Entries from January 2008 ↓

This year’s flock of young Whooping Cranes have made it to Chasshowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. Their journey was tough and long - 96 days.

The following photos are from Mark Chenoweth, creator of Whooper Happenings, your source for podcasts full of information about Whooping Cranes.

Chris Gullikson guiding a dozen cranes to the Halpata-Tastanaki Reserve

Richard van Heuvelen leading three Whooper chicks

The hard work and dedication in Whooping Crane conservation would not be possible without dedicated volunteers and support of wonderful organizations like Operation Migration. Consider helping out the project with a donation to Operation Migration.

Photos courtesy of Mark Chenoweth

It’s been a year since we got our birdJam software and reviewed it here on the blog. A year later birdJam is still helping us learn bird songs at home and in the field.

Here are 6 reasons why we love the birdJam software:

1. Removal of name identification - the top reason to get birdJam software is because it removes the voice that calls out the names of the birds. While this might seem like an odd thing to do when learning bird songs, it is important for two reasons: when learning a bird song it is important to know the name AFTER hearing the sound, not before. You can look at the name of the bird afterwards. The second reason, see #2
2. Use in the field - by removing the voices, you can play back bird calls in the field to attract birds. There are obvious ethical implications involved when doing this and we suggest reading the American Birding Association’s Code of Ethics (1b).

   iMainGo is a battery-operated portable speaker for use in the field
   

3. Used with an iPod - there are many types of mp3 players out there but Apple’s iPod is still the top of the line. With this comes a notable price difference, but the cost of iPod Nanos has gone down considerably and there are many options available. birdJam software is designed to be used with iTunes (the music software for iPods) so the two work wonderfully together.
4. Easy to use - installing the software is easy with detailed instructions that guide you through a few clicks
5. Packaged deals available - while we already owned an iPod and the Stoke’s CDs when we bought the birdJam software, there are many packaged deals available, including the fully loaded 8GB iPod Touch
   
6. Add-on modules - birdJam offers software for eastern and western bird species but is always adding new modules. They currently have add-ons for SE Arizona & Sonora, Mexico and Costa Rica: Caribbean Slope.

We have used birdJam numerous times in the field, including on Christmas Bird Counts to call in birds, a birding trip where we had to determine if the bird in question was a Louisiana or Northern Waterthrush, and other times when trying to call out owls in the night. At home, the software is used a lot to teach kids and ourselves bird songs. With the playlists (both provided and added ourselves), we can select a set of birds to study, such as warblers in the spring.

Last year’s birdJam review we gave 10 out of 10 feathers and we feel that rating still stands strong.

With the Great Backyard Bird Count fast approaching (Feb 15th-18th), the Audubon Pocket Backyard Birdwatch is a handy tool for citizen scientist birders.

With only 72 pages and a slim, 3 inch wide frame, Backyard Birdwatch is definitely a book that can easily travel. Whether you are out gardening or watching birds at your favorite window seat, this book is a quick reference to some of the common birds found in backyards. It even comes with a foldout chart of 30+ backyard birds.

While not exactly a breakthrough in new ideas, Backyard Birdwatch provides tips throughout the four seasons with advice on ways to make your backyard birding more enjoyable. There are sections on what bird feeders to use, ways to provide water, nest boxes, and our favorite, bird-friendly lawns (plus much more).

If you are fairly advanced in your birding, this book is probably too basic. However, someone just getting started in birding and especially kids (8 to 15 or so) could benefit by this simple, easy to use book to learn some interesting bird attracting tips.

One irritant: the book’s construction is stiff and the three-fold style is awkward when paging through. The foldout chart is attached so it won’t get misplaced, but it makes viewing more difficult.

Overall rating: any book that promotes birds and bird conservation is wonderful and for who this book is targeted to - beginners and young birders - the book is spot on.
8 out of 10 feathers

Poor weather has kept us away from continuing our Deer Run Bird Survey (tons of snow and below zero temperatures on our available dates) but we were finally able to do a survey for January. [Read about the Deer Run Bird Survey citizen science project]

American Tree Sparrow

With the trails covered with 8 inches of snow we decided to only walk the “A” loop which is the shortest of the three loops but follows a lot of riparian habitat and open prairie. The bird life was fairly quiet but we saw one more species than our third survey and ended the morning with 17.

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Cooper Was Here

Imagine if birds were tickled by feathers. You’d see a flock of birds come by, laughing hysterically.
-Steven Wright

Here are our top ten blue birds, enjoy!

1. Eastern Bluebird - This is the state bird of New York and Missouri, and it’s a good choice. Eastern Bluebirds are cool birds that are not too elusive, making them easy to find.

Eastern Bluebirds can be found in Northern Illinois year-round, though they are less common in winter (we get pretty excited about winter sightings). Although they were declining in the 60s and 70s, they rebounded quickly with the help of vigorous nest-box campaigning and are easy for children to observe.

2. Blue Grosbeak - This uncommon bird hangs out in shrubby areas, unfortunately, very rarely in our area. The female is brown, but also very beautiful.
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Birding has come a long way since the days of shotguns and musty museum specimens. With advances in technology and the internet, birders are now able to not only find birds easier but also share their sightings with others.

Birdstack is a new website that allows users to submit sightings from anywhere in the world and “communitize” with other birders. The process is pretty simple: submit a sighting after choosing a location and build your life list online. You can then create a widget to post your sightings on your blog or website that will update as you add more sightings.

American Goldfinch - added to our Birdstack!

Birdstack uses the International Ornithological Congress’s list of birds of the world. Any updates or revisions to this list will automatically adjust as species are split or lumped.

We’ve just started using Birdstack and have had a few “difficulties” with the sighting submission process:

• Currently, you seem to only be able to submit one sighting at a time although there is an import function that we haven’t tried yet
• You are required to include the latitude and longitude with your location sightings which is somewhat annoying Bug fixed!!
• Google maps are integrated in the submission process yet seemed to not let us zoom in far enough to pinpoint a location of the birding spot we wanted Update: Working fine now; Google issue

The submission process will undoubtedly get better, especially as Birdstack is working with eBird to integrate bird sightings. What we really love so far are the sidebar widgets and hope they will offer more customized looks soon.

The site just launched on January 20th, so join now and keep up-to-date as they evolve.

Birdstack was created by David Ringer and Curtis Hawthorne.