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Audubon NewsConnecting people with birds and their environment.
September 2012 Volume 18 Issue 1
Mecklenburg Audubon Society, P.O. Box 221093, Charlotte, NC 28223
What’s InsideLights Out 1Field Trips 2-3Alaska Drilling 4Helping Birds Migrate 4Keeping Cool 5Book Nook 6Swift Night Out 7Are You a Birder? 7
Up Coming Events9/6 Lights Out (Mtg.)9/8 Latta Park (Dilworth)9/12 Anne Springs Grnwy.9/15 Beginner Bird Walk9/18 Campbell Creek9/22 Jackson Park Field Trip9/26 Lower McAlpine9/29 Ribbon Walk NP10/2 Latta Park (Dilworth)10/4 Monthly Meeting10/6 Evergreen NP10/13 Campbell Creek10/14 Big Sit/Bird Banding10/20-21 Huntington Beach SP
Who’s NewFred SmithThe TaylorsLucy GiffordBarbara BrankRobert SimonsJulie NovackSherrie Ingram
At whatever moment you read these words, day or night, there are birds
aloft in the skies of the Western Hemisphere, migrating.
vv-Scott Weidensaul
Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds
Making City Skylines Safer for Migrating Birds
Under New Leadership
Every year, hundreds of songbirds meet their demise as they migrate through our Queen City. Artificial lights attract and disorient birds, leading to collisions with buildings in the Uptown area. For our first meeting of the season, Kim Brand, Vice President of Forsyth Audubon will present “Making City Skylines Safer for Migrating Birds: Lights Out”. Her presentation will give an overview of scientific research on bird-building collisions and share data from New York City and Winston-Salem on which species are the most common
victims, what makes a building a bird-kill-er, and how we can help. Kim is also the coordinator of Lights Out Winston-Salem and has been working to help our chapter and T. Gilbert Pearson in Greensboro launch programs too. She is currently Vice President of Forsyth Audubon and did her master’s research on the Florida Scrub-Jay at Archbold Biological Station.
Our own Jill Palmer is the coordinator for Lights Out Charlotte, and she will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about how you can join the local ef-forts for the upcoming fall migration.
It’s back to birding with a new season of programs with MAS, so join us Thursday September 6th at 7:30pm at the Tyvola Road Senior Center, 2225 Tyvola Road, Charlotte, NC 28210.
NOTE: Since Charlotte is hosting the Democratic National Convention this week, traffic may affected, so come early and we’ll talk birds!
Monthly Meeting: September 6, 2012
At its summer planning meeting, the Mecklenburg Audu-bon Board welcomed new board members - Bill Duston and Jim Pugh. The Board also elected Jill Palmer to the position of President. Ron Clark will take up the post as Vice President.
MAS Board members work very hard to provide excit-ing programs and do an excellent job of presenting critical conservation issues to the community. So take a few minutes to welcome the new members and thank the continuing members for job well done
Field TripsAll Mecklenburg Audubon Field Trips are free and open to the public. Directions for all trips can be found on the Mecklenburg Audubon website - meckbirds.org. Click on Field Trips. Please remember to contact the trip leaders several days before the trip. If you don’t, you may not receive information about last minute changes or cancel-lations. Also, if they don’t know you are coming, they might leave without you!!
Sunday, August 26th - Orangeburg Sod FarmsFull Day • Easy • Contact: Judy Walker ([email protected])
This is our annual trek to the coastal in search of hard to find, migrating shore-birds like Upland and Buff-bellied Sandpipers. Since it can be hot pretty quickly in these open fields with no shade we try to get down there as early as possible. We will meet in the Shoney’s parking at the Carowinds exit (#90) off of I77 at 5:45 AM in an attempt to leave by 6 AM. Bring plenty of water, a hat, bug spray and sun screen. Snacks and lunch are recommended.
Saturday, September 8th - Latta Park1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Ron Clark ([email protected])
We’ll be looking for early migrants in this park near downtown. Meet at 8:30 in the pavilion on East Park Ave.
Wednesday, September 12th - Anne Springs Greenway1/2 Day • Moderate • Contact: Dave Lovett ([email protected])
Dave will take us on this trip with woods, lakes and fields, just across the South Carolina border. There are some small hills. We’ll start at 8:30 at the entrance on Hwy 21. There is a $3 fee to get in.
Saturday, September 15th - Beginner Bird Walk1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Sally Miller ([email protected])
This is a monthly walk where Sally Miller goes over the basics of birding, from binocular usage to tips on bird identification. If you don’t have binoculars, she can provide them for you. Meet her at 8:30 AM in the parking lot of McAlpine Creek Park.
Saturday, September 15th - Bird Banding1/2 Day • Contact: Don Seriff ([email protected])
Don Seriff will set up a net in Freedom Park at 8:30 AM. If you want to watch or help, contact him. He’ll tell what to bring and exactly where to meet.
Tuesday, September 18th - Campbell Creek Greenway1/2 Day • *Easy • Contact: Ron Clark ([email protected])
This greenway is on the east side of town and is a flat 1 1/4 miles one way. We should find plenty of fall migrants. Meet at 8:30 AM in the parking lot on Marga-ret Wallace Road.
Saturday, September 22 - Jackson Park, Hendersonville, NCFull Day • Moderate • Contact: Judy Walker ([email protected])
This Hendersonville city park is the fall equivalent of Latta Park in the spring, with a 20-warbler day possible. This is an all-day trip, so bring a lunch. We’ll meet at 7:30 AM at the McDonald’s on Hwy 64 ( Exit 49-A on Interstate 26 ) in Henderson-ville. It’s about two blocks on the right after you cross the interstate.
Wednesday, September 26th - Lower McAlpine Greenway1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Dave Lovett ([email protected])
This area is always good for fall migrants. Join Dave Lovett as we look for them. The meeting spot is the Johnston Road parking lot, at 8:30 AM.
Saturday, Septermber 29th - Ribbonwalk Nature Preserve1/2 Day • Moderate • Contact: Tom Sanders ([email protected])
Tom will lead us on the mostly wooded trails, one of which is arguably the best thrush area around. Two falls ago we found three golden-winged warblers. The parking lot is on Hoyt Hinson Road, off Nevins Road. Meet at 8:30 AM.
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American Redstart (fall plumage) ©Jeff Lemon
Carolina Chickadee ©Brad Kuntz
Magnolia Warbler (fall plumage) ©Jeff Lemon
Tuesday, October 2nd - Latta Park (Dilworth)1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Ron Clark ([email protected])t
Near downtown, this park is one of the best spots around. We’ll meet at 8:30 AM in the pavilion on East Park Ave.
Saturday, October 5th - Evergreen Nature Preserve1/2 Day • Moderate • Contact: Louise Barden ([email protected])
Larry and Louise Barden will take us though this beautiful preserve, which is essentially their back yard. With wooded trails, a pond and woods clearings, the variety should be good. Join them at 8:30 AM in the bus lot at Winterfield Elementary School.
Saturday, October 13th - Campbell Creek1/2 Day • Easy* • Contact: Ron Clark ([email protected])
We’ll meet at 8:30 AM in the parking lot on Margaret Wallace Road. It’s a 2 1/2 mile flat walk through woods.
Sunday, October 14th - Big SitAll Day • Contact: Dave Lovett ([email protected])
This is a fun-filled day of birding with minimal walking. It takes place in the view-ing stand at Cowan’s Ford Refuge. It will start before daybreak and end around 5-6, whenever the last folks leave. You can come for an hour or all day. Bring a chair, snacks and your binoculars. This is a great way to meet folks, and one of the few outings where talking is okay. Dave Lovett heads it up, and will be cook-ing hot dogs and whatever else he brings. Sign-up isn’t necessary. If you have questions, contact Dave Lovett.
Sunday, October 14th - Bird BandingContact: Don Seriff ([email protected])
In conjunction with the Big Sit, Don Seriff will set up his banding net nearby, in Cowan’s Ford. So will be able to count and see some birds up close and personal. If you want to watch or help, contact him. He’ll tell what to bring and exactly where he’ll be.
Saturday, October 20th - Beginner Bird Walk1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Sally Miller ([email protected])
This is a monthly walk where Sally Miller goes over the basics of birding, from binocular usage to tips on bird identification. If you don’t have binoculars, she can provide them for you. Meet her at 8:30 in the parking lot of McAlpine Creek Park.
Sat/Sun, October 20-21 - Huntington Beach State Park, SCWeekend Trip • Strenuous • Contact: Judy Walker ([email protected])
This is our fall sojourn to a South Carolina birding hot spot. Fall migrants – hawks and warblers – will still be moving through, wintering shorebirds will have settled in and a few ducks may also have begun arriving. This is probably the best time of the year to see Peregrine Falcons and Merlins, and I am sure we will be delighted with spectacular views of thousands of tree swallows.
We will meet in the parking lot on the eastside of the causeway at 7:30 AM. It can get pretty hot so remember a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water. We will eat lunch in the park so you will also need to bring food.
Since many participants stay for the weekend, we usually go out to dinner on Saturday night. At dinner we will plan where we will go on Sunday.
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Field Trips
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (fall immature) ©Jeff Lemons
Wood Stork ©Jeff Lemon
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Offshore oil drilling in the Arctic is a risky and reckless gamble. The weather is violent, the seas are ice-covered much of the year, and it’s dark for months at a time.
And yet, drilling rigs are moving into position in America’s Arctic, endangering millions of birds, precious habitat, and a way of life for thousands of people.
This year, Audubon is working like never before to stop efforts by Shell to drill in the seabed off Alaska’s Arctic coast.
Under the Department of the Interior’s safety rules regulating offshore drilling, Shell should never have received permis-sion to begin operations in the Arctic. Last month, Audubon filed suit in federal court to compel the U.S. government to
prevent offshore Arctic drilling until safety measures are in place.
Several government agencies and spokespeople have expressed concern whether a cleanup could succeed follow-ing a worst-case scenario disaster. Even Shell says most spilled oil would only be “encountered,” not cleaned up!
At stake are endangered bowhead whales, polar bears, and millions of birds that migrate every summer from seven continents to nest and fledge their young.
Recent news reports from the region only intensify our concerns about Shell’s competency:
Shell’s primary drillship, the massive Noble Discoverer, broke free from its anchor on July 14, drifting very close to shore in the Aleutian port of Dutch Harbor.
The barge that Shell intends to use as its primary spill response ship has been held at dock in Seattle, yet to be certified by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Even with its drilling armada halfway to the Arctic Ocean, Shell revealed that
Update on Alaska Drillingit could not meet the air pollution limits to which the company had previously agreed. Shell requested permission to triple one pollution limit and do away with another altogether.
Shell’s missteps confirm what we have believed from the start — that drilling companies are not ready for the daunt-ing challenges they face in the Arctic. Audubon had to take action, and we were joined by nine other prominent organiza-tions in making the lawsuit a top priority.
America has reserves that can be more safely tapped. Mixing oil and ice is no answer. Some places are just too precious to take this potentially irreversible risk.
The Spectacled Eider (above) is in the path of the oilmen and already on the Endangered Species List.
Keep Bird Feeders AvailableIt is a common bird feeding myth that putting up feeders during peak migration times
will prevent birds from migrating. In fact, bird feeders can provide an easy, convenient way for birds to get the necessary nourishment and energy they need to complete their journeys. Offering high fat foods such as black oil sunflower seeds, peanut butter and suet will give the birds a fantastic energy boost, and keeping up other feeders will at-tract a diverse flock of migrating birds.
Clean Up and Conserve HabitatNot only do birds require pristine habitat at both their breeding and wintering
grounds, but they also need sufficient stopovers along their migration routes to rest and refuel. Birders who want to help migrating birds will support conservation of di-verse habitats throughout the world by donating to conservation organizations, helping restore tropical rainforests and purchasing products such as shade grown coffee that are produced through bird-friendly agriculture. Participating in local litter cleanups along beaches, rivers, parks and other bird-friendly habitats is a great way to keep birds’ resting places safe and suitable.
Keep Pets IndoorsMigrating birds travel long distances, often without a break, before coming to roost
hungry and exhausted. When the birds do take a rest, they can be easy prey for outdoor or feral cats or loose dogs. Responsible pet owners will take steps to protect birds from cats and keep dogs on a leash to avoid disturbing migrating birds that need an opportu-nity to rest and feed in safety.
Help Migrating Birds
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As temperatures bake much of the United States and the nationwide drought continues, crops wither and fish die. But they aren’t the only ones suffering from the blazing summer. Birds are also trying to keep their cool. But they don’t sweat like humans, or even pant like dogs; instead, they have a variety of unique adaptations to help beat the heat.
In a study conducted on marsh spar-rows in 2011, scientists found that bill size correlates to outside temperatures. Marsh sparrows with larger bills live in warmer climates, for example. The study noted that the tropical toucan also possesses a large bill, and has the ability to increase or decrease blood flow to its beak to either promote or prevent heat loss.
Laura Erickson of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, however, points out that the size of a bird’s bill isn’t the only factor that keeps it cool.
“In the case of the raven, the further north you go the bigger their bills are,” says Erickson. “But they need the bigger bill to chip into frozen carcasses in the winter.” Instead, some birds rely on a variety of behavioral adaptations in order to regulate their body temperatures.
Some birds, like the great blue herons that star on the Cornell Lab of Ornithol-
ogy’s nest cam, will open up their wings on a hot day, allowing air to circulate across their bodies and sweep away the excess heat.
“We’ve watched the adults move their bodies to shade the chicks,” says Erickson. Great blue herons will also “droop” their wings in addition to opening them to protect their nestlings from the sun. But researchers can tell that the posture does more than just keep chicks cool, because the birds also do it when they’re off the
too slippery. Replenish the water once every two or three days. Otherwise, the stagnant water can play host to algae and mosquito larvae, which can carry the West Nile virus as adults.
Almost as important as water is shade. Temperatures can be far cooler under trees or bushes, and birds often seek out these microclimates. Since a bird’s body temperature is much higher than that of humans—a golden crowned kinglet was once found to have a body temperature of 111 degrees Fahrenheit—it’s doubly important for them to cool off in a hurry. Proteins that shuttle vital information to a bird’s organs begin to break apart at tem-peratures that are only slightly higher.
Climate change is expected to make droughts more frequent and extreme temperatures more common. And some bird populations are already be-ing affected by the consequences of global warming. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported that tree swallows laid their eggs up to nine days earlier because of warmer temperatures in the spring. Several populations of birds, most notably warblers, have also shifted their home ranges northward, and migration patterns are changing to accommodate the change in climate.
Together, these shifts indicate that birds are learning how to adapt to springs that feel like summers, and summers that feel like scorchers.
By Catherine Griffin http://magblog.audubon.org/how-birds-keep-their-cool
How to beat the Heat: A Bird’s Perspective
nest.These are only a couple of behaviors
that birds use. When it’s hot, some spe-cies will also resort to gular fluttering. The bird will open its mouth and “flutter” its neck muscles, promoting heat loss (think of it as the avian version of panting).
“If you think about a dog panting, their tongue isn’t only allowing evaporation, but is losing a lot of body fluid,” says Erickson. “Birds are much more efficient about water and water loss.”
Even so, birds still need to replenish fluids on a hot day. Installing a birdbath can provide feathered friends with a place to cool their heels in the summer, and get a drink. The water level shouldn’t be too high—only about an inch deep—and the bottom of the birdbath shouldn’t be
Summer Tanager ©Will Stuart
Great Blue Heronhttp://www.birdinginformation.com/birds/herons-bitterns-egrets/great-blue-heron/
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Mr. Birkhead is a professor at the University of Sheffield, where he teaches animal behavior and the history of sci-ence. But his project, though rooted in ornithological research, has philosophical ambitions revealed by the book’s subtitle: “What It’s Like to Be a Bird.”
The subtitle and the book itself draw their inspiration from the philosopher Thomas Nagel’s 1974 essay “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” That essay argued that we can in fact never know what it feels like to be another creature, even a bat—a mammal that, at least to a scientist, has much in common with us, though it also possesses a sense, echolocation, that we lack. Given the subjective nature of consciousness, Mr. Nagel argued, we will always be in the dark when it comes to other creatures.
Mr. Birkhead pays tribute to Mr. Nagel while rejecting the premise of his essay. Or at least he thinks that putting together all that we know about the scientifically testable perceptions of birds will yield a portrait of birds that is more than merely the clinical sum of its parts. To this end he divides his book into chapters named for the five senses we share with birds—”Seeing,” “Hearing,” “Touch” “Taste” and “Smell”—with two additional chapters, “Magnetic Sense” and “Emotions,” to catch the overflow.
It’s a scientific project that has an al-most metaphysical feel. But then birds do such extraordinary things, in such a weird variety of ways, that Mr. Birkhead imme-diately acknowledges that “what it’s like to be a bird” should really be broken into hundreds of specific questions: “What is it like to be a flamingo sensing invisible rain falling hundreds of kilometers away that will provide the ephemeral wetlands essential for breeding?”; or, “What does it feel like copulating for a mere tenth of a
second, but over one hundred
times a day, like a pair of dunnocks?” (Imagining avian sex seems a particular subspecialty of Mr. Birkhead’s.)
I cannot say that these questions are fully answered in “Bird Sense,” but the effort to find out creates a collective portrait of birds that is deeply stirring and inspires awe at our own species and its capacity for such intense curiosity. A re-markable amount of painstaking research has been required for us to discover that, for instance, American robins can hear earthworms move under the earth. Kiwis, nearly blind, can smell them. For years no-body believed that birds have taste buds or that, in addition to having sharp vision, some birds can actually see the magnetic forces of the earth that guide them on their vast migratory journeys.
Despite his erudition and lofty philo-sophical ambitions, Mr. Birkhead has man-aged to distill his survey of the world’s 10,000 species into about 200 pages—the
Bird SenseBy Tim Birkhead
Mr. Rosen (reviewer) is the editorial director of Nextbook and the author, most recently, of “The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature.”
A version of this article appeared June 30, 2012, on page C9 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Wisdom on the Wing.
rest of the book is given over to notes anda useful glossary. He writes in a jaunty, down-to-earth fashion, peppered by the requisite ornithological adventures, such as rappelling down guano-streaked cliffs so that a guillemot can be snagged for banding, or so that a geolocator—still attached to the sleek black and white bird!—can be plugged into a laptop, revealing novel details of the sea bird’s nearly 1,500-kilometer journey.
Mecklenburg Audubon Board
President - Jill Palmer [[email protected]]
Vice President -Ron Clark [[email protected]]
Secretary - Ken Kneidel [[email protected]]
Treasurer - Christy Hill [[email protected]]
Field Trips - Ron Clark [[email protected]]
Conservation - Bill Duston [[email protected]]
Conservation - Bob Haussler [[email protected]]
Membership - Jan Fowler [[email protected]]
Publicity - Christy Hill [[email protected]]
Education - Lauren Schexnider [[email protected]]
Hospitality - Chris Hanna [[email protected]]
Members at Large Sally Miller [[email protected]] Jim Pugh [[email protected]] Bill Rowse [[email protected]]
Newsletter - Judy Walker [[email protected]]
Audubon News is published monthly from September through May by the Mecklenburg Audubon Society, a chapter of National Audubon. Local members receive the newsletter via postal mail and/or electronic mail. It is also posted on the Mecklenburg Audu-bon web site - meckbirds.org.
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A SWIFT NIGHT OUT is a conti-nent-wide effort to raise awareness about and encourage interest in Chimney Swifts and Vaux’s Swifts. The project was originally inspired by John Connors with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2001 Paul and Georgean Kyle took John’s sugges-tion and devel- oped the program for the Driftwood Wildlife Association that has become a favorite late summer event for professional and amateur birdwatchers alike. As summer draws to a close and the swifts have finished raising their young, these fascinating aerial acrobats begin to congregate in communal roosts prior to their migration in the fall. Some roosts may consist of an extended family group of a half a dozen birds or so, but
the larger sites can host hundreds or even thousands of swifts!
Here is how it works:This year, on one night over the week-
end of September 7, 8, 9 observe the roost starting about 30 minutes before dusk and estimate the number of swifts that enter.
When you have your number, email [email protected]. That’s all there is to it!
We ask that you include the following information: 1) Number of swifts counted; 2) Time; 3) Date; 4) Location and 5) a broad description of the site, e.g. school, warehouse, residence, Chimney Swift Tower, etc. Weather conditions may also be reported.
September 7th, 8th & 9thTime to Take a Swift Night Out!Time to Take a Swift Night Out!
How do you know if you are a birder?How do you know if you are a birder?
...someone yells “Duck!” and you look up & shout “Where?”
...your kids are named Wren and Pheobe.
...vacations are planned to maximize the number of life birds.
...you criticize television programs and commercials that depict a Bald Eagle but play a Red-tailed Hawk call.
...people stop and stare when you pish at the shrubbery at the local mall. ...lunch breaks find you driving to a favorite hot spot.
...your spouse says, “It’s either me or the birds,” and you have to think about it.
...you try to talk your kid into going to college in Belize so you have an excuse to go and bird there.
...when clouds take on the shape of birds, and you can distinguish male from female, and adult from immature plumage.
...a machine squeaks at work and you describe it to maintenance as sounding like a Black-and-white Warbler.
...you spend fifteen minutes preparing dinner for your family, and forty-five minutes mixing and placing seed for your birds.
...you identify calls of birds in the soundtracks of television shows and movies.
You are definitely a birder if...
