Birds

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

For a little while, I thought that biofuels—fuels like ethanol made from corn, were at least part of the solution to dwindling fossil fuel reserves and a steadily rising cost of oil. Wouldn’t it be great if we could grow renewable fuel? I guess I should have known better. It looks like we’d need another planet just to grow the stuff in order to make that work.

Now, crops that were previously grown for food are grown for biofuel or replaced with biofuel crops, tens of thousands of acres of wetlands are slated to go under the plow in Africa to grow sugar cane, farmers in the US are growing corn on land previously set aside for conservation, deforestation in South America continues at an alarming rate, Indonesia is being replanted with palms, and on it goes. Birds and other wildlife, already huge victims of our gluttonous energy consumption, are losing more habitat, food prices are rising, people will starve.

We can’t continue using food for fuel, and we can’t continue destroying the Earth. Clearly, the rush to biofuel production has to be reined in. I’ve read about grasses that can provide both biofuel and prairie habitat, and biofuel-producing algae that can be grown in vats. Perhaps we should be focusing on the technology needed to bring these into production—but, lest we make the same mistakes again, that focus also needs to look at the probable unintended consequences. Is there any hope for biofuels?

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Birds and Windmills

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

The National Zoo’s Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program in Gabon studies species diversity as part of an attempt to bring resource development and extraction more in line with environmental responsibility. A group of scientists including Brian Schmidt, a research ornithologist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, was investigating species diversity in the Gamba Complex when they discovered a new species of forest robin.

Seven years later, after comparing the bird with the four other known forest robin species and subjecting samples to DNA analysis, they have published a report of their find confirming a new species. The Olive-backed Forest Robin (Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus) is small but brightly coloured, with the males in particular having a bright orange throat and breast. It inhabits lowland forest where there is a lot of undergrowth. The bird forages on or near the ground and is more often heard than seen.

Intriguingly, the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris holds a specimen of this species that was collected in 1953. It’s a juvenile, misidentified at the time as Stiphrornis xanthogaster, another forest robin species that does occur in Gabon.

The Report by Schmidt and Colleagues:

“A new species of African Forest Robin from Gabon (Passeriformes: Muscicapidae: Stiphrornis).” Schmidt, Brian K., Jeffrey T. Foster, George R. Angehr, et al. Zootaxa 1850: 27–42 (2008)

Other New Bird Species Discovered Recently:

The Nonggang Babbler

The Bugun Liocichla

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

Every year, we watch a particular ant colony that bulges up in the same place in a front flower bed. Mourning doves scratch at it and eat the ants, then the ants make repairs and the mound grows larger. One day in August (this year it was Aug 9), thousands of ants with wings swarm out of the colony and fly away. For a few hours, the air is thick with them—insect eating birds must have a heyday—then it’s all over. A few wingless ants remain.

This year, on Aug 10, our neighborhood family of crows arrived and positioned themselves in the trees while several flew down to a sparsely vegetated rocky slope, squatted, and half spread their wings, shuffling in patches of dried leaves and low-growing mosses. Afterward, I checked where they’d been and found, as I expected, multitudes of ants. The crows were anting.

I’ve never noticed crows anting in my yard before, but this year there does seem to be an unusual multitude of ants. In August, the crows are finished breeding and they’re looking a bit scruffy – molting. I can’t help but wonder if that irritates their skin and makes them visit the ants for a little relief. I don’t think anyone really knows why having ants crawling in the feathers should be soothing, but it is one possible explanation for a curious bird behavior.

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

It seems impossible that there could still be bird species on Earth that no one has ever noticed, but for the second time in less than two years, ornithologists have described a new species of babbler: Stachyris nongangensis, the Nonggang Babbler (Liocichla bugunorum, the Bugun Liocichla, was described in India in 2006).

The Nonggang Babbler lives in southern China near the Vietnamese border, spending most of its time foraging for food on the ground. A small dark bird, it escaped notice until ornithologists did a bird survey in the Nonggang Natural Reserve. Zhou Fang and Jiang Aiwu first noticed the babbler four years ago and have been studying it ever since, working to prove that the species is new to science. Their description was published in April: Zhou Fang and Jiang Aiwu (2008) A New Species of Babbler (Timaliidae: Stachyris) from the Sino-Vietnamese Border Region of China. The Auk 125(2): 420–424.

Predictably, a bird that’s just now being noticed is neither numerous nor widespread. Conservation—particularly habitat protection—will be an issue immediately, and ornithologists want to find out whether the species’ range spreads outside the Nonggang Natural Reserve into other parts of China and even Vietnam. So far, the bird has not been found outside the park’s borders.

See pictures of the Nonggang Babbler at Oriental Bird Images

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

Nest webcams usually show empty nests at this time of year, but there are still some captivating—even addictive—cams to choose from.

Northern Gannets: Bass Rock in the UK hosts a breeding colony of more than 150,000 Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus). In August, chicks are large but they haven’t fledged. Maintained by the Scottish Seabird Centre, a cam shows both close up and panoramic views. The picture refreshes every five to ten seconds. Viewers also see shags, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, and other seabirds.

African Birds: A National Geographic WildCam shows the shores of a lake in Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana, Africa. This camera scans the lakeshore for birds and animals while flocks of smaller birds pass overhead and the air is filled birdsong and the sounds of insects. The live streaming video follows animals as they move about, and even zooms in on birds perched in the trees.

Carolina Wren: Four eggs hatched on July 28 in Glenham, New York. This Cornell Lab of Ornithology webcam, hosted by falconsandfriends.com, will show an empty nest by the middle of the month, so watch early. Be sure to view the hatching video in “Video Highlights.”

Eurasian Spoonbills:The breeding season is over but the spoonbills are still around. The cam, by Vogelbescherming, Nederland, almost always shows seabirds of various species, but not always spoonbills. The recorded videos at this site are excellent as well.

Birds of Brazil: Go birding in Brazil. Ustream.tv has a live camera aimed at a very active feeding station. Two nice features of this site are a live chat in a window right next to the video, and the option to open the video in a popup.



The European Kingfisher cam in the July webcams is still an entertaining choice as well.

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

Just over a year ago, national Audubon released results of long-term surveys that indicated many common North American birds are in decline – some, such as the Northern Bobwhite by as much as 80%. Now the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has similar news about woodland birds in the UK. Their breeding bird survey, done annually since 1994, shows a number of species have lost about half of their population while one, the Willow Tit, has declined by more than three quarters.

The RSPB says it’s not a case of habitat loss, but points out that woodland characteristics in the UK have changed due to forestry management and an increase in deer populations. It seems the woodland doesn’t support as many birds as it did before. Some of the declining species are migrants who leave the UK to winter elsewhere. Dangers that they encounter while migrating and conditions in their winter ranges may account for some of the loss as well.

It’s discouraging that so many bird species are declining around the world. The RSPB points out, however, that their data indicates some species are doing well: stonechats, nuthatches, buzzards, and Grasshopper Warblers are showing increased populations and ranges.

Read the details at RSPB News

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

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.

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

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

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

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.

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle

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.

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Purple Martins, Colony Nesters

Birding Ethics