Bird Feathers #5

The fifth in a series of occassional rundowns of what’s happening in the world of birds, birding and bird blogging.

An eye for the Maine chance | Maine Audubon has completed the initial stage of its Important Bird Areas (IBA) program, identifying 22 areas in Maine as critical to state and global bird populations.

Birds Migrate Earlier, But Some May Be Left Behind As The Climate Warms Rapidly | Many birds are arriving earlier each spring as temperatures warm along the East Coast of the United States. However, the farther those birds journey, the less likely they are to keep pace with the rapidly changing climate.

Birds Communicate Reproductive Success In Song | Some migratory songbirds figure out the best place to live by eavesdropping on the singing of others that successfully have had baby birds — a communication and behavioral trait so strong that researchers playing recorded songs induced them to nest in places they otherwise would have avoided.

Birds and bats need protection from wind turbines | If we’re going to have wind turbines to produce electricity — and, sadly, it looks like we may — then why not equip them with safety devices to warn off birds and bats?

How Birds Can Capture a Kid’s Imagination | If you’re trying to pry your kid away from an iPod, a Hannah Montana video or Webkinz, why not go outside and find birds? That’s what veteran bird-watcher Bill Thompson III, who wrote The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, suggests.

Bill of the Birds | Bill Thompson, III blogs about the time he is spending on Hog Island Audubon Camp in here in Maine.

I will leave you with a few photos taken last weekend at Goose Rocks Beach. Included are photos of a Piping plover chick, a male Dunlin and photos of lupine in bloom. Enjoy!

 

For those of you with a broadband connection, under the dropdown “Video” tab in the menu at the top of the page, there is a “Featured Video” tab. These videos are at an even higher resolution. The file size averages 6 to 7 mb. The current video is a Tufted Titmouse bathing in a bird bath.

Happy birding!

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Bird Feathers #4

The fourth in a series of occassional rundowns of what’s happening in the world of birds, birding and bird blogging.

First pictures of the snowy New Year!

The last day of the year didn’t go quietly | Bird TLC admits it’s 502nd bird of 2007 for treatment, a Red-Tailed Hawk.

An outrage against hawks and falcons | Birder’s World Field of view reports that a pigeon breeder’s club in California, Oregon, and other states has been killing thousands of hawks and falcons a year in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act — and bragging about it.

Volunteers needed to join international bird-feeding study | People who feed birds in the United States and Canada are invited to participate in a study on the feeding habits of birds. Project Wildbird is a landmark $1 million study of seed and feeder preferences of wild birds in the United States and Canada.

School construction may relocate chimney swifts | A 60-foot-tall chimney is one of the few known roosting sites left in Maine for the chimney swift, a songbird that migrates here each May from the mountainous regions of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Footing the bill could become problem in woodpecker hunt | If an ivory-billed woodpecker is not found in 2008, John Arvin worries federal funding for the search, and the support of the scientific and birding communities, could become as elusive as his quarry.

Thousands of loons dying in Great Lakes area | The loon, an icon of the North Woods, is dying by the thousands across a growing swath of the Great Lakes, victims of a bacterial disease that works its way up from the lake floor.

Threatened Birds May Be Rarer Than Geographic Range Maps Suggest | Geographic range maps that allow conservationists to estimate the distribution of birds may vastly overestimate the actual population size of threatened species and those with specific habitats, according to a study published online in the journal Conservation Biology.

Female House Finch, first bird of 2008!

Happy birding!

Technorati Tags: birds, birding, bird

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Bird Feathers #3

The third in a series of occassional rundowns of what’s happening in the world of birds, birding and bird blogging.

• Dozens of birds killed, hundreds of thousands threatened by spill | The black oil spreading for miles from the Golden Gate is staining one of the richest wildlife regions on the Pacific Coast and threatening hundreds of thousands of birds as well as marine mammals and fish that feed around San Francisco Bay.
•  Worst breeding season for Britain’s migratory birds | The unusual weather conditions across Britain have taken their toll on the country’s resident and migratory bird populations – of 25 bird species monitored, seven had their worst breeding season ever.
• Bird watcher gets stuck in the mud | A 73-year-old man was stuck in the mud when his bird-watching trip went wrong.
• No one to be charged over shooting of rare bird on Queen’s estate | No one will be charged after the alleged shooting of two protected birds of prey on one of Queen Elizabeth II’s country estates where Prince Harry had been shooting, prosecutors said Tuesday.

A Bird Habitat Conservation Plan That Developers Support

Speaking at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland, President Bush unveiled several new programs aimed at helping preserve the habitats of migratory birds.

Bush proposed to improve 200,000 acres of remaining bird habitat at existing wildlife refuges and to upgrade bird habitats in national parks.

A second initiative calls for a program of conservation easements. Under this program landowners agree not to develop their properties in return for a charitable deduction for the fair market value of the land.

A third program is called recovery credit trading. Under this plan landowners are given incentives to set aside or improve land for the benefit of migratory birds. These credits can be traded or sold on the open market.

While most environmental groups appear to back the president’s recovery credit trading plan, many developers see a silver lining. Real estate developers will be able to purchase these recovery credits from private landowners permitting them the opportunity to go ahead with projects that might otherwise be prohibited or delayed due to federal environmental regulations.

 

Until now there has been no single, comprehensive resource on the status of North America’s most threatened birds and what people can do to help protect them.

Birder’s Conservation Handbook is the only book of its kind, written specifically to help birders and researchers understand the threats while providing actions to protect birds and their habitats.

Find out more about this book | Birder’s Conservation Handbook

 

Happy birding!

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Bird Feathers #2

The second in a series of weekly rundowns of what’s happening in the world of birds, birding and bird blogging.

Dead Swallows Found  The sight of birds is a common one along the banks of the Susquehanna River, but not like this.

Wind Turbine Has Switch To Move Clear Of Migrating Birds  A unique turbine was lowered from a height of 80 feet to test the ability to bring it down at the drop of a hat should foul weather set in or should the migratory songbirds and nesting seabirds that frequent this 95-acre island run afoul of the whirling blades.

Guano theory in bridge collapse  Inspectors searching for the causes of the collapse of a Minnesota bridge this month that killed at least 13 people have identified pigeon droppings as a possible factor.

I And The Bird #56 - “What I Did On My Summer Vacation”  is being hosted by Vern over at Big Spring Birds.

Bob Malbon has some more pictures posted on his site from his trip to Machias Seal Island last week.

Happy birding!

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Bird Feathers #1

The first in a series of weekly rundowns of what’s happening in the world of birds, birding and bird blogging.

•  Hummingbird Orphan: Tiny, Cute and Helpless  Julie Zickefoose has a story with photos about a baby hummingbird found floundering in a puddle at a park.
• Piping Plover earns mainstream coverage  Amy Hooper has a story about how beach closures has helped the Piping Plover population.
• Birds help get the bugs out of sapped pine  An article at the Denver Post about how birds are helping pine trees.
• Common Grassland Birds Disappearing in Midwest  Some of the most common grassland birds in the Midwest, including the meadowlark, are decreasing in numbers.
• A mixed season for New England birds  A report from the Boston Globe on the decline of Loon populations and the increase of Bald Eagles.

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