RARITY FOCUS

There were many head-spinning rarities across North America last month, including a few one-day wonders and birds at closed-to-the-general-public sites. What follows are some of April’s highlights in a rough chronological order:



1 Eurasian Oystercatcher

Avalon Peninsula-St.John's, Newfoundland

2 Mexican Violetear

Cameron County, Texas

3 Black-tailed Godwit

Avalon Peninsula-St. John’s, Newfoundland 

4 Fieldfare

Manicouagan, Quebec

5 Piratic Flycatcher

Monroe County, Florida

Pinellas County, Florida

Harris County, Texas

6 Flame-colored Tanager

Hidalgo County, Texas

7 Pearly-eyed Thrasher

Monroe County, Florida

8 Oriental Turtle-Dove

Metro Vancouver District, British Columbia

9 Brambling

Taney County, Missouri

Luce County, Michigan

North Interlake Area, Manitoba

Otter Tail County, Minnesota

10 Flame-colored Tanager

Cochise County, Arizona

11 Garganey

Essex County, Massachusetts

Cottonwood County, Minnesota

12 Tufted Flycatcher

Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Cochise County, Arizona

13 Crescent-chested Warbler

Brewster County, Texas

14 Blue Rock-Thrush

Clatsop County, Oregon

San Francisco County, California

15 Swallow-tailed Gull

San Francisco County, California

16 Nutting's Flycatcher

Nueces County, Texas

So, rather than having your editors highlight one of these deserving species, we decided to pick a rarity species that is almost regular, and also starts appearing in April; it’s the Black Noddy.

The Black Noddy is an enigma among North American species. It is a bird that appears in virtually all our North American field guides, yet is found regularly only in the Dry Tortugas National Park (Fort Jefferson), located about 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. Moreover, the species is essentially a vagrant throughout the West Indies, possibly breeding only on one island-reef at Aruba (since 1991) and off the coast of Venezuela (Los Roques Islands).

Nonetheless, Black Noddies can be found seasonally at the Dry Tortugas, almost annually since their first appearance in July 1960. Subsequently the species has appeared most often in late April and/or early May. (This period also corresponds to the time of the greatest birder-visitation and the season when spring migration is in full swing.) Among the thousands of Brown Noddies nesting at the Dry Tortugas, one or two Black Noddies may sometimes be picked out, often by the north dock. Some years there are none; some odd years there may be three or four. This April, surprisingly, two or three were present, starting in mid-month.

Sometimes, getting to the Dry Tortugas is a problem, with daily seaplane flights being relatively expensive and allowable time at the fort limited. Taking a full-day excursion on the Yankee Freedom III out of Key West is better. Arranging for overnight camping at the fort is also possible, but it can be complicated.

In any case, Black Noddy is a somewhat “gettable rarity” at this season and one that should be on most optimistic birders’ “bucket lists.”     

ACCESS MATTERS: ANOTHER GOLF-COURSE EXPERIENCE

Do you remember our rarity report for the early summer of 2022 of a Southern Lapwing that was found in Iosco County, Michigan? It was discovered in late June and, apparently, continued into late December. As we indicated then, with this species’ ongoing range-expansion - northward out of South America over the last few decades, and now into the southern Caribbean and Central America – vagrant records related to seasonal population fluctuations might be “likely to appear northward in spring/summer.” See here for more information:

https://conta.cc/3Jy4YiJ

Last month, on 13 April, a Southern Lapwing was found by birder Gary Jensen and photographed at Llano Grande Golf Course in Mercedes, Texas, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The bird remained for about a week, periodically visiting one or another grassy or wet location on the golf course.

But this is not intended to be another “rarity” report, added to the lengthy listing above; it is a report on “birder access.”

Fortunately, birders who spoke with the golf course management reported that there were no concerns over birders having access along the levees on the north and east sides of the course. In addition, eager birders could enter the golf course (with an entrance fee) and bird, if they did not get in the way of active golfers. Some birders even rented golf carts!

Without this sort of understanding about on-site access, birders and bird photographers would have been terribly disappointed. Here’s an upbeat report on the experience from the local TV station, WKRV:

https://www.krgv.com/news/rare-bird-siting-attracting-bird-watchers-to-mercedes-golf-course

IBA NEWS: GREAT SALT LAKE CONCERN

In April 2022, our Important Bird Area (IBA) emphasis was on the plight of the Great Salt Lake. In fact, there are five major bays on the lake (i.e., Farmington, Ogden, Bear River, Gilbert [or South Arm] and Gunnison [or North Arm]) each considered IBAs unto themselves. See here for more information:

https://conta.cc/3ji9GVR

Then, in March of this year we also highlighted the updated version of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network’s “Conservation Plan for Wilson’s Phalarope.” This phalarope is an iconic bird of the Great Salt Lake. (Upwards of 250,000 of these birds, perhaps a third of the species’ total population, annually visit the continent’s largest saline lake to fill up on alkali flies, brine flies, and brine shrimp.) An updated version of the WHSRN plan for the species was deemed necessary, primarily because of the shrinking and drying of North American staging habitat, particularly saline lakes, due to water diversion and climate change. See the March summary here: 

https://conta.cc/42GbiOV

Fundamental concerns continue. Despite record snowfalls around the lake during the last two years, there is not enough current water replenishment to get the Great Salt Lake up to healthy targeted levels.

In March, a coalition of environmentalists and scientists filed a petition with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to have Wilson’s Phalarope listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This may start a years-long process that could launch serious federal intervention to save the bird. Alternatively, it could prompt Utah and neighboring states to devise their own conservation plan for the lake and for Wilson’s Phalarope.

There are a variety of options to consider, and they all need evaluation. You can read a review of the situation in “Inside Climate News” from last month by Wyatt Myskow:

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17042024/tiny-inland-shorebird-could-save-great-salt-lake/

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

BOOK NOTE: EMPEROR PENGUIN EXPLOITS 

Last year, Gerald L. Kooyman and Jim Mastro gave us a stunning account of what has to be one of the most extraordinary vertebrates on the planet. The creature is the Emperor Penguin – a member of an iconic and beloved group of birds known to many people around the world – and the account is found in Journeys with Emperors: Tracking the World's Most Extreme Penguin (University of Chicago Press, 2023).

The incredible biology and life story of this giant among penguins is told in vivid detail in this fine book by Kooyman, an ornithologist and scientist who is arguably the world’s authority on this remarkable species, and Mastro, a technical editor in support of the US Antarctic Program who spent over six years in Antarctica (including two winters) as a scientific diving coordinator and research assistant.

The birds are amazing. Standing nearly a meter tall and walking with wings pressed to their sides instead of holding them out for balance like their smaller relatives, Emperor Penguins spend their entire lives either in frigid ocean waters or standing on sea ice.

Males here do all the incubation of a single egg while also fasting for an astonishing 120 days in total darkness at frigid temperatures and conditions that are practically unimaginable. Additionally, the journeys walked by these incredible birds over frozen ocean and pack ice simply to reach open water to enter the sea are enough to boggle the mind of even the most hardcore trekker or winter explorer. (Once in the water, the linear distances traveled by these powerful penguins seem to be physiologically exceeded by the 450-500-foot depths - sometimes under pack ice - to which they routinely dive when foraging.)

Obtaining the astounding statistics about the species’ natural history and conducting research under the harshest conditions imaginable are what Kooyman and a remarkable cadre of colleagues and graduate students have done for more than three decades and nearly fifty trips to the Antarctic.

Kooyman’s research and pioneering techniques for measuring avian physiology, along with traveling many miles on ice-breaker ships and flying over hazardous frozen miles of ocean, place him in a category with some of the earlier and exceptional Antarctic explorers such as Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, and Apsley Cherry-Garrard to name a few.

For readers looking for outstanding scientific and natural history writing, with incredible descriptions of Emperor Penguins and other wildlife, Journeys with Emperors is a book not to be missed. The outstanding color photos alone are worth the time invested, but we suggest you enjoy the book in a warm location!

GRASSLAND COALITION, GRASSLAND LOSS

We regularly seem to be reviewing the plight of our continent’s grasslands and grassland birds. This month, we present yet another look into the grassland scene, with an emphasis on some important steps toward conserving the birds and their habitats.

On 11 April, a coalition of conservation organizations announced an interactive mapping tool that documents the status of grasslands in North America. This map project reveals the significant loss of America’s prairies, savannas, glades, and sagebrush over a 30-year period (1992-present). Several bird species are highlighted within the project, illustrating troublesome population declines. Produced by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in collaboration with others in the coalition, the project is a valuable tool to understand better grassland habitat and species losses.

“To deliver the message of grasslands in trouble and inspire action, we saw the need to show in one place all these losses, using the most authoritative evidence available,” said Wenfei Tong, a Science Editor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The coalition also built this website with the expectation of helping raise awareness of the need for legislation, such as the North American Grasslands Conservation Act (Grasslands Act), to help conserve and protect grasslands.

The Grasslands Act is modeled on the very successful North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA). The program would rest within the U.S. Department of Interior and complement the Farm Bill programs that exist within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The coalition is seeking the Grasslands Act to be authorized at $60 million annually, with an increase of $7.5 million per year.

See here to access the tool/map:

https://www.mapforgrasslands.org/

 and here for more details:

https://wildlifemanagement.institute/brief/april-2024/conservation-coalition-releases-map-visualizing-grassland-loss

IMPROVED NEOTROP BILL BECOMES LAW

With bipartisan support, the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023 was signed into law by President Biden on 24 April. The House version had passed the House on 9 April, followed rapidly by passage in the Senate on 17 April.

This reauthorizes funding for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) program through 2028 at $6.5 million annually. Since 2002, the original NMBCA has supported more than 700 bird projects in over three dozen countries in the Western Hemisphere.

While the $6.5 million is the same as the most recent funding amount, the match formula has been seriously improved from 3-1 to 2-1. By altering this formula, it is expected that smaller and more diverse partner organizations working in Latin America and the Caribbean will be able to access the program, conserving habitat for shared migratory bird species.

Find more details here:

https://www.audubon.org/news/legislation-supporting-migratory-birds-across-hemisphere-signed-law

 and here:

https://abcbirds.org/news/nmbca-signed-into-law-2024/

RAWA CONTINUES TO MOVE

When we last profiled the status of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), it was in June 2023, as we followed the bill’s chances in the Senate after its passage in the House. See here:

https://conta.cc/43nSpzG

In the last month, two more Senators were added to the Senate version of RAWA (S. 1149). These two were Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). This bill would dedicate $1.3 billion annually to state fish and wildlife agencies to implement their science-based wildlife action plans and an additional $97.5 million for tribal fish and wildlife managers to conserve fish and wildlife on tribal lands and waters.

This kind of funding would meaningfully boost state-based bird conservation.

For more details, see here:

https://www.fishwildlife.org/landing/blog/association-applauds-senators-britt-and-klobuchar-co-sponsoring-recovering-americas-wildlife-act

Stay tuned for future updates!

REMINDER: JOIN A MIGRATION CELEBRATION

On Saturday, 11 May, you can easily participate in World Migratory Bird Day with a special emphasis on efforts around Global Bird Day. For World Migratory Bird Day, there are all sorts of events happening this year, with a thematic emphasis on protecting insects and protecting birds simultaneously. See here for an explanation and a selection of events:

https://migratorybirdday.org/

And for the parallel effort in Global Bird Day on 11 May, you can venture outside for as little time or as long as you would like. Use eBird to keep track of the birds you see at your favorite park, refuge, or backyard, and submit those results. Last year, participants on Global Big Day, more than 58,000 people, submitted 148,000 checklists via eBird, and they recorded 7,636 species from more than 200 countries. Impressive new records were set.

It’s easy to participate this year. If you do so, consider bringing along someone new to enjoying birds, and help spread the education and experience. Find details on Global Big Day here:

https://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-2024

LAST WORD

Finally, if you have friends or co-workers who might wish to receive the free monthly Birding Community E-bulletin, you could forward this issue to them and suggest that they sign up via this link:

https://bit.ly/35Xd3hO