Entries Tagged 'Bird Migration' ↓

The College of William and Mary along with the Nature Conservancy have recently recorded a wayward Whimbrel, which they named Winnie, completing a record flight. In 146 hours this radio-tracked shorebird traversed 3,200 miles [nearly 22 MPH].

Whimbrel

Photo from Mike Baird (Flickr Creative Commons)

“This discovery sets a new distance record in the flight range of this species and highlights the hemispheric importance of the Delmarva Peninsula as a staging area for migratory shorebirds. The flight documented this spring challenges some long-held assumptions and raises several new questions about Whimbrel ecology.” - Bryan Watts, Director of the Center for Conservation Biology.

As these transmitters get smaller and lighter, this sort of tracking will prove crucial to all sorts of migrant birds and bird conservation. Read the entire article from W&M News.

Where did this Chestnut-sided Warbler migrate from?

Back in 1965, an ornithologist from the Illinois Natural History Survey, Richard Graber, pioneered a new way to track migrating birds. His method involved placing a small radio transmitter on the back of a Gray-cheeked Thrush, their size more able to carry the extra weight than other songbirds. Graber followed the bird by airplane, tracking it across many miles but never discovered where the bird ended up.

After abandoning the method, Graber asked his friend Bill Cochran to continue with the project. From 1965 to 2004, Cochran chased migrating birds, this time from a car, over 150,000 miles (Living Bird, Spring 2006). The project collected tons of valuable data but was difficult and time consuming (not to mention costly).

Radio tracking is getting better and better and not too far in the future, we are sure there will be new ways to track bird migration. Imagine this: a bird is banded in High Island, Texas and equiped with a tracking device. The bird can be tracked in real time and accessed by computer to determine when and where it is. Maybe the bird stopped over in a city park in St. Louis or was blown of course by a storm on the great plains. The possibilities are virtually endless.

While this might sound impossible, some of the equipment is already in place. Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) are being used to track products for inventory purposes. The tags can be made small enough to fit on termites and thus would have little effect on even some of the smallest birds (although that would need to be tested first). The products are costly but could provide much better results.

But how would this type of tracking affect birding? Say birders had access to a massive database of birds that have been equipped with tracking devices. Key in a bird you need for your lifelist and up comes a map plotting the path. There’s one at a nearby park right now! Would this harm birding or help it? Would lifelists be abandoned or increase rapidly? Would rare birds become less of a big deal or easier and more fun to find? Would big days be cheapened, big years a thing of the past?

What about conservation? Wouldn’t it be spectacular to know exactly where the birds are? No more guessing what routes birds take during migration. As long as the bird is caught and equipped with a way to track it, new information could be collected daily. Ornithologists (and birders) could discover bird locations and even deceased birds to get accurate knowledge of lifespans, nesting cycles, and more. Suddenly bird banding wouldn’t be about retrapping birds but catching them once and then monitoring them.

This may be futuristic or revolutionary… what are your thoughts?

Illinois has seven regularly occuring thrushes, five of which are long-distance migrants: Wood Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Hermit Thrush, and Veery. American Robins and Eastern Bluebirds (also in the thrush family) are year-round residents or short-distance migrants.

Wood Thrush

One of the most common of the migratory thrushes, the Wood Thrush is easily identified by its mystical song but at times is somewhat difficult to see. It is the only one of the five that commonly nests in Illinois. The Wood Thrush resides in heavy forested areas and spends most of its time near the ground. There are some concerns over on-going population declines due to deforestation and cowbird parasitism.

A Wood Thrush often returns to the same breeding territory in successive years. It also may return to the same wintering area each year. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Hermit Thrush

Identified by its reddish tail, brown back, and spotty chest, the Hermit Thrush spends the winter in North America, switching its diet from insects in the warmer months to a mixture of fruit and insects. The Hermit Thrush’s song is melodious and haunting. Population trends show they are increasing over most of their range.

East of the Rocky Mountains the Hermit Thrush usually nests on the ground. In the West, it is more likely to nest in trees. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Swainson’s Thrush

The Swainson’s Thrush can be identified by its buffy face and prominant eyering. This thrush also has a melodious flute song that is very enjoyable to listen to.

The Swainson’s Thrush is the only woodland thrush whose song goes up in pitch. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

They mostly nest in coniferous forests and winter as far south as Argentina. Unfortunately, the Swainson’s Thrush’s numbers appear to be declining.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

The Gray-cheeked Thrush is closely related to Bicknell’s Thrush and despite having a much larger range, has not gained as much attention. The Gray-cheeked has a plain gray face with light streaking but no eyering. It migrates through Illinois and is usually a headline item on birding hotlines.

Of all the American spotted thrushes, the Gray-cheeked has the most northern breeding range. Consequently this shy skulker of the underbrush is not well known and is rather infrequently seen. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Veery

The Veery is the least spotted of the migratory thrushes and has a distinct orangish brown (”tawny”) coloring. The Veery’s call is a descending “da-vee-ur, vee-ur, veer, veer,” as if echoing part of its name. The Veery nests in damp deciduous forests of the north and Rocky Mountains. There is some decline throughout its range.

A study of migration using radio telemetry showed that the Veery can fly up to 160 miles (285 km) in one night, and that it can fly at altitudes above 1.2 miles (2,000 m). - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The five migratory thrushes of Illinois make up some of the highlights of spring and fall migration. They are all skulkers and best identified by sound, and thus provide an interesting challenge to birders. However, these thrushes can be found fairly easily in good backyard habitat suitable for them.

The Birdfreak Team’s backyard preserve, The Callaway Nature Preserve, has attracted all but the Gray-cheeked (possibility). Thrushes need lots of cover so brush-piles, shrubs, and hostas among others can do the trick. Fresh water, especially drippers also help attract thrushes.

A trick to finding thrushes is to scan the area below eye-level to the ground and watch for slight movement. Thrushes often freeze for relatively long periods of time, providing good looks.

eBird Histogram of Illinois Migrant Thrushes

Three days ago the first Eastern Phoebe of the year was sighted in Winnebago County at Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve, a wonderful yet often busy birdspot. With Red-winged Blackbirds calling on nearly every country road fence post, Eastern Meadowlarks singing at Rock Cut State Park, it feels like Spring is finally here.

A cool fact about Eastern Phoebes:

In 1804, the Eastern Phoebe became the first banded bird in North America. John James Audubon attached silvered thread to an Eastern Phoebe’s leg to track its return in successive years. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Of course, in a few months Eastern Phoebes will be abundant but the first one of the year is always a pleasant treat. They winter in the southern U.S. and summer in all of Illinois.

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