RARITY FOCUS
By the end of January, there were some very exciting rarities still around, including a Thick-billed Vireo in Palm Beach Co., Florida, a Social Flycatcher in Brownsville, Texas, a Blue Mockingbird, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, a Brambling in Plumas Co., California, and a Golden-crowned Warbler and Bat Falcon in Hidalgo Co., Texas. (Alas, the magnificent, and wandering, Steller’s Sea-Eagle in Maine was last seen on 24 January, but it may reappear somewhere again!)
So, we have no individual rarity champion to highlight this month, but just a reminder to keep watching - especially if you are still staying near home – bird safely, and share your sightings!
TIP OF THE MONTH: TIME FOR THE GBBC
And in the spirit of locality-birding (aka patch-birding) and possibly finding rare birds near home, it’s almost time again to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). This always popular event will run from 18-21 February. As you may know, the GBBC is an inter-organizational effort between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada. These groups work together to spread the joys of bird watching in immediate and practical ways. Each February, for four days, bird watchers are invited to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and then report back their results.
Participating is easy, fun to do either alone, or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds.
Step 1 – Decide where you will watch birds.
Step 2 – Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 18-21, 2022.
Step 3 – Count all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location, and use the best or easiest tool of your choice for sharing your bird sightings.
Actually, the GBBC, celebrating 25 years of counting, has evolved into one of the most popular birding events in the world. Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, and joined by Bird Studies Canada, the effort was the first online citizen-science project to collect data about wild birds, and also to display results in near real-time. A record number of participants – an estimated 300,0000 - joined the 2021 count. There were 6,436 bird species reported.
If anything, the pandemic has intensified locality birding – including the traditional backyard approach – and participation is expected to grow again this year.
You can enter your results on the GBBC website by clicking the “Submit Observations” tab on the home page. You may also download the free eBird Mobile app to enter data on a mobile device. If you already participate in the eBird citizen-science project, please use eBird to submit your sightings during the GBBC. Your checklists will count toward the GBBC.
For more detailed information, be sure to refer to the official Great Backyard Bird Count website here:
or here
ACCESS MATTERS: WINTER CONCERNS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Depending on where you’re reading these words, this could very well be the “dead of winter” for you: cold and dim. But like any time of year, there are always birds to find, often peculiar birds characteristic of the season. And, yes, this season can be grand for waterfowl. But, again depending on your location, it can also be great for wintering gulls and owls.
In fact, just last month we outlined some recommended Snowy Owl “protocols” for appropriate viewing and sharing: https://conta.cc/3zM0i3V
We’ve mentioned this before, but this particular issue of access deserves another topical visit. If you’re looking for gulls – yes, some birders revel in larid joy at this season – entry at landfills and sewage treatment plants would definitely be in order. Here we have the importance of gaining permission, so a few observers don’t potentially spoil opportunities for others. It’s always good to have the local bird club negotiate a defined procedure with the managers in question, especially if some rarity is discovered. Sign-in sheets, defined hours and parking, signage, specific open and closed locations are all helpful. In fact, rushing to get access standards in place after that rare gull is found may be too late. Better to have an acceptable agreement in place beforehand!
(Access expectations could also pertain to Snowy Owls – and roosting winter owls - although advance planning in those cases may be nearly impossible!)
Finally, a few birders give little thought to others’ needs (and this includes the category of photographers). They may not care about spoiling viewing experiences for other observers or photographers.
But most of our lot is conscientious and mutually supportive. It’s just that working out winter viewing details may take a little advance planning. But it does work. And, after all, access matters!
RISK ASSESSMENTS FOR CANADIAN BIRDS
Some of the best tools available for evaluating the health of our biodiversity and our birds are so-called “extinction risk listings.” In Canada, this includes the Species at Risk Act (SARA), based on assessments made by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
Late last year, COSEWIC reassessed the status of five bird species (these actually will also include species, subspecies, or geographically or genetically distinct populations). The three Endangered species were the urophasianus subspecies of the Greater Sage-Grouse, the Sage Thrasher, and the Mountain Plover. The two Extirpated birds are the phaios subspecies of the Greater Sage-Grouse and the Greater Prairie-Chicken, which were last seen in Canada in the 1960s and 1980s respectively. Not surprisingly, both are also seriously declining in the U.S. states bordering Canada.
Of particular interest is the fact that the Canadian ranges of these five recently-reassessed birds are limited to the Great Plains and Great Basin. The status of these birds can also be taken as a commentary on the health of the original habitats that these birds have historically depended upon.
See here for a summary:
and the actual COSEWIC report here:
PLANT DISPERSAL PROBLEM
In mid-January, a very interesting article appeared in Science, titled “The effects of defaunation on plants’ capacity to track climate change.” It presented a fascinating problem.
Most plant species depend on animals to disperse their seeds, but this vital function is threatened by declines in many animal populations, limiting the potential for plants to adapt to climate change by moving or expanding their ranges.
Of course, many seeds can be blown by the wind, or fall from branches, or even float down streams. Some birds and mammals will facilitate farther seed movement. (Sure, fruit-eating birds and even bears will eat seed-filled berries, then “plant” them elsewhere as they poop. Squirrels and jays will also distribute and cache nuts.)
“If there are no animals available to eat their fruits or carry away their nuts, animal-dispersed plants aren’t moving very far,” said Evan Fricke, an ecologist at Rice University who was a chief author of the research.
With a variety of strategies, involving so many plants and animals, there are multiple possibilities for distribution and successful germination. To get a grasp on the possibilities, Fricke and his fellow researchers amassed an impressive set of data from studies documenting relationships between animals and seed dispersals, particularly involving birds and mammals that regularly eat fruit. This included observations in over 400 locations around the world that detailed the interactions between 1,631 animal and 3,208 plant species. The team added data on how far seeds were moved by 302 different animal species, and the results of 2,215 experiments testing how well seeds germinated after passing through the guts of fruit-eating creatures.
The results showed that compared to a world where all of the species that emerged since the last ice age still roamed the earth, today’s plants have a much harder time “migrating.” The loss of mammals and birds has already reduced plants’ ability to migrate fast enough to keep pace with climate change – reducing that capacity by 60%.
Still, the results suggest that ecosystem restoration, better connecting different habitats, could help plants better adjust, said Fricke. But the researchers also suggest that “animal declines can disrupt ecological networks in ways that threaten the climate resilience of entire ecosystems.”
The article is summarized here:
MORE EAGLE/LEAD PROBLEMS
Yes, we’re revisiting the lead-and-eagle problem, an issue that never seems to go away and one that has graced the archives of this Birding Community E-bulletin for years.
Of course, once threatened by the spread of the insecticide DDT, particularly after World War II, Bald Eagle populations eventually recovered with the DDT ban and parallel legislation – a recovery impressive enough that the species was removed from the Endangered and Threatened list in 2021.
But the entire recovery period has been punctuated by regular tug-of-war situations over eagle conservation, often revolving on the issue of deadly lead ingestion. (It is no accident that a parallel drama developed over saving California Condors.)
Vigorous political debates over the use of lead bullets – and the use of alternative metals in bullets - have divided Americans and have even reached the White House. President Obama's Fish and Wildlife Service issued a ban on lead ammunition to protect wildlife in January 2017, one day before the inauguration of incoming President Trump. But less than two months later, on his first day as Trump's Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke overturned the prohibition to the cheers of the lead-bullet aficionados.
But how many eagle deaths caused by lead poisoning (from ingesting hunters' bullets left in dead wildlife remains) are holding back eagle population recovery?
Focusing on one region, we have witnessed total eagle numbers increase across the Northeastern U.S. between 1990 and 2018. But a study by researchers at the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health at Cornell University, published in the Journal of Wildlife Management in mid-January highlighted problems. The modeling efforts of these researchers estimated that deaths caused by ingesting lead actually depressed the growth rate of Bald Eagle populations by 4.2% (for females) and 6.3% (for males).
"While abundances [of eagles] have increased, ingested (lead) has a negative effect on eagle populations in the northeast United States... these conditions have stressed the resilience of this population," researchers said in the study.
Looking more closely at breeding female Bald Eagles, in 2018 there were 2,050 breeding females, a reduction of an estimated 98 breeding females as a result of lead poisoning. Also, in 2018, there were 10,172 females who were not reproducing, a reduction of an estimated 742 non-breeding females as a result of lead poisoning, said Cornell researcher Brenda Hanley.
The study itself can be found here:
And a good summary of the findings can be found in a recent Reuters story from last month:
WHY MUD MATTERS
For a near wrap-up of this month’s Birding Community E-bulletin, we recommend a short visit into the question of “Why Mud Matters.” Indeed, a quarter of the world’s intertidal mudflats are in the Americas, with slightly more in North America than South.
And the whole question of why mud is so essential to shorebirds across the Americas, and across the world, was deftly taken up last month in two dozen tight paragraphs by James Lowen for the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site.
Enjoy:
LAST WORD
Next month, you may receive your copy of the March Birding Community Bulletin a little later than usual. So, don’t be surprised… or prematurely disappointed!
Finally, if you have any friends or co-workers who wish to join the monthly Birding Community E-bulletin mailing list, you can simply refer them to this link:
