An interesting project and video to promote “A Dark Sky Campus“. The video was created by Jennifer West and Heather Matheson from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. Light pollution effects everyone and produces a lot of waste. For birds it can be extremely hazardous during migration
Continue reading A Dark Sky Campus – For People and Wildlife
Migration is one of the most fascinating subjects pertaining to birds, yet it still holds much mystery and secrets. Conservationists benefit from the study of migration, using past knowledge to predict where birds should be, and making observations on the changes of this natural occurrance. The Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of
Continue reading Review: Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World’s Birds
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
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.
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
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
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
