Birdchaser on Martha Stewart radio tomorrow

Tomorrow morning at 7:10EDT I will be on Morning Living, a Martha Stewart Living Sirius Satellite Radio show talking about bird migration and what birds people can see in their yard this time of year. If you have satellite radio, tune in for a few moments of fun bird news!

Seasons of the Robin

I'm a sucker for animal biographies. As a kid I loved Ernest Thompson Seton's Wild Animals I Have Known and still remember finding Fred Bodsworth's Last of the Curlews in junior high school. A while ago I was asked to be a reader for the manuscript of The Seasons of the Robin, the latest addition to this genre by Don Grussing. It tells the story of a robin as it migrates south, overwinters, and heads north to breed. The book is now out, and if you've ever wondered what it is like to be a bird, The Seasons of the Robin provides a well-written and informative insight into the life of one bird and its incredible life.

Ancient man-eating eagle in NZ

Check out this report about Haast's Eagle, a huge bird with a 9 foot wingspan and talons like tiger paws. Could easily have carried of children of the first Maori inhabitants of New Zealand, just as the legends say.

Mayan Deer Dance in Belize

Here's video of the Mayan Deer Dance I got to observe and help document in Belize last year.

Owl Workshop at Hornsby Bend in Austin, TX

I'm heading to Austin next month to lead a workshop on the ecology and life history of the six owl species that regularly occur in Central Texas: Great Horned, Barred, Barn, Short-eared, Burrowing, and Eastern Screech. The workshop will also review methods of finding, attracting, and managing your property for these owl species.

Thursday evening will focus on the ecology and life history of each owl species. Friday evening participants will learn how to attract owls to their rural or suburban property, learn how to build owl boxes, and learn about proper placement and installation of owl boxes and platforms. Optional owling excursions after the workshop each night will search for the owls found at Hornsby Bend.

Date: Thursday, October 8 (7-10:00pm) and Friday, October 9 (7-10:00pm)
Location: The Center for Enviornmental Research at Hornsby Bend in Austin
[see map on HBBO website]
Cost: $60, includes evening snacks and owl life history/box design information packet.

Attendance is limited.

Questions/registration

David Sibley on Tree Watching

Lots of info and more links to videos about Sibley's new tree book.

Virginia Sand Plover Video

This is Robyn Puffenbarger's video of a Sand Plover recently found in Virginia--believed to be a Greater Sand Plover (3rd record for the Lower 48 states).

fLaPpY bIrDdAy!!!

Today's my birthday, so I've gotta get out and see some birds. If you get out you can have a fLaPpY bIrDdAy too!

Feral Cats and Birds

Ted Williams has a succinct article on the conflict between feral cat management advocates and wildlife issues in the most recent Audubon magazine. I'm sure he's going to take some flack for this, but it had to be said, and Audubon magazine should be commended for wading into the fray--it's a very emotional issue for so many people. But lets just get this out of the way--TNR (trap, neuter, return) is based on junk science. It actually promotes feral cats rather than reduces their number and impact on the environment.

We need a better option to protect birds and other wildlife. Feral cats need to be removed from the environment. If the animal welfare folks don't want these cats to be killed, than they need to foot the bill to have them taken care of on their own properties and be licensed for the killing of wildlife that will take place on these "cat ranches". Sure it will be expensive to set up cat ranches for all these animals. But that's the only way to manage them so that they aren't killing wildlife.

Feral cats should not be roaming around in public. They are a hazard to wildlife and human health.

Gulls are Back

OK, here in Bucks County, PA I don't think we ever lose the gulls entirely--you can see a few Ring-billed Gulls up at Lake Nockamixon even in summer. But the wintering gulls are starting to trickle back in. Today I had 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and one Great Black-backed Gull. We still don't know where these lessers go for the summer, which as far as we know aren't nesting in North America.

When is an NBS really an NBS?

Today while canoeing with the family, my NBS (non-birding spouse) said "is that a sandpiper over there?" and sure enough it was a Spotted Sandpiper bouncing along on a a log. So if she can identify a sandpiper, is she really still an NBS? Or do I have to break the news to her that she is really a birder now?

International Vulture Awareness Day from Mayaland

In honor of International Vulture Awareness Day, I thought I'd share this little story we picked up from some Ch'orti' Maya in Guatemala:

One day the chakoroch [turkey vulture] was siting in a tree watching a cow that was sleeping. A hawk spoke to the vulture and told him to go down and begin to eat it because it was dead. Finally the vulture was convinced that the cow was dead, flew down rapidly, and stuck its head in the cow's anus. Unfortunately the cow was still alive, and the vulture was barely able to withdraw his head, which emerged without feathers, and turkey vultures have had bald red heads ever since.

And here's another explanation:

El Kumix, who was the young maize god among the Ch'orti', was tryhing to go to heaven to see his mother, the goddess of the moon. Kumix asked a hawk to carry him to heaven, but he wasn't able to. Then Kumix asked a vulture to carry him. The vulture made a valiant effort using a mexapal, but halfway to heaven he dropped the mescapal and the two fell to earth. When the mecapal broke, it shaved the head of the vulture, leaving it bald and red. Some say that this was a curse that Kumix put on the vulture for not being able to carry him to the sky.

Whatever you think about vultures, they are an important part of our world and deserve our support!

Stories reported in “Los pájaros y el prognástico en la vida diaria de los Ch’orti’ Maya de Guatemala (Birds and Prognostication in the  Daily Life of the Ch'orti' Maya of Guatemala),” Kerry Hull and Rob Fergus, in Proceedings of the XVIII Coloquio Internacional  LAILA/ALILA, March 10-14, 2008, San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico, in review.

New Words for Old Birds: Barred Owl

(photo: wikipedia)

For years we've all been told that the Barred Owl says "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all."

Is that really what it says? First of all, it's pretty much a Yankee description (no self-respecting southern Barred Owl would say "you all"!). It also seems to imply something about servants (or worse?), I mean, you can't even ask who cooks for someone unless they are obviously not cooking for themselves.

So on the grounds that it is regionalist, classist, and antiquated, isn't it time to find some new words to describe the Barred Owl call?

So if they don't say "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" what do Barred Owls say?

Swallow-tailed Kite in PA

There is a Swallow-tailed Kite that has been hanging around the Militia Hill Hawkwatch and the adjacent golf course for the past week. This afternoon I got to take my sister (visiting from Utah) and my kindergartener over to see it. We got distant views through the scope as the bird soared and swooped around over the golf course. This bird is normally only found in the SE US and points south, so not a bird I was expecting to see in PA (past records are few and far between-see here--and usually birds seen just flying past). Sweet! (photo: wikipedia)

Biggest Threat to Birds?

When I was at Audubon, I frequently had to deal with statements along the lines of "Global Warming is the greatest threat to birds and biodiversity in our lifetimes." Most of the time that would leave me scratching my head. How do we know if this is true or not? What about habitat destruction or modification? These are complex issues that leave most of us concerned but feeling helpless and wanting to just turn off the computer and head go birding.

What should we do about global warming when the issue seems to be so complex scientifically that it is hard to know what is really happening, let alone what we should do about it? How would we know if it is a bigger threat than habitat destruction or modification?

We've been trying to save birds for over 100 years and the news seems to just keep getting worse (a few bright spots like Kirtland's Warblers and California Condors--which we will have to manage forever--aside). Have the issues become so complex scientifically, politically, and culturally that all we can really do now is just enjoy the birds and hope for the best?

Not a Knot?

There's a bird out in California right now that was originally identified as a Great Knot, an Asian shorebird never before seen in California. Now folks are starting to look more closely at the bird and wondering if it really is a Great Knot or maybe a hybrid sandpiper--maybe part Surfbird. Take a look at some of the photos and see for yourself. The bird is molting, so doesn't look like a classic anything. Sometimes birds aren't what the first seem.

21st Century Bird Collectors

I'm bugged about the bird surveyors in Louisiana that shot the first Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher ever discovered in North America instead of alerting the U.S. birding community.

(PS I'm in personal communication with folks from LSU and those involved in collecting this bird. We clearly disagree about the merits of collecting vagrants but we aren't going to change each other's minds through online debate. I'm not accepting further comments on this post since I'd prefer to disagree without being disagreeable and would rather not risk flaming the fires online where passionate words often miss their mark. These are discussions more suited to personal communication, preferably while out in the field enjoying the birds we all love.)

New Words for Old Birds: Carolina Wren

For years we've been taught that the Carolina Wren sings:

teakettle teakettle teakettle (listen here).

That's all well and good, but who in the upcoming generations has any connection to teakettles? Can't we come up with a new up-to-date mnemonic to help us remember the voice of this original Mouth of the South?

I'm leaning towards something like
Braves baseball, Braves baseball, Braves baseball

Any other suggestions?

Birding in the Rain

Been laying low a bit lately, but ventured out for a couple hours in the rain today and found a few fun birds. Best was an adult Black-bellied Plover at Lake Nockamixon. It came in during a shower and landed next to 15 Ring-billed Gulls in a marina parking lot.

At the next boat landing up the lake, three Snow Geese were unexpected by me--two adults (one with a lame leg) and a juvenile. Apparently they've been around for a couple months (like I said, I've been laying low lately!). No bands on these birds, so not sure if a wild (injured) pair or escapes. But apparently breed locally.

At another small local lake (Lake Towhee) I found a Solitary Sandpiper--one of the more regular migrant shorebirds in the county.

Not a whole lot of birds around, but still a better than average day.

Celebrity Birder: Neil Peart

Neil Peart isn't just the drummer and lyricist for the band Rush, but also a birder. Check out his recent recounting of an attempt to find the Island Scrub-Jay. Sweet!