RARITY FOCUS 

Red-flanked Bluetail is an Old-World species which breeds sparingly from Finland and northwestern Russia to western Siberia, Sakhalin Island, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and south to Japan. This Eurasian species winters in the Indian Subcontinent, the Himalayas, Taiwan, and northern Indochina. Its eastern and western breeding ranges have been expanding recently.

In North America, the Red-flanked Bluetail is a casual visitor in western Alaska, primarily in the western Aleutians. A little over a decade ago, however, in the January 2013 Birding Community E-bulletin, we highlighted the first Canadian record, a bird which remained for multiple weeks at Queen's Park, in the Metro Vancouver area of British Columbia. Previously, it had only been found a couple of times in the Lower-48 (e.g., in California on SE Farrallon Island in 1989 and San Clemente Island in 2011).

Over the years since then, Red-flanked Bluetails have been found in about half a dozen western states, primarily in coastal Washington, Oregon, and California besides British Columbia, and, surprisingly, they have even shown up in Idaho and Wyoming. There was also a remarkable bird in the late winter of 2021 in Guerrero, in southwest Mexico. These days, astute birders in the west, especially near the coast, are on the alert – in fall and winter – for the possibility of finding a Red-flanked Bluetail.

That’s why when one of these birds appeared last month in central New Jersey – yes, New Jersey - it was a shocker.

Local birder, Harry Riker, did not initially recognize the little gray bird with the blue tail and orangish flanks outside his Whiting, New Jersey, home on 5 December. But with a little Internet help, the bird was correctly identified as a Red-flanked Bluetail, and the rush of eager birders began.

Did this individual come from the Asian population, a bird that reached western North America and kept moving eastward? Or did this particular Red-flanked Bluetail originate from the edge of  its European population and travel westward to reach North America? Take your pick! (For the second option, consider that the species’ breeding range has been expanding deeper into Finland; sightings have become almost seasonally common westward into Great Britain, and there have been at least half a dozen records from Iceland since 2017.)

In any case you, can find more information - and delicious photos - of this rarity, which remained in place through December, here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/rare-red-flanked-bluetail-bird-spotted-for-the-first-time-in-the-eastern-us-see-photos/ar-AA1lsm43

  and here

https://www.aba.org/first-red-flanked-bluetail-in-the-eastern-aba-area/

ACCESS MATTERS: JUST RE-READ THE ABOVE

That’s right, you might simply re-read the report on this New Jersey wonder-bird, the Red-flanked Bluetail. You need to appreciate that it was found at a private – but non-gated retirement complex, Crestwood Village 5, a 55+ community of 1,113 attached and single-family homes.

If the hundreds of visiting birders parked outside the community and walked into the complex, they were more than tolerated. Indeed, they were even welcomed. At times, community residents offered refreshments to the birders and the use of bathroom facilities.

At the height of birder traffic, the resident and finder of this rarity, Harry Riker, remarked, “These birders are all over the neighborhood… The neighbors seem to love it. We’re all retired and we’re really enjoying it… This is good excitement.”

The Crestwood Village board of trustees even decided to make the bird an “official village mascot” and are currently in the process of selecting a name.

Had the initial experience at Crestwood Village 5 been less-than-congenial, outside visitors to the community might have been limited or simply forbidden to enter. Instead, the entire rarity-event was positive. For birders, welcoming access is always appreciated and makes for a memorable experience. Yes, “access matters.”

PLAN 2024 FOR BIRDING FESTIVALS

With the start of a New Year, your birding plans might include attending one or more birding festival. This is an ideal way to introduce yourself to a new birding area, meet others with similar interests, and get local birding experts to make the process all that more enjoyable.

Admittedly, the festival scene was seemingly put on hold during the Covid Pandemic, but it has geared up again and have been revived in many places.

You can check out your options on this useful and user-friendly 2024 listing and access page assembled for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology by Susanna Lawson. It mainly covers festivals in the U.S. and Canada, but it also includes some other inviting locations, too:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/birding-festivals/#

WISDOM IS BACK

Yes, it’s “Wisdom” again, that female Laysan Albatross first banded by the late, great Chan Robbins on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 1956, when this albatross was incubating an egg on the island. She was at least five years old at the time. In fact, we’ve written about her many times in this Birding Community E-bulletin, at least since April 2011.

The good news is that she returned to Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) close to her normal return time in November and was reported on 3 December by US Fish and Wildlife Service Supervisory Wildlife Biologist, Jon Plissner. Wisdom was engaged in typical synchronized dance moves with a dapper male Laysan Albatross, but we don’t know yet if it has developed into something “more serious.”

She was still reported dancing on Christmas Day.

Regardless, this appearance verifies that Wisdom is at least 73 years old. And good for her!

Check here for recent details (including video links) on Wisdom from the Friends of Midway Island:

https://friendsofmidway.org/wisdom-a-laysan-albatross-at-least-73-years-old-is-back-on-midway-working-the-dating-scene/

IBA NEWS: CWRC RECONSTITUTED

The best support for an Important Bird Area (IBA) is a dedicated “friends’ group” that will care for, support, and monitor the status of a particular IBA. And, of course, the very best kind of friends’ group is one with influential members from the community on the boards, a group with important connections and one that can facilitate access to at least some levers of local power.

The vitality of such friends’ groups can be essential to the wellbeing of IBAs. And although such friends’ groups exist for different IBAs – at different county, state, and federal levels - the ones that are most recognizable nationally are the friends’ of various National Wildlife Refuges. Sometimes they provide the necessary first line of public defense for the many NWRs that are IBAs.

That’s why the re-establishment of the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus (CWRC) for the 118th Congress is really important for the health of the Refuge System and could actually be viewed as a de facto friends’ group functioning at the very highest level.

The CWRC's mission centers around supporting adequate Refuge System funding, advancing meaningful growth through easements and needed land acquisition, and moving federal legislation to improve the Refuge System. One could hardly think of more important ways to support IBAs that overlap with Refuge status.

The caucus now consists of about 40 members of the House, reflecting a bipartisan commitment to conservation. You can see more on the reconstitution of the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus here, and check if your member of the House is currently on board:

https://www.refugeassociation.org/news/2023/12/18/strengthening-conservation-advocacy-congressional-wildlife-refuge-caucus-expansion-amp-reconstitution

For additional information about IBA programs, check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program web site at:

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

DUCK STAMP CHANGE

A bill to make the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (the “Duck Stamp) accessible electronically throughout the waterfowl hunting season passed the Senate last summer. Then, the Duck Stamp Modernization Act was passed by the House on 12 December, and about a week later it was signed by President Biden.

This should streamline the previous recent modernization which had made an electronic “stamp” valid for a period of 45 days (to allow for the physical stamp to be mailed). Now the e-stamp will be valid for the entirety of the waterfowl hunting season.

Although the $25-stamp is going digital, the heritage behind it and the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest - a long-time tradition for artists, waterfowlers, and other bird enthusiasts - will continue.

Purchasers of the new e-stamps will receive the physical stamp in the mail after the end of the duck-hunting season.

At the same time, folks will still be able to purchase physical stamps from a U.S. Post Office or other qualified retailer.

As in the past, 98% of stamp dollars go to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase or lease wetlands and grassland habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is critical to the health of migratory bird populations… and not simply ducks.

As many birders know and appreciate, the holding of a valid “Duck Stamp” is also a free pass to any National Wildlife Refuge that may charge for entry.

You can find more details here:

https://wildlifemanagement.institute/brief/december-2023/congress-passes-duck-stamp-modernization-act

and

https://www.ducks.org/newsroom/us-house-passes-duck-stamp-modernization-act-

BOOK NOTE: BIRDSONG FOR YOUNGSTERS

Don Kroodsma, birdsong authority, promoter, and educator, along with colleagues, Léna Mazilu, and Yoann Guény, have joined to produce a unique and creative book-and-birdsong-based product in Listen to the Birds (Norton, 2023). We call it a “product” rather than a “book,” since the artwork and printed portions are inextricably linked to an app with essential corresponding bird-recordings.

Prospective users, perhaps the 6-to-11-year-old crowd, can “take a dawn walk” through the book’s pages and explore over three dozen bird species of North American birds in the East and the West. Using the Birdie Memory mobile app and paired with the book, is a key to the process, allowing for the combo of written text, visual experience – with Léna Mazilu’s charming artwork – and the auditory essential ingredient. (The augmented reality showing the moving and singing birds is exceedingly clever.) 

Moreover, each written species account is a tight 3-4 paragraphs, including a description of the bird, details on its vocalization, and concluding with curious and memorable factoids.

It is a useful and inventive mix, and, most importantly, it works.

The process – and quizzes – made available in Listen to the Birds can serve as a joint experience with a child and an adult and may be the prelude to that girl or boy exploring the birdsong experience alone.

One more observation may be appropriate: Don’t think that this kind of media and learning engagement is only for kids. Anyone teaching about bird ID, introducing the uninitiated to birdsong, or leading a field trip, could go through the pages – and key audio segments – to pick up useful learning hints for the actual “teaching moments.”

We recommend you give it a try.

AND SPEAKING OF KIDS… AND DUCKS

Migration is an American animated adventure-comedy film released in the U.S. on 22 December, produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. The storyline follows a family of Mallards who try to convince their overprotective father to go on the trip of a lifetime, so they migrate from their protective pond in New England, through bewildering New York City and nearby Long Island, to end up in sunny Jamaica in the West Indies for the winter.

Yes, this computer-animated movie is packed with ornithological mistakes – Mallards migrating as a family group? Traveling as far as Jamaica? Encountering a flock of very lost penguins on that island? – but don’t let these spoil the fun.

The same youngsters who might benefit with Listen to the Birds - described above - might also enjoy some silliness. Besides, some old-time birders may recognize and appreciate the voices of stars such as Carol Kane and Danny DeVito.

Bring some young kids to this movie; it surely can’t hurt.

LAST WORDS

We have three corrections from our December 2023 issue found here:

https://conta.cc/3uLYLg9

1    The first correction concerns that floating “tern raft” on Chincoteague Bay, Maryland. We neglected to mention that the Maryland Coastal Bays Program – where Kim Abplanalp is the Bird Habitat Coordinator – has been the primary working group on the project along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Audubon Mid-Atlantic.

2    The historic Christmas Bird Count, just wrapping up (December 2023- January 2024), was the 124th CBC, not the 123rd.

3    The very first Bare-throated Tiger-Heron in the ABA Area - from December 2009 to January 2010 - was at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, not at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.

And as a reminder, 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