Entries from February 2007 ↓

In a joint effort, the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee, Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the California Energy Commission have put out a new edition to the publication, Suggested Practices for Raptor Protection on Power Lines. The book has helped provide an increased awareness of the problems raptors have with dealing with power lines and solutions not only here in the U.S. but worldwide.

It is wonderful to see programs from non bird-related organizations that benefit birds. EEI also has produced the publication Mitigating Bird Collisions with Power Lines.

More info from EEI

For all of us who browse the internet, Google has become practically a household name: Why Don’t you just Google it? Now there may be a better search!

GoodSearch.com is a search engine powered by Yahoo! that is reliable and easy-to-use. But the key feature is this: every time you search for something, a small monetary amount is donated to a charity of your choice. There are currently 29,000 charities to pick from. We are currently donating to the Natural Land Institute, a Rockford based conservation organization.

While the searches might not be quite as refined as Google, for the most part we’ve had excellent success in finding what we are searching for. The system also keeps track of how much money has been earned for the organization you have picked: for example, February has earned the Natural Land Institute a little over $7.00 - not bad considering it was at $0.58 when we found out about it.

The more people that use GoodSearch, the more money goes to good causes. I urge you all to try it out. It is a fun, easy way to “donate” by doing something we do anyway.

There is a GoodSearch “website search” in the works that will let bloggers (among others) put a search box on their blog that allows users to search that site or the web, much like Google has now.

Once you go GoodSearch, you’ll never need to Google again!

Belize’s national bird, the Keel-billed Toucan is one of the most recognized bird species in the world. This gorgeous resident of lowland rainforests draws many tourists. The Keel-billed Toucan travels in small groups and nests in tree cavities. They are big, bright and loud. Their call can be heard up to a mile away.

Photo courtesy of (c)Tony Rath Photography

The best way to describe a twinkling big city lights during bird migration is “death trap”. We don’t know the exact reasons birds are attracted to the lights, but there are many theories and the death numbers are astounding.

Fortunately, many cities are aware of the problem and they are doing something about it. The Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), a Canadian organization whose mission is to preserve the migratory birds in urban areas, was created in 1993 in Toronto. They also have an extensive rescue program to save birds during migration in the city.

Chicago was the first U.S. city to have a program to turn off exterior and decorative lights at night during migration. They started the Lights Out Program in the fall of 2000. New York City also partakes in a Lights Out program.

In the spring of 2005, the Wisconsin Humane Society came up with WIngs (Wisconsin Night Guardians for Songbirds). They are trying to get tall building owners to dim their lights during migration. We hope they are successful, because the cities that dim their lights have had an 80 percent reduction in bird fatalities.

Their research is critical in promoting and implementing more lights out programs throughout the world and is crucial to saving migratory birds.

I could not yet find a Lights Out program outside of North America. If anyone knows one, please let me know!

Winnebago county, located in northern Illinois is a zone of ecological transition. This is Part 1 of 3 describing the meeting of three distinct Physiographic zones as described by Partner’s In Flight.

The Dissected Till Plains occupies part of the northwest of Illinois and spreads through most of Iowa, and parts of Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Kansas. The range ends in Winnebago county.

“Natural vegetation is a mosaic of tallgrass bluestem prairie and oak-hickory forest with oak savannahs characteristic of transition zones. Bottomland hardwoods grow in river valleys.” (Partners In Flight)

Some of the key species of birds for this area are: Greater Prairie-Chicken, Henslow’s Sparrow, Bobolink, Field Sparrow, and Loggerhead Shrike. Of these birds only the Henslow’s and Field Sparrows have been confirmed nesters in the last few years in Winnebago. Historically, Greater Prairie-Chickens boomed in the western part of the county but are no more.

Other birds associated with grassland areas of the Dissected Till Plains are Dickcissels and Grasshopper Sparrow. Grasslands with shrub-areas would include species like Bell’s Vireo (confirmed nester) and Brown Thrasher (relatively common).

Extensive data can be gleaned from the 60-page plan created by Partner’s In Flight.

Like most birders, I’m concerned about our environment. I care about protecting our natural world. I believe that human activity is accelerating the climate changes that are taking place on the planet. So I popped in this DVD, ready to become better informed about what I can do to help.

What did I learn? First of all, I learned that Al Gore is still bitter about losing the presidency in 2000, although I was a bit confused about its inclusion in the film. I have to admit to being confused by his political views, considering he claims that global warming isn’t about politics; it’s about morals. I just wish he had climbed down from his soap box long enough to tell me something informative!

I believe that Gore cares a lot about the environment. I know he has done research for a long time. His research started years before we even knew who he was. He made several good points–and then promptly jumped to another topic. His lack of focus made the film difficult to view.

Let me sum this up by saying that I don’t think this DVD is worth viewing. But what can we, as environmentally-conscious Americans do to protect the habitats that our birds live in? Although he never gets around to telling us, Gore references the web site, www.climatecrisis.net, at the end of the film. Once you get past all the self-promotion, the site gives helpful hints like recycling more, planting trees, changing light bulbs, etc. Thanks, Al Gore! We already knew that!

I hope this film creates the legacy that “the man who used to be the next President of the United States,” so desperately needs to create for himself!

Reviewed by SnowyOwl

Birdfreak disclaimer: we are not a political forum; our focus in on birds and how they interact in the environment; the issues around climate change are NOT political. It is up to individuals to make big changes; Theodore Roosevelt created the first National Bird Preserve, the beginning of the National Wildlife Refuge System; “the Government” did not.

The Illinois Natural History Survey did a Breeding Bird Atlas in the early 1990’s, but has not had the means to produce a more current one. The issues reguarding this involve funding and finding coordinators. We hope to help with a new updated atlasing project and are in the process of learning more on the issue.