While our main focus continues to be birds, we promote other areas of conservation as well. Conserving land not only benefits wildlife, but is hugely beneficial to people as well.
We love all sorts of outdoor activities, especially hiking and spend a lot of time outside with dogs and horses. We are working to produce more articles on all sorts of outdoor fun!
In November, I read a newspaper article about a prominent member of the birding community being arrested for animal cruelty. Jim Stevenson, founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society and author of several books, had allegedly shot and killed several feral cats. “Galveston law enforcement officials say Stevenson shot a cat to death this month near the San Luis Pass Bridge on the island’s west end,” the Los Angeles Times states.
Why did he do this? To protect the birds, he says. “Regardless of what you think about killing an animal, you must ask yourself if one stray cat’s life is worth more than dozens — or hundreds — of wild birds already bowing to the stresses of cars, TV towers, pesticides, loss of habitat,” the Times quoted Stevenson as saying. Although he stops short of admitting killing the cat, he did mention that he had seen it hunting a Piping Plover, which is considered a threatened species.
Piping Plover, Photo courtesy (c) Mike from www.mllpix.com
I can see where the man is coming from. I, too, feel angry whenever I see cats roam free because I know that they kill birds. But I could never harm an animal–any animal. My anger isn’t directed at the cats–it’s directed at the people who let their cats run loose, leaving a trail of dead wildlife in their wake, and reproducing at an alarming rate.
I was disturbed by Steven’s actions, but I was also sickened to read that a tollbooth worker by the name of John Newland was feeding the wild cats and thought of them as “his pets.” Doesn’t he understand that by feeding these animals, he’s perpertrating the problem? He feeds the cats; they have kittens. Now there are more homeless pets having to struggle to survive.
According to Spay, Inc., a pair of breeding cats (plus all the kittens born to them) will produce 80,399,780 kittens in a ten-year span (12 cats in one year’s span). These numbers are staggering. Of course, the figures seem inflated to me: most of these cats won’t be lucky enough to survive the hazards of living on the streets.
Anyone who is feeding stray cats is helping to add to overpopulation.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this topic. Have you ever birded in the Galveston area? (Check out the Bird Advocates blog for more on the vulnerablity of wildlife due to feral and roaming cats.) How do you feel about people shooting cats? How do you feel about cats killing birds that are already considered to be threatened species?
Sources: Bustillo, Miguel, Los Angeles Times, November 25, 2006
The Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA) is a non-profit organization “devoted exclusively to the scientific study of Purple Martins (Progne subis), their biology, and habitat requirements”.
One important project of the PMCA is called the Scout Arrival Study. They collect migration reports from all over the United States and then map them according to when and where they arrive. Each year (since 1998) the PMCA collects more and more data.
This map shows the arrival dates and breeding ranges of Purple Martins
The PMCA also collects data on the location of Purple Martin colonies. Anyone with housing for Purple Martins (whether active or inactive) can fill out a short form with their information. There are over 50,000 registered colonies. Tracking birds by user information through the internet is a growing method of figuring out where birds are being seen (or not seen).
Location: Northeastern Oregon and extreme southeastern Washington, United States.
Size: 25,000 square miles (About the size of West Virginia, United States)
General description: This ecoregion is found within the Temperate Coniferous Forest major habitat type. 466 species are found in this ecoregion, 42% of them being birds. Riparian and old growth forests and several mountainous and basin areas make up the Blue Mountains ecoregion.
Birding: This area is important for many bird species. Northern Spotted Owl, White-headed Woodpecker, Three-toed Woodpecker and Pygmy Nuthatch are just a few of the species that benefit from the old-growth forests.
Northern Spotted Owl (Threatened) Photo courtesy (c) of Nathan Hamm
The Birdfreak Team was out birding this morning at Severson Dells, going along with one of our favorite naturalists, local birder Phil Schwabb. He was giving a guided hike, and it was apparant that the other people on the hike were newby birders. It is always great to see new birders and these bird walks are great for helping them out.
Severson Dells, gorgeous at any time of the year
I am far from being an expert birder and it is the enjoyment of birding, not becoming an expert, that keeps me into birding. I love learning new things, and it is the learning that makes it so fun.
I won’t list all the species we saw here, but one stood out. Near departure of Severson Dells, SnowyOwl’s gang discovered an apparent injured bird. Upon further investigation, the bird was determined to be a Northern Bobwhite. {We actually found out later that the bird was a Coturnix (Japanese) Quail}.
Northern Bobwhite – Turned out to be a Coturnix (Japanese) Quail
The bird was actually not injured but was too close to the road (not a busy road) but the exposure would have made him an easy target for a predator. So we nudged him into a short flight and a “quailish walk” and he made it into cover. That’s when we discovered that there were several more.
Now, we have never seen Bobwhites that were golden brown or white, so there is some confusion of whether these are farm birds or something. There were numerous Bobwhites flying and we confirmed the calls as correct, but have not found any data on color variations.
It is unlikely that they were “dumped” at the preserve, but there are farms in the area. Whatever the origin of these Bobwhites, it was a really cool ending to a beautiful, and cold, morning at Severson Dells.
Addendum:
Thanks to the comments on this issue, I searched for Coturnix (or Japanese) Quail and found a site about them. What I was calling Bobwhites are actually Coturnix Quail or some sort of farm variation of them. There were Bobwhites calling in the area and we will be in contact with the naturalists at Severson Dells to see if any more weird quailish birds show up.
We hope the birds weren’t dumped intentionally but just happened to wander from a farm.
Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, Ebird is a real-time, online checklist program that is free and easy to use. Their goal is to record as much bird data as possible by both recreational and professional bird watchers.
It seems to be working. In 2006, participants reported more than 4.3 million bird observations across North America. Hopefully, Ebird will continue to grow.
We want to encourage EVERYONE to join this online program. It is a great way to track all of your birdlists, from daily lists to life lists. One of the neatest features is the use of graphs that show abundance based on what data is recorded. Hence, the more people the more correct these graphs will be.
Kirtland’s Warbler
This map shows the possiblity of Kirtland’s Warbler nesting in northeastern Wisconsin. The more habitat restoration that occurs in this area, the higher probability of confirmed nesting.
Gray Jay
This map shows a direct line of the southern limits of the Gray Jay.
Confirmed Breeding Species
This map displays the density of species and possible areas that are in need of more survey coverage.
The atlas is available at the WSO Bookstore for $40.00 and their detailed maps are found on their Website.
We are not sure when another survey will be done but we will try to be a part of it.
There are many symbols that can be used to represent a country. A national bird is one of the most common. Often these symbols are printed on flags, seals, money, and popular products. People then associate that bird with their country.
Mexico’s national bird is the (Northern) Crested Caracara. It is depicted on the Mexican flag and is considered an omen of good luck.
The Aztec and Myan cultures held this bird in high esteem and wore jewelry of their claws and headresses of their feathers.
These (Northern) Crested Caracaras are mostly found on or near the ground in open areas. They are scavengers and predators.
