Teaching at Rosemont College

Just a quick update: I'm currently teaching a Sustainability and Environment class at Rosemont College in Philly. Will be teaching a Biodiversity course there in the fall, and an Urban Ecology course there in January.

eBird is now everywhere

Great news, you can now enter into eBird your bird sightings from ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. Time to break out the old trip lists. Maybe now I'll be able to finally figure out how many birds I've actually seen :-)

New Bird Gig

So I've started a new gig as a consulting ornithologist for Bird-B-Gone, a leading bird pest control company out of California. I'll be answering emails from people with bird problems, or just bird questions. Also writing monthly articles on bird behavior and biology for the Bird-B-Gone website.


So how can a birder and bird conservationist work for a company that specializes in getting rid of birds?

Easy! It's all about birds and people, and getting people comfortable with the birds in their surroundings. Or if there is a real conflict, solving it in a way that doesn't harm the birds and moves them to somewhere they can better thrive.

I love birds. I love people. I want them to get along. Helping people with their local bird issues is just part of the picture. Part of keeping the ecological peace!

Haycock Mountain

Hiked up Haycock Mountain near Lake Nockamixon this morning. Lots of birds singing, but not as many warbler species as I might have hoped (only 9--best being 1 Blackpoll Warbler). I did have dozens of singing Ovenbirds and Black-and-white Warblers. Also lots of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, and nest-building Baltimore Orioles. My best bird was probably a Yellow-throated Vireo--not a bird I see many of around here.

New Plan to Save Birds in North America

Partners in Flight, the cooperative effort to save birds in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, has just published a new plan--Saving our Shared Birds.

Some Key findings of Saving Our Shared Birds: Partners in Flight Tri-National Vision for Landbird Conservation:

--The most imperiled birds include 44 species with very limited distributions, mostly in Mexico, including the Thick-billed Parrot and Horned Guan.
--Also of high tri-national concern are 80 tropical residents with ranges in Mexico, such as the Red-breasted Chat and Resplendent Quetzal.
--Additionally, 24 species that breed in the United States and Canada continue to warrant immediate action to prevent further declines, including Cerulean Warbler, Black Swift, and Canada Warbler.
--Forty-two common bird species have steeply declined by 50% or more in the past 40 years, including Common Nighthawk, Eastern Meadowlark and Loggerhead Shrike.

You can download a pdf of the plan here.

Mystery Lifer or Not

So a regional eBird reviewer in Oregon just sent me a note:

We are asking for additional details on the following observation:

Species: Cordilleran Flycatcher
Count: X
Observation date: Sep 17, 1982
Location: Malheur NWR--Headquarters, Harney, US-OR
Submission ID: S3092545

Hmmm. Good question. I submitted this record when I entered my North American life list. So this is a record from my very first Cordilleran Flycatcher when I was 14 years old.

Or not.

Back then, there was no such thing as Cordilleran Flycatcher--just Western Flycatcher. So this would have been the very first Western Flycatcher I ever saw. I have it on my life list spreadsheet as being seen 9-17-82 at Malhuer NWR. I remember that weekend trip with my dad and sister--I had lobbied heavy for months for him to drive us the seven hours one way from Portland so I could do some birding there. But I don't remember seeing this bird. Just part of the murky early birding past.

But it gets even murkier. When I went back to see what kind of records I might have on this bird I found this in my old Golden Guide, where I kept track of my life birds back in the day:

Western Flycatcher 9-17-83

Note the different year. Hmmm.

Then when I go back to a written version of my life list that I compiled in 1984, I have the following listed:

Western Flycatcher 9-17-83 Oaks Bottom, Multnomah Co

Double Hmmm.

Did I mess up the year of the observation when I wrote it down in my Golden Guide (unlikely)? How did I go from seeing a Western Flycatcher on 9-17-83 in Portland to seeing a Cordilleran Flycatcher 9-17-82 on the other side of the state?

I have no idea.

Fortunately I've seen many Cordilleran Flycatchers (and Pacific-slope Flycatchers, the other part of the old Western Flycatcher species) since the early 80s. But I may never really know now when I first saw either one!

So much for old records!

(Photo: Jerry Friedman/Wikipedia)

Ten Warbler Morning

Best bird this morning at Peace Valley were 3 singing Worm-eating Warblers. Don't get to see too many of those around here, so it was great to have them singing and out in the open at close range. Other FOS birds for me were a Baltimore Oriole, Veery, and a pair of Indigo Buntings.

Nine Warbler Morning

Had a nice walk at Peace Valley this morning, and picked up nine warbler species, as well as FOS Eastern Kingbird and Great Crested Flycatcher and Swainson's Thrush. Most of the warblers were silent, so it took a lot of looking up into the bright new oak leaves to find them.

Ended up with 52 species in two hours, not too shabby for here.

Location: Peace Valley Park (IBA)
Observation date: 4/30/10
Number of species: 52

Canada Goose 10
Double-crested Cormorant 45
Black Vulture 5
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 5
Fish Crow 2
Tree Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 3
House Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
Swainson's Thrush 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 3
Nashville Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 2
Common Yellowthroat 5
Chipping Sparrow 6
Field Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 7
White-throated Sparrow 15
Northern Cardinal 12
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
American Goldfinch 6
House Sparrow 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Audubon Birdscapes Blog RIP

When I was working for Audubon, I wrote an Audubon Birdscapes blog (www.audubonbirdscapes.org) to promote urban bird conservation. Shortly after I left Audubon last year, the site was taken down. I can't even find it archived anywhere out there. This screen shot is one of the last visible signs it ever existed.

So, RIP Audubon Birdscapes. And stay tuned, as next month I'm going to resurrect my old Urban Birdscapes blog on a new site. It's going to be better than ever!

FOS Chimney Swifts

I just heard my first Chimney Swifts of the Spring! Yeah!

Artificial Nesting Islands for Terns

This idea has been around for over 50 years, but here's a good example of a recent project in California.

Birdchaser in Vogelnieuws

For those of you who read Dutch, I just had an urban bird conservation article published in Vogelnieuws, the magazine of Vogelbescherming, the Dutch BirdLife partner. Let me know if you want a pdf.

Wild Turkeys on the Move

This time of year, Wild Turkeys are very conspicuous and active. Males are strutting, and females are gathering to check them out. I'm seeing a big gathering along Hwy 322 in New Jersey on my way to Rowan University each afternoon. On Sunday, I saw a lone female cross busy County Line Road in suburban Philadelphia. Hard to believe that 100 years ago there were maybe only 30,000 Wild Turkeys left--due to conservation efforts there are now over 6 million running around!

Cornell Ends Search for Ivory-billed Woodpecker

News here.

Peace Valley Morning

Stopped by Peace Valley this morning for an hour or so and had 33 bird species, including First of Season (FOS) Barn Swallow and Brown Thrasher. Some of the White-throated Sparrows are looking sharp, the one above was at the bird feeders at the nature center feeders.


Down by the Chapman Road bridge there were 192 Double-crested Cormorants hanging out in the water and on some trees. A few were preening each other and making a lot of weird dinosaur-like noises. Pretty cool.


On my way back home I noticed a male American Kestrel on a pole with a kestrel box on it. There aren't many nesting kestrels around here, so I took a look and noticed that the bird had a yellow wing tag on. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good enough look to read the number, but hopefully the bird will stick around and someone will be able to read the tag. I think it will stick around because after it flew from the box it landed in a low tree next to a female kestrel. Would be great to see them nest here this year!

(Sparrow and cormorant shots with Canon Power Shot SD780 IS through my Zeiss 7X42s, kestrel shot through my Bausch & Lomb Discoverer. Time to get a better scope?)

How to Save Birds from Windows

The American Bird Conservancy has a new handout on how to protect birds from flying into your windows. Check it out online here.

Hummingbirds support Darwin's theories

Perhaps the dumbest headline ever, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Sort of like "Falling Man supports Newton's theories of Gravity".

Move along people, no news here...

Bad Photos of Good Birds: Tufted Duck

Today was the first time I've had a chance to slip over to see the female Tufted Duck that's been hanging out at a small sewage pond in Chester County. When I got there about 9:30 this morning, a couple of guys were already watching her. For the next hour, the duck mostly slept or loafed on the pond, only occasionally swimming actively for a few seconds or preening.

Unfortunately, I was only able to get some ugly photos of a sleeping duck.


Not much to look at. The Tufted Duck is the dark one in the middle, flanked by a female (left) and male (right) Ring-necked Duck. Notice how dark the bird is compared to the female Ring-necked Duck: no white on the face, colder chocolate coloring, etc.


But here's my field sketch and notes.


Sometimes you get great looks and satisfying photos. Other times, not so much. But a great little bird and I'm glad it has stuck around long enough for me to drive over to see it.

Birding with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson & Jack Black

Rumor has it that Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black will be starring in a movie production of The Big Year, based on Mark Obamscik's book about three men trying to set the North American Big Year birding record. I'm guessing Steve Martin will play an acerbic Sandy Komito ("a retired industrial contractor from New Jersey who loves birds, winning and getting people's goat")? I love all these guys. Can't wait!

Grackle flocks=Spring

So this week I've been seeing the Common Grackle flocks moving through the area--one of the earliest bird signs of Spring in the Mid-Atlantic States. Of course, birds have been singing for months now, especially the cavity nesters, checking out territories. And Mourning Doves have been cooing since January, and Great-horned Owls are on nests. There may not be any leaves on the trees, or flowers out yet, but the birds know--Spring has sprung!