Thick-billed Vireo was our rarity focus back in April, specifically a long-remaining individual at Key Biscayne's Crandon Park, Miami-Dade Co., Florida. It was seen there from 3 February through perhaps 26 March. A resident species in the Caribbean, Thick-billed Vireo occurs as close to Florida as the Bahamas and Cuba, including some of the small Bahamian islands only 60 miles off the east coast of Florida. There are about a dozen and a half previous Florida records, all since 1989 and mostly in southeastern Florida and the Keys.
With an additional curious report from the Keys last month, the question of the exact status of Thick-billed Vireo in Florida should be carefully considered. This is because on 21 August at Long Key State Park, in the Keys, Luis Gles actually photographed a "family" of Thick-billed Vireos, including two juveniles and an adult.
From that day on - and almost daily through the month - various birders observed from one to all three of these birds! The presence of these three individuals offers compelling evidence of possible nesting of Thick-billed Vireos in the Florida Keys.
Curiously, the very first record for Florida and the U.S. was also of three birds from Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in from 9 September - 26 October 1989. Given subsequent off-and-on reports from Bill Baggs State Park, they may have subsequently nested there. But after Hurricane Andrew hit in August 1992, the almost-sequential sightings came to a halt at Bill Baggs.
So, here is the conundrum of Thick-billed Vireos in Florida: Given the Florida vireo occurrences, including increasing reports since 1989, and given the possibility that their presence may also be linked to prevailing easterly winds off the Florida coast, are we potentially seeing an expansion of the range of Thick-billed Vireo? Could they already be nesting? And will someone possibly find solid evidence of positive nesting next season?
Details of the August occurrence may be found on the eBird report that Luis Gles made on 21 August:
THREATS TO THE ESA
On 12 August, the Trump administration rolled out some sweeping changes to the enforcement of the landmark Endangered Species Act (ESA). These changes are in line with a proposal made in July 2018. The changes could severely weaken the protection currently afforded a number of plant and animal species, including birds. In this case, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would have the foundational basis for the ESA seriously undercut through changes in at least two areas.
First, the Departments of Interior and Commerce (via the FWS and NMFS, the agencies that implement the law) want to allow considerations other than science to influence listing decisions. The addition of economic considerations in the listing process, instead of making it a purely scientific decision, is counterintuitive. Recovering a species is a biological question, not an economic question. Besides, Congress has stipulated that economic costs not be a factor in deciding whether to protect an animal. The agencies now argue that including economic information in the listing decision "better informs the public." There is, however, plenty of opportunity in the process of determining how to conserve Threatened or Endangered species to inform the public of possible economic and other impacts.
Second, an added measure would weaken the ability of scientists to protect species against the impact of climate change, a growing threat for many species. The changes would limit the extent that the agencies can look to potential harms to a species in the "foreseeable future." This could keep climate change impacts like drought, habitat loss from flooding, heat, and range changes, out of the listing decision and the recovery plans for species. The changes say that the agencies will evaluate what the foreseeable future means on a case-by-case basis, but in describing the factors to be considered, changing climate is not included. What's more, stating that the considered timeframe should be based on when projections are "reliable," without indicating what "reliable" means, appears to be deliberately vague. It should be sufficient to say that the timeframe be based on the best science available.
KIRTLAND'S WARBLER DE-LISTING
Here, at least, is a positive ESA story, a success story involving a highly threatened migratory songbird, the Kirtland's Warbler. If anything, this is proof that when the FWS can document that a population of a species is healthy and exists in adequate numbers, delisting should not be onerous.
Kirtland's Warbler nests almost exclusively in central Michigan in young jack-pine forests that are about 80 acres or larger in size, and include a multitude of small, grassy openings. The impact of habitat reduction and Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism originally led the FWS to list the Kirtland's Warbler when the Endangered Species Act was passed into law in 1973. In actuality, the estimated population had already plummeted to about 400 birds in 1971.
The goal of the conservation plan between the FWS and the state of Michigan's Department of Natural Resources was to eventually reach 1,000 pairs of nesting warblers per year, but that number has now been surpassed. Currently, about 2,000 pairs of this species highlight the success of this species' recovery. The FWS more than a year ago proposed to remove the Kirtland's Warbler from the ESA list, and the final decision is expected any day now.
The future of the Kirtland's Warbler still will depend on continued and regular hands-on management. Indeed, while the species awaits a de-listing, the FWS says that without continued human involvement, the birds' numbers would once again plunge. A specific designation - conservation reliant - indicates as much.
Right now, there many creative plans being implemented - including even arrangements with private forests and golf courses - across the warbler's breeding range to provide the specific on-the-ground habitat mix that these birds will need into the future. Of course, this will also have to include some creative and long-term funding.
Fortunately, the forces behind the Kirtland's recovery insist that the ESA works and that the Kirtland's Warbler federal/state and public/private model can serve as an example to help other fragile species.
LUCY'S WARBLER BOX REQUIREMENTS
Since we are on the subject of warblers with demanding nesting requirements, let's take a look at another one of our unusual warblers, this time one of our two cavity-nesters, the Lucy's Warbler. Lucy's Warbler is one of only two warblers - the other being Prothonotary Warbler - that will nest in natural cavities; however, Lucy's Warbler does not have a long history of using man-made nest boxes.
Recently, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology removed Lucy's Warbler from a standardized "small songbird" box plan. It was replaced with a new and different plan that features a more species-specific design that is almost triangular in shape and better suits the needs of this small desert-dwelling warbler. Perhaps it is because Lucy's Warblers are desert-dwellers, or perhaps because the intersection between the warbler's habitat and crowded human habitation is historically recent, that Lucy's Warblers are relative newcomers to the nest-box world. We still have a lot to learn about how they co-habit within human-altered environments.
The Tucson Audubon Society has been making inquiries into this subject for a few years now and with a number of alternative nest-box models. The new triangular design is the result of real progress. Tucson Audubon is engaged in ongoing efforts to determine if the species will continue to respond well to the new nest box design.
To find more details and a look at the innovative nest-box design, see here:
ACCESS MATTERS: E-BIKES ON THE TRAILS
What seems to have been originally noticed as nifty delivery-systems for pizza and Chinese meals in crowded cities - the use of e-bikes - have spread across towns and cities from coast to coast. E-bikes sales in the U.S. jumped 72% to $144 million in the last year. These bikes, which can cost $2,000 or more, combine the frame of a regular bike with lightweight batteries and electric motors. Electric bikes sold in the U.S. are now labeled according to three separate "class" designations, and 22 states have codified this system into their traffic statutes.
These electric bikes may now be spreading to Federal lands.
In late July, 54 trail conservancy organizations put their names to a letter sent to the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management opposing e-bikes on federal public lands that ban motor vehicles. Another organization, PeopleForBikes, responded with its alternate message to the Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, in support of allowing local land managers to make the decision.
Sides formed, and the debate has only increased while the main decision has fundamentally been made.
In late August, Secretary Bernhardt issued an order to allow e-bikes to use the same trails in the National Park System that are open to muscle-powered mechanical bikes.; "E-bikes shall be allowed where other types of bicycles are allowed; and e-bikes shall not be allowed where other types of bicycles are prohibited." In his order, the Interior secretary didn't differentiate between the three classes of e-bikes. He further directed the Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to "exempt all e-bikes ... from the definition of motor vehicles" and to develop rules to formalize the policy. E-bikes that can go up to 28 miles per hour will be allowed.
But for the time being, at least, the limitations on Forest Service lands (under the Department of Agriculture) are the opposite of Interior: e-bikes are currently being treated as motorized vehicles.
Overall, there may be more than 1.4 million acres nationwide that will be open as part of the Administration's efforts to increase recreational access on public lands, according to a Department of Interior news release. And part of the argument is that e-bikes make bicycle travel easier and more efficient, especially providing an option for people who want to ride a bicycle but might not otherwise be able to do so because of "physical fitness, age, disability, or convenience, especially at high altitudes or in hilly or strenuous terrain."
While Bernhardt emphasized increasing access for hunting and fishing, others raised serious concerns that the new policy skirted public input and did not consider the impact to other people on the trails. They claimed that backcountry trails should be considered apart from roads and motorized trails. Meanwhile, local guidance needs to be completed by the end of September on exactly how new e-bike policy will be carried out by lands under National Refuges, National Parks, the BLM, and Bureau of Reclamation.
Surely, some birders and wildlife photographers will take advantage of this opportunity to access areas they might otherwise not reach, but the blanket policy may have been rushed without examining individual locales, broad public involvement, and conducting and evaluating studies on visitor and wildlife habitat, especially in backcountry areas. Moreover, each of the land agencies involved under the Department of the Interior has different "purposes," stipulated by law and practice, and a one-size-fits-all approach to e-bikes may not be the best approach.
IBA NEWS: BACK TO SANTA ANA AGAIN?
For more than a year we have assumed that Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, a vital Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas was excluded from border-wall construction by a specific Congressional prohibition against such construction. But alas, Santa Ana NWR may not be quite as safe as we thought.
According to supporters and advocates on the ground, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol are seeking creative ways to circumvent the intent of the prohibition. CBP may be splitting hairs, citing non-FWS ownership of the land directly under the levee going through the refuge (on which the wall would be built) and essentially thwarting the will of Congress.
You can start to find more information here from the National Wildlife Refuge Association:
Perhaps by next month we will have more in the way of solid news to report.
For additional information about worldwide IBA programs, including those in the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program web site at:
FEDERAL DUCK STAMP CONTEST
This year's Federal Duck Stamp Contest will be held at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland, outside of Washington DC. The contest will be held on the Friday and Saturday mornings of 27 and 28 September. There are about 190 submissions this year, each portraying one of the five eligible waterfowl species: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Emperor Goose, American Black Duck, Northern Shoveler, and Bufflehead.
The winning artwork of the contest, of course, will grace the 2020-2021 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. For upcoming information, a gallery of the artwork submissions, and a live-streaming link for the contest itself, start here:
CARIBBEAN BIRDS SERIOUSLY IMPACTED BY DORIAN
According to a report from BirdsCaribbean, Hurricane Dorian seriously impacted and devastated the northern Bahama Islands. The category 5 storm battered the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island for more than two days with 185 to 220 mph winds, and included a storm surge in excess of 23 feet. The damage to communities, lives, and habitats is unprecedented and heartbreaking. Also, among the endemic species particularly impacted were Bahama Parrot, Bahama Swallow, Bahama Warbler, and Bahama Nuthatch
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Readers interested in obtaining more information about this event and how they can help should visit BirdsCaribbean here:
