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| INTERESTING ODDS & ENDS archive #6 |
| Essays / Backyard / Tips & Quiz / Links / Sightings / Conservation / Bird ID / Featured Bird / My Photos / Seasonal Spots / Home |
| ECONOMIC IMPACT OF BIRDERS: 2001 Retail sales $31,686,673,000 Economic Output $64,931,020,000 Salaries & Wages $24,882,676,000 Jobs 863,406 State Income Taxes $4,889,380,000 Federal Income Taxes $7,703,308,000 WE DO HAVE A VOICE!! (Bird Conservation, November 2004) |
| WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT INJURIES TO WILD BIRDS Look for nests before cutting trees & shrubs: Nests are often camouflaged and often go undetected. Carefully check before you trim trees or bushes. If possible, don’t remove trees & shrubs during prime nesting season. Check cavities of dead trees for possible nesting, or roosting, birds. Nests Around Your Home: If birds have taken up residence in safe locations around your home, leave them be. Avoid activity in that area and keep cats indoors. If birds are starting to nest in a poor location, try to deter them by shouting, clapping or waving a towel. If babies, or eggs, are already in nest, call rehabilitator for assistance. Avoid these situations by blocking any openings in or around air conditioning, kitchen fan and clothes dryer vent doors. Ways to Help Prevent Window Strikes: -Place streamers, light colored string, or wind sock in front of problem window. -A decal with hawk silhouette will deter birds from windows. -Stained-glass ornaments attached by suction cups will break up glass reflection. -Keep light on behind the glass. -If you feed birds, place feeder away from window. Lower Outdoor Nets: Birds, especially owls, can become entangled in soccer & volleyball nets. Lower nets after each use and when out of season. Screen the Top of Chimney: Cavity nesting birds mistake chimneys as suitable nests or roost sites and can end up in your house. Pick Up Litter: Six-pack harnesses, fishing line, kite string and similar litter can be deadly to birds. Use Alternatives to Chemical Pest Control and Lawn Care: Many commonly used insect sprays & weed killers are highly toxic to birds. Herbicides & pesticides can contaminate food & water supply, nesting material, dirt used for dust baths & the air they breathe. “Organic” does not necessarily mean safe to birds. Do research! (Raptor Trust, NJ) |
| ALARMING FACTS! -Two thirds of US estuaries and bays are either moderately or severally degraded. -Fifty percent of coastal wetlands have been lost, and wetlands are disappearing at a rate of 20,000 acres per year. -The Mississippi River, which drains nearly 40 percent of the continental US, carries some l.5 million metric tons of nitrogen runoff from Midwestern farms into the Gulf of Mexico each year, resulting in a “dead zone” the size of Massachusetts that is unable to support any marine life. (Nature Conservancy Magazine, Spring 2005) |
| FOOD STEALING BIRDS Some birds, but only about 1.2 percent of all birds which is about 100 species, steal food from other birds. This practice in birds is called kleptoparasitism and is more common among predatory birds such as hawks, gulls, terns, etc., where about 5 percent of these species practice this type behavior. However, there are some species, such as frigatebirds, skuas and jaegers where kleptoparasitism is much more common. (The Parasitic Jaeger is actually named for it’s behavior of stealing food from other birds.) Frigatebirds are known to chase other birds until they regurgitate the fish, allowing the frigatebird to steal it in mid-air. Skuas and jaegers also are known to pursue “puffins and other seabirds with the same results”. Other examples are: Laughing Gulls harassing Brown Pelicans, Great Kiskadees stealing from Limpkins, Bald Eagles from Osprey, and kites, hawks, eagles and falcons stealing from each other. Immature birds seem to practice kleptoparasitism more than adult birds, and whether or not “kleptoparasitism behavior is inherited …is not clear”. (Birder’s World Magazine, February 2005) |
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| WHY DO BIRDS STAND ON ONE LEG? Birds can balance on one leg quite easily due to flexor tendons which allows them to lock the leg in position. “Perching on one leg is thought to be an energy-saving adaptation.” There are other reasons to stand on one leg as well. When hunting, Herons may stand on one leg to better blend in with reeds and “other natural objects, putting the prey off guard”. Also, standing on one leg “helps with regulating body temperature, allowing the bird to tuck one foot up against, or even within, its feathers”, and is done in both hot and cold temperatures. (“Why Birds Do That”, by Michael Furtman, copyright 2004) |
| ELEVATIONAL MIGRATION Elevational migration is when birds move “from higher elevations and mountain tops to lower elevations and suburban areas. Such movements are common and occur on most continents. In the United States, elevational migration occurs in the Appalachians, Rockies, Cascades, Adirondacks, and most other mountain ranges…When a bird flies down a mountain, it reaches warmer air quickly. A 1,000 foot descent equals a temperature change of about 3.5 degrees (F)…In other words, a chickadee that moves from 3,500 feet to an elevation of 1,500 feet in the Catskills will experience temperatures that are, on average, 7 degrees (F) warmer. In addition, winds are usually stronger at higher elevations, translating into greater heat loss via convection. The chickadee’s descent of 2,000 feet in elevation may require only a 10-15 mile flight, but it is equivalent to a migration southward of several hundred miles. Elevational movements are likely the result of the same selective pressures that have shaped latitudinal migration (north to south). The scarcity of food and colder temperatures at higher elevations force many birds to migrate to lower elevations during late fall and winter. In addition, the movements are seasonal, occurring at the same times of the year as a warbler’s continent-hopping journeys.” (Birder’s World Magazine, Paul Kerlinger, February 2005) |
| WHY DO EGGS HATCH ALL AT THE SAME TIME, EVEN WHEN LAID DAYS APART? “Freshly-laid eggs are remarkably cold tolerant” so it is not necessary to keep them warm when first laid. Therefore, by waiting to incubate until the last egg is laid the female will guarantee that all the eggs will hatch at once. This is important because any eggs that hatch earlier than others would have competitive advantage in size over its siblings. Also, since the role of the mother bird will change when the eggs are hatched “from one of incubator, to that of food provider” it allows the mother to switch roles easily. Some chicks “start to chirp or peep a day or so before hatching…it is speculated that this form of communication helps the chicks synchronize their emergence”. (“Why Birds Do That”, by Michael Furtman, copyright 2004) |
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| A Site About Long Island Birds & Birdwatching |