordering on anthropomorphism. but not
quite.

In seven thematic chapters, Montgomery delves into the intrinsic nature of
birds, their interaction with humans, and their behavior. The seven chapters
cover birds as individuals (including chickens), as primitive relations to
dinosaurs (cassowaries), as denizens of the air (hummingbirds), as
fiercesome predators (raptors), as superb navigators (pigeons), as
remarkable communicators (parrots), and as social beings (crows).

At least one of these chapters is likely to strike a chord with every
reader. (The chapters on cassowaries and crows, in particular, did for us.)

This fun book, ultimately, tells us as much about humans as it does about
birds. 


A REINTRODUCTION OF OUR QUIZ FOR A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BIRD BOOK

We are delighted to reintroduce our quick-and-easy quiz where readers have a
chance to win a fine National Geographic birding publication. Each monthly
quiz question will either relate to one of our previous news items, or it
will pertain to an event or experience that is scheduled to occur during the
current or coming month.

For more on NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC bird books, see:
www.shopng.com/birdbooks

We will give away three books to E-bulletin readers whose names are picked
at random from among those submitting correct answers. Due to shipping
constraints only folks residing in the U.S. or Canada are eligible to win.

The prize for March will be a copy of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BACKYARD GUIDE
TO THE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA by Jonathan Alderfer and Paul Hess (2011).
This new book will be released this month and will be reviewed here next
month. Be among the first to get this new book into your hands.

You can find details here:
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/books/animals-and-nature/anim
als-and-wildlife/national-geographic-backyard-guide-to-the-birds-of-north-am
erica

This month's question is linked to February's status as National
Bird-Feeding Month: Who designed and invented the now-common tube bird
feeder?

Please send your answer by 15 March to:


Make the subject line "QUIZ! " and please include your full name and mailing
address along with your answer so that we can mail you a book should you be
a fortunate winner. We will also provide the correct answer next month.

- - - - - - - - -
You can access past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association
(NWRA) website:
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
         
                                            
We never lend or sell our E-bulletin recipient list.


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