Meanwhile, there are encouraging developments from the U.S. House, in this case legislation that still awaits Senate passage.
A legislative amendment based on U.S. Representative Mike Quigley's (IL-05) Bird-Safe Buildings Act passed the House of Representatives as part of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. This Bird-Safe Buildings Act would require that future public buildings constructed, acquired, or significantly altered by the General Services Administration (GSA) incorporate bird-safe building materials and design features to reduce bird collisions.
Each year, up to one billion birds die from building collisions. The Bird-Safe Buildings Act would require that new or significantly altered buildings include bird-safe materials in their construction. This bill will move to permanently limit bird deaths for little to no cost. Ultimately, it will protect birds from dying preventable deaths by eliminating indoor light displayed to the outside.
The Bird-Safe Buildings Act has been applauded by a wide range of conservation, environmental, and bird-oriented organizations.
Dr. Christine Sheppard, Director of the Glass Collisions Program at the American Bird Conservancy said, "Recognition of the bird collisions issue at the federal level will set an example for the entire USA. It sets the stage for states and municipalities nationwide to advance legislation to prevent bird collisions with glass - one of the biggest sources of bird mortality - at a time when many birds are in decline and in desperate need of action."
A thoughtful summary from Archinect, a site connecting architects, is accessible here:
AFTER "BLACK BIRDERS WEEK"
Last month, in the Birding Community E-bulletin, we recounted the huge impact of the NYC story with birder, Christian Cooper, in a racially-charged encounter with a dog-owner. The video went mega-viral, with over 30 million hits. And the experience was revisited in media across the country - and world - at a time when the nation was actively confronting the lessons around Black Lives Matter.
At about the same time there was the launch of Black Birders Week - 31 May - 5 June - with African American birders sharing their stories and photos on social media to boost recognition and representation of Black people who enjoy and study birds and the natural world. The entire experience received international attention and reinvigorated important conversations about race and racism within and around the birding and conservation communities.
Awareness levels were raised and some of the stories shared during the week are accessible here:
Also, at the same time, Dr. Scott Edwards, ornithology professor at Harvard University, realized that his usual summers, deeply engaged in conferences, fieldwork, and laboratory work, would be different this year. With a nation confronting a pandemic, halting most research, and closing campuses, Edwards decided to cycle from coast to coast, birding all the way.
He created a Twitter account to participate in Black Birders Week, and you can keep up with his progress as he shares his experiences cycling and birding. He checks in on the Black Birders Week site too, which you can access here:
And you can read an Audubon interview with Edwards here:
NEW "DUCK STAMP"
In late June, the new annual "Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp" - commonly known as the Federal Duck Stamp - was launched by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. This year, the stamp shows five Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks painted by Eddie LeRoy of Alabama.
Similarly, its younger sibling, the Junior Duck Stamp became available for purchase at official locations and online.
Funds raised from the sale of Federal Duck Stamps go toward the acquisition or lease of habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Duck Stamps - while required for waterfowl hunters as an annual license - may also be voluntarily purchased by birders, outdoor enthusiasts and fans of national wildlife refuges who understand the value of preserving some of the most diverse and important wildlife habitats in our nation.
The Federal Duck Stamp plays a critically important role in wildlife conservation. Since 1934, sales of this stamp have raised more than $1 billion to protect 6 million acres of wetland and grassland habitat.
A current Federal Duck Stamp is also good for free admission to any National Wildlife Refuge that charges for entry.
For more information, see here:
BOOK NOTES: FINDING ARTISTRY
In the ongoing spirit of local bird-and-nature appreciation, we present a book which captures that kind of endeavor in a very special way. Not really a book for formal reading, Finding Sanctuary - An Artist Explores the Nature of Mass Audubon (Simon and Schuster, 2020) is actually a wonderful combination of art and journalistic writing authored and illustrated by well-known wildlife artist, Barry Van Dusen.
Finding Sanctuary represents a culmination of four-and-a-half years of work produced during Van Dusen's Artist in Residency at Mass Audubon. Van Dusen visited 61 of Mass Audubon's public wildlife sanctuaries, nature centers, and museums, producing drawings and paintings at each location. His informative and personal text accompanying each site-visit lends added value to the beautiful paintings. In an introductory chapter, the artist shares the challenges and rewards of documenting nature first-hand, and describes how he uses his field sketches to develop more complex works back at the studio. For birders, naturalists, conservationists, artists, art appreciators, and anyone who enjoys fine wildlife art representative of southern New England, this is a work not to be missed.
ACCESS MATTERS: DESERT NWR PROBLEMS
Some National Wildlife Refuge problems don't seem to go away. Such is the case when you consider Desert National Wildlife Refuge, north of Las Vegas, Nevada, the largest refuge in the Lower 48 states, encompassing a vital cultural landscape for the Southern Paiute people and protecting 1.6 million acres of contiguous quality wildlife habitat.
Nearby, the U.S. Air Force manages almost three million acres of land at the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). Part of Nellis Air Force Base, NTTR is one of the world's largest ranges for aerial training and military exercises. The range is almost as big as the state of Connecticut. In the 1940's, the Air Force negotiated to take secondary jurisdiction over the western half of the NWR in order to expand the NTTR. The Air Force has been encroaching on the NWR ever since.
We covered the situation last November:
While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service technically maintains primary jurisdiction over the majority of the refuge, the reality is that access to the western area by refuge staff is limited to less than two weeks a year. This area - 860,000 acres total - is virtually closed to the public (with a highly limited bighorn-sheep-hunting exception).
Now, the Air Force is requesting primary jurisdiction over all of the 860,000 acres in the western portion of the refuge where it currently has secondary jurisdiction, but the U.S. Senate finally voted to stop the Air Force.
However, in a stunning setback, the House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee recently voted to approve an amendment that gives away those acres of the Desert NWR to the military. (Note: the popular Corn Creek area - a virtual oasis for birds and birders in the NWR - is outside this proposed withdrawal zone.) The entire joint use area of 860,000 acres will be under the "co-management" of both the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U.S. Air Force, but if there are any disagreements, the Air Force will get its way! This change will completely cut the USFWS out of any serious refuge management decisions.
The refuge provides habitat for the iconic desert bighorn sheep, and the current proposal could also disrupt dry lakes that form significant habitat for migratory birds and disturb habitat for the sheep, desert tortoise, and mountain lion. LeConte's and Crissal Thrashers have strong associations with Atriplex (i.e., saltbush, etc.) and creosote-dominated communities, and desert wash vegetation and soils. The refuge has high density of nesting and breeding pairs of these generally scarce thrashers. Other species, such as Gambel's Quail, Gray Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Brewer's Sparrow, Lucy's Warbler, Sage Sparrow, and Phainopepla also utilize key habitats within the Refuge.
If this change becomes law, the western portion of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge will cease to be an actual refuge. The Air Force will be permitted to build roads, create drop zones, and perform both on-road and off-road ground maneuvers, including in areas proposed for wilderness. There would be no oversight by the Fish & Wildlife Service. Wildlife would no longer have a place in this area.
Find more details here:
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW SONGS
White-throated Sparrows in British Columbia are singing a new tune, and the song has been sweeping across Canada. What began as a minor change to a common song has now morphed into a continent-wide phenomenon.
"As far as we know, it's unprecedented," says biologist Ken Otter from the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. "We don't know of any other study that has ever seen this sort of spread through cultural evolution of a song type."
First noticed in the late 1990s, Otter started hearing white-throats singing an unusual song. Instead of sticking to the species' usual three-note finish, local sparrow populations were ending their tune on two notes.
Now, between 2000 and 2019, this minor change has travelled over 1,800 miles, from British Columbia to central Ontario, virtually wiping out a historic song-ending that's been around since the 1950s at least.
No one knows what's so addictive about this new ending, or why it can't last alongside the three-note variant, but scientists are trying to figure it out.
Exactly why male white-throats end up adopting this novel ending is still unclear. Otter says the ending might simply be compelling because it's unusual and unique. Like many other bird songs, however, it could be related to female preferences.
"In white-throated sparrows, we might find a situation in which the females actually like songs that aren't typical in their environment. If that's the case, there's a big advantage to any male who can sing a new song type."
For more, including a sound-video of the songs, see here:
