Will This Wood Thrush Convince You to Join the National Audubon Society?
February 24, 2010
Article in: Bird Conservation
Perhaps you are already a member of The National Audubon Society. Perhaps you know that Wood Thrushes are not only magnificently beautiful birds but also have one of the avian world’s best voices. Yet sadly, Wood Thrushes are declining.
Audubon is working hard to help mitigate this decline and hopefully reverse the trend. One way you can help is by becoming a member of The National Audubon Society.
I received this mailer which to my delight, had a picture of a beautiful Wood Thrush that looked familiar.
Oh, that’s because it was a photo I took in May 2008.
This was way cool to say the least. We have offered up a large majority of all photos taken by the Birdfreak Team and to have this photo as part of a marketing campaign to get new members is awesome!
I’d love to know if any readers received this mailer and if they are not a member, would they consider joining?
Audubon has a wonderful article you can read on Wood Thrushes in Vermont.
31 Cool Bird Facts #19 – Wood Thrush
October 19, 2008
Article in: Birding
Wood Thrushes [Hylocichla mustelina] are awesome woodland birds with perhaps the coolest song of any bird north of Mexico. But besides their flute-like voice, these spotted forest denizens have a few other neat factoids about them.
“[Wood Thrushes have] been observed ‘anting’. Anting occurs when a bird picks up a single ant or group of ants and rubs them on its feathers. The purpose of this behavior is not well understood. It is thought that birds may be able to acquire defensive secretions from the ants possibly used for some medicinal purpose. Also may be a supplement to the bird’s own preen oil. – Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds.
Wood Thrushes are unfortunately a species that is in decline due to many forces including forest fragmentation which leads to higher Brown-headed Cowbird parasitization and also from acid rain. The loss of these beautiful songsters would be catastrophic on many levels.
Focused Bird Conservation – Saving At-Risk Birds Through Citizen Science
June 16, 2008
Article in: Bird Conservation
What is Focused Bird Conservation? Each time we as birders go out we have several goals: see more birds than last time, find a life bird, find a rare bird that was reported, get a great photograph, or just get out to enjoy the weather and birds. Often, these goals are what help expand our love of birding, but something’s missing when our sightings are kept secret; unintentionally hidden away from others.
Wood Thrush
But what if each time we went birding we had a new purpose: to find specific birds in need of conservation help? Focused Bird Conservation is exactly what it sounds like. By targeting birds of special concern like Cerulean Warblers, Henslow’s Sparrows, or Dickcissels, birding becomes more meaningful. Also, certain parks and preserves can be targeted for specific time periods to better understand the bird populations and what areas are better suited for birds.
The data collected from this studies can be used to further conservation efforts. Special localized plans can be set up to help declining birds. Important Bird Areas can be designated through this same process. We are currently working on a project to name the Kishwaukee River Corridor (one of the cleanest rivers in northern Illinois) or at least Deer Run, an IBA.
Golden-winged Warbler
We have spearheaded a project with our local bird club, NCIOS, to count 14 declining birds in our area:
- Bell’s Vireo
- Bobolink
- Dickcissel
- Henslow’s Sparrow
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Sedge Wren
- Blue-winged Warbler
- Cerulean Warbler
- Golden-winged Warbler
- Hooded Warbler
- Kentucky Warbler
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Whip-poor-will
- Wood Thrush
Blue-winged Warbler
The goal is to get a baseline status of these birds in our county and the surrounding counties. We’ll be updating periodically through the spring and summer and have a full report in October.
