Birds
- Birds that Mimic Sounds
- Oldest Razorbill in Britain
- Bird Webcams to Watch in July 2008
- House Martins Decline in Britain
- Hoopoe – National Bird of Israel
- A New Reference for Birders
- Bird Webcams to Watch in June 2008
- Audubon Opposes Texas Wind Farm
- Animated Shorebird Migration Route
- Track a Short-eared Owl
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
Some birds have such highly developed vocal structures that they can copy the calls of other birds, mimic electronic noises, even repeat spoken words.
We’ve all heard of talking parrots, and mockingbirds that call using the signature song of another species, but how many of us have awakened to the sound of a blackbird pretending to be an ambulance siren? This week, a British couple who live near a UK hospital made the news when they reported a blackbird that visits their garden every morning and sounds off like an incoming emergency. The bird’s call is apparently so loud, and so accurate, that it’s hard to distinguish from the real thing. It can also mimic a wolf-whistle, a car alarm, and a cell phone.
Most of the birds that can copy human speech, or exactly mimic the call of a different species, belong to the passerines, a large group of birds with highly developed vocal structures that includes the songbirds. Mockingbirds, crows, mynas, lyrebirds, bowerbirds, and blackbirds are all passerines. Parrots and toucans are not.
Bowerbirds mimic other birds, various animals, and even mechanical noises; mockingbirds earn their name from their habit of repeating the calls of other birds; lyrebirds can copy birdcalls, wing beats, beak noises, frogs, and mechanical sounds; parrots have intrigued us most with their apparent understanding of human speech.
Why do birds do this? Are they just having fun? Scientists believe that some mimicry in birds is to impress the opposite sex and thereby earn a mate—but they are not sure. While I can imagine that a wailing blackbird would get quite annoying after a while, I think it’s fascinating. I’d love to hear that blackbird.
Most of the birds that can copy human speech, or exactly mimic the call of a different species, belong to the passerines, a large group of birds with highly developed vocal structures that includes the songbirds. Mockingbirds, crows, mynas, lyrebirds, bowerbirds, and blackbirds are all passerines. Parrots and toucans are not.
Bowerbirds mimic other birds, various animals, and even mechanical noises; mockingbirds earn their name from their habit of repeating the calls of other birds; lyrebirds can copy birdcalls, wing beats, beak noises, frogs, and mechanical sounds; parrots have intrigued us most with their apparent understanding of human speech.
Why do birds do this? Are they just having fun? Scientists believe that some mimicry in birds is to impress the opposite sex and thereby earn a mate—but they are not sure. While I can imagine that a wailing blackbird would get quite annoying after a while, I think it’s fascinating. I’d love to hear that blackbird.
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
At forty-one, a Razorbill has lived more than twice as long as most birds of its species. Banding tells us how long birds live in the wild.
Forty-one years ago, someone in Britain banded a Razorbill chick (Alca torda). In the summer of 2008, that same bird turned up, still alive and still breeding on Bardsey Island in Britain. The British Trust for Ornithology found the old Razorbill during a survey of the island. This bird has had an amazingly long life, considering that most of its species don’t live past fifteen years, and is the oldest Razorbill ever recorded in Britain.
The Razorbill belongs to the Auk family (along with puffins, auklets, and other seabirds). The birds use their wings for both flying and swimming, and are accomplished divers. Spending virtually their entire lives at sea, Razorbills and other auks breed on rugged offshore islands, feeding on continental shelves.
Finds like this one give us an idea of just how long a bird in the wild can survive—and we’d never know about them without banding. When banded birds turn up again, we learn a lot—not just how long they survive, but what habitats they frequent, how far they range, where they migrate to etc. Recoveries like this ancient Razorbill are particularly exciting—and it’s surprising to think that this one successful and fortunate bird has spent more than four decades at sea.
Read the full account in the Telegraph
The Razorbill belongs to the Auk family (along with puffins, auklets, and other seabirds). The birds use their wings for both flying and swimming, and are accomplished divers. Spending virtually their entire lives at sea, Razorbills and other auks breed on rugged offshore islands, feeding on continental shelves.
Finds like this one give us an idea of just how long a bird in the wild can survive—and we’d never know about them without banding. When banded birds turn up again, we learn a lot—not just how long they survive, but what habitats they frequent, how far they range, where they migrate to etc. Recoveries like this ancient Razorbill are particularly exciting—and it’s surprising to think that this one successful and fortunate bird has spent more than four decades at sea.
Read the full account in the Telegraph
Bird Webcams to Watch in July 2008
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
In July 2008, check in on active nests of Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Phoebes, Chimney Swifts, and Purple Martins, and watch a European Kingfisher fishing.
Many birds have already left the nest, but some species still have eggs or young. From June’s webcams, Osprey and Wood Storks remain in the nest, but they'll fledge soon. Here are more cams for July.
Purple Martin: New York Wild aims a webcam at a Purple Martin colony (Progne subis) on Lake Ontario near Rochester, New York. This is a repeat: last month we watched a female Purple Martin lay eggs and incubate them. Now both parents bring food to the nestlings. This camera switches from live streaming video inside the nest to a live view of the colony.
Eastern Bluebird: Camstreams Easy Streaming hosts live streaming video of a bluebird (Sialia sialis) nest in Charlotte, North Carolina. Four chicks hatched on June 29. The camera looks down while hungry chicks turn open mouths straight up. The picture is slightly fuzzy but you can still see a lot.
Eastern Phoebe: This live camera is hosted by Warner Nature Center. The well-focused camera (refreshes every 20 seconds) looks down on a nest holding five eggs of the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), located in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. Incubation started June 20.
Chimney Swift: Falcons and Friends is behind this video of a Chimney Swift nest (Chaetura pelagica) in Glenham, New York. A female has been sitting on four eggs since June 19. The camera (picture refreshes every 20 seconds) looks horizonatlly at a fragile looking construction of slender twigs glued to a wall.
European Kingfisher: This camera hosted by Vogelbescherming, Nederland shows live streaming video of the favorite perch of a European Kingfisher—Ijsvogel—Alcedo atthis. If the bird’s not there, watch any of the videos listed on the right. If you can read it (Dutch?) there’s a lengthy log below.
Purple Martin: New York Wild aims a webcam at a Purple Martin colony (Progne subis) on Lake Ontario near Rochester, New York. This is a repeat: last month we watched a female Purple Martin lay eggs and incubate them. Now both parents bring food to the nestlings. This camera switches from live streaming video inside the nest to a live view of the colony.
Eastern Bluebird: Camstreams Easy Streaming hosts live streaming video of a bluebird (Sialia sialis) nest in Charlotte, North Carolina. Four chicks hatched on June 29. The camera looks down while hungry chicks turn open mouths straight up. The picture is slightly fuzzy but you can still see a lot.
Eastern Phoebe: This live camera is hosted by Warner Nature Center. The well-focused camera (refreshes every 20 seconds) looks down on a nest holding five eggs of the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), located in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. Incubation started June 20.
Chimney Swift: Falcons and Friends is behind this video of a Chimney Swift nest (Chaetura pelagica) in Glenham, New York. A female has been sitting on four eggs since June 19. The camera (picture refreshes every 20 seconds) looks horizonatlly at a fragile looking construction of slender twigs glued to a wall.
European Kingfisher: This camera hosted by Vogelbescherming, Nederland shows live streaming video of the favorite perch of a European Kingfisher—Ijsvogel—Alcedo atthis. If the bird’s not there, watch any of the videos listed on the right. If you can read it (Dutch?) there’s a lengthy log below.
House Martins Decline in Britain
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
Concerned about an apparent drop in breeding House Martins in 2008, the British Trust for Ornithology is asking people to report nests and refrain from disturbing them.
House Martins migrate north from equatorial Africa each spring to breed in Britain, but in 2008 it seems many of the birds didn’t return. It may be that bad weather in southern Europe killed House Martins en route, but the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is worried that people may also be destroying nests. To get a better picture of the problem, the BTO is asking everyone to learn to live with their House Martins, and to participate in a survey. Using the data collected when people report that they have nesting House Martins, scientists will create a House Martin Map, which will later be incorporated into the national Bird Atlas.
House Martins nest under eaves of houses, building nests out of mud and lining them with feathers. They will often use the same nest year after year, making only minor repairs, and sometimes many nests are built side by side creating a nesting colony. Pairs raise two broods of chicks in an average nesting season.
It is illegal to disturb a House Martin nest during the breeding season. Nonetheless, some homeowners object to the bird droppings and pieces of eggshell that accumulate under the nests and knock them down, heedless of growing chicks inside. The destruction of an unoccupied nest hurts the birds as well, as it will take 10 to 18 days to rebuild.
If you have House Martins nesting under your eaves, leave them alone! Visit the BTO website to learn how to enjoy your tenants, and participate in the survey.
Related Content:
Purple Martins, Colony Nesters
Birding Ethics
House Martins nest under eaves of houses, building nests out of mud and lining them with feathers. They will often use the same nest year after year, making only minor repairs, and sometimes many nests are built side by side creating a nesting colony. Pairs raise two broods of chicks in an average nesting season.
It is illegal to disturb a House Martin nest during the breeding season. Nonetheless, some homeowners object to the bird droppings and pieces of eggshell that accumulate under the nests and knock them down, heedless of growing chicks inside. The destruction of an unoccupied nest hurts the birds as well, as it will take 10 to 18 days to rebuild.
If you have House Martins nesting under your eaves, leave them alone! Visit the BTO website to learn how to enjoy your tenants, and participate in the survey.
Related Content:
Purple Martins, Colony Nesters
Birding Ethics
Hoopoe – National Bird of Israel
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
On May 29, 2008, as Israel celebrated its 60th birthday, President Shimon Peres announced that the Hoopoe had been elected as national bird.
In the lead up to Israel’s 60th birthday, people were busy collecting votes to choose a national bird. According to news reports, ordinary people, schoolchildren, the military, even Israelis living abroad had their say. A panel of poets, politicians and academics accounted for 25% of the result, while the remaining 75% of votes came from the people of Israel. 155,000 people voted, and 35% of them chose the Hoopoe, Upupa epops.
The Hoopoe (Duchifat in Hebrew) is a striking cinnamon colored bird with black and white striped wings and tail, and a crest of bright feathers on top of its head. It lives in Israel year round, and appears in the folklore of the region, both features that made it a good candidate. It is already the namesake of a commando unit in the Israeli military.
The effort to choose a national bird was a project of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and, in part, an attempt to bring conservation issues into the public eye. The Hoopoe competed against nine other shortlisted species: bulbul, a falcon species, Griffon Vulture, Spur-winged Lapwing, honey-sucker, warbler, White-breasted Kingfisher, Barn Owl, and goldfinch.
Now that Israel has a national bird, there are plans to designate official birds of the country’s cities as well.
Read more about the Hoopoe.
The Hoopoe (Duchifat in Hebrew) is a striking cinnamon colored bird with black and white striped wings and tail, and a crest of bright feathers on top of its head. It lives in Israel year round, and appears in the folklore of the region, both features that made it a good candidate. It is already the namesake of a commando unit in the Israeli military.
The effort to choose a national bird was a project of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and, in part, an attempt to bring conservation issues into the public eye. The Hoopoe competed against nine other shortlisted species: bulbul, a falcon species, Griffon Vulture, Spur-winged Lapwing, honey-sucker, warbler, White-breasted Kingfisher, Barn Owl, and goldfinch.
Now that Israel has a national bird, there are plans to designate official birds of the country’s cities as well.
Read more about the Hoopoe.
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America, by Ted Floyd, was published in 2008 by HarperCollins Publishers.
For the wild bird enthusiast and collector of bird identification books, there’s a new field guide, authored by Ted Floyd, editor of Birding Magazine. More than five hundred pages long, the Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America has attractive and useful features:
Other innovative products for birders:
Carson Bandit Monocular
Palm Pilot for Birders
- General information about birds and birding
- Short essays providing general information about groups of similar birds
- Descriptions of more than seven hundred North American bird species, most with colour maps showing ranges
- Two thousand colour photographs of North American bird species
- Almost six hundred digital (MP3 file) birdsongs on a DVD, with a printed key and accompanying images
- A glossary of terms from ornithology
- A birding checklist
- Two indexes: a quick index and a detailed one.
Other innovative products for birders:
Carson Bandit Monocular
Palm Pilot for Birders
Bird Webcams to Watch in June 2008
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
Lots of birds are nesting in the Northern Hemisphere in June. Web cams in North America and Europe let us watch on the internet as eggs hatch and chicks grow.
Bird webcams are getting better and better. All of the webcams below should provide good viewing in June. Also check “Webcams to Watch in May 2008” – at the beginning of June, the Peregrine Falcons, Bald Eagles, and Barn Owls were still worth watching.
Osprey: Two webcams look in on osprey nests in the United States.
The Connecticut Audubon Osprey Camera is aimed at a nest with four young chicks. An adult bird is usually at the nest as well. Click on “Live View” to refresh the picture.
The Kentucky Environmental Education Projects (KEEP) has a webcam watching an Osprey nest with three chicks. These chicks are a little older than the ones in the Connecticut nest. Reload or refresh to update the picture (every 12 seconds). The site also has video clips and photo galleries that are worth looking at.
Atlantic Puffins: The Burrow Web Cam on Craigleith Island (Scottish Seabird Centre) watches the entrance to an Atlantic Puffin Burrow. On June 2, this webcam was not updating but the site promises that the problem will soon be fixed.
Wood Storks: This web cam is operated by Storchennest.de in Vetschau, Germany. The stork pair started with six eggs. Only four eggs hatched, then two chicks died of unknown causes on May 25. Two chicks remain in the nest and seem to be doing well. This cam provides a great picture.
Purple Martins: New York Wild watches a Purple Martin colony on Lake Ontario near Rochester, N.Y. Two cams are located inside nest gourds while one watches the activity outside. There are no eggs yet, but the birds are adding nesting material. Follow the link for streaming video.
Osprey: Two webcams look in on osprey nests in the United States.
The Connecticut Audubon Osprey Camera is aimed at a nest with four young chicks. An adult bird is usually at the nest as well. Click on “Live View” to refresh the picture.
The Kentucky Environmental Education Projects (KEEP) has a webcam watching an Osprey nest with three chicks. These chicks are a little older than the ones in the Connecticut nest. Reload or refresh to update the picture (every 12 seconds). The site also has video clips and photo galleries that are worth looking at.
Atlantic Puffins: The Burrow Web Cam on Craigleith Island (Scottish Seabird Centre) watches the entrance to an Atlantic Puffin Burrow. On June 2, this webcam was not updating but the site promises that the problem will soon be fixed.
Wood Storks: This web cam is operated by Storchennest.de in Vetschau, Germany. The stork pair started with six eggs. Only four eggs hatched, then two chicks died of unknown causes on May 25. Two chicks remain in the nest and seem to be doing well. This cam provides a great picture.
Purple Martins: New York Wild watches a Purple Martin colony on Lake Ontario near Rochester, N.Y. Two cams are located inside nest gourds while one watches the activity outside. There are no eggs yet, but the birds are adding nesting material. Follow the link for streaming video.
Audubon Opposes Texas Wind Farm
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
Energy from wind is clean and renewable, but when wind turbines are put in bird flyways, they can kill a lot of birds. Kenedy County, Texas, is on a migratory bird route.
I’ve written about wind farms and birds in the past because of the potential that windmills have to kill birds. In general both environmentalists and people interested in bird conservation support wind energy because it doesn’t pollute and is renewable; however, when wind turbines are built in places where large numbers of birds fly through, they can be a problem.
The most famous example is Altamont Pass in California, an enormous wind farm that kills many raptors every year. Audubon Texas thinks that a wind development proposed for Kenedy County in coastal Texas has the potential to be as bad or worse, because it is directly in the path of literally millions of migratory birds as they travel north and return south each year. Audubon points out that there has been insufficient study of sites like this one to accurately judge whether it will be a significant threat to birds.
It’s discouraging that developers fail to take birds into account when choosing a location for windmills. While research and good environmental studies can help us avoid repeating Altamont Pass elsewhere, wind development that threatens bird species already in decline can ruin wind energy’s clean and green image. Lets’ hope it doesn’t happen.
Read the Audubon resolution and additional information about the proposed development in Kenedy County, Texas.
The most famous example is Altamont Pass in California, an enormous wind farm that kills many raptors every year. Audubon Texas thinks that a wind development proposed for Kenedy County in coastal Texas has the potential to be as bad or worse, because it is directly in the path of literally millions of migratory birds as they travel north and return south each year. Audubon points out that there has been insufficient study of sites like this one to accurately judge whether it will be a significant threat to birds.
It’s discouraging that developers fail to take birds into account when choosing a location for windmills. While research and good environmental studies can help us avoid repeating Altamont Pass elsewhere, wind development that threatens bird species already in decline can ruin wind energy’s clean and green image. Lets’ hope it doesn’t happen.
Read the Audubon resolution and additional information about the proposed development in Kenedy County, Texas.
Animated Shorebird Migration Route
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
When we see shorebirds, they may be staying for the season, or they may be just stopping on their way to somewhere else. Their migration routes are fascinating.
Perhaps you’ve wondered where the shore birds you see along the coast spend the rest of their time, and what routes they take to get there. If you live along the eastern coast of North America you can learn about the migration routes of a number of familiar shorebirds by visiting the website of the Goldenrod Foundation.
Follow the link that says “Click Here to See Shorebird Migration Routes”, and you’ll be treated to a list of fifteen different eastern shorebirds, all of which either nest at Plymouth Beach, Massachusetts, or stop there on migration. Try the Red Knot: the globe fills the screen and a white silhouette of a bird traces the Red Knot’s migration route north from Argentina to the Arctic and back by a different route. The species stops at Plymouth Beach on its journey south. The Piping Plover, which nests at Plymouth Beach, spends the winter in various locations in Florida, along the Gulf Coast, and on Caribbean islands – delightfully illustrated by the animated migration route created by the Goldenrod Foundation.
These animated maps don’t give an accurate account of the migrations of entire bird populations—just the ones that stop at Plymouth Beach. Other populations of the same species may nest and winter in other locations. Still, the maps are interesting and fun as long as you keep this in mind.
Other fascinating birding activities on the internet:
Bird Cinema
Track a Short-eared Owl
Follow the link that says “Click Here to See Shorebird Migration Routes”, and you’ll be treated to a list of fifteen different eastern shorebirds, all of which either nest at Plymouth Beach, Massachusetts, or stop there on migration. Try the Red Knot: the globe fills the screen and a white silhouette of a bird traces the Red Knot’s migration route north from Argentina to the Arctic and back by a different route. The species stops at Plymouth Beach on its journey south. The Piping Plover, which nests at Plymouth Beach, spends the winter in various locations in Florida, along the Gulf Coast, and on Caribbean islands – delightfully illustrated by the animated migration route created by the Goldenrod Foundation.
These animated maps don’t give an accurate account of the migrations of entire bird populations—just the ones that stop at Plymouth Beach. Other populations of the same species may nest and winter in other locations. Still, the maps are interesting and fun as long as you keep this in mind.
Other fascinating birding activities on the internet:
Bird Cinema
Track a Short-eared Owl
Posted by
Rosemary Drisdelle
Rosemary Drisdelle
Modern technology lets scientists and birders follow a reclusive North American Short-eared Owl through the breeding season. We can watch too.
The Short-eared Owl is widespread globally, and ranges throughout North America except in the very far north. In spite of this, Asio flammeus is a species of Special Concern in Canada, and one that we don’t know enough about. To learn more, scientists have placed a satellite transmitter on a female Short-eared owl in order to track her movements. Anyone can watch by visiting the map at Bird Studies Canada.
The owl was tagged in Southern Ontario, where she spent the winter. In early spring, she flew to Michigan, but soon headed north into Quebec. Based on what we know of the species, she may migrate more than 1600 kilometres (1000 miles) to reach her nesting site. Short-eared Owls live in open habitat such as prairies, marshes, grasslands, tundra, and sand dunes. They begin nesting from March through late June--like Burrowing Owls, Short-eared Owls nest on the ground.
On May 13, the owl was in Quebec, near the eastern shore of James Bay. It remains to be seen whether she will continue moving north in the days to come. You can see her entire flight path by updating the map (click on “Previous Month”, or “Previous Two Months,” and then “Update Map.”) and watch her progress by checking back regularly.
The owl was tagged in Southern Ontario, where she spent the winter. In early spring, she flew to Michigan, but soon headed north into Quebec. Based on what we know of the species, she may migrate more than 1600 kilometres (1000 miles) to reach her nesting site. Short-eared Owls live in open habitat such as prairies, marshes, grasslands, tundra, and sand dunes. They begin nesting from March through late June--like Burrowing Owls, Short-eared Owls nest on the ground.
On May 13, the owl was in Quebec, near the eastern shore of James Bay. It remains to be seen whether she will continue moving north in the days to come. You can see her entire flight path by updating the map (click on “Previous Month”, or “Previous Two Months,” and then “Update Map.”) and watch her progress by checking back regularly.
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