Much as your editors enjoy highlighting a monthly North American rarity, like we used to do before the pandemic, it's not yet the time to revel in these sightings, let alone encourage bird enthusiasts to abandon both budget and health to run after vagrants that may be even only a few states away.
Yes, most birders are staying at home, or close to home, in their birding activities, especially when a rise in Covid-19 cases is expected, along with more indoor living again.
Accordingly, this is a fine opportunity to watch your backyard feeders, expand your feeding station, and take short birding day-trips to take advantage of seasonal opportunities. And that's especially true with the start of winter and the start of "finch season."
Pine Siskins have already started to move southward across the US, reportedly feeding on pine cone seeds and at feeders across New England, the Midwest, and parts of the West. And some reports have even extended into a few southern states. It seems that low pine-cone production in much of the boreal zone - the evergreen forests that extend from Alaska across Canada and into the Great Lakes and New England - has pushed significant numbers of Pine Siskins southward in search of food.
The weeks ahead could potentially be fine for finding Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, both crossbills, Purple Finches, and Common Redpolls.
You may want to brush up on the possibilities by checking out a late-September interview that the Cornel Lab of Ornithology had with Tyler Hoar, who took over the reins of Ron Pittaway's famous "Winter Finch Forecast":
While the forecasts apply mainly to Ontario and adjacent provinces and states, the implications often go beyond this region. Three irruptive non-finch passerines - Blue Jays, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Bohemian Waxwings - whose movements are often linked to finches are also discussed. You can find the report here:
TIP OF THE MONTH: WINTER-FEEDING WATER
While you may be about to check out winter finches and associated birds at local feeding stations, be aware that the simple act of providing fresh water for birds at yard-feeders often will attract and help sustain a great variety of birds during any season. And that goes for late-fall and winter, too!
As our fall temperatures dip, backyard bird watchers in the northern latitudes should be reminded that keeping ice-free water for birds is extremely important. And it can be done at bird baths and other backyard water features. Actually, it's not all that difficult. There are both electric-heated bird bath options, and for use farther south, there are even solar options - combined with pumps - to help keep off the frost.
A simple "Internet search" should do the job!
IBA NEWS: SALINEÑO IN THE CROSSHAIRS
For many years, birders from far and wide have cherished the small Salineño Preserve in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, currently owned and managed by the Valley Land Fund. This 2.5-acre locale along the Rio Grande in Starr County has long been a prime site for "South Texas Specialties," such as Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Ringed and Green Kingfishers, Great Kiskadee, Green Jay, Altamira and Audubon's Orioles, and Olive Sparrow.
This preserve started as a small and rustic birding RV park in the 1970s and in the early 1980s; a couple of dedicated birders bought the land and rented spaces during the season. But in 2007 they gifted the land to the Valley Land Fund, which works to preserve critical land habitat in deep South Texas.
The specific location is not, technically, an Important Bird Area (IBA), but it is one piece of the complex mosaic that makes the Lower Rio Grande Valley so unique for bird conservation. The threat to the site is in a sense emblematic, representing what is currently at risk immediately up and down the Rio Grande. You can check out the variety of birds found at the Salineño Preserve through this eBird "hotspot" listing of over 300 species:
The loss of Salineño would be a real blow to ecotourism in the Rio Grande Valley, and to the thousands of people who visit the site in order to watch the amazing and colorful birds that call it home.
Unfortunately, the site is now threatened with destruction by the Army Corps of Engineers and their wall-building contractors. Some observers remarked that the outcome of presidential election could determine future of the Salineño Wildlife Preserve, with an incoming Biden administration less enthusiastic about an expensive "wall" along the border.
Currently, the Valley Land Fund's board is not letting out information on the state of negotiations and potential sale of the property. Nonetheless, an appeal to the Fund's board of directors may help in delaying the threat. You can send an email to the board:
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:
HELP FOR SALINE LAKES
Are saline (salt) lakes like the "Rodney Dangerfields of bird habitat"? Do they simply "get no respect"?
This past summer, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) introduced the "Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2020" (S.4190). The legislation is an attempt to recognize the ecological and economic benefits of neglected saline lakes in the West. This legislation would establish a program within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to assess, monitor, and benefit the hydrology of these saline lakes in the Great Basin along with the migratory birds and other wildlife, that depend on them.
Unfortunately, many of these lakes and associated wetlands have shrunk 50 to 95 percent over the last 150 years due to water diversions, drought, and a changing climate.
A number of shorebirds (e.g., Wilson's Phalarope and American Avocet) depend upon the salt lakes, which serve as important migratory stopover sites, at the exact time when the invertebrates in them are at their maximum abundance, supplying crucial food sources for the birds.
The bill only had four sponsors for the 116th Congress - the two mentioned leaders and Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV). One would hope that this important piece of conservation legislation - benefitting a neglected regional habitat - will get more attention with the new incoming Congress.
Get more details on saline lakes and the proposed legislation from the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network:
RED-COCKADED WOODPEKER DOWNLISTING?
In late September, the Department of the Interior announced a proposal to "downlist" Red-cockaded Woodpecker from Endangered to Threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The announcement was made at Fort Benning, Georgia, as military bases in the Southeast have worked to improve habitat for the species in order to achieve recovery goals. For example, in 1998, at Fort Benning, there were 153 potential breeding groups of these semi-colonial woodpeckers, with a recovery goal of 351 clusters. Today, there are an estimated 412 breeding groups on the fort.
At one time, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were abundant from New Jersey to Florida and west to Texas and Missouri. But after significant habitat loss, the numbers dropped to an estimated 1,470 clusters of the species. Cooperative conservation efforts have focused on a variety of programs including creating artificial nest cavities, reestablishing and restoring longleaf pine forests, and building partnerships with private landowners through Safe Harbor Agreements. Through these efforts, and with military bases playing a major role, more than 1.3 million acres of new longleaf pine stands have been established and hundreds of cavity inserts have been installed. Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates there are nearly 7,800 clusters of the birds across 11 states from southern Virginia to eastern Texas.
In addition to the proposal for down-listing, the USFWS is proposing a special rule under section 4(d) of the ESA. Fortunately, this would prohibit "incidental take" from actions that reduce or degrade woodpecker habitat. This would include damage to cavity trees, harassment of the woodpeckers during the breeding season, and the use of insecticides near the woodpecker groupings.
This proposal has been published in the Federal Register, and the 60-day public comment period ends on 7 December. The proposed rule and supporting details are available online under Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2019-0018:
TRANSLOCATING BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES
Since we are on the subject of Red-cockaded Woodpecker, it would be appropriate to bring up a species which usually shares its pine-woodland habitat with the woodpeckers, the Brown-headed Nuthatch.
During pre-colonial times, an estimated 6.6 million acres of Shortleaf Pine and pine-oak woodland covered Missouri's Ozark Mountains. Settlement and development of the region included widespread logging and fire suppression which reduced the ecosystem to approximately 600,000 acres. The serious reduction of habitat squeezed out some of the characteristic bird species associated with open pinelands, including the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Brown-headed Nuthatch.
As a result, the nuthatches have been absent in the region since the early 1900s, following extensive habitat loss.
But the tide may be turning for the little birds, with the help of imaginative wildlife and forest managers. The release of 46 Brown-headed Nuthatches, translocated from Arkansas to restored pine woodlands in Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest this last August and September could mark a return of the species to the state.
The nuthatch release was only possible after successful habitat restoration, which required many years of hard work and patience. For example, a full decade of funding through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) of the U.S. Forest Service, has been invested at the Mark Twain National Forest, and now roughly 100,000 acres of Shortleaf Pine and pine-oak woodland has been, or is being, restored. It was this habitat restoration work that was vital to establishing the area as a place to bring back Brown-headed Nuthatches.
"I really think that a big take-home from all of this, and something we can all be proud of, is how well science, management, and conservation of species came together in this effort," says Jane Fitzgerald, the American Bird Conservancy's Central Hardwoods Joint Venture (CHJV) Coordinator. "Most of the people who, decades ago, imagined all of this happening are now retired, but a new cadre of folks saw, and see, the vision and are moving the ball forward."
These birds were released in areas that have been managed with tree-thinning and prescribed fire for up to 20 years. An additional 50 birds should be released in August 2021.
Since these experimental nuthatches were released on federal public land, anyone can see these birds. Indeed, Mark Twain National Forest visitors can help monitor the nuthatches' presence and movements by submitting their observations to the eBird database at multiple hotspots in the National Forest:
You can find more information here, from the American Bird Conservancy:
FINE VIDEO ON "BETTY" ANDERSON
Kathleen S. Anderson (1923-2018), best known to her friends and family as "Betty," was a pioneer and fearless champion of women in the ornithological and birding communities going back at least to the late 1950s. Born on a ranch in Montana and the daughter of a U.S. Forest Service Supervisor, Betty soon moved to Carver, Massachusetts, where early on she developed an intense interest in birds and natural history, interests that were rare among young women of her era.
She became a remarkable trail-blazer in both the Massachusetts birding community and North American ornithological community. She was the first woman to be invited as a guest speaker for the Nuttall Ornithological Club (NOC), the oldest bird club in North America, and an original hotbed of male supremacy. Years later, and in a twist of irony, Betty would actually become the first woman President of the NOC. Still, Betty may best be known as the founding director of the renowned Manomet Bird Observatory (now Manomet Inc.) located in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
It was a fine spring day in 2011 when Shawn Carey from Migration Productions, with the help of Wayne Petersen, held a casual but informative interview with Betty on her 100-acre property in Middleborough, Massachusetts.
Shawn recently dusted off and polished this recorded interview to make it available as a 15-minute video. See if you agree with us that Betty Anderson was a truly remarkable and interesting person, with a real combination of curiosity and creativity:
CLARIFICATION ON LEAD IN CALIFORNIA
We need to correct one piece of misinformation that slipped into our October issue, in the story on lead shot in Europe:
In the piece we mentioned a "lead-shot ban within an eight-county area in California designated as the California Condor's range."
Specifically, since the summer of 2019, the lead ban in California has not only covered lead shot but all ammo used for hunting. And the ban now extends across the entire state.
At least 15 other states have some restrictions on lead ammunition, but California's statewide ban on lead ammunition for hunting is the most sweeping in U.S. history. The ban became the final step in the six-year process to phase out lead ammo.
As we have mentioned before, the benefits of banning the use of toxic lead ammunition have been obvious and demonstrated over many years. In 1991, nontoxic shot was required instead of lead ammunition while hunting waterfowl to reduce lead poisoning, but that action did not extend to upland game hunting.
For the details on the overall lead-ban in California, you can see here, from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
