From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 11:40 AM
To: Paul J. Baicich
Cc: Wayne R. Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - April 2008
THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
April 2008
This Birding Community E-bulletin is being distributed through the generous
support of Steiner Binoculars as a service to active and concerned birders,
those dedicated to the joys of birding and the protection of birds and their
habitats.
This issue marks the 48th E-bulletin we have produced, four years of sharing
bird, birding, and bird conservation information. You can access an archive
of our past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge
Association (NWRA):
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
RARITY FOCUS
On 6 March a Common Crane was found near Kearney, Nebraska not far from the
Rowe Sanctuary along the Platte River. It was found by a group of about 10
birders, mostly from the Minneapolis area, including Stan Tekiela, Sharon
Stiteler, and Amber Burnette. The Common Crane was accompanying a flock of
Sandhill Cranes.
Common Crane is an Old World species, a vagrant to Canada and United States,
usually found with migrating Sandhill Cranes. It can be distinguished by its
blackish head and neck, prominantly marked by a broad white stripe. (See
page 152 of the latest National Geographic Guide for more details.) There
are about 15 previous reports of this species in North America (some
certainly representing multiple sightings of the same individuals) from
Alberta, Alaska, Indiana, Nebraska, Québec, and Saskatchewan, all since
1957. Most reports have occurred in September-October or March-April. It is
assumed that some of the these birds become "attached" to Sandhill Crane
groups in Siberia, then follow them east and then southward to North America
during migration.
The Common Crane near Kearney was seen off and on through the evening of 9
March, always in the company of Sandhill Cranes. The Platte River is a major
concentration point for Sandhill Cranes, with perhaps half a million birds
gathering in mid-to-late March, prior to migrating northward. This staging
area represents a breathtaking natural spectacle each spring, and is a major
avitourism draw to central Nebraska, from Grand Island to Kearney. Local
Nebraskans have come to appreciate both the birds and the avitourists
attracted to the phenomenon.
While the Common Crane was not relocated among the Sandhill Cranes after 9
March, there was an interesting sighting later in the month on 23 March
about 200 miles to the south. At about 6:30pm on 23 March, a Common Crane
was seen and photographed by Michael Anderson at Quivira National Wildlife
Refuge in central Kansas. The crane was going to roost with about 1,000
Sandhill Cranes near the Big Salt Marsh at the refuge. The crane was never
found there again, despite multiple searches.
MEXICAN GOVERNMENT DESIGNATES 45 NEW WETLANDS UNDER RAMSAR
Our friends at the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) have
brought to our attention recent efforts by the Government of Mexico to
designate 45 New Wetlands of International Importance under provisions of
the Ramsar Convention.
This laudatory action that took place in early February is a world record
for the most new Ramsar sites ever designated in one day, breaking Mexico's
own record of designating 34 sites in a single day in 2004. By designating
these new sites, Mexico is helping to safeguard another 2.7 million hectares
of habitat important for a number of migratory birds, including waterfowl,
shorebirds, gulls, terns, herons, egrets, and wetland-associated songbirds.
Mexico is currently in second place worldwide with its 112 designated Ramsar
sites.
The announcement was made by conservation leaders from the Secretariat of
the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), National Commission for
Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), and the Government of Sinaloa, in
conjunction with the State's celebrations honoring "World Wetlands Day."
For more information (in Spanish), visit:
http://ramsar.org/wwd/8/wwd2008_rpts_mexico_semarnat.htm
MARBLED MURRELET CRITICAL HABITAT MAINTAINED
The Marbled Murrelet was listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species
Act (ESA) in October 1992. This alcid spends most of its time at sea, nests
in tall trees in old-growth conifer forests, sometimes as far as 50 miles
inland.
Critical Marbled Murrelet breeding habitat covering almost 3.6 million acres
was designated on 24 May 1996. In mid-September 2006, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service proposed to revise the designated critical habitat for the
Marbled Murrelet in Washington, Oregon, and California, potentially
downgrading approximately 94% of the designated critical habitat from final
designation.
Last month, however, the Service presented added findings pursuant to the
ESA. Due to uncertainties regarding plan revisions in western Oregon, the
Service determined that it is not appropriate to revise the designation of
critical habitat for the Marbled Murrelet at this time. (The USFWS will
continue to consider whether revisions of critical habitat for this species
might be appropriate at some future time.) Accordingly, the 24 May 1996,
final rule designating critical habitat for the Marbled Murrelet stands.
This represents an important victory for this enigmatic little alcid.
For some of our previous coverage on Marbled Murrelet (October 2006) see:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/octSBC06.html#TOC07
and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/oct06.html
NATIONAL AVIARY BULLETIN
The Department of Conservation & Field Research at the National Aviary in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was created to study and address the impacts of
human population and resource consumption on birds and the environment.
Their projects are founded on the belief that field research, conservation,
and community education are intertwined and are best done in concert. To get
a feel for this approach, check out their Spring 2008 newsletter, FLIGHT
PATH, downloaded here (free subscriptions also available through this page):
http://www.aviary.org/nlet/birdcalls.php
AMBER-ENCASED "FEATHERS" ANALYZED
In mid-March, scientists reported that seven dinosaur-era feathers, or
proto-feathers, recently found preserved in amber in western France may
highlight a crucial stage in feather evolution. The hundred-million-year-old
plumage, about 50 million years younger than the first know flying bird,
Archaeopteryx, has features of both feather-like fibers found with some
two-legged dinosaurs known as theropods, and those of modern bird feathers.
These fossils could fill a key gap in the puzzle of how dinosaurs gave rise
to birds, according to a team led by Vincent Perrichot of the Museum fur
Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. The find provides a clear example of the
transition between primitive filamentous down and the modern feather.
Although the study team isn't sure yet whether the feathers belonged to a
dino or a bird, the feathers' central shafts, or rachises, are primitive and
most closely resemble down feathers.
The feather filaments, or barbs, had not become fully fused at the base, and
they lacked the hooklets, known as barbules, needed to hold the filaments
together. The research team asserted that today's birds could not fly with
such feathers.
Paleontologists at the University of Rennes found the tiny feathers encased
in a lump of amber (fossilized tree resin) in a quarry in the
Poitou-Charentes region of France in 2000. More samples from the fossil
record will be needed to settle the issue of ancestry and function of these
structures.
You can find more details and photos here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080311-amber-feathers.html
FARM BILL EXTENSION HAS EVERYONE GUESSING
A 15 March Farm Bill deadline has come and gone, and a new Farm Bill has yet
to be passed by Congress. A short-term extension of the old bill has reset
the clock, however, and is now ticking towards a new deadline of 18 April.
The rewrite of the five-year multi-billion-dollar Farm Bill overseeing farm,
conservation, energy and even nutrition programs has been gridlocked, as the
House and Senate have tried to trim the reauthorizations and find offsets
for new spending from the bill they passed last year. The conservation title
of the Farm Bill represents the single largest federal investment to
conservation on private land in this country, and is crucial for bird
conservation (especially considering the well-known CRP and WRP elements).
While there is a tentative agreement to work toward a bill that would spend
$10 billion over the current bill's baseline for the next 10 years - much
less than the House or Senate had included in their respective bills - there
has yet to be an agreement on the breadth of the required cuts and the
revenue-raisers that could offset new funding.
Significant bird conservation efforts could suffer if the delay continues
and if a new Farm Bill is not passed by the approaching deadline.
We have discussed this issue recently, including August, 2007:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/augSBC07.html#TOC13
and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/aug07.html
And we have covered it also in January, 2008:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/janSBC08.html#TOC05
and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/jan08.html
TRANSLOCATED BERMUDA PETRELS RETURN TO BERMUDA ISLET
Three rare and endangered Bermuda Petrels (also known as Cahows),
translocated to Nonsuch Island before fledging in 2005, have returned to the
small island (15.5 acres), where they have been observed entering artificial
nesting burrows constructed for them.
Bermuda Petrels were thought to be extinct for almost three centuries. In
1951, however, 18 pairs were rediscovered breeding on sub-optimal rocky
islets in Castle Harbour, Bermuda. Incorporating conservation measures that
would restrict the size of burrows (using "baffles" to exclude larger
tropicbirds) and providing concrete burrows at nesting sites, the petrel
population has recovered gradually, doubling approximately every 20 years.
Returning sub-adult Bermuda Petrels gravitate to their natal colonies, so
regardless of the "appropriateness" of the sites on Nonsuch, the island
remained uncolonized. Because Hurricane Fabian caused the flooding and
partial collapse of traditional nesting sites in 2003, young Bermuda Petrels
were moved to Nonsuch Island, in the entrance to Castle Harbour. The idea
was to imprint the translocated chicks to the new site, hoping that the
chicks would eventually return to this new natal site once they were mature
in about 3-4 years.
In the last four years, a total of 81 chicks have been translocated, of
which 79 have fledged successfully. The Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve
provides nesting habitat which is elevated enough to be safe from hurricane
flooding and erosion. The present nesting islets actually total less than
2.5 acres.
Removal of invasive rats and Cane Toads from Nonsuch was mandatory before
effective translocation and potential return could be attempted.
As avid North American birders know, Bermuda Petrels have occasionally been
observed on North Carolina birding pelagic trips. One hopes that with more
Bermuda Petrels returning (like the recent three returns) and nesting at
multiple sites, the future of the species will become more secure.
For more information:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/03/Bermuda_Petrel.html
BOOK REVIEW: YOUNG BIRDER'S FIELD GUIDE (EAST)
Bill Thompson, III, editor of BIRD WATCHER'S DIGEST, asked his 11-year-old
daughter, Phoebe, and her school class for some advice on what would make a
birding guide most helpful for kids in the field. The upshot is THE YOUNG
BIRDER'S GUIDE TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA (Houghton Mifflin 2008).
This is a book that youngsters can use on their own, without assistance from
adults. It is part of the popular "Peterson Field Guide Series."
Each of the 200 species included in the book provides a color photograph on
a page brimming with added information and written in an appropriate style
for young people. Field marks are clear; range maps are easy to read, and
there is even a space for young birders to check off birds they have
identified along with the date the species was originally seen. Accompanying
black-and-white line drawings by Julie Zickefoose illustrate interesting
bird behaviors or characteristics.
If you know young birders who live in the East and are curious about birds,
definitely get this book into their hands.
TIP OF THE MONTH: NESTWATCH IS WAITING FOR YOU
The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has just launched its newest
citizen-science program in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird
Center and funded by the National Science Foundation.
It's called NestWatch, and it entails volunteers collecting information on
nesting birds: location, habitat, eggs, incubation, etc. Participation is
free, and potential volunteers should begin to get ready as nest-building
begins this spring. Volunteers are strongly encouraged to follow the Nest
Monitor's Code of Conduct and Protocol (both available on the program's
website).
The Cornell Lab will also be folding its Birdhouse Network project (already
with 70,000 submissions) into NestWatch. Now, anyone who has been keeping
nest records on their own will have a way to put this important information
to use through NestWatch. The Lab will be able to accept data from as far
back as 1900! The database will also incorporate more than 300,000 records
from the historic Cornell Nest Record Program, dating back to 1965.
For more information and to sign up with NestWatch, see:
www.nestwatch.org <http://www.nestwatch.org/>
- - - - - - - -
You can access past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association
(NWRA) website:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
If you wish to distribute all or parts of any of the monthly Birding
Community E-bulletins, we simply request that you mention the source of any
material used. (Include a URL for the E-bulletin archives, if possible.)
If you have any friends or co-workers who want to get onto the monthly
E-bulletin mailing list, have them contact either:
Wayyne R. Petersen, Director
Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program
Mass Audubon
718/259-2178
<>
OR
Paul J. Baicich
410/992-9736
<>
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