5 Everyday Ways You can help with Bird Conservation!

World Migratory Bird Day

5 Everyday Ways You Can Help With Bird Conservation

Migration can be a dangerous journey for birds, with a variety of threats and obstacles, many caused by humans.

If you want to take some easy steps to help all birds, here are a few!

Keep your cats indoors. Did you know that the tens of millions of cats in the United States are estimated to kill
2.4 billion birds a year? Sure, cats make wonderful pets, but they’re also been evaluated to have been a factor in the
extinction of thirty three species of birds. Even if your cat is well-fed and satisfied, their predator instincts will still
cause them to hunt down birds. Killing birds isn’t the only way cats can negatively impact birds–even their very
presence as a predator can distress birds and reduce health or nest success. Keeping your cat inside–or even just
attaching a bell to their collar–could help to reduce the number of birds killed by domestic cats.

Prevent window collisions. Flying into windows is a common cause of bird death–in 2014 alone, 1 billion birds
were estimated to have died this way. Birds will often mistake a reflection of the sky or nature as a safe place to
fly and don’t notice the glass. Putting up curtains, attaching window decals, or covering the glass with specialized,
translucent tape are all ways to protect birds from colliding with windows.

Clean your bird feeder. Plenty of people have bird feeders or bird baths in their garden in hopes of attracting some
feathery guests, but how many people make sure they’re clean? Dirty bird feeders or water can spread disease,
but regularly disinfecting your feeder and putting in new seeds or water can help decrease this risk. If you’ve got
a bird feeder or bird bath, you should make sure your upkeep is consistent!

Reduce your use of plastic bags and bottles. Birds will often mistakenly eat plastic and get sick from this,
maybe even dying. Avoiding the use of plastic bottles and bags will help minimize the likelihood of plastic
pollution and its negative effect on birds.

Avoid using chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides. Birds have been known to eat the pellets or
contaminated plants. This could not only outright kill a bird or have a toxic effect on health, but also affect
unborn embryos. These baby birds could then suffer from deformations or suppressed immune systems once
hatched.

For more information about this, you can visit Environment for the Americas, American Bird Conservancy,
the Cornell’s Lab for Ornithology All About Birds or BRI’s website.

Links consulted

• https://www.allaboutbirds.org/why-birds-hit-windows-and-how-you-can-help-prevent-it/
• http://www.birdday.org/birdday/themes/2012-twenty-years-of-imbd/20-ways-to-conserve-birds
• https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds

-By Rose Rasor (Yarmouth High School Career Explorer)

And the winds bring birds...

It was another beautiful morning at River Point.  Cool morning temperatures and clear skies brought a swath of birds to the property. We enjoyed banding a suite of sparrows including Lincoln's (2), Swamp (6), White-throated (6), and Song (8 plus 2 already banded). One highlight was a Brown Thrasher, only our 8th at the station but our second of the season.

We also shared our work with students of the Chebeague Island School. What a flock of interested and capable young people. It was a true pleasure to meet the students, teachers, and chaperones. Thanks to Beverly Johnson for coordinating this visit. The nets did not produce a kinglet but they did produce a timely male Sharp-shinned Hawk, our third of the season but the first male.

Brown Thrasher, 9/25/2015, Photo by Dana Palm

More tomorrow, I guess.  Oh and here is the tally of the 84 birds in the nets for the day thanks to Stella Walsh:

2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets

1 Magnolia Warbler

1 Blackpoll Warbler

5 Common Yellowthroats

2 American Goldfinch

17 Black-capped Chickadees (many already banded)

1 Dark-eyed junco

6 Swamp Sparrows

2 Lincoln's Sparrows

6 White-throated Sparrow

10 Song Sparrows

2 Red-eyed Vireos

11 Swainson's Thrushes

1 Veery

13 Gray Catbirds

1Brown Thrasher

1 Sharp-Shinned Hawk

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

2 Downy Woodpeckers

We were all third graders once

Tomorrow we look forward to hosting a group of elementary students from Chebeague Island, Maine at River Point Bird Observatory. As a banding crew we always find a great deal of enjoyment in sharing our activities and observations with guests even if things can get a bit hectic at the banding station. Among our favorite guests are third graders. Third graders generate some amazing questions about the birds that we are examining at the station. They also possess a growing competence and raw curiosity that serves as a great reminder of what it is to be a human.

With a cold front passing through this evening we hope for a good diversity of birds to share with students so they can form these questions, experience new birds, and develop a passion for the natural world. Tonight we'll brush up to be ready for the tough questions and reflect on our own third grade experiences. If all goes well perhaps we can show them the kinglet of the birds.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 

Three Flickers, Two Days, One Migration

Three Flickers, Two Days, One Migration

This past Tuesday and Wednesday (9/22 and 9/23) were busy banding days at River Point as Fall migration continues to bring many wonderful birds our way. White-throated Sparrow, Swainson's Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, and many varieties of warblers were among the species we are now beginning to see at River Point. To our surprise, it was the northern flicker, which attempted to steal the spotlight from the fall arrivals. In two days, three Yellow-shafted Flickers managed to find their way into our nets. Having banded 15 individuals in the last 5 years at River Point, seeing three in two days is representative of the big push that many species are making this time of year. We look forward to seeing what is in the nets tomorrow!

                                                     

Note the black "mustache" or "malar streak" indicating that this flicker is a male!

Photographs and post by Drew Fortin, 2015 BRI Banding and Education Intern.

Tree Swallow Nest Monitoring (22 May 2015)

River Point Conservation Area

Southern Maine Nest Box Trail

22 May 2015

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Well, we are well into a new season of nest box surveys. Tree Swallows were first seen at River Point during the first week of April. It has taken several weeks for the birds to settle in to their nesting phase. On May 9^th we provided the birds feathers by tossing them into the air in the open field.  This activity was a shared demonstration during our celebration of International Migratory Bird Day and indicated that the birds were preparing their nests. So we scheduled our first nest box check of the season for May 13. 

Wednesday, 5/13

This is our first nest box check of the season. Tree swallows and house wrens were both actively building nests, but neither had begun to lay eggs. However, one nest box contained an eastern bluebird nest with 4 eggs and a female bluebird on the nest.

Monday, 5/18

We found increased activity in our nest boxes compared to just a few days ago. In all, 18 nest boxes had at least some nesting activity (most of them empty or incomplete nests)but  6 nests contained at least 1 egg, including 4 tree swallow nests with 1 egg each, 1 house wren nest with 3 eggs, and the bluebird nest with 4 eggs (for a total of 11 eggs so far). We also had the opportunity to show a student group from Chebeague Island one of the fields with nest boxes and explain our nest box monitoring project. We set up a spotting scope so that students could observe the many tree swallows on the boxes and flying in the area.

Many thanks to River Point interns Stefanie Farrington, Erin Wright-Little, and Drew Fortin for there enthusiasm toward this project and all the work at River Point.

Biology stops for no man! Writing it all down would be impossible.

Conflicts, consensus, and confusion in preserving species

Contributed by Patrick Keenan, Biologist and Outreach Director at Biodiversity Research Institute

Recently I've become perplexed by a series of wildlife conservation/management related issues before me. They range from national to local to darn-near personal. The three represent a range of perspectives, issues, and challenges that are worthy of linking together here.

Weeks ago NPR aired a segment about Spotted Owl conservation methods. As it turns out, one plan that has been enacted is to remove, by shooting, Barred Owls that are expanding their range and overtaking Spotted Owl habitat. In this story, Barred Owls are recognized as invaders using aggression and a reproductive advantage (by raising more young in equivalent time) to drive out the “mild mannered” Spotted Owl. This issue represents a notable trap for state and federal wildlife officials—at once they are mandated to preserve Spotted Owls, which are recognized as endangered species, but by adopting a favored and experimental management method of shooting owls they are in conflict with the long-standing Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a Federal Act that protects, with notable exceptions, migratory birds from harvest. The conservation management issue here represents an ethical quagmire that has pitted environmentalists against one another. Indeed, lawsuits are prepared against the action of shooting Barred Owls even if it may be a noble undertaking for Spotted Owl conservation. No matter your viewpoint, this is happening and it is a real issue.

In cases of managing plants for to provide native habitats the control and eradication of introduced and invasive species is undertaken with ruthlessness. While many people may have strong feelings for Barred Owls, many fewer view invasive buckthorn, bittersweet, or multiflora rose with the same open heart. By nearly all accounts, the eradication and removal of invasive plants is a “war” that must be waged to maintain native plant and animal populations and healthy ecosystem function. At River Point Conservation Area, it is well recognized that invasive, introduced plant species have encroached native vegetation. To maintain and restore the native habitat the Town of Falmouth responded. Volunteers have been trained to cut, remove, and spray the stalks of invasive species in order to control and eradicate them from the property and restore native habitats.

In thinking about what appear to be inconsistent perspectives toward managing species, I feel compelled to introduce the plight of a resident population of Red Crossbill in Southern Idaho. Important background is that I spent several years studying these birds as part of the Benkman Lab at the University of Wyoming. Briefly, there is a resident population of Red Crossbills in an isolated mountain range in southern Idaho. Like other Red Crossbills they rely exclusively on conifer seeds survival and reproduction. Importantly, the ecological adaptation of these birds to the local lodgepole pine cones and seeds makes it unlikely that they could survive outside of their current range. Climate change models predict that in the coming decades decreased precipitation in this region may result in the loss of forest habitats that are already restricted to high elevation. So, as the pines disappear so will crossbills. In this case there is no invading plant, or aggressive owl to place in the crosshairs. There is no Sisyphean task that will quell the demise of the South Hills or Idaho crossbill.

These examples summarize cases of management action and inaction that are complex and exist within their own political, economic, and cultural horizons. Perhaps the real message is...Controversy exists. Decisions are made. Protocols are followed. Science plays a key role in our understanding of plant and animal behavior and offers methods for management to achieve desired outcomes. Ultimately, we are people who have values, who make decisions, and, for better or worse, who must accept our decisions and their outcomes.

The comments made here are made by the author under not other authority, dependent upon the authorship, there may or may not be inaccuracies or sarcasm. Please provide comments or questions about this blog post or subject area, please submit your letter to patrick.keenan@briloon.org and include “species management conflicts” in the subject line. Please submit your letters by noon on Friday, February 28.