RARITY FOCUS 

Fan-tailed Warbler is a distinctive and fairly large – at least for a warbler – species found from northern Mexico southward into Central America. There have been about a dozen records in mountainous or riparian areas in states north of Mexico. These have been recorded mostly in Arizona, and usually in May. (Since the northern populations of Fan-tailed Warbler are migratory, most of these warblers occurring in the U.S. may have been migratory overshoots.)

But there are also a few vagrant records outside of Arizona, in New Mexico and Texas, and not always in May/June. For example, there were two reports of Fan-tailed Warbler for November 2022 in Arizona, reports that were highlighted in our December 2022 Birding Community E-bulletin:

https://conta.cc/3ixtQ0D

A sighting outside of Arizona last month was a Fan-tailed Warbler found and photographed on the Brownsville campus of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 5 January, in Cameron County. This bird was only the second Texas record.

This skulking warbler, reported by Evan Farese, was discovered foraging near the ground in brushy habitat next to the campus’s main resaca. It remained on site – often becoming difficult to find – into the end of the month.

You can view a short video here by Tavo Valero from 12 Jan:

https://youtu.be/U3oPw3MmC0g

 IBA NEWS: NEW CHILEAN WHSRN SITE

A new Chilean site for the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) was announced last month. This site of “Regional Importance” is Coquimbo Bay, a locale shared by the municipalities of La Serena and Coquimbo, in the province of Elqui, in what is known as the “Norte Chico” of Chile.

A large part of Coquimbo Bay – 836 hectares - has already been designated and Important Bird Area (IBA) in Chile. But it is a smaller section of 206 hectares which is now being designated a WHSWN site. More than 170 bird species have been recorded here, along its coastal wetland habitats with broad sandy beaches and dunes, lagoons, and estuarine waters.,

Of significance, is that the pitanay subspecies of the American Oystercatcher – ranging from northern Ecuador through Peru and into Chile – is found at Coquimbo, with recent counts of up to 444 individuals in summer and 635 individuals in winter. This represents more than 3.4% and 4.8%, respectively, of the geographic population of the bird.

Coquimbo Bay also hosts southern migratory shorebirds such as the Rufous-chested Dotterel.

But for those whose interests focus more on North American shorebirds, the new WHSRN site is used as a resting and feeding location for multiple Nearctic migratory shorebirds, including Sanderling, Baird’s Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, Greater Yellowlegs, and Lesser Yellowlegs.

For more on the significance of this new WHSRN site, see here:

https://whsrn.org/ninth-site-chile/

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:

https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas

BLACK-CAPPED PETREL: OFFICIALLY ENDANGERED

Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized the listing of Black-capped Petrel as an Endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Previously proposed as Threatened in 2018, the Service reopened the comment period on that proposal to present new information on the status of the species. This new information indicated that threats to the Black-capped Petrel were more severe than originally described in the 2018 proposed rule.

Black-capped Petrels are seabirds that only nest on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. They travel long distances to foraging waters in the western Atlantic and southern Caribbean basins and the central and northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Satellite tracking has also indicated their use of near-shore areas off the northern coast of Central and South America.

The ESA requires the Service to list species as Endangered or Threatened regardless of where the species may range. By regulating potential activities impacting the species, the U.S. helps ensure that people under its jurisdiction do not contribute to the further decline of such listed species.

Major threats to Black-capped Petrel include habitat loss and degradation due to deforestation and forest fires and depredation by nonnative mammals within its breeding grounds. Climate change also continues to impact the species with increasing storm intensity and frequency, resulting in the flooding of nesting burrows and the erosion of suitable nesting habitat.   

Due to new information, the Service has determined there are also factors affecting the marine habitat within U.S. jurisdiction, and the Service has some time to publish any critical habitat designation. It is possible that designation of such critical habitat for the Black-capped Petrel will be released before the end of this year.

See more information on the Endangered designation and the general situation here:

https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-12/service-finalizes-listing-black-capped-petrel-endangered-species

ACCESS MATTERS: THE REFUGE BUDGET

Congress should wrap up budget negotiations for fiscal year (FY) 2024 very soon. And as the current stopgap funding for the Department of the Interior nears its end on 8 March, the National Wildlife Refuge System faces a potential 10% reduction from current funding levels. This could seriously damage the Refuge System's ability to fulfill its vital conservation mission, including actions essential for birds.

In fact, over the last decade, stagnant funding for the Refuge System has resulted in a distressing 25% loss of full-time staff. This can’t continue without compromising the ability to provide for birds and other wildlife. Cuts like these will lead to serious conservation management risks, a further backlog in maintenance projects, and losses in the areas of visitor services and public access.

You can reach your Members of Congress over funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System. This could support local refuges and allow adequate staff to manage invasive species, protect bird populations, finish maintenance projects, and sustain or increase access for birders and other visitors.

You can take action here, adding your own comments on birds, birding, access, and the future:

https://www.refugeassociation.org/advocacy-fy24-appropriations

CBC NEWS: RETIREMENT ANNOUNCED

In the last two issues of the Birding Community E-bulletin, we touched on the history of the Christmas Bird Count, having wrapped up early last month with the end of the 124th CBC.

Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, Frank Chapman launched and organized a "Christmas Bird Census," counting birds during the holiday. Due to the inspiration of Chapman and the participation of 27 original volunteers, 25 Christmas Bird Counts were held on that day. Those original 27 counters tallied about 90 species combined.

The rest, as they say, is history, with the CBC evolving into an important ornithological data set, an annual comparative “snapshot” of our winter bird populations.

For the last 37 years, since 1987, the CBC has been skillfully managed and guided by Geoff LeBaron. He has been a party to many changes in the CBC during his tenure. The most important has been, in his own words, transitioning “a 100% paper effort to a 100% online presence, including a critical database that is used on a weekly basis to help us protect the birds we love so dearly.”

Geoff LeBaron recently announced that he will be retiring in June, working on putting to bed the results of the 124th CBC. And he recapped his long-term CBC experiences here:

https://www.audubon.org/news/age-transition-christmas-bird-count?mc_cid=9e9495f588&mc_eid=40243f151f

A VALUABLE BIRD-SCENE SUMMARY

Sometimes in the general and public major media, we stumble across a thoughtful and creative article on birds and the birding subculture that makes a real contribution to understanding both, particularly when it comes to a popular and better understanding of bird populations.

Such was the case last month with an article in The Washington Post. It was titled “Bird Populations Are Declining. Some Are in Your Neighborhood,” by Harry Stevens, the Climate Lab columnist at the Post. Stevens had been part of a team at the Post that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for the series “2c: Beyond the Limit.”   (See here: https://awards.journalists.org/entries/2c-beyond-the-limit/)

In about two dozen paragraphs Stevens summarized many aspects of bird interest, bird observations, and bird numbers quite well. Just as importantly, he used eBird data on bird trends and ranges for species in the contiguous U.S. This made maps available for the public to understand better how favorite local birds might be faring across the country, for better or worse.

It's worth checking out and sharing:

http://tinyurl.com/BirdsPostStevens

REDLINED BIRDING?

For the “flip side” of the material above, we have the curious – but not altogether surprising – study showing that bird sighting data seem to be skewed by historical racial “redlining” in multiple localities nationwide.

The study - “Historical redlining is associated with increasing geographical disparities in bird biodiversity sampling in the United States”- is by Diego Ellis-Soto, Melissa Chapman, and Dexter H. Locke, and it is summarized here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01688-5

Putting it succinctly, historic race-based zoning policies - such as redlining, starting in the 1930s – can surely be viewed in terms of continued racial inequality, but also in terms of bird biodiversity sampling density and details. Yes, under-sampled urban areas for birdlife appear to have fewer birds. Fewer observers equal fewer recorded birds!

The conclusions stress how human behavior, predisposition, and past social conditions may not just segregate our built environments but can also adversely impact the digital information we have about the state of urban biodiversity.

Lead author, Diego Ellis-Soto, summarized it deftly: "If we don't account for socioeconomic inequality in where we collect data on birds, our models on where birds live would mostly be where rich people live."

And, of course, there can be serious consequences when it comes to urban/suburban biodiversity planning – and funding - for these areas.

A good summary of the situation was in the New Haven Register by Vincent Gabrielle in late December, concentrating on that location in Connecticut which was  - at least on the surface - one of the worst cities recorded for the number of birds:

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/ct-yale-bird-sighting-data-skewed-redlining-18542400.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=share-by-email&utm_medium=email;

MUSING THE NAME-CHANGE OPTIONS?

As most folks reading these words know, the recent decisions by the American Ornithological Society (AOS) to eliminate modifiers named after people for over 100 North American bird species (e.g., Wilson’s Plover and Sabine’s Gull) is being debated with enthusiasm - or dread - by science and birding quarters everywhere.

A committee from the AOS will be formed this year to oversee criteria and assemble suggestions for these new names.

Like it or not, there will be changes… and conflicting suggestions.

Late last month, Peter Alden - author, traveler, and lecturer – spoke at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival in Florida on the topic of “Name That Bird: Creating New Names for North American Birds.”

You may find some of his suggestions clever, fanciful, surprising, or just plain wrong, but they are part of the mix and should make for an interesting read, available here:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:4f628f41-c7f0-4899-ba14-d97a9e9ee440

[Note: this link may result in showing the page in very tiny text, depending on your web browser. Use of the +-sign at the edge of your browser will probably help make it all legible.]  



LAST WORD

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