By Laura Erickson

Wonder about the difference between a grackle and a starling? Do colorful warblers catch your fancy? What gave the Cooper's hawk its name?

Ask me -- The Bird Lady.

I'm the science editor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca and will be answering questions submitted by readers in this occasional column. Submit your questions to Outdoors Editor David Figura at dfigura@syracuse.com and he'll pass them on to me.

Question:I heard somewhere, way back, that a chickadee’s song changes on or around Valentine’s Day each winter. Is that true?
— J.B. from Cazenovia

Bird Lady: The song of the black-capped chickadee doesn’t change. But the male does sing more often and more intensely as spring progresses, beginning around Valentine’s Day.

The song is a three-note whistle with two of the notes connected. The way to recognize the song is with the mnemonic “Hey, sweetie.� It’s the male singing for the most part, though a few dominant females will sing it occasionally. But it is both to cement bonds between a male and female and for defending their territory.

Some studies used to imply that the “Hey, sweetie� song was not part of mate selection, but that’s not quite true. Recent paternity tests of baby chickadees indicate that on nests cared for by a male that does not sing very much, some of the babies will have been fathered by a neighboring male who sings a whole lot.

What people might be thinking about when they say the call changes during this time is the bird’s other call — the “chickadee-dee� call. It’s a basic communication sound made among flock members.

During the winter, chickadees continue to spend most of their time congregated in flocks and making that call — even when they’re singing the “Hey, Sweetie� song, which they sing most intensively in the early morning.

When I go to speak before classrooms in the late winter and spring, there will always be a student who tells me about listening to a chickadee and whistling back while waiting for a school bus.

To hear the “Hey, Sweetie� song, go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s web site at www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/sounds

Will hummingbird chick survive? See it live
February 12th, 2010, 1:50 pm ·


Hundreds of people in cyberspace are on pins and needles this week, waiting to learn whether a baby Allen’s hummingbird in Irvine will survive.

Photo of Allen's hummingbird nesting courtesy, Joe Dellwo.

The baby and its mother can be seen live via video streaming. They live in a cup-shaped nest in a rose bush in Joe Dellwo’s front yard. Dellwo, who works as a chip-maker at a semi-conductor company, says the nest has been occupied for seven years.

This year, however — his third streaming live video — all is not well in the nest.

“This chick doesn’t seem to be developing, so I may have to take her to a rehabber,� Dellwo said.

Dellwo describes himself as a nature enthusiast but not necessarily a birder. He’s fond of hummingbirds, and thinks the very same female might be returning year after year.

No one can be sure, though he says Allen’s hummingbirds can live as long as 12 years.

Dellwo says the chick should have grown a good coat of feathers by now.

“She seems slow to mature, but otherwise healthy,� he said.

He says recent storms might be to blame. The mother laid two eggs during the wet weather, but the other chick died after a few days; Dellwo wonders if the birds could have hatched prematurely.

If the chick’s condition continues to deteriorate, Dellwo says he might intervene and take it to a bird rehabilitation specialist.

About 400 to 500 people keep track of the nest at any one time, he said.

“People seem very engaged, very concerned,� he said. “A lot of people are watching to see the outcome of this drama.�

Someone's visiting the nestbox...I think it may be Tiago...

Looking for his

[Happy Valentine's Day to all!]

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Question: My friend told me there have been about a half-dozen incidents where they were watching racing pigeons, when suddenly a big brown bird came out of nowhere and whacked one of their birds. What is the law about catching them?

Answer: Neither state nor federal wildlife officials we talked with had seen or heard of any new large hawk in the islands, while the Hawaii Audubon Society said the predator most likely IS a peregrine falcon.

"They are occasional visitors to the islands and are thought to be large hawks," said Casey Primacio, office manager for the society. "We have had a few sightings of this recently."

But whether a hawk or falcon, federal and state laws prohibit the public from harming or capturing a wild bird, even if it is attacking pet pigeons.

In fact, in 2007 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arrested and charged roller pigeon hobbyists in California and Oregon with attempting to take, capture and kill hawks and/or peregrine falcons in violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. (See hsblinks.com/1uf.)

Likewise, birds that come to Hawaii "naturally," or migrate, are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, said Jason Misaki, wildlife manager for the Oahu Branch of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Forestry Division.

Under the act it is illegal for anyone to "take" migratory birds or their eggs, feathers or nests through "hunting, pursuing, wounding, killing, possessing or transporting." Currently, 836 bird species are protected by the act, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

In addition to the federal protection, "if it's considered to be an introduced species that is resident of Hawaii or occurs naturally, then we would protect them under state law, as well," Misaki said.

The endangered 'Io, or Hawaiian hawk, is found on the Big Island, and it's possible that it might have somehow come to Oahu, said George Phocas, resident agent in charge of enforcement for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii. And "every now and then, there've been reports of eagles blown off course in the Pacific that will show up here."

But they're all protected, by law.

The bottom line is that "it would be prohibited for (anyone) to try to kill a protected species in order to protect their roller pigeons," Phocas said.

Even if a predator bird were to attack an endangered species, "the government doesn't get involved with what nature does, in that sense," he said.

"Obviously, we get involved if public safety" is an issue, he said. Otherwise, he said it would be akin to telling sharks what to eat.

At this point the advice is to try to identify the bird, then work with wildlife professionals about possible ways to mitigate the attacks, such as determining what its habits are.

But, as Misaki said, "it's hard to regulate birds flying in the air. ... You can't control wild birds attacking pigeons."

WE WERE ABLE to meet with several pigeon owners to get an insight into their hobby, including Maili resident Rodman Pasco, who beat out thousands of other people across the United States to become the 2009 National Birmingham Roller Club "National Championship Fly" winner, with 18 of his birds rolling in unison.

The Birmingham roller pigeon is a breed that is able to roll or somersault backward rapidly.

Before that he placed 57th in World Cup competition in 2005, facing competitors from around the world, and 31st in 2007. He hopes to do even better when the World Cup is held again in May.

Pasco is one of those concerned about the random attacks by the unknown predator, having experienced an attack just last October.

Cameron Datanagan, director for the World Cup Fly Hawaii Region of the National Birmingham Roller Club and state secretary for the Hawaii All Breed Pigeon Association, explained that there are three kinds of pigeons: racing, rollers and show.

The rollers are especially prime for attacks, which Datanagan said has been reported within the past couple of years in various parts of Oahu, mostly in Windward and Leeward Oahu, as well as on the Big Island.

Datanagan said the mystery predator attacked a flock of roller pigeons during a competition just last month in Kaneohe.

"I was awestruck seeing the bird," which he said attacked a pigeon with "pinpoint accuracy" before flying back over the H-3 freeway into the mountains.

Attacks by predators are not new, with reports dating back to the 1980s in Pearl City, he said. But Datanagan said pigeon owners are particularly concerned because they don't know what kind of bird is involved and the frequency of the strikes.

If anyone can help identify the attacker, contact Datanagan through hawaiipigeon.com.

And, if you happen to be driving by Maili Point, Pasco says to look up and perhaps you'll see his "Pacific Bad Boys" in the sky.

Esteban and Clara Colbert, two peregrine falcons, can been seen through the cameras, on top of San Jose City Hall.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reid said $25,000 in donations from people and corporations enabled the purchase of a second camera.

“The timing is excellent, because it’s Valentine’s Day,� he said. “On Sunday, we’re going to have the falcon cams on to see what our two lovebirds are up to now, if they’re back in the nest. We hope to have some chicks in another month or so.�

Clara and Esteban Colbert have become worldwide sensations. “We have a fan base, a fan group. The Falcons have a Facebook page. We know that people around the world are watching them.�

People can see the two falcons Arrowhere.

Not exactly part of this thread, but I couldn't find any place else for it...
These people are regular customers in my Home Depot:
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=239804&format=html

Carol
WV

Great article Carol...you can put any animal articles under General nature discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtjhWhw2I8&feature=related   Poor Larry.

http://baetzler.de/humor/snow_shoveler.html

Another try...
Carol

Now that's 

It's been over a month since the last Zuzu sighting.  In particular, we wondered whether the yard (meter) of snow that fell last wek was causing problems for her and her nesting group.  Is it hard to glide from tree to tree when the branches are coated with snow and ice?

About 8 PM, Mary noticed something brownish-grey streak past the kitchen window, followed by the feeder starting to rock back and forth.  We all rushed to the window.  It was Zuzu!
Paul

Zuzu is like the cutest ever!

Winter Update #3 - February 12, 2010

The winter weather has been a major hindrance for the successful nesting of our eagle pair this year. With snow amounts approaching or exceeding 40 inches in the last week, this has served to overwhelm our birds and quite likely result in the first three eggs being non-viable.

Here's a history of the eggs laid thus far:

2/2 10:15pm--First egg laid.

2/6 2:12pm--Second egg laid.

2/9 6:00pm--Third egg laid.

Within hours of the second egg being laid, it became apparent that by their behavior that the eagles had lost their eggs in the deep snow that filled the nest.

A third egg was laid during the second storm on Feb. 9th, but the eagles have not been attentive to keeping the egg warm, and it seems likely that this clutch is no longer viable.

Time will tell if the eagles will lay more eggs. The odds are typically 50/50 for a second clutch. With this problem happening early this year, we are hoping that there will be additional eggs produced.

http://picasaweb.google.com/FranklinHaas/Junco#

Dr. David Hinson, pastor of First Baptist Church-St. Clair Street, used to have the only home in the 600 block of Capital Avenue near the Capitol.

But the last few years he’s had plenty of unwanted company – several hundred vultures roosting in the tops of the tall trees.

Hinson’s house faces the flowerbeds in the median leading to the Capitol, between Todd and State streets.

“One consequence we had last year, we normally have our church Easter egg hunt here,� Hinson says. “We had to cancel it here because of the bird droppings.

“We were told it wouldn’t be safe to have Easter eggs under those trees. There’s an offensive odor from the birds.

“For the community and for people who walk their dogs as well as children who play in that area, it would certainly be better for the vultures not to be there.�

Jane Purcell, a retired chemist from the state crime lab who used to run and walk by the Capitol, agrees.

She says it stinks, especially when the temperature rises.

“It takes your breath away,� Purcell says. “It’s disgusting, the odor. I don’t even bother going by there anymore. They’re destroying the pine trees as well.�

Purcell says she recently sent an e-mail to the governor’s office regarding the vultures, saying it was bad for tourism. But she said Tuesday she hasn’t received a reply.

“I understand the vultures do a public service, and I know they have to live somewhere,� Purcell says. “But that flowerbed area of the Capitol is not a good residence for them.�

Hinson says the vultures are roosting in trees owned by the state.

“My feeling is the state needs to take whatever action is necessary to protect the property,� Hinson says.

He says he’s called the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services office in Louisville and was told pyrotechnics – fireworks – are about the only thing that can get them to move.

“I would want to call the governor and get permission before doing that,� Hinson says. “I don’t want to set those off by myself.�

Keith Stucker, district supervisor for USDA’s Wildlife Services, said vultures, like geese and ducks, are federally protected. He recommended using loud fireworks for about an hour in the early evening as the vultures are coming in to roost.

Stucker said it should be done 7 days a week, regardless of the weather, and it could take a few weeks.

He said it’s important to inform the public as to what’s going on.

“You want to get everybody on board, and the more people discharging the better your event is going to be,� Stucker said.

The goal is to create an inhospitable environment, “to make a lot of noise so the vultures feel uncomfortable,� Stucker said. “Then they will go somewhere else. You have to be more persistent than the birds.�

Kendra Palmer, environmental director for the Franklin County Health Department, said Tuesday she received one complaint in the last month about vulture droppings on the sidewalk near the Capitol.

She referred the complaint to state facilities management because it’s on state grounds.

Palmer says she’s worked at the local health department for almost 19 years and “this is the first vulture species complaint I’ve received.�

Joy Jeffries, executive director of the Frankfort Tourist Commission, said today her office hasn’t received any complaints.

Bird expert Brainard Palmer-Ball Jr., a longtime zoologist with the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, used to do an annual count of vultures in Frankfort.

But he retired last year and said Tuesday he hasn’t done a survey this year.

His record count was 1,100 in 2007. There were about 700 in 2006 and 2009 and about 500 in 2008.

Of the 500 counted in 2008 – most of them roosting in tall spruce and white pine trees on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion – 300 were reddish-headed turkey vultures and 200 were darker-headed and shorter-tailed black vultures.

In 2007, the vultures, at night, were perched in trees in Montrose Park along East Main Street and the wooded slope above Warsaw Street, which runs parallel to Holmes Street.

In winter 2006, the roost was along the south side of the East-West Connector between the city’s water treatment ponds and the Kentucky River.

Vultures roost communally during the non-breeding season, Palmer-Ball says.

In Kentucky, the largest roosts are typically observed from late fall into late winter, with the roosts breaking up as soon as warm weather arrives.

Each morning the birds spread out in all directions, some as far as 10 to 15 miles, Palmer-Ball says. Then late each afternoon the birds return to the roost area, swirling around in the sky in loose groups before dropping into the trees by sunset.

“The temporary nature of the use of specific roost sites greatly diminishes any concern for diseases like histoplasmosis … and the birds are not aggressive,� Palmer-Ball said. “They would not bother pets or humans.

“They eat carrion, which most times take the form of road-killed animals, discarded carcasses, and animals that have died of natural causes.

“The black vulture is known to be more aggressive, and has been documented to kill newly-born or weak piglets and calves. But that is not the norm, especially in winter when the birds are not raising young.�

He acknowledged the huge birds can cause a bad odor and that they soil sidewalks, cars and decks with their droppings.

Cindy Lanham, spokeswoman for the Finance and Administration Cabinet, said the vultures have damaged the roofs of some buildings at the Capitol. Since the animals are federally protected, the state has ordered some ultrasonic devices to prevent further damage.

The birds follow the Kentucky River and prefer to roost on the bluffs near the Capitol, Lanham said.

 

WELLFLEET — Federal scientists will try to protect piping plovers on local beaches by fooling the predator crows with fake nests and deadly hens eggs.

The Cape Cod National Seashore will work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture from March through May to create fake nests at Duck Harbor and Bound Brook beaches. The scientists will inject the avicide DRC-1339 into hard-boiled chicken eggs and place them in the "nests," according to the plan. The tainted egg sites, which will be fenced in, are designed to look like the fenced enclosures that Seashore officials use now to protect plover nests.

DRC-1339 is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency for control of several species of birds considered pests, such as crows and gulls, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The chemical can kill a crow within 12 to 72 hours, according to the Seashore.

The Seashore will hold public information meetings about the plan Feb. 25 in Eastham and March 3 in Provincetown.

Crows and coyotes are primary predators of piping plovers, least terns and other shorebirds nesting in the Seashore, according to Seashore records.

Crows, particularly, are known for intelligence and adaptability — and their increasing population, said Seashore shorebird biologist Mary Hake yesterday.

"Crows are our number one egg predator," Hake said.

Most national parks along the East Coast that have rare shorebird populations use tools such as deadly chemicals to manage predators, Hake said. The Seashore wants to consider that option as well for helping maintain plover populations, she said.

Hake characterized the plan as a pilot project that is still being finalized.

Eliminating crows would also allow the Seashore to reduce its protection of plovers at certain overcrowded beaches in exchange for an overall increase in plover pairs throughout the park, Hake said.

The Atlantic Coast population of piping plovers is listed as threatened at both the state and federal levels. Massachusetts has the largest breeding population of piping plovers along the coast.

In 2009, there were about 87 pairs of nesting plovers in the Seashore, according to Seashore records.

The two-mile stretch of Wellfleet beach within the Seashore was chosen because of its population of plovers and crows, and because it is close to a parking lot for workers involved in the pilot, Hake said.

She estimated that a handful of crows would be killed during the three-month project.

At Crane Beach in Ipswich, DRC-1339 is used to selectively kill crows on a four-mile stretch of shoreline, said regional ecologist Franz Ingelfinger of The Trustees of Reservations.

The program has been in place for two years, Ingelfinger said. During that time, five crow carcasses have been found, but Ingelfinger said he estimates that 20 to 45 crows have been killed overall.

The alternative would be to shoot crows by luring them with methods that would likely attract more than just those in the beach neighborhood, Ingelfinger said.

"It's a very small proportion of the (crow) population," Ingelfinger said. "We feel that it is warranted. This was a means of last resort. It's very selective. It's proven effective."

Scientists at the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary have only recently learned about the Seashore's plan and hope to find out more soon, sanctuary director Robert Prescott said yesterday.

The sanctuary has a policy that allows for the use of lethal methods to protect piping plovers, but that policy has never been used, Prescott said. "Every situation has to be evaluated on its own merits," he said.

Biology and animal behavior professor Peter Auger of Centerville urged Seashore officials yesterday to consider an alternative. Given crows' intelligence and social order, he suggested teaching them to stay away from plover eggs through the use of a vomit-inducing substance.

"In the long run, that's about the only thing that can work," said Auger, who teaches at Wheaton College in Norton and Boston College. "That will be communicated to other members of the same species. What you're doing, with their sophisticated social system, is using it against them."

Updated: 1:14 pm PST February 12, 2010
SAUSALITO, Calif. -- Wildlife experts statewide are investigating what they're calling a crisis in the health of the formerly endangered California brown pelicans.

According to the California Department of Fish and Game, hundreds of sick, injured and dead brown pelicans have been found along the California coastline since mid-January.

The International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia in Solano County is assisting more than 100 of the sick, injured and disoriented birds. Another 200 are being cared for in Southern California.

It is not yet known what is causing the illnesses. Wildlife experts are speculating about the possibility of urban runoff from recent winter storms.

Additionally, some of the birds may be having trouble locating their traditional food sources, anchovies and sardines, according to the Department of Fish and Game.

California brown pelicans were removed from state and federal endangered species lists in 2009.

Wildlife officials advised those who find sick or dead pelicans to call (866) WILD-911. Feeding sick or injured pelicans is not advised.