Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 1

Newsletter of The Pendleton Bird Club

Kákya Táymut KUK-yuh TIE-moot, Umatilla Indian Translation: Bird News

rainforests in Central and South America. Each flock contains several permanent “core” species (which remain in the flock for 3 years or more), represented by a single breeding pair of each spe-cies (with fledglings), plus other regular, occasion-al, or incidental species, such as neotropical mi-grants from North America which only join the mixed-species flocks seasonally. The Competitive Exclusion Principle states that “two species with identical ecological niches cannot coexist in the same environment,” so it is possible that the core species coevolved to fill different niches. They are thus able to forage together, but in different niches, often divided by the heights at which they forage. One species may forage on the ground, while others may forage just off the ground, in low vines, on tree trunks, or higher in the understory vegetation. In this manner, they do not compete with one an-other for food resources. The core species do, how-ever, defend the community territory from other birds of their species inhabiting neighboring territo-

Volume 15, No. 2 February, 2017 Pendleton, Oregon

Photo: http://findyourpark.com/find

Avian Communities By Jean Reiher

A s an avid birder, I have often wondered why cer-tain species of birds are frequently found together. Researchers studying avian community ecology have two theories about this. One theory states that bird

communities are just coincidental collections of species that occur together by chance. Each species present innately choos-es the habitat that best suits its needs, independent of the ac-tions of other species. Another theory states that avian commu-nities are intricately structured assemblages of co-evolved spe-cies. Competition for limited resources greatly influences the community structure, distributing species into different ecologi-cal niches within the habitat.

If you study an entire biotic community that has distinctive flo-ra and fauna, the “by chance” theory seems plausible, with all species in the community being ecologically related, but not competing with one another. For example, in studies of the shrub-steppe habitat, researchers saw no patterns in community structure on a local scale, with no relationships between bird species and vegetation characteristics. Researchers believed that the harsh environment (with droughts and intense storms) caused rapid changes in the community, and that competition between species was not important to community structure. Other researchers also discounted competition as a major or-ganizing force for avian communities. They believed that the “Elementary Laws of Probability” were responsible for com-munity structure, with immigration rate and extinction rate be-ing independent of one another.

If you study a particular area within a biotic community, the “by design” theory seems plausible, with species competing for different niches within the habitat, resulting in a stable commu-nity in which all species are ecologically compatible. For ex-ample, mixed-species bird flocks in which birds forage together for insects in the understory are common in neotropical lowland

A neotropical species: Yellow-throated Euphonia. Photo bySelva Negra Ecolodge, Nicaragua;

29 March 2010 © Mark Piazzi

Avian Communities By Jean Reiher

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 2

The Birds Find Their Homes

A long time ago on a wide, grassy African plain,

There lived a big, strong mother bird. She had many,

many children of different sizes, shapes and colors.

One day Mother Bird realized that the plain could not feed her

large family and she decided that they must leave to find more

food. Mother Bird called all her children together and told them

they would soon begin a long journey. Some of the children

climbed onto Mother Bird’s back, others snuggled into her

feathers, and some held on to her wings and tail.

Mother Bird spread her large, powerful wings and lifted

into the air. She and her children flew for many miles looking

for abundant lands. Soon the smallest birds began to tire

of clinging to her wings. The tiny barbet looked down and

saw a beautiful garden with colorful flowers. “Mamma,”

she said, “I want to live there.” Mother Bird smiled,

so the tiny barbet let go and flew down into the garden.

A few miles later the little black kokodyo looked down

and saw fruit trees below. “Mamma,” he said, “I want

to live there,” and floated down to the trees laden with fruit.

One by one, all the birds found their own homes.

The weaver selected fields ripe with grain,

the pelican found olives to eat,

and the secretary bird noticed a big juicy termite mound.

Other birds found the forest, some settled near lakes.

All the birds chose a home where they could eat and

live and raise their children.

After all her children were taken care of,

Mother Bird climbed high into the sky and

Soared in great circles, just below the sun.

Today the people call her Eagle Who Announces the Drought.

That is how Mother Bird continues to look after her children;

She foretells the dry spells.— African Myth

ries, and thus defend their own niches within the community. Other well-known examples of the “by design” theory are Darwin’s finches of the Galapagos Islands, species which co-evolved different bill shapes and sizes to fill different foraging niches in the environment.

Whether avian communities are organized by chance or by design is still a topic up for debate among ecol-ogists. Regardless of the reasons for the organization of avian communities, I believe it creates something greater than the sum of the parts. In the mixed-species flocks, adults have a high survival rate, but low breeding success which leads to low species den-sity, delayed reproduction, and “floaters” in the com-munity who wait for an open spot within the core group. The advantages to remaining on a group terri-tory include increased predator avoidance and in-creased food finding ability which leads to an in-crease in an individual’s lifetime fitness. It just seems intuitive that “all things are connected.”

The next time you go birding, notice the species that flock together and consider the habitat requirements of each bird. Different species nest or forage on the ground, in low shrubs, in small trees, in the mid-canopy, or high in the tree tops. All of the niches are important to the group, so all of the habitats should be protected and conserved to maintain the rich di-versity of bird species.

Jack Simons shared this poem (opposite), a myth from African culture about how birds found their preferred habitats. Jack discov-ered the poem while reading Brushed by Feathers: A Year of Birdwatching in the West, by Frances Wood. It offers a nice con-trast to the theories ecologists pose for why birds live where they do… JB

Continued from Page 1

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 3

Calendar of Events

March Bird Club Meeting

7:00 p.m., Thursday, March 9, 2017

Blue Mountain Land Trust

Presented by Tim Copeland

Pendleton First Christian Church 215 North Main Street, Pendleton

April Bird Club Meeting

6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 13, 2017

Potluck at 6:30

Followed by

Travels to Costa Rica

Presented by Joy & Steve Jaeger

Pendleton First Christian Church 215 North Main Street, Pendleton

May Bird Club Meeting

7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 11, 2017

Oregon’s 2020 Birding Project

Presented by Douglas Robinson

Pendleton First Christian Church 215 North Main Street, Pendleton

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 4

Yikes! I’ve lost my head! Can anyone tell me what

species I’m supposed to be? (See the answer on Page 8.)

How Birds’ Names Change

Have you ever heard of a marsh hawk or a sparrow hawk? These long-familiar bird names have passed into history. The study of birds, like any science, remains a work in progress. New findings about birds' DNA or oth-er attributes bring changes in clas-sification of species, often result-ing in new names. Check a field guide, and you'll now find them as the Northern Harrier and this American Kestrel. Join your local Audubon and take a field trip to see what you can see! Click on the Northern Harrier photo to read the full tran-script or listen to the program at BirdNote.

BirdNote ©

I edited my first edition of the Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter in May 2015. It has been a fun and rewarding experience, but it competes with other activities for my free time and I am finding it harder to come up with fresh ideas for articles. Af-ter some soul-searching, I decided it was time to step aside and let someone else edit the newsletter. The editorial board believes our newslet-ter is one of the best in the region, with plenty of articles and photographs con-tributed by Pendleton birders. If you are interested in the rewarding job of editing the newsletter (which is pretty easy with good writers already contributing month-ly columns), please contact Jack Simons or Aaron Skirvin.

Jenny Barnett

As a ‘diving duck’ I spend my winters bobbing in bays, estuaries and reservoirs.

I am a cavity nester and almost exclu-sively nest in holes made by Northern Flickers in the forests of North America.

Unlike most ducks, I am mostly monoga-mous, often remaining with the same ma-te for several years.

My mate is a striking black and white as seen from a distance.

Answer on Page 8.

Who Am I?

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 5

D uring this long winter, there have

been several sightings of Short-eared

Owls in Umatilla County. While this

may not be rare, it is rather unusual to

have many reports of Short-eared Owls in winter in

Umatilla County. Three were seen on Coombs Can-

yon, two on Rinehart Road, and one in Umapine, to

name a few. There have been several other sightings

in January.

Short-eared Owls are partially migratory and many

northern birds move to warmer

climates for winter. Food supply

is the main ingredient for a win-

tering area for these owls. So, we

have no way of knowing if the

owls seen in Umatilla County this

winter migrated from snowier,

more frozen fields than we had

here this winter! Or, possibly,

they are the same, or some of the

same owls that spend the spring

and summer here.

Short-eared Owls reach maturity

in one year. The breeding season

commences in March, peaking in

April. The males make specta-

cles of themselves to attract the

females. The male often swoops down over the nest-

ing sight, flapping its wings in flight. These owls are

generally monogamous.

The nest is prepared on the ground concealed by

grasses and brush. It is lightly lined with fine grasses,

weeds, or feathers. Usually four to seven white eggs

are laid, but may increase to as many as a dozen eggs

in years when the voles are abundant. There is one

brood per year which is mostly incubated by the fe-

male for 21 to 27 days. The babies fledge at a little

over 4 weeks. These owls are known to lure predators

away from the nest sight and the young by appearing

to have a crippled wing.

Short-eared Owls are diurnal and are often seen in

daylight hours. They do hunt at night but are most apt

to be seen at daylight and dusk. They tend to fly low

over grasslands and fields, dropping down on prey.

Voles are its preferred food but other rodents such a

gophers, mice, shrews, and ground squirrels are in-

cluded in their diet. Insects, grasshoppers, beetles,

caterpillars, etc. are also

included in their diet.

The habits, terrain, and

food coincide closely

with Northern Harriers

and the two compete for

territories for nesting

and hunting. Both spe-

cies will readily harass

the other when prey is

caught.

The ear tufts of a Short-

eared Owl are quite

small and not always

visible. The flight is

compared to bat or

moth-like flight. The

owl appears large headed and short winged in flight.

The yellow-orange eyes

are accented by black

rings, almost triangular

in shape. Short-eared

Owls have a scratchy,

bark-like call which is

not often heard. They

are silent on the winter-

ing grounds.

Bird Of The Month Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)

Short-eared Owl photo by bird club member Jerry Baker, off of Staggs Road, North of Weston.

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 6

The genus name Asio is a type of eared owl. The flammeus is

from Latin meaning flame-colored. The plumage is mostly

mottled tawny to brown with streaking, but possibly in other

areas the owl is more rust colored. They appear on all conti-

nents except Antarctica.

The conservation status of Short-eared Owls is not too encour-aging. They are listed as declining in the southern portion of its U.S. range and endangered in New Mexico. It is still considered common in the northern portion of its breeding range.

Submitted by June Whitten

even during daylight hours. This same problem was discussed on several birding list serves, with folks sharing their techniques for keeping feeders thawed (insulation around the feeder, switching out frozen with thawed feeders, heat tape, trouble light, wrapping Christmas lights around the feeder, hanging heated feeders, and more) and their con-cerns about the Anna’s surviving the long cold spell.

Last month, club member Jill Johnson received an email from a friend in Alaska, who passed along a note about people feeding Anna’s Hummingbirds this winter in, of all places, Seward, Alaska. As Anna’s continue to expand their range northward and eastward, the birds are pushing the limits of their ability to survive winter’s cold and lack of food supply. This is true for Umatilla County, let alone south-central Alaska, which has tempera-tures as cold as ours plus shorter winter daylight hours. You can read the note, written by Carol Griswold, here <insert hotlink>. Carol posted on Alaska Birding a few more reports on the plight of Seward’s Anna’s Hummingbirds, which you can read by scrolling through this website: http://birding.aba.org/maillist/AK01 (please copy/paste this link into your browser).

Around the inland Pacific Northwest some folks are concerned about the probable high mortality rate of Anna’s Humming-birds that attempted to over-winter in the region this year. Except for one female Anna’s, which continues to visit the Sal-lee’s feeders, all the Umatilla County Anna’s Hummingbirds disap-peared by mid-January. We don’t know their fate, whether they perished or moved to warmer climes during the brief period of warmer weather in late December. Regardless of this winter’s impact on our local Anna’s, the spe-

cies will continue its range expansion, and next fall and winter, we can anticipate another influx of Anna’s Hummingbirds. And, the challenge of maintaining feeders to help the tiny but tough Anna’s Hummingbird survive the winter will again repeat itself.

Submitted by Aaron Skirvin

Winter Hummingbirds: a Challenge for the Birds and their Caretakers

After a long, warm, pleasant autumn, winter weather struck Umatilla County in its full fury on December 5, 2016. Temperatures plummeted, and snow accumulated. The cold, snowy weather persisted for the better part of two months, with only a couple of brief warm (in the 30s and 40s) spells. The longer the cold weather continued, the more our winter birds depended on birders keeping feeders filled with seeds, suet, and sugar water. Yes, sugar water, the high-calorie juice that hummingbirds need to survive.

Every year since the autumn of 2009, a few Anna’s Hummingbird have ar-rived in the fall to spend the winter in Umatilla County. This last fall was no different, except that several Anna’s Hummers were caught in the county during the siege of cold, winter weath-er. In total, at least 10 Anna’s were using feeders in Umatilla County dur-ing December. In Pendleton, 4 or 5 birds were visiting feeders diligently maintained by George and Judy Bar-gay, Kathleen Mace-Ehmann, and Jill Johnson. In the Milton-Freewater area, Robert and Sherry Sallee, Janet and Steve Anderson, and Jean Mitchell were feeding up to 7 or 8 Anna’s.

With persistent sub-freezing temperatures ranging down-ward to single digits and even lower through most of De-cember to mid-January, our local hummingbird caretakers were faced with the problem of keeping feeders thawed,

Anna’s Hummingbird in the wintertime. Photo by club member Sherri Sallee from Milton-Freewater.

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 7

W hat a winter. With poor road condi-tions for much of the period, bird watching activity was severely ham-pered. I confined most of my birding

to looking out my front window. With the ground snow covered, my yard was full of birds and many others reported large number of birds in their yards. Where birds are concentrated, there are also lots of accipiters present.

On January 25, the WWW Birders June Whitten (June) Carolyn Featherston (Carolyn), Marilyn Cripe (Marilyn) and Diana Dillenburg (Diana D.) braved the frozen fog on Highway 11 and conduct-ed the Northern Umatilla County Raptor survey. On last months survey they tallied 100 Red-tailed Hawks, and this month they tallied an unbelievable 200 Red-tailed Hawks. I don't believe there is any survey route in Oregon that has recorded this many Red-tailed Hawks. Other finds included 4 Bald Eagles, a Short-eared Owl (Carolyn was able to photograph), a Peregrine Falcon, one Sharp-shinned Hawk, one Cooper's Hawk, a few Rough-legged Hawks and a Northern Harrier.

On January 26, Jack Simons looked out his sliding glass door and ob-served a beautiful male Ring-necked Duck. This is the first time he'd seen the species on his front pond. Later, walking up to Mission Ponds, Jack counted 46 Green-winged Teal. In early February, Virginia Storey found a couple of Ring-necked Ducks while walking along the Pendleton River Parkway. Along with the more common birds coming to his yard for food, Jack has now added Canada Goose and Mallard to his yard list. Several years ago, Jack hosted 50+ Wood Ducks in his yard; I wonder where they are this year?

January 28, Aaron Skirvin (Aaron) and Diana LaSarge (Diana) headed out of the fog up Battle Mountain to Ukiah. Birds of note included a Northern Pygmy-Owl, Bald Eagle, 2 Northern Shrikes, 100 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches and over 64 Raptors.

On January 30, Robert and Sherry Sallee reported that there is still one hardy Anna's Hummingbird coming to their feeder. The same day, Pete Szasz conducted the Hermiston Raptor Survey, locating 89 Red-tailed Hawks, 21 American Kestrels, 5 Northern Harriers, 8 Bald Eagles, 4 Golden Ea-

gles, 16 Rough-legged Hawks, one Cooper’s and one Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Aaron reported February 1 that the snowy weather has been attracting a lot of birds to his and Diana's back yard. He no-ticed a couple piles of feathers during the past week, but was

unable to identify the culprit. Di-ana solved the mystery when she was able to photograph a juvenile Coopers Hawk feeding on a Dark-eyed Junco.

Marilyn reported in January she went to the barn to feed her horse and heard a Canyon Wren loud and clear. Marilyn wonders if the Wrens are going to nest in her barn again this year.

On February 4 Becky Hiers report-ed hearing a Great Horned Owl calling for 15 minutes near SE 6th Street. I guess that Great Horned Owls are about finished courting and some are already sitting on nests.

Taking advantage of a break in the weather, the WWW went out bird-ing Saturday, February 12. They found 50 species between Reith Road, McNary and Warehouse Beaches and Cold Springs Road. Along Reith Road, the group took a

detour to the Cunningham compound and watched several thousand newborn baby lambs. June reported seeing most of the expected waterfowl species at McNary Nature Wildlife Ar-ea as well as a couple of California Scrub Jays cruising around. Their “Bird(s) of the Day” turned out to be maybe 3,000 or more Snow Geese seen from McNary Beach in one huge raft.

January – February Sightings

Short-eared Owl photo by club member Carolyn Featherston.

Kakya Taymut, Pendleton Bird Club Newsletter Volume 15 No. 2 February, 2017 Page 8

February 12, Jenny Barnett took a walk along the Umatilla Riv-er Walkway. Although it was a quiet morning, Jenny enjoyed watching a Rough-legged Hawk harass a Northern Harrier, something she has not seen before. Soon afterward, a large Falcon flew high above her. Be-cause it was moving rapidly, she was una-ble to see the back. Jenny immediately eliminated Prairie Falcon and North-ern Harrier. After further study, Jenny identified the bird as a GYRFALCON, a bird seldom seen in our County.

After reading this newsletter, you know that Jenny Barnett is stepping down as newsletter editor after nearly 2 years of service. I (Dave Herr) would personally like to thank Jenny for putting up with and correcting my often less than artic-ulate prose. Congratula-tions to you Jenny (and Jack) for the great job you have done compiling the newsletter these past 2 years.

The following is a brief note from one of Aaron’s recent emails: “Spring is on the way. In the next few days Sandhill Cranes will begin stopping at Echo Meadows on their northern migration. Within the next few weeks, Say’s Phoebes, Killdeer, and Sagebrush Sparrows (very rare) will start moving into and through the county”. Please report sightings of any of these early migrants as well as your other sightings and send your reports to me, dsherr1@mac.com or call 541-276-6413.

Submitted by Dave Herr

Young Cooper’s Hawk feeding on a junco at the home of Diana LaSarge in Pendleton.

That’s better!

Varied Thrush. © John Tubbs/PFW, Snoqualmie, Washington, January 2008.

Gyrfalcon (adult) photographed near Joseph, OR by Aaron Skirvin.

Newsletter Editor: Jenny Barnett Email Address: pdtgrouse@wtechlink.us

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

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

Click on the link to visit

our club’s website:

www.pendletonbirders.org

Who Am I?

Female Bufflehead Duck