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| INTERESTING ODDS & ENDS archive #5 |
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| CRITICAL ACTION FOR THESE BIRDS Partners in Flight list the following 28 landbird species as in critical need of immediate action to ensure their “survival in reasonable numbers” (most critical listed first): Bachman’s Warbler & Ivory-billed Woodpecker (both possibly zero in numbers), California Condor (less than 100), Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Kirtland’s Warbler, Thick-billed Parrot, Red-crowned Parrot, Black-capped Vireo, Island Scrub-Jay, Florida Scrub-Jay, Spotted Owl, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Colima Warbler, Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Bicknell’s Thrush, Henslow’s Sparrow, Swallow-tailed Kite, Greater Sage-Grouse, Bendire’s Thrasher, Green Parakeet, Golden-winged Warbler, Tricolored Blackbird, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Bachman’s Sparrow, Greater Prairie-Chicken, Baird’s Sparrow, Bell’s Vireo. Birder’s World Magazine, October 2004 |
| STARLING NESTING MATERIAL Starlings chose specific types of plants to make their nests with. It was originally thought that they picked plants that killed parasites in the nest. However, as noted in Birder’s World, “Further studies determined that the plants had no direct effect on parasites, but that some plants used in starling nests had chemical components that stimulated the immune systems of nestlings enabling them to cope better with environmental stress, malnutrition, and the detrimental effects of ectoparasites. Young starlings that were raised in nests with six particular plants, including yarrow, black elderberry, and cow parsley, were up to five percent heavier near fledging than youngsters in nests that did not contain the herbs.” Birder’s World Magazine, October 2004 |
| AUDUBON STATE OF THE BIRDS: BIRD & HABITAT FOCUS From 1966-2003 studies in varied habitats have shown significant decreases in both the quality of habitat and bird species that depend on that habitat. Grasslands: 27 species analyzed; 7.4% increasing, 7.4% increasing significantly, 14.8% decreasing and 70.4% decreasing significantly. Of particular concern: Bobolink, numbers have fallen about 50%; Short-eared Owl, numbers have fallen by 69%; Greater Prairie Chicken, disappeared in some states and only about 700,000 left in total. Shrublands: 78 species analyzed; 19.2% increasing, 14.1% increasing significantly, 28.2% decreasing, 35.9% decreasing significantly. Of particular concern: Northern Bobwhite, numbers dropped by two-thirds; Painted Bunting, decreased by half; Florida Scrub Jay, only about 10,000 left today. Woodlands: 164 species analyzed; 22.0% increasing, 29.3% increasing significantly, 20.7% decreasing, 25.6% decreasing significantly. Of particular concern: Pine Siskin, numbers dropped by more than half, Wood Thrush, populations down about 50%, Cerulean Warbler, less than a quarter of what it was. Water: 106 species analyzed; 25.5% increasing, 37.7% increasing significantly, 23.6% decreasing, 13.2% decreasing significantly. Of particular concern: Northern Pintail, declined by 63%, Black Oystercatcher, fewer than 9,000, Whooping Crane, 300 left in wild. Urban: 43 species analyzed; 14.0% increasing, 39.5% increasing significantly, 23.3% decreasing, 23.3% decreasing significantly. Of particular concern: Common Nighthawk, dropped by half, Chimney Swift, numbers down by 44%, Green Parakeet, about 200,000 left. Audubon Magazine, 2004 |
| NATIONAL SECURITY & THE ENVIRONMENT “…the Defense Department and The Nature Conservancy are working to give both the military and native wildlife room to maneuver.” Wildlife needs room to survive and the military needs room to conduct training testing activities. “Both encroachment and habitat loss led to the 2002 enactment of federal legislation that allows the Defense Department to partner with conservation groups to preserve land around bases. The Conservancy, which for years has worked with the military to create wildlife and habitat management plans for many bases, is eager to extend that effort. (The Defense Department manages about 25 million acres harboring 320 endangered or threatened species.)” Definitely steps in the right direction! Nature Conservancy Magazine, Fall 2004 |
| WATER NEEDS FOR MIGRATION Lots of backyard birders notice the increase in numbers of migrating birds at their bird baths during late-spring and late-summer migration times. That’s because in order to fuel their often long non-stop hours of flight, water is critical, just as it is for any athlete. They need to replenish the water lost before they can forage or continue migrating. Flying generates more heat than other activities of birds. Using those muscles that are needed in flight, often for long continuous spans of time, creates body temperatures that can be dangerous. During tests performed on European Starlings, their normal resting temperature of 100-102 degrees (F) can increase to 105-108 degrees during tests in wind tunnels. Birds do not sweat like humans do. They use both convective cooling, when cool air blows over their body, and evaporative cooling, when heat is lost through the skin and tissue and in respiration through the lungs. As they cool they lose water as well. Even flying at night, which reduces loss of water and keeps body temperatures lower, is not enough along to protect muscle integrity. Therefore water replenishment is vital to the health of migrating birds, as well as their success in migration, Birders World, August 2004 |
| WHOOPING CRANES “Whooping Cranes nesting at Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park produced a record 66 chicks this summer. Twenty pairs of adults were raising two birds each, a rare sight in the species.” Birder’s World Magazine, October 2004 |
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| FIVE TIPS TO KEEP BIRDS FROM YOUR WINDOWS Bird/Window collisions are estimated to kill as many as a billion birds each year, most in winter when attracted to bird feeders. Here are some things you can do to help prevent these collisions. - Put feeders within three feet of windows; at that distance the birds are not moving fast enough to get hurt. - Hang obstacles in front of the glass: tree limbs, strips of cloth, etc - Spray glass with vegetable oil or fake snow to make it opaque, or plastic wrap. - Put decals – including dots and/or bird silhouettes – on outer glass face. Space decals uniformly, 2-4” inches apart, to transform window into obstacle birds will see. - Hang netting, see-through screens, or install awnings that can be raised or lowered when you want a view. Audubon Magazine, March 2004 |
| BIRDS “SPEAK” IN DIALECTS”: “Humans, it seems, aren’t the only animals that speak in dialects. British researchers have recently discovered that ducks quack with regional accents. It seems that mallards settled in the tranquil English countryside have a more laid-back ducky drawl, quacking with “longer, slower vowels” than their city-dwelling cousins…And ducks on a city farm in London – competing with the noise from trains, planes, and double-decker buses – are “more talkative and much noisier” not unlike their human counterparts…Through the careful analysis of recorded sound files, de Rijke and her team discovered “different pronunciations, structures, and vocabulary” amount the ducks…” Audubon Magazine, November/December 2004 |
| BODY STRUCTURE MAKE BIRDS LIGHT ENOUGH FOR FLIGHT: Some of the adaptation that nature has made to allow birds flight: - Light feathers that create insulation permitting high body temperatures. They also “..contribute to aerodynamic efficiency by helping form a tear-drop body shape, augment lift, and sufficiently flexible to bend and fan the air to create thrust.” - A skeleton made up of hollow, long bones with bony strands forming trusses for strength with minimum weight. Also solid bones, for example in the skull, that are made from “loose, spongy bone rather than dense, compact bone”. - A skull that lacks teeth allowing for lighter and thinner jaws. Instead of having to chew food, the bird’s gizzard grinds the food which also has the benefit of positioning the center of gravity under the wings which is beneficial to flight. - Birds digestion is faster than other vertebrates, “so they void a relatively small amount of fecal material.” This means there is less undigested food to carry around in their intestines. Also, because birds can change nitrogen waste products to uric acid which is drained from the kidneys directly to the back of the intestines. This means they “lack urinary bladders and urethras, which further lightens the load.” - Testes and ovaries are kept small, regressed state when not needed. Some species enlarge their reproductive organs by a “factor of l,500 as they enlarge for the breeding season.” Birder’s World Magazine, October 2004 |
| A NEW GOOSE The very common Canada Goose has now been split into two separate species. The American Ornithologists’ Union has determined that the Cackling Goose is a separate from the Canada Goose due to “genetic studies, as well as differences in voice, nesting habits, habitat, timing of migration, color, and size.” The “new” Cackling Goose breeds “from Canada’s Baffin Island to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and winters from British Columbia south to California and east to northern Mexico and Western Louisiana”. Birder’s World Magazine, December 2004 |
| WOODPECKERS TONGUES Woodpeckers have barb-edged tips on their tongues, which in the past, were believed to spear insects from tree crevices. But researchers now believe that they don’t spear, but snag it instead. It was determined that “the tongue’s barbs and a sticky, glue-like saliva combine to grab grubs without piercing the larvae’s skin. The woodpecker thrusts its tongue forward an average of 13.5 times per second while pursuing a meal”. Younger woodpeckers must depend on the sticky saliva, since they do not have barbs on their tongues. Birder’s World Magazine, December 2004 |
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