Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 18 No. 1 January, 2020 Page 1

age of 56, probably due to working with arsenic in preserving bird’s skins). Be-sides Cassin’s Finch, there is Cassin’s Vireo—another bird of the Eastern Ore-gon forests, as well as Cassin’s King-bird, Cassin’s Auklet, and Cassin’s Spar-row—none of which are at all apt to be found in Umatilla County.

Cassin’s Finch was first discovered in the l850’s, when John Cassins joined an expedition sponsored by the Pacific Rail-road Survey to the southwestern moun-tains. He called the pink-tinged finch the “greatest bird of the expedition” and asked his friend and colleague, Spencer Baird, to name the new species after him.

Cassin’s Finch is a bird of the mountainous areas of Umatilla County. Generally, they move or even migrate to lower elevations for the win-ter months. Most often these finches spend the winter months in Southern California and Mexi-co. Spring will find them returning to the forests of Eastern Oregon where they forage in pine, fir, and quaking aspen. They prefer large conifers for nesting. The nest, usually placed near the end of a large limb, is made of twigs and stems and lined with rootlets, hair, and shredded bark. Three or four eggs are laid and incubated by the female, while the male brings food for her and the babies. When the young fledge, they no longer receive help from the adults. Cassin’s Finches feed on seeds, buds, berries and insects. The babies are fed mostly insects for the protein.

Look for the slightly raised topknot in rosy-red and matching upper breast. House Finches have a flatter head and no white markings behind the eye or on the throat. Cassin’s and House Finch females are somewhat similar, but the Cassin’s is more boldly streaked with more white and dark spots on the throat and cheeks. The Cas-sin’s song is higher and more rapid than a House Finch, descending slightly at the end. The food eaten, such as colorful berries or fruit, can affect the reddish coloring of finches.

Cassin’s Finch is one of five birds named after renowned scientist, John Cassins. (He was born in Pennsylvania in 1813 and died at the young

Volume 18, No. 1 January , 2020 Pendleton, Oregon

Newsletter of The Pendleton Bird Club

KUK-yuh TIE-moot,

Umatilla Indian Translation: Bird News

Kákya Táymut

Cassin’s Finch, male, photo by Milton Vine, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cassins_Finch/

media-browser/67283591

Bird Of The Month Cassin’s Finch Haemorhous cassinii

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 18 No. 1 January, 2020 Page 2

As birders in Eastern Oregon anxiously await spring, Cassin’s Finches will also re-turn to Umatilla County. Good places to find these finches include Indian Lake, Ukiah, Battle Mountain, Dale Wayside,

Albee Road, Kirk Road, Woodward Campground, Target Meadows, and Emi-grant Springs State Park.

June Whitten

Some of the information for this article is from: https://www.allaboutbirds.org guide/Cassin’s Finch/

overview Living Bird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Winter 2020, Vol. 39, Issue l “Primaries, Cassin’s

Birds” by Elizabeth Serrano, P. 8-9.

Cassin’s Finch, female, photo by Kai Frueh, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/

Cassins_Finch/media-browser/67283591

Cool Facts About...Diurnal Raptors

From the “cool facts” below, identify the species in each photo. Answers are on Page 7.

Before the elimination of the bison in the west, nests were often partially con-structed of bison bones and wool. Legs feathered all the way to the toes.

Though not related to owls, they are the most owl-like of hawks. They rely on hearing as well as vision to capture prey. Males can have as many as five mates at once.

Capable of killing large prey such as cranes, wild ungulates and domestic livestock, this bird subsists primarily on rab-bits, hares, ground squirrels and prairie dogs.

Adults are colorful hawks with dark-and-white checkered wings, red shoulder patch and warm reddish barring on the breast. The tail is black with narrow white bands.

A. ________________________ B. ________________________ C. ________________________ D. ________________________

January 1, 2020 First Of Year (First Bird Sighted) Event

Connie Betts Dark-eyed Junco

Carolyn Featherston Mountain Chickadee

Jenny Barnett Dark-eyed Junco

Paul Daniello Northern Flicker

Diana LaSarge Western Gull

Jane Holmes Hawaiian Hawk

Lorna Waltz American Goldfinch

Neal Hinds Dark-eyed Junco

Dave Herr Dark-eyed Junco

Leanne Ruby House Finch

George Ruby California Quail

Joy Jaeger Red-tailed Hawk

Steve Jaeger Great Blue Heron

Earl and Virginia Storey Dark-eyed Junco

June Whitten Canada Goose

Marilyn Cripe Dark-eyed Junco

Mark Ludwick Canada Goose

Jerry Baker Great Kiskadee (near Mazatlán)

Dolly Robison Eurasian-collared Dove

Aaron Skirvin Steller’s Jay

Tanya Harrison Rose-ringed Parakeet (Kuai, Hawaii)

Jack Simons Black-billed Magpie

Submitted by Jack Simons — THANK YOU BIRDERS!!!

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 18 No. 1 January, 2020 Page 3

February Bird Club Meeting

“Birds From the McNary

Wildlife Nature Area & Other

Umatilla County Birds”

A ‘Photographic Essay’ on local birds in

Umatilla County — Program Presented by

Pendleton Bird Club Photographer

Mark Ludwick

7:00 pm, Thursday, February 13, 2020

Pendleton First Christian Church, 215 North Main Street, Pendleton

March Bird Club Meeting

Second Potluck of the Year

Potluck at 6:30 pm

followed by

“Photography for

Conservation”

Program Presented by Rick McEwan

7:00 pm, Thursday, March 12, 2020

Pendleton First Christian Church, 215 North Main Street, Pendleton

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 18 No. 1 January, 2020 Page 4

• With a voice that sounds more like a frog than a bird...

• Nests across most of the northern states and well into Canada

• Will seek out secluded woodland ponds, where they nest in tree cavities or man-made nest boxes.

• Females lay 10 or more eggs. That’s not unusual for a duck. But what is unusual is that the eggs are nearly spherical, with surprisingly thick shells.

(Answer on Page 7.)

Who Am I?

Photos From the Archives...

American Goldfinches enjoying their meal. Photo by Club member Barbara Morehead, Pilot Rock, OR.

“Old Vanilla — that was the name

given to the huge Western Yellow

Pine Tree outside my childhood win-

dow that smelled of vanilla cookies

on dry summer days — died when I

was eight years old. I loved that

tree. To my surprise and delight, in-

stead of cutting it down, my dad

manicured it into a standing dead

tree, which I’d later learn were called

snags. For the next fifteen years I

watched the tree slowly decompose. It

sprouted shelf mushrooms, attracted in-

sect-eating Pileated Woodpeckers, housed

Mountain Chickadee families, sheltered

dreys of squirrels, and provided perches

for innumerable flying creatures. This tree

was as alive as a snag as it was when it

was living.”

The above remembrance is the opening

paragraph to an educational, intriguing

article by author Becca Rodomsky-Bish

about snags and how they play an im-

portant role in our bird populations as

well as wildlife conserva-

tion habitat. You can read

her article in its entirety

(plus additional articles) on

designing and incorporat-

ing habitat features into

your backyard (such as

snags!) that benefit

both birds and wildlife. Here ’s the link to Bec-

ca’s article (and many more educational top-

ics) at Habitat Network:

https://content.yardmap.org/learn/habitat-feature-snags/.

Believe it or not, something as benign as a snag

can be the equivalent of nature’s “apartment com-

plexes and cafeterias”. This is because dead snags

are ecologically important — without snags, ap-

proximately “85 species of North America’s birds,

numerous small mammals and insects, fungi, and

lichens would be without habitat.” In other words,

snags are part of the answer to healthy, thriving

habitat needed by wildlife to grow and survive.

The decomposition of a tree begins quickly when

“disease, damage, fire, etc., affect the outer layer

Habitat Feature: Snags!

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 18 No. 1 January, 2020 Page 5

of cambium of the bark.” The decomposition starts

quickly when fungi move in to break down the

tree into nutrients that replenish the soil. The rot-

ting process creates soft outer layers in the trunk

which allows primary cavity nesters to more easily

excavate their holes.

Who are these primary cavity nesters? Woodpeck-

ers and sapsuckers are examples of birds that cre-

ate cavities to raise their young. Equally im-

portant, these species are also adept at locating

and consuming bark-dwelling insect pests (as well

as sap) and drum on trees to establish territories.

Changes in “human intervention, disease and cli-

mate change can have a dramatic impact on the

birds that live there. For instance, we

know Ponderosa Pine forests in the Pa-

cific Northwest saw a decline in primary

cavity nesting birds when snags were

actively removed from forests. Privately

held forests tended to have even fewer-

than-average snags leading to a hypoth-

esis that private management practices

have huge potential to impact popula-

tions, even when it seems that what you

choose to do on your small property

can’t possibly scale to levels that matter,

evidence suggests otherwise.”

Historically, as the field of forestry

emerged, programs were introduced to

prevent fires “and raise trees for har-

vest” which lead to the practice of re-

moving snags which were viewed as

“ecological menaces”. However, removal

of dead trees from forests “to minimize

the risk of fire and reduce the popu-

lation of bark beetles infecting

healthy trees.” actually destabilized

the interdependence between trees,

birds, insects and other wildlife de-

pendent on snag habitat.

It soon became apparent however,

“that by consuming bark beetles and

other tree-eating insects, cavity

nesting birds actually helped to cre-

ate a balance in insect populations.”

This was because, “When snags are

Pendleton Christmas Bird Count

(CBC) Report, December 28, 2019

The Pendleton Bird Club conducted its annual CBC the Saturday after Christmas with fairly good birding weather and turnout.

• A total of 71 species were recorded (compared to 67 in 2018 and 68 in 2017...our long term average has been 70);

• 7,558 birds were estimated, compared to 7,474 in 2018 and 7,874 in 2017 (the 10 year average was 9,000 and now is 8,600);

• Our group provided 21 field counters totaling 49 hours, 237 car miles and 11 foot miles;

• We also had 3 feeder counters that contrib-uted 139 birds to the total;

• Highlights included 1 Count Week Bird: Black Crowned Night Heron; a Rock Wren (spotted by Jenny and Marilyn along the Umatilla river hike) and the Eastern Blue Jays at the Cripe's bird garden (spotted by June's group);

• There was a good turnout at Abbey's (about 22 people) for the consolidation of results in-cluding a few new Birders. A thank you to Ab-bey's for providing the room, turning off the games & music;

• Next year, Christmas is on Friday, so tenta-tively the next day after Christmas would be the CBC.

Thank you all for your participation. We are providing a useful & unique database for Science and posterity.

Submitted by George Ruby, CBC Coordinator

Can you identify this headless bird?

Can you identify this bird that has mysteri-ously lost his head? Answer on Page 7.

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 18 No. 1 January, 2020 Page 6

eliminated the potential for insect

invasions increases as the cavity

nesters lose habitat and can’t repro-

duce at high enough rates to keep

up with insect populations. However,

this is not true for all non-native

beetles, nor is it true for native spe-

cies, like the mountain pine beetle.

These species, when given the op-

portunity, will advance on healthy

trees when their populations rise in

the absence of sufficient predation

and extended foraging seasons in-

duced by climate change.”

“Secondary cavity nesters, such as

certain species of chickadees, owls,

nuthatches, creepers, ducks, blue-

birds, flycatchers, swallows, titmice,

wrens, and warblers, all benefit from

the hole-creating activities of the

primary cavity nesters. Abandoned

woodpecker nests and drilling sites

will quickly be adopted by secondary

nesters. Without the efforts of the

woodpeckers and sapsuckers, many

of these secondary nesters would

lack the required habitat to raise their

young. This is why primary cavity nesters are

considered keystone species as they pro-

vide essential nesting cavities for other spe-

cies and their absence from an ecosystem

has devastating effects. An example of this is

in eastern pine forests where there is a posi-

tive correlation between areas with snags

and all nesting birds. Similar findings also

occur in western Ponderosa Pine Forests.”

Can snags work in urban settings to sup-

port birds? Evidence suggests that cavity

nesting birds do well in any setting as long

as snags are present. The same research

found that “the bigger the snag, the more it

was used to nest.”

However, tall dead trees can pose a problem

for urban are-

as where in-

frastructure

and people

can be threat-

ened by a fall-

ing tree. In

instances

where a falling

tree directly

threatens a

building, or

cars, we rec-

ommend mani-

curing a dead

or dying tree

into an artifi-

cial snag ap-

proximately

six feet in height. Or, if it doesn ’t put a

building at risk, you can leave it as is, or se-

lect a height appropriate to the location of

the tree.

Snags are vital features for wildlife in urban,

suburban, and rural areas. Leaving them

standing to naturally decay in the landscape

requires us to rethink what a beautiful, well-

tended yard or home entails. This practice of

leaving dead wood benefits your native wild-

life and may just attract some new visitors to

your yard.

(See article credits and sources on next page.)

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 18 No. 1 January, 2020 Page 7

Newsletter Editor: Jack Simons, 541-276-8566 Email Address: pendletonbirdclub@gmail.com

Field Sightings Editor: Dave Herr, 541 276-6413 Email Address: dsherr1@mac.com

“Bird of The Month” author: June Whitten, 541-276-9019

Email Address: jwhitten@wtechlink.us

Photo Editor and Newsletter Publisher: Jack Simons, Email Address: pendletonbirdclub@gmail.com

Click on the link to visit

our club’s website: https://pendletonbirders.wordpress.com/

A. Ferruginous Hawk

B. Northern Harrier

C. Golden Eagle

D. Red-shouldered Hawk

Cool Facts About... “Diurnal Raptors” from Page 2.

Male Hooded Merganser photo by Gerard Beyersbergen.

Who Am I? from Page 4....

Found my head...that’s better!

Brewer’s Blackbird photo by PBC mem-ber Joy Jaeger.

Credit/Source for — “Habitat Feature: Snags”

https://content.yardmap.org/learn/habitat-feature-

snags/. Supported by “Habitat Network”; The Na-

ture Conservancy; and The Cornell Lab of Ornithol-

ogy.

Vintage Avian Artwork From Another Era