Vermont Center for Ecostudies

Tallying Birds County by County: Results of the Vermont County Bird Quest 2011

2012-01-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

The past year was an historic one for birding in Vermont. From January 1 to December 31, 2011, hundreds of birders scoured fields and fens, mountains and meadows, lakes and lawns to discover as many species as possible during a single calendar year. The Vermont 2011 County Birding Quest pitted county versus county, birder against birder — all engaged in a friendly rivalry for top honors of the highest species count. The main idea behind the year-long Quest was simply to get people out birding, promote camaraderie, and better document bird life across the state, using Vermont eBird. With nearly 18,000 eBird checklists submitted and over a half-million birds tallied, there is no doubt it was a huge success!

Green Mountain Birders Put Up Big Numbers

On January 22 the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, North Branch Nature Center and the Montshire Museum of Science co-sponsored a unique gathering of Green Mountain birders to celebrate the 2011 Quest's accomplishments and share tall tales. Birders of all ages, skill sets, and levels of obsession convened from around the state to learn which of Vermont's 14 counties claimed top honors statewide, which individual birders tallied the most species, and who submitted the most eBird checklists. Although this "competition" was entirely friendly, it ignited the competitive fire among many birders. Most importantly, it amassed a remarkable amount of information on Vermont's birdlife and sparked a surge in birding. Several first state records were discovered, including Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, Slaty-backed Gull, and Marbled Godwit.

Final results were based on a carefully calculated "par" system, realizing that not all Vermont counties are created equal in terms of avian diversity. Par scores reflect the number of species that a given county should find in a year with consistent birding effort. Although Addison and Chittenden took top 2011 honors in absolute numbers of species tallied, with 250 and 245, respectively, Windham and Windsor counties shared the 2011 Quest Cup, with pars of +31, and respective species totals of 230 and 213. Many birders ventured outside their home counties, and the statewide leaders in total species observed were Jim Mead (257), Ian Worley (239), and Craig Provost (237). Ian Worley submitted a remarkable 1,144 eBird checklists, while Jim Mead (858) and Sue Elliott (836) took home very respectable silver and bronze in this category.

The January 22 gathering at Montshire Museum featured the unveiling of these and other impressive statistics, as well as presentation of the County Quest Cup and awards to individual county winners. Birders who identified 150 species or more in a county will also be inducted into the prestigious (and brand new) "150 Club". Mainly, however, the event showcased an historic and extraordinary effort to catalogue the birdlife of Vermont, led by a cadre of dedicated and spirited people. The conservation benefits of this ongoing friendly rivalry, now well underway for 2012, will increase with each passing year.

Download Ian Worley's amazing set of tables examining many aspects of the 2011 quest or Ron Payne's list of unexpected or remarkable sightings.

Awards

County Team Awards

The County Cup
Presented to the county with the highest number of species found under the par system mentioned above. The winner will keep and display the cup until the next winner is announced after the following year.
County Species List
Awarded to the county with the highest raw total of species found.
County Checklist Award
Given to the county that submits the most checklists to Vermont eBird in a calendar year.

Individual Awards

The Vermont eBird 150 Club
Awarded to each Vermont eBirder that has 150 or more bird species in a county reported to Vermont eBird in a single calendar year. Finish one or go for all 14 counties!
County Bird Champs
Given to the birder with the highest species count for each county. No par or weighting necessary for this one! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology presented each winner with a 1-year subscription to the Birds of North America Online, internet access to in-depth life history information for over 700 species of birds that regularly nest in the United States and Canada. In addition to text, photographs and videos of the species of interest, there are also recordings of selected vocalizations from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library.
County Checklist Champs
Awarded to the birder with the most eBird checklists for each county.
State Bird Champ
The individual with the highest number of species found in the state during the year.
State Checklists Champ
Awarded to the birder that enters the most eBird checklists in the state.
Birds & Beans Coffee Spring Arrival Awards
Vermont County Quest sponsor, Birds & Beans coffee, provided a free bag of coffee to the birder in each county who first spotted each of Birds & Beans' iconic birds this spring. For each of Vermont's 14 counties, the birder who initially reported on Vermont eBird the local arrival of Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Chestnut-sided Warbler and Baltimore Oriole received a corresponding 12-oz bag of Smithsonian independently certified Bird Friendly® coffee.

Ravens Appear to Communicate Using Gestures- A First for Non-Primates

2012-01-20T08:40:00.003-05:00

Before they can talk, babies use gestures to communicate: sentiments such as “take this away,” “look over there,” and “put me down” can be made abundantly clear without words. Chimps gesture to each other, as well, pointing out particular spots where they’d like to be scratched or groomed. These symbolic gestures are believed to be an important precursor to language. Now, researchers have observed ravens using gestures in the wild—the only non-primates seen doing so.

Over two years, the researchers saw ravens pick up stones, moss, and other non-edible items with their beaks, and display or offer those objects to another bird, usually of the opposite sex. The other raven, in turn, usually looked over in response, and often had positive interactions with the gesturing raven. Other birds gift gifts while courting, but in this case, the birds weren’t delivering the moss and stones to the recipient; the objects aren’t put towards a purpose like making nests, as such gifts often are, and seem to be used solely to get noticed and spark an interaction. Since ravens form monogamous, highly cooperative pairs, these interactions could be used to attract the attention of a possible mate or solidify the bond with an existing one, the researchers suggest. Finding gestures in a species so distant from our own, they say, could help illuminate the origins of human language.

Ravens, along with crows, magpies, jays, are corvids—a particularly brainy group of birds that have shown some sophisticated capabilities, such as recognizing human faces, building and using tools, and even passing on grudges. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the birds are communicating through symbolic gestures: It’s possible, other researchers point out, that what looks like an attention-grabbing gesture may be a mating ritual—an instinctive behavior driven by hormones—or a simpler, more scripted form of communication.

Original Article: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/11/30/ravens-appear-to-communicate-using-gestures-a-first-for-non-primates/

Reference: Simone Pika & Thomas Bugnyar. “The use of referential gestures in ravens (Corvus corax) in the wild.” Nature Communications, November 29, 2011. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1567

VCE Colleague Spearheads Groundbreaking Studies of an Endangered Hispaniolan Seabird

2012-01-15T21:25:00.003-05:00

Jim Goetz, a longtime VCE associate and current PhD student at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO), has just launched a field expedition to study one of the world's most rare, poorly-known and critically endangered pelagic birds: the Black-capped Petrel. Following their discovery last winter of an active nest in the eastern mountains of Haiti, Goetz and his team are headed to the Dominican Republic's Sierra de Bahoruco to search for additional nest sites. This rugged and remote mountain range, where VCE has studied Bicknell's Thrush and other montane forest birds for almost two decades, supports the only known nesting population of Black-capped Petrel in the country.

The Black-capped Petrel is known locally as diablotín, or “little devil” in Spanish, probably because of its haunting nocturnal cries. Best estimates suggest that fewer than 2,000 breeding pairs remain, with all known nesting sites in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This crow-sized bird comes ashore for only a 2-3 months to breed, spending the rest of its year as far away as Gulf Stream waters off the Mid-Atlantic United States. Loss and degradation of its high-elevation nesting habitat, primarily forested cliffs, is believed to have pushed the species to precariously low population levels.

The International Black-capped Petrel Conservation Group recently brought together participants from 12 countries to produce the first comprehensive conservation action plan for the species. Goetz and his colleagues hope that their field work in the Dominican Republic, and future work planned for Cuba, will discover new nesting locations and yield information critically needed to conserve this highly vulnerable seabird.

For more on Goetz' expedition, read the full story on CLO's web site.

Photo: the first-ever photographed Black-capped Petrel chick on its nest in eastern Haiti. The bird is well-feathered and approaching fledging. Courtesy of James Goetz.

VCE coauthors account on a little-known Hispaniolan endemic: White-winged Warbler

2012-01-13T21:35:00.002-05:00

One of the rarest and least-known of Hispaniola's 31 endemic bird species, the White-winged Warbler (Xenoligea montana), now has a comprehensive account published on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Neotropical Birds web site. Former VCE staff biologist Julie Hart and VCE Director Chris Rimmer co-authored this account, drawing heavily on studies conducted by VCE and our Hispaniolan colleagues over nearly 20 years. Read about VCE's discovery of the species' nest in 2004, its basic life history and ecology, and how much remains to be learned. The White-winged Warbler awaits a biographer!

Photo: White-winged Warbler feeding a recently-fledged juvenile in Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Repblic, June 2004. This is the only photo in existence of the species in juvenal plumage. Courtesy of Eladio Fernandez.

Vermont County Bird Quest 2011 — Celebration and Awards

2012-01-11T08:51:00.001-05:00

The past year was an historic one for birding in Vermont. From January 1 to December 31, 2011, birders scoured fields and fens, mountains and meadows, lakes and lawns to discover as many bird species as possible during a single calendar year. It was county verses county, birder against birder, all vying for the top honors of the highest species count. The main idea behind the year-long Quest was to get people out birding, promote camaraderie, and better document bird life across the state using Vermont eBird. With over 23,000 checklists submitted and 1.9 million birds tallied, there is no doubt it was a huge success!

The Vermont Center for Ecostudies, North Branch Nature Center and the Montshire Museum of Science are co-sponsoring this unique gathering of Green Mountain birders to celebrate our accomplishments and share tall tales. Please join us on Sunday, January 22, 2012 from 2—4:30pm at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont. Come meet your fellow birders and enjoy an afternoon devoted to our shared passion (obsession?), bird
watching.

Please RSVP to mmackenzie@vtecostudies.org so that we can get an expected flock size.

Directions to the Montshire: http://montshire.org/visit/directions/

UNEP adds Bobolink to its list of priority species

2012-01-10T09:16:00.008-05:00

The Bobolink is one of seven new species to be added to the United Nations Environmental Program’s (UNEP) Conservation Migratory Species (CMS) list, with the aim of strengthening international conservation efforts.

More than 80 governments met from 20 – 25 November in Bergen, Norway, for the tenth Conference of the Parties to UNEP’s Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The theme of the Conference “Networking for Migratory Species” was given prominence at the launch of a CMS report on ecological networks connected by migration corridors to ensure long-term survival of migratory wildlife. There was general consensus at the conference to initiate or implement actions to mitigate the most serious threats to migratory species and obstacles to animal migration, in particular relating to wind turbines, power lines, bycatch, climate change, wildlife disease and illegal hunting.

Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of CMS, while species like the Bobolink that need or would significantly benefit from international cooperation are listed in Appendix II. Inclusion in the appendices grants greater protection to vulnerable species, such as conserving damaged habitats or mitigating obstacles to migration.

The CMS reports: “The Bobolink, which travels up to 20,000 km, performs one of the largest annual migrations of a grassland bird in the Western Hemisphere. The global population of this migrant has been declining since the 1960s. Threats include hunting, intensive agriculture as well as habitat loss within the breeding and wintering sites. The Bobolink is currently not protected by any inter-national instrument. Appendix II listing recommends habitat conservation, reduced hunting, improved management practices and awareness raising.”

Follow-up of Loon on Ice

2012-01-09T15:25:00.004-05:00

The Common Loon juvenile that was rescued from Lake Eligo in Greensboro in late December ended up having a deformed wing as the wing would not lay flat. I took the loon to the Lamoille Valley Vet Service in Hyde Park the next morning after the rescue where an x-ray revealed a healed broken wrist from many months ago, possibly from a boat hit. It is likely the loon could not maintain sustained flight, thus our normal procedure of releasing the loon on Lake Champlain was not the best option. The loon could easily live out a long, healthy life on the ocean if we could get it there. Some loon volunteers off handedly said they’d be willing to taxi the loon to the coast before the vet exam, so I followed up with some phone calls and found some drivers willing to spend New Year’s eve in Portland Maine for a mini vacation. This loon along with another loon that crash-landed on a street in Morrisville that morning both were successfully released on Casco Bay New Year’s eve. The Morrisville loon likely mistook wet pavement for water; it too was likely trying to make a quick escape from the local waters that have recently frozen over.

During this first week of January, two more loons were spotted in small open holes of water surrounded by ice on Crystal Lake in Barton and Caspian Lake in Greensboro. Local residents observed both loons successfully take off from very short runways hours after calling me. We don’t know why loons stay so long into the winter, as most adult loons migrate to the New England coast in late October or early November. Some loons, especially chicks, stay into December. What are the triggers to cause a loon chick to finally leave? Is it cold weather, ice formation, other loons migrating through, or something else? Warm early winters might be one reason loons stay later, but even in a normal winter, we would likely see the same problem of loons becoming iced-in in late November and December. This year we have monitored 6 loons with ice around them, much more than the usual 1 or 2 that are reported every other year.

It takes a lot of time, phone calls, and occasionally resources to monitor and rescue loons in this situation, and some would question whether we should do anything at all. Population modeling has shown that adult survivorship has a major impact on the overall loon population; losing a few chicks has less of an impact. But the effort made to save the Eligo and Morrisville loons last week made a difference for these two. Thanks to everyone who helped make the difference.
Eric Hanson

Got Gulls?

2012-01-09T08:52:00.000-05:00

Got Gulls? Get 'em tonight. Bryan Pfeiffer's Better Birding lecture series continues this evening with a seminar on gull enjoyment and identification. (No, really, you'll find and follow your bliss in Birdland with gulls.) It's at the First Baptist Church of Montpelier from 6:30-8pm. Bring your binoculars. You'll be searching Bryan's videos for rare gulls in flocks of common species. Bryan's tribute to gulls (and details on the lecture series) are posted today on The Daily Wing: http://www.dailywing.net/. The fee for tonight is $10. The Better Birding lecture series is a production of Vermont Bird Tours with sponsorship from North Branch Nature Center and the Vermont Institute for Ecostudies.

Join VCE and the Montshire for Spring Birding!

2012-01-07T09:37:00.003-05:00

VCE and The Montshire Museum of Science are partnering to offer two 2-day birding courses, Coastal Birding and Migration and Mountaintop Birding and Conservation. For each course we begin with a Thursday evening lecture about bird life in each ecosystem followed by a Saturday field trip. Visit www.montshire.org for more information and to register.

Coastal Birding and Migration

Thursday, May 10, 7–8:30 p.m. & Saturday, May 12, 6 a.m.–4 p.m.
We begin with a Thursday evening lecture about the expected bird sightings and coastal ecosystems. On Saturday, we depart from the Montshire on a field trip to Plum Island, MA, led by VCE researcher Kent McFarland. Plum Island is one of the best birding sites during the spring warbler migration. This is a great opportunity to spot some of the smallest and most colorful migrants, and to observe shorebirds, including the endangered Piping Plover. Transportation from the Montshire to Plum Island is provided. Participants should be able to walk mile on uneven ground. Minimum enrollment 10, maximum 15. Members $130, non-members $150.Mountaintop Birding and Conservation

Mountaintop Birding and Conservation

Thursday, June 7, 7–8:30 p.m. & Saturday, June 9, 6 a.m.–4 p.m.
The course begins with an evening lecture on Thursday to learn about the alpine ecosystem and expected bird sightings. Saturday, we depart from the Montshire for an all day field trip to Mt. Mansfield, Vermont, led by VCE researchers Chris Rimmer and Kent McFarland. We’ll study the “sky island” ecology of New England’s boreal mountaintops and have a chance to visit VCE’s research site where ongoing research on the Bicknell Thrush takes place. Transportation from the Montshire to Mt. Mansfield is provided. Participants should be able to walk mile on uneven ground. Minimum enrollment 10, maximum 15. Members $130, non-members $150

Airboat Rescue of Loon

2011-12-30T20:23:00.003-05:00

2011 has ended with a few firsts for the Vermont Loon Recovery Project. This afternoon a young loon was rescued from Lake Eligo in Greensboro, VT by several local fire departments and VFWD game warden Russ Shopland using a newly acquired airboat. The local fire department used the experience as a practice run for their first thin ice rescue. I was a little overwhelmed when I showed up to flashing lights, 15 plus vehicles, and the rescue squad emergency van. The loon had been in a small opening of water for the past week until the hole froze up Thursday night. I drove down with a friend's dry suit, ice auger, and a long rope ready to venture out with my dad assisting, but luckily the local rescue squads were eager to help out. The loon was picked up without any chases, although the rescue boat was temporarily stuck in place for a short time.

The loon was likely a bit traumatized as a mature bald eagle had been pacing along his hole 2 days ago, had taken some dives at it while it was in the water, and today actually picked up the loon with it's talons for a few seconds before dropping it. Local lake residents, Mary and Aaron Babbidge, have been watching the loon for the past 2 weeks as the ice formed on the lake. We've been waiting for hole to freeze over before taking action, and action we saw.

I now have the loon in my bathtub (another first) and am feeding it bait fish that I bought from the local fishing store in Morrisville. The loon might have an injured wing but I will know more after tomorrow's visit with the Lamoille Valley Vet Service in Hyde Park. I hope to be able to release the loon on Lake Champlain on Saturday, but that depends if there are any serious injuries. The loon was observed taking a short flight earlier in the week, thus I have some hope that it's wing is o.k. Right now, the loon appears content, especially when I put minnows in the tub.

This is the third loon that we have monitored closely as ice closed in around them. Luckily, the other two had just enough water to get airborne during the recent rain events. Thanks to the Spencer's on Lake Groton and the Barber's on Memphremagog for keeping tabs on those loons. Happy New Year! Eric Hanson

VCE eNews: Updates

2011-12-15T13:42:00.000-05:00

Common Green Darner

VCE Joins Other Scientists to Help Unravel
the Mysteries of Dragonfly Migration

To better understand and conserve dragonfly migration in North America and beyond, VCE has joined other scientists from throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada in the collaborative Migratory Dragonfly Partnership (MDP). Goals of the MDP are two-fold: to combine research, citizen science, education, and outreach to better understand North America’s migrating dragonflies, and to promote conservation of the habitats on which they rely. In the past, VCE biologists have used stable-hydrogen isotopes in bird feathers to help unravel bird migration mysteries. Hydrogen isotopes enable us to infer the origins of migratory organisms because they reflect the latitude at which certain body tissues were grown. By examining isotopes in the wings of Green Darners, a large migratory dragonfly, we will be able to unravel the mystery of where they overwinter and how they migrate northward each spring. Stay tuned for more on this ground-breaking research.

County Quest Nears the Finish Line

With barely two weeks to go before the 2011 Vermont County Birding Quest wraps up, results have been nothing short of remarkable. As of mid-December, nearly 22,500 individual checklists have been submitted to Vermont eBird, 313 species have been tallied, and we're pushing the 2 million mark for numbers of individuals! Seven individual birders have logged 200 or more species in a single county so far, and 6 of Vermont's 14 counties have hit the 200 species mark, with Addison narrowly edging out Chittenden for the current overall lead, 248 vs. 245. We're working hard to develop a county "par" system that will level the playing field. With the Christmas Bird Count season upon us, get out there and find those Snowy Owls, Pine Grosbeaks, and crossbills! We'll issue a full Quest summary early in 2012.

White-winged Crossbill on
Stratton Mountain, Vermont

112th Christmas Bird Count

The 112th Christmas Bird Count will run from December 14, 2011 through January 5, 2012. Last year’s count shattered records. Over 60 million birds were tallied by 62,624 participants on 2,215 counts. Counts took place in all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, plus 107 count circles in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. The first-ever CBC tally was submitted from Haiti, where the count circle is located at Les Cayes, the birthplace of John James Audubon.

For more information visit Vermont eBird!

Four Countries in Four Weeks: Hispaniola Update

Juan Carlos Martinez's whirlwind introduction to all things Bicknell's Thrush began in September, with his near-simultaneous move to Port-au-Prince, Haiti and acceptance of the Caribbean Bird Conservation Coordinator position. Now, three months later, his head may be spinning, but he has hit the ground running. Juan Carlos spent almost three weeks this fall based at VCE, with productive visits to meet partners at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO), Washington DC, and Quebec City. After a brief pit-stop back in Haiti, it was on to the Dominican Republic, where he and Chris Rimmer spent 8 days meeting local collaborators and setting the stage for an ambitious conservation agenda focused on Hispaniolan montane forests. Juan Carlos' activities are at the core of a productive partnership between U.S. Forest Service - International Programs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and CLO, all under the aegis of the International Bicknell's Thrush Conservation Group. We're very excited to have him on board!

Jamie and Jesus Moreno, Chris Rimmer and Juan Carlos Martinez-Sanchez in the
Dominican Republic

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CANADA LYNX DOCUMENTED IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE

2011-12-09T16:22:00.002-05:00

Fish and Game biologists have confirmed the presence of four Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in northern New Hampshire. The fact that the lynx appeared to be kittens is evidence that the wild cats are breeding in N.H., an expansion of the population across the border in Maine.

In November and December 2011, four lynx were seen and photographed in two locations in Pittsburg, N.H., on two different dates. It is unknown whether the four individuals were the same on the two occasions, but it seems likely based on the close proximity of the sightings.

“The presence of lynx in New Hampshire demonstrates the effectiveness of the wildlife and habitat work that’s been done in this region over many years. It’s exciting!” said Fish and Game wildlife biologist Will Staats. “We expected the population to expand into the state eventually, and we’ve been seeing signs for a few years that they were at least passing through.” Since 2006, there have been seven cases where lynx tracks have been seen and photographed in New Hampshire’s North Country. In spring of this year, Staats himself witnessed an adult lynx crossing a rural road up north.

“Until now, we’ve considered lynx in New Hampshire to represent animals that were wandering from the larger lynx population that is present in Maine as a result of recent declines in snowshoe hare abundance,” said Anthony Tur, biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lynx are highly reliant on snowshoe hare as a food source. There are an estimated 600 to 1,200 lynx in Maine, concentrated in the northern part of the state.

“Lynx are an amazing predator, and they were historically a small but significant part of the wildlife mix in New Hampshire,” said Steve Weber, Chief of Fish and Game’s wildlife division. In partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Weber stated, “We’re actively monitoring lynx in the state and taking steps to ensure the health and growth of the population.”

“Serendipitously, Fish and Game’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program recently received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to initiate formal surveys for lynx,” John Kanter, Nongame Program coordinator, said. “The sightings add a note of excitement to our efforts. The Nongame Program’s recent fundraising appeal centered on the lynx project, and the timing of this discovery will hopefully help to engage more wildlife enthusiasts as supporters and donors to the program.”

Lynx are listed as “endangered” in New Hampshire and as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. They occurred in small numbers in New Hampshire through the 1960s; the last documented lynx in New Hampshire was a road-killed animal found in 1993.

At about 3 feet long and 15-30 pounds, Canada lynx are at least twice the size of the average house cat. They have long, strong legs; short tails; prominent ear tufts; and long sideburn-style hair on the sides of their face. Lynx are often recognized by their huge, furry paws, which help them travel over deep snow. Because of lynx’s reliance on snowshoe hare, their preferred habitat is young, regenerating forests that offer excellent hare habitat. New Hampshire is at the southern end of the Canada lynx’s natural range. More information on lynx in the United States may be found at http://library.fws.gov/Pubs/lynx.pdf.

Source: press release

Biologists Rediscover Rarest U.S. Bumblebee

2011-12-06T10:18:00.002-05:00

A team of scientists from the University of California, Riverside recently rediscovered the rarest species of bumblebee in the United States, last seen in 1956, living in the White Mountains of south-central New Mexico.

Known as “Cockerell’s Bumblebee,” the bee was originally described in 1913 from six specimens collected along the Rio Ruidoso, with another 16 specimens collected near the town of Cloudcroft, and one more from Ruidoso, the most recent being in 1956. No other specimens had been recorded until three more were collected on weeds along a highway north of Cloudcroft on Aug. 31, 2011.

“Most bumblebees in the U.S. are known from dozens to thousands of specimens, but not this species,” said Douglas Yanega, senior museum scientist at UC Riverside. “The area it occurs in is infrequently visited by entomologists, and the species has long been ignored because it was thought that it was not actually a genuine species, but only a regional color variant of another well-known species.”

Yanega pointed out that there are nearly 50 species of native U.S. bumblebees, including a few on the verge of extinction, such as the species known as “Franklin’s Bumblebee,” which has been seen only once since 2003. That species, as rare as it is, is known from a distribution covering some 13,000 square miles, whereas Cockerell’s Bumblebee is known from an area of less than 300 square miles, giving it the most limited range of any bumblebee species in the world.

“There is much concern lately about declines in our native bumblebee species, and as we now have tools at our disposal to assess their genetic makeup, these new specimens give fairly conclusive evidence that Cockerell’s Bumblebee is a genuine species,” he said. “With appropriate comparative research, we hope to be able to determine which other species is its closest living relative. Given that this bee occurs in an area that’s largely composed of National Forest and Apache tribal land, it’s unlikely to be under serious threat of habitat loss at the moment. Since its biology is completely unknown, however, it nevertheless may require some more formal assessment in the future.”

Yanega went on to point out that it is not especially surprising for an insect species to be rediscovered after decades, when people might otherwise imagine that it may have gone extinct.

“When an insect species is very rare, or highly localized, it can fairly easily escape detection for very long periods of time,” he said. “There are many precedents – some of them very recently in the news, in fact – of insects that have been unseen for anywhere from 70 to more than 100 years, suddenly turning up again when someone either got lucky enough, or persistent enough, to cross paths with them again. It is much harder to give conclusive evidence that an insect species has gone extinct than for something like a bird or mammal or plant.”

UCR entomologists rediscover many such “lost” insect species and discover entirely new species on a regular basis, at the rate of several dozen species every year, primarily in groups such as bees, wasps, beetles, and plant bugs. According to recent estimates, approximately 8 million species are in existence, the vast majority being insects of which only about 1 million have been described.

“It should come as no surprise that we discover so many new species of insects so easily,” Yanega said. “But the pace of species discovery and description is incredibly slow because there are so few insect taxonomists relative to the number of undescribed insects. Moreover, the work is painstaking, time-consuming, and not very glamorous, at least in the public’s perception, when compared to studying things like dinosaurs.”

As for plans regarding additional work with Cockerell’s Bumblebee, Yanega said that the recent expedition, carried out together with UCR scientists Keve Ribardo and Greg Ballmer, was funded in part by the Friends of the Entomology Research Museum, a non-profit organization supporting UCR’s Entomology Research Museum, but that nothing further was yet planned. The DNA sequencing was also carried out at UCR, as part of a larger study on wasp and bee relationships.

“The first step is to come to a firm conclusion regarding the status of this bee as a species,” he said. “The second step is spreading the word to the scientific community that this bee deserves some attention, as it has been completely overlooked. Here at UCR we may or may not be involved beyond that point, in gathering data on the distribution and biology of this species, but at the very least our discovery can get the proverbial ball rolling.”

Source: UC Riverside press release

The Art of Bobo-linking: Presentation on Dec 12th at 7pm

2011-12-06T09:24:00.002-05:00

Presented by VCE biologist Dr. Roz Renfrew on Monday, 7 pm on December 12, 2011, at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH. This program, arranged by the Mascoma Chapter of New Hampshire Audubon, is free and open to the public.

The Bobolink is among the most colorful birds of open fields in New England during the late spring and summer. Dr. Renfrew has studied Bobolinks from nesting grounds here in North America to South American wintering areas including ones she discovered in Bolivia. Using state of the art techniques, she has investigated links between
nesting and wintering areas for birds annually flying thousands of miles over two continents. This program will appeal to all interested in birds, natural history,
and conservation.

Dr. Renfrew has also been the statewide coordinator for the Second Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas project and the editor of a forthcoming book presenting the findings of that atlas.

Funding Shortfall to End 19-Year Atmospheric Pollution Monitoring at Mt. Mansfield

2011-11-18T08:14:00.005-05:00

Vermont is on the verge of suspending AIRMoN, one of its long-term and important precipitation monitoring programs that has been ongoing at Underhill for 19 years. The Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network (AIRMoN), which has continuously operated at Underhill since 1993, measures the concentration and deposition of Ca, Mg, K, Na, NH4, NO3, CL, SO4 and PO4 and precipitation pH from individual storm events. The annual cost for this program is just over $24,000.

Measuring precipitation chemistry and pH from individual storms allows scientists to determine starting locations and thus “sources” pollution, many of which are transported to Vermont from other locations. Data on chemistry from individual storms is very important to human and ecological health. For example, chemistry data from Underhill was used as evidence in a recent lawsuit brought by the EPA and several northeastern states, including Vermont, against the owner of 16 out-of-state power plants. The company was charged with expanding the capacity of these older power plants without installing scrubbers and other pollution control technologies as required by law. The plant’s owner agreed to spend 4.6 billion dollars on additional pollution control measures for these plants to settle that lawsuit.

Through the efforts of Senator Leahy, funding for AIRMoN has historically come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the Lake Champlain Research Consortium (LCRC) via the annual Congressional budgeting process. Federal funds are now scarce and they have been told not to expect any specific funding for this program in FY 2012.

The VMC continued to fund the AIRMoN program at Underhill in FY 2011 through the combination of a one-time grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and direct funding from the VMC; funding for both programs also secured by Senator Leahy. Unfortunately, the VMC has not identified any funding for FY 2012 or beyond to cover the $24,382 in annual costs for chemical analyses for the event-based AIRMoN precipitation monitoring at Underhill. Without additional funding or the promise of funding they will be forced to suspend operation of AIRMoN at Underhill on December 31, 2011.

VCE Field Notes Newsletter Fall 2011

2011-11-17T13:29:00.003-05:00

Field Notes, our biannual newsletter, is hot off the press. In this issue you will find stories about Peregrine Falcon recovery, meet our new Caribbean bird conservation coordinator, learn about the plight of Red Knots, and a whole lot more...

Thanks to VCE's Sara Zahendra for editing and layout to produce this wonderful issue!

Biodiversity can promote survival on a warming planet

2011-11-05T08:34:00.000-04:00

Whether a species can evolve to survive climate change may depend on the biodiversity of its ecological community, according to a new mathematical model that simulates the effect of climate change on plants and pollinators.

The findings, published in the early online edition of Evolutionary Applications, are important because some species that have survived large climatic change in the past might not be able to survive current and ongoing climate change.

In the study, researchers used computer simulations to examine the effect of climate change on populations of flowering plants and their insect pollinators. Ecologists have known for many years that climate change alters the timing of when plants flower and when insects emerge. For example, the onset of new blossoms in many temperate plants in the Northern Hemisphere and the first emergence of some insects have occurred earlier with global warming. If climate change causes species that rely on one another, known as "mutualists", to be active at different times, then these species may be threatened with extinction. The question that remains is whether the process of evolution can mitigate the potential damage that climate change can inflict upon the timing of life cycle events.

Researchers found that in some cases evolution can rescue plant-pollinator mutualisms that would otherwise become extinct as a result of climate change. Whether a mutualism survives, however, can depend upon the density and distribution of other species in the community. For example, under many circumstances, the presence of alternative pollinators available to the focal plant can help to protect both the focal plant and the focal pollinator from extinction.

"In such cases, habitat fragmentation or loss of native pollinators might compound the threat of climate change to mutualisms," said Tucker Gilman, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis and the paper's lead author.

Mutualists are likely to be especially sensitive to rapid climate change, according to the study.

"The results are troubling because anthropogenic (or human caused) climate change is thought to be happening up to ten times faster than any natural climate change in the past 500,000 years," Gilman said. "This means that mutualisms that have survived past climate change events may still be vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change."

###

Citation: Gilman RT, Fabina NS, Abbott KC, Rafferty NE. Evolution of plant-pollinator mutualisms in response to climate change. Evolutionary Applications. Article first published online: 7 SEPT 2011. DOI: 10.111/j.1752-4571.2011.00202.x

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1752-4571.2011.00202.x/abstract

The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life sciences. NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN: November 2011

2011-11-04T09:14:00.001-04:00

This Birding Community E-bulletin is being distributed to active and concerned birders, those dedicated to the joys of birding and the protection of birds and their habitats.

You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html

RARITY FOCUS

Birders can find Northern Wheatear in most North American field guides, but that doesn't mean they can find one close to home! Northern Wheatears are primarily an Old-World species which, in North America, prefer open and rock-strewn habitats in Alaska and the Yukon in the west and Nunavut and northernmost Quebec and Labrador in the east. The Alaskan/Yukon and the Greenland/Eastern-Canadian-

Arctic wheatears represent two different subspecies, both of which leave North America in the fall, each population traveling an extraordinary distance to winter in sub-Saharan Africa. Because of this, finding one south of the species' limited North American breeding range is remarkable.

But this is exactly what happened in late September and October at a number of places, both at coastal sites and even at a few inland locations. Although Northern Wheatears are occasionally found along the Atlantic coast in fall, the species is much rarer on the West Coast.

Here's what we already know about this fall:

The first sighting under consideration actually occurred on 28 September in Newfoundland where a Northern Wheatear (probably a female) was found at Red Cliff.

Then, on 6 October, a visiting South Carolina birder found a Northern Wheatear at a dumpster behind a Days Inn in Lickdale, Pennsylvania. The bird stayed until 10 October and was photographed on 8 October by Geoff Malosh, whose photos and notes can be found here:
http://home.earthlink.net/~pomarine4/id23.html

Next, on 7 October, another Northern Wheatear was found at the Wallkill Watershed Management Area in Orange County, New York, right across the way from the viewing platform at Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. This bird remained until at least 9 October.

About the same time, another Northern Wheatear was found at the lagoon at Abram's Village on Prince Edward Island on 8 October. This individual continued through 10 October, the same day that another wheatear was seen and photographed along Waite Road in Sherbrooke. This individual was reported again on 20 October.

In addition to these and other East Coast reports of Northern Wheatears, some were even found on the West Coast:

Starting on 23 September, Daniel Tinoco observed and photographed a Northern Wheatear at Malibu Lagoon in California. To see pictures of this bird see:
www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/storage/10/259878/IMG_2647.JPG

Then, on the afternoon of 2 October, a birder found a Northern Wheatear on private property north of Anchor Bay, Mendocino County, California, where it was last seen on the morning of 4 October.

And most recently another Northern Wheatear was observed for several minutes in Curry County, Oregon, just east of the Pistol River Bridge on 17 October.

And there may have been more Northern Wheatears found last month and this fall, but this is certainly an impressive sample.

TRANSLOCATING NIHOA MILLERBIRDS

When the Nihoa Millerbird was first discovered on Nihoa Island in the Pacific in 1923, the population was estimated to number about 100 birds. Between 1967 and 2010, population estimates have fluctuated from as few as 31 birds to as many as 814 individuals, with the 2010 population estimated at 507 birds.

In early September, an effort led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and American Bird Conservancy (ABC) began, to establish a second population of the Nihoa Millerbird on Laysan Island. Both islands are part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

Millerbirds have been absent from Laysan Island in the Pacific for nearly a century since a closely related subspecies went extinct there in the early 20th Century. Now the first steps toward translocating Nihoa Millerbirds from Nihoa Island to Laysan Island have begun. This has involved relocating 24 birds to Laysan. Already appropriate feeding, pairing, and initial nest-building behaviors have been observed.

Many of the fascinating details can be found here:
www.fws.gov/pacificislands/nihoamillerbird.html

SeaBC… NOT THE CBC

If you know people with a seaworthy boat, you might consider asking them to take you out for a sail or cruise in order to participate in the inaugural "SeaBC" Sea Bird Count! It’s similar to a Christmas Bird Count (CBC) or the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), except it's an event where one counts birds at sea. You can choose your day in December and count all the birds you see for a couple of hours, or for an entire day on the water.

A group of eight long-distance boaters, all volunteers, have organized this event in its inaugural year. The SeaBC was created to raise awareness among long-distance boaters from around the world to systematically record their seabird observations.

The intent is help seabird conservation by mobilizing a worldwide boating community to document ocean bird sightings, thus providing critical and otherwise seldom-recorded data on seabird numbers, distribution, and ocean migration routes.

Not surprisingly, the central clearinghouse for the data will be the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird website.

For additional information, including tally sheets see here:
http://web.me.com/mtwguides/CBC_at_Sea_Media_Release/CBC_at_Sea_Media_Release.html

Even if you're a landlubber, but know your birds, you can team up with a boating friend to contribute to the count!

NEW REFUGE VISION

Earlier this year, readers of the E-bulletin were told about the planning for last summer's Refuge Vision Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, a process to benefit the National Wildlife Refuge System:
www.refugenet.org/birding/febsbc11.html#TOC10

Last month, the finalized vision document, “Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation,” was released. This document represents the result of 18 months of study and public conversation about conservation and the strategy for the Refuge System over the next decade.

Among its most vital points, this 21st-century strategic vision for the Refuge System acknowledges that the nation’s population has grown "larger and more diverse … and the landscape for conservation has changed—there is less undeveloped land, more invasive species, and we are experiencing the impacts of a changing climate."

The document's final recommendations incorporate extensive suggestions from the public, with implementation expected to be largely complete within about five years

We encourage readers to look at the document. Birds, of course, are essential to the plan, and birding also has a role to play:
http://americaswildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Final-Vision-Document.pdf

NEW URBAN REFUGE LAUNCHED NEAR ALBUQUERQUE

One of the new proposals of the Refuge System's Vision Document is to launch a new "urban refuge initiative." This effort is intended to define excellence in existing urban refuges, establish the framework for creating new urban refuge partnerships, and implement a refuge presence in 10 demographically and geographically varied cities across the country by 2015.

The drive for new refuges has already started, with news on a just-announced urban-area refuge just south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In late September, it was announced that 570 acres, located about five miles from downtown Albuquerque, would become a refuge.

The former Price's Dairy Farm is one of the largest remaining farms in the Middle Rio Grande Valley. Not only is the property within a half hour drive of nearly half of New Mexico's population and is the largest agricultural property within the Albuquerque metro region, it is also expected to protect habitat for a number of species and subspecies, including the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher.

Many cooperative partners were instrumental in launching this project. You can read more here:
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2011/2011-09-29-091.html

HEADWATERS MAKES HEADWAY

In February the E-bulletin described the Everglades Headwaters project in Florida, an effort to create a new National Wildlife Refuge and to protect additional surrounding conservation acres by creating easements with willing landowners.
www.refugenet.org/birding/febsbc11.html#TOC04

In early September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its groundbreaking proposal to establish this new National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area in central Florida.

The effort would help restore and protect wetlands to support water quality for millions of Floridians; to sustain Florida's ranching economy and way of life by including conservation dollars for the maintenance of private landownership and delivery of conservation benefits; to increase access and opportunities for hunting and fishing; to conserve Florida's threatened wildlife by protecting significant habitat for a number of species including, Crested Caracara, Snail Kite, Florida Scrub-Jay, [Florida] Grasshopper Sparrow, and habitat for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker; to support military readiness by creating buffer areas around strategic training grounds; and to protect a mosaic of lands of sufficient size and continuity to enable wildlife to adapt in response to climate change and other natural and man-made threats.

Specifically, the Everglades Headwaters proposal would allow the National Wildlife Refuge System to acquire land and conservation easements from willing sellers in certain areas of the headwaters region, from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to Avon Air Force Park.

The proposal includes the establishment of six focus areas where the USFWS would be authorized to acquire up to 50,000 acres as National Wildlife Refuge lands, along with a larger Conservation Area within which the Service could acquire up to 100,000 acres of conservation easements. The Service would only proceed with willing sellers inside the newly defined boundary.

The comment period is now closed, and the proposal is expected to be revised by the USFWS before being finalized.

You can follow the proposal's developments here:
http://www.fws.gov/southeast/evergladesheadwaters/

ACCESS MATTERS: CAN BIRDING MAKE HEADWAY?

The Everglades Headwaters proposal would make allowances for hunting and fishing. These, of course are considered legitimate and important priority public uses on National Wildlife Refuges, as are wildlife observation (dominated by birding), wildlife photography, wildlife interpretation, and education.

In the final Everglades Headwaters plan, there may even be efforts made to accommodate camping, hiking, horseback riding, and bicycling, especially when they are associated with wildlife-based recreation.

In response to certain concerns voiced about public access for hunting and fishing, these programs on Headwaters refuge lands will be co-managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as state wildlife management areas, with particular emphasis on developing youth outdoor and sporting education programs.

Accordingly, special efforts and accommodations are being made for these activities. We wish our colleagues in the hunting and fishing communities well, of course.

We also look forward to the day when birding interests (as the main element of wildlife watching) receive similar accommodation, and the same kind of attention for recruitment, education, and access.

SF BIRD-FRIENDLY DESIGN APPROVED

In the August E-bulletin, we described the Bird Safe Building Standards which the San Francisco Planning Commission approved the previous month - standards that could greatly reduce bird deaths and injuries resulting from collisions with buildings in the city:
www.refugenet.org/birding/augsbc11.html#TOC05

In August, these standards were unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and in September, Mayor Edwin Lee signed the standards into law.

These standards include significant sections for the design of safer windows, night lighting, and the construction of wind turbines in the urban environment. The guidelines address the effects of light pollution, which can confound birds’ ability to navigate during migration. Even by simply turning off unnecessary lights at night, owners and operators can save thousands of dollars a year along with greatly reducing risks to migrating birds.

Reducing bird strikes can often be achieved with simple and cost-effective means. "There are a number of buildings in San Francisco, such as the San Francisco Federal Building and the De Young Museum, that are, albeit unintentionally, already bird-friendly. Where new construction is concerned, the bird-friendly options need not be more expensive, since bird-safe materials and designs can be incorporated from the beginning," said Christine Sheppard, manager of the American Bird Conservancy’s Bird Collisions Campaign.

Copies of the San Francisco Standards are available online at:
www.sf-planning.org/ftp/files/publications_reports/bird_safe_bldgs/Standards_for_Bird-Safe_Buildings_8-11-11.pdf

For more information on the issue and the signing, see here:
www.goldengateaudubon.org/news/planning-commission-approves-new-bird-safe-standards-for-san-francisco-buildings/

BOREAL BIRDS OF CANADA AT RISK

North America's Boreal forest remains the largest intact forest left on Earth. To draw attention to this treasure, an international coalition of conservation groups released a new report in late October. "Birds at Risk: The Importance of Canada’s Boreal Wetlands and Waterways," examines natural areas in the Boreal forest that are critical for birds, and draws attention to the dual threats of industrial expansion and climate change.

The report calls on the Canadian governments (national and provincial) to increase protection of Canada's "bird nursery of the north" by protecting at least half of the Boreal forest and supporting sustainable development practices in the remaining areas.

For details, photos, video, and the full report, you can visit:
www.borealbirds.org/report-birdswater.shtml

IMPERIAL WOODPECKER FOOTAGE

The last documented sighting of an Imperial Woodpecker occurred in 1956 in the state of Durango in the high-altitude pine forest of Mexico’s Sierra Madre. The supporting film documentation, taken by Pennsylvania dentist and amateur ornithologist, William L. Rhein, remained unearthed for decades.

The Imperial Woodpecker, a closely related cousin to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, is presumed extinct, and the 85 seconds of 16mm color movie footage that Rhein took in 1956 represents the only such documentation ever captured of this species in life.

Last month, scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology publicly released this fascinating footage, showing a female Imperial Woodpecker flying from tree to tree and hitching up the trunks of Durango pines.

You can view this footage here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0OCd6b1aXU&feature=player_embedded
and access the full story here:
www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2314

AVITOURISM DOLLARS IN RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF TEXAS

Texas A&M University recently released a survey that concluded that nature tourism which is dominated by birding brings in over $300 million a year to the Rio Grande Valley economy.

The survey commissioned by the South Texas Nature Marketing Coop, revealed that nature tourists tend to stay in the Rio Grande Valley an average of five days, and that 64% had visited the Valley previously, with the average number of previous visits being 15.

Said Keith Hackland, owner of Alamo Inn B&B, "We’ve known that nature tourism had a huge economic impact on the area; we just didn't realize how big it really is."

The survey, conducted during May and June, was the first of two survey phases. The second will be run this fall. Survey statisticians expect the economic impact figure to increase once the second phase is completed.

The full report can be accessed here:
www.southtexasnature.com/pdf/EconImpactReport2011.pdf

IBA NEWS: SF BAY "STATE OF THE BIRDS"

Last month we reported on the release of a new state-oriented "State of the Birds" report, one for Massachusetts:
www.refugenet.org/birding/octsbc11.html#TOC08
and
www.massaudubon.org/StateoftheBirds/

We have the feeling that readers will be seeing more of these regional reports in the near future that will effectively meld their messages into the whole Important Bird Area (IBA) effort. As these reports emerge, not all will receive notice in the E-bulletin, but the latest addition certainly does.

Last month, the first-ever State of the Birds Report for San Francisco Bay was released by PRBO Conservation Science (PRBO) and the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBayJV). The 29 partners involved in the effort included the US Geological Survey, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, Audubon California, Audubon Canyon Ranch, California Coastal Conservancy, the National Park Service, and Laney College.

This report details the many factors that impact bird populations in the Bay Area (an area of hemispheric importance to migratory waterbirds) including sea level rise and extreme storm conditions due to global climate change.

"The good news is that a majority of bird species are doing well after decades of investments in habitat restoration and other conservation measures around the Bay. The bad news is that increasing sea levels, extreme weathers events, non-native predators, contaminants, and invasive species pose serious threats to the gains we have made," explained Melissa Pitkin, PRBO Outreach Director and editor of the report.

The San Francisco Bay Area includes about a dozen distinct IBAs.

You can access the full report here:
www.prbo.org/sfbaystateofthebirds

For additional information about IBA programs worldwide, including those across the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program web site at:
www.audubon.org/bird/iba/

TIP OF THE MONTH: GET THOSE FEEDERS READY

If you have a personal backyard feeding station or run a nature center or refuge/park visitor center feeding station, now is the time to assess your winter feeding strategy, especially if you don't regularly feed birds throughout the year.

Review your feeder arrangement, including having the right mix of hopper, sunflower-tube, suet, and nyjer feeder offerings. Consider creating a nearby brush pile where songbirds can poke around for feed and shelter, including hiding from raptors. Be sure, however, to maintain a 10-foot clear-zone around each feeder to keep cats from having a close hiding place. Also, consider including water (a heated bird bath if required) as a feature for your feeding station.

Finally, clean those feeders, bird baths, and surrounding grounds regularly.

WHY NAB?

Your two E-bulletin editors enjoy practically all the North American bird and birding magazines. Why shouldn't we? These publications help us keep abreast of what's going on in the world of birds and bird-appreciation. More to the point, not "everything you need" is available on the Internet.

That's why this month we encourage you to consider supporting the contribution and value of the publication, NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. This journal currently sponsored and published by the American Birding Association, presents seasonal summaries and analyses of what's going on in the bird world at the continental level. It is the only "journal of record" for North American birdlife.

Check out NAB editor, Ned Brinkley's, recent summary of what the publication continues to offer, after almost a century of recording the changing seasons year after year.
http://blog.aba.org/2011/10/north-american-birds-65.html

BOOK NOTES: NG GUIDE NEW EDITION

National Geographic’s FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA has been a standard since first appearing in 1983.

Still, why would yet another edition merit attention? And, more importantly, if you have the 4th or 5th edition, why would you even consider getting this 6th edition that has just been produced?

Your editors definitely think it’s worth it!

The 6th edition - thoroughly re-tooled by Jon Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer - contains more new material than any other previously published revision, and it is most impressive. For instance, it includes 300 new art figures (amazingly produced by five artists, all with extensive field experience); it contains extensive migration information overlaid on the species maps; it also includes a series of breakthrough subspecies maps; and there are thumbnail presentations that increase the number of mega-rarities covered at the end of the book from an impressive 71 to an astounding 92.

Of course, the ID text has also improved where desired or necessary. Even the font is finer and crisper than the previous editions. But perhaps the most interesting innovation in this 6th edition is the addition of field-mark labels on almost all the illustrations. These are often mini-notes, hints, or Peterson-like pointers to draw your attention to one or another aspect of each species’ look and feel.

The combination of organization, illustration, and design adds up to a book that should please birders at virtually any level of experience.

NEW STAMP ART CHOSEN

On 29 October, the new artwork for the 20012-13 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (commonly called the "Duck Stamp") was chosen. There were five qualifying species in the competition: Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Wood Duck, and Gadwall. An image of a male Wood Duck by Joseph Hautman was ultimately chosen. (Joe Hautman has now won the contest four times!) You can access more details and view the artwork here:
www.fws.gov/duckstamps/

This colorful illustration will appear on the 2012-2013 stamp and the proceeds for the $15-stamp will go to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund (MBCF) to secure wetland and grassland habitat for the Refuge System.

"THE BIG YEAR" - GOOD FOR US

Released on 14 October in theaters across the country, “The Big Year” is a movie that is at the same time thoughtful, charming, and amusing.

Not surprisingly, some reviewers didn't enjoy the film, complaining that Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson are far funnier than the script for the film allowed.

In reality, some of these reviewers were no doubt disappointed that the opportunity was not taken to focus on the silly and goofball antics of birding. And those reviewers were spot on about that point; birders are not portrayed as total geeks.

Frankly, the film is good to birders. It is about passion for an avocation – in this case pursuing birds – and balancing a near obsession with actual day-to-day living and relationships. The film is well done, and the script is woven in such a way to explain to the non-birding public how many birders operate – from the interested to the totally obsessive. If you haven't seen the film, do give it a try. Warning: it may disappear from the theaters very quickly.

In the meantime, to view one of the better insider reviews from colleagues at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, see:
www.birds.cornell.edu/roundrobin/2011/10/15/the-big-year-our-movie-review/

THIS MONTH'S QUIZ FOR A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BIRD BOOK

Each of our monthly quiz questions will either relate to one of our previous news items, or it will pertain to an event or experience that is scheduled to occur during the current or coming month.

We will give away five books to E-bulletin readers whose names are picked at random from among those submitting correct answers. Due to shipping constraints, only folks residing in the U.S. or Canada are eligible to win.

For details on NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, publishers of acclaimed birding books and field guides, available wherever books are sold, visit:
www.shopng.com/birdbooks

The prize for this month will be a copy of the sixth edition of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. It is covered in our own "Book Notes" above, but you can also find more details on this sixth edition here:
http://tinyurl.com/3vv7q9s

Here is last month’s question: "What Cuban (and Bahamian) bird, previously reported to be seen in Florida, had to be removed from listing and remains unlisted for the state and for the United States because it was never photographed or otherwise fully documented?"

The correct answer, Cuban Emerald (Chlorostilbon ricordii), was not particularly easy. Curiously, we covered the species and its status in the November 2006 issue of the E-bulletin:
www.refugenet.org/birding/novSBC06.html#TOC03

Last month's winners were Harriet Davidson (Fort Gratiot, MI), Laura Hubers (Webster, SD), Bruce Luebke (Portage, WI), Bill Pranty (Bayonet Point, FL), and Chris Sloan (Nashville, TN)

Here is this month’s question: What was the very last "year bird" that the characters Stu Preissler and Brad Harris saw together in the movie "The Big Year"? (Hint: it was one of our monthly rarity species within the last year.)

Please send your answer by 15 November to:
BirdingEbulletin1@verizon.net

Make the subject line "QUIZ! " and please include your full name and mailing address along with your answer so that we can mail you a book should you be a fortunate winner. We will also provide the correct answer next month.

- - - - - - - - -
You can access past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) website:
www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html

If you wish to distribute or reproduce all or parts of any of the monthly Birding Community E-bulletins, we simply request that you mention the source of any material used. (Include a URL for the E-bulletin archives, if possible.)

If you have any friends or co-workers who want to get onto the monthly E-bulletin mailing list, have them contact either:

Wayne R. Petersen, Director
Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program
Mass Audubon
781/259-2178
wpetersen@massaudubon.org

or
Paul J. Baicich
410/992-9736
paul.baicich@verizon.net

This issue is sponsored by NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, publishers of acclaimed birding books and field guides, available wherever books are sold or visit:
www.shopng.com/birdbooks

Study analyzes only known footage of the largest woodpecker that ever lived

2011-10-26T18:42:00.002-04:00

The Imperial Woodpecker -- the largest woodpecker that ever lived --probably went extinct in the late 20th century in the high mountains of Mexico, without anyone ever capturing photos or film of the 2-foot-tall, flamboyantly crested bird. Or so scientists thought -- until a biologist from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology tracked down a 16-mm film shot in 1956 by a dentist from Pennsylvania.

The footage, which captures the last confirmed sighting of an imperial woodpecker in the wild, has now been restored and used to learn more about the species' behavior and its habitat -- determined by tracking down the exact filming location during a 2010 expedition.

The research appears in the October issue of The Auk, the scientific journal of the American Ornithologists' Union, and the cover features a painting of the woodpecker by graduate student Evaristo Hernández-Fernández, a Bartels Science Illustration intern.

"It is stunning to look back through time with this film and see the magnificent imperial woodpecker moving through its old-growth forest environment, and it is heartbreaking to know that both the bird and the forest are gone," said research associate Martjan Lammertink, lead author of the paper along with four Cornell lab staff members and two Mexican biologists.

In the 85-second color film, which is available for viewing online, a female imperial woodpecker hitches up, forages on the trunks of large Durango pines and then launches into flight.

The film was shot by dentist William Rhein, who filmed the bird with a hand-held movie camera from the back of a mule while camping in a remote location in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Durango state. In a 1997 interview with Lammertink, Rhein, who died in 1999, commented that the woodpecker was "like a great big turkey flying in front of me."

In March 2010, Lammertink and Tim Gallagher of the Cornell lab launched an expedition with members of the conservation group Pronatura Noroeste to identify and survey the film site. The expedition turned up no evidence that imperial woodpeckers are still alive. Only residents in their late 60s or older remembered the woodpecker, and no one reported seeing any of the birds after the 1950s.

The entire range of the imperial woodpecker lay in the high country of the Sierra Madre Occidental -- a rugged mountain range stretching some 900 miles south from the U.S.-Mexico border -- and the Transvolcanic Mountains of central Mexico. The species largely vanished in the late 1940s and 1950s as logging destroyed their old-growth pine forest habitat. Imperial woodpeckers were also frequently shot for food, for use in folk remedies or out of curiosity.

The imperial woodpecker was the closest relative of the ivory-billed woodpecker, which suffered a similar decline from habitat loss in the southeastern United States and Cuba. A 2005 study by the Cornell lab reported the rediscovery of an ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas, but subsequent regionwide surveys did not find evidence of a surviving population.

Other authors of the article are Tim Gallagher, Ken Rosenberg, John Fitzpatrick and Eric Liner of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Jorge Rojas-Tomé of Organización Vida Silvestre and Patricia Escalante of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Source:

Cornell ChronicleOnline: http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Oct11/ImperialWoodpecker.html

Amphibian Skin: Toxic Chemicals to Medical Marvels

2011-10-21T14:53:00.000-04:00

I was eating breakfast when I noticed a black duck quietly feeding on our small pond. It would occasionally "tip-up" - head underwater, tail skyward - in typical puddle duck fashion. Suddenly, the peaceful scene was interrupted as the duck began spinning wildly in circles, one wing flapping frantically as water splashed in all directions. Ten seconds later and just as suddenly, all was calm, including the duck, which was now floating belly-up...

THE OUTSIDE STORY

Amphibian Skin: Toxic Chemicals to Medical Marvels

Steven D. Faccio

Full Article Text

Ed Hack: 2011 Recipient of Julie Nicholson Citizen Science Award

2011-10-17T09:19:00.002-04:00

VCE is pleased to announce that Ed Hack, longtime birder, volunteer extraordinaire, and our great friend, is the recipient of this year's Julie Nicholson Citizen Science Award. Ed's involvement as a dedicated amateur naturalist hails back to the first Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas in 1975, and he's still at it 36 years later! His latest citizen science exploits have focused on being an avid eBirder and keeping other Windsor County birders at bay atop the leader board of the Vermont 2011 County Birding Quest (well, until Saturday...). A Stockbridge resident, Ed has been 'handicapped' as a Windsor Co. Quester by his relative distance from the Connecticut River, but he's more than compensated for that with his birding acumen and good old-fashioned effort.

We presented the award to Ed Saturday at VCE's fourth anniversary celebration gathering in Norwich, but unfortunately (mostly for us, less so for Ed), he was AWOL on an annual fall flyfishing trip in Montana. Ed's wife Sandy accepted the award on his behalf and read a gracious statement Ed had prepared before his departure. The award was especially meaningful to Ed, who was close friends with Julie Nicholson and spent many hours afield with her over the years.

There could be no more worthy recipient of this award for 2011, and we're only sorry that Ed couldn't be with us on Saturday to accept it in person. No doubt he'll redouble his efforts to regain the Windsor County lead upon his return in a few days, as a number of us strive for 200 species in this friendly, cooperative 'competition'.

Ed, thanks for all you've done to promote birding and wildlife conservation in Vermont!

Loons on Lake Champlain

2011-09-21T08:49:00.001-04:00

I spent two days last week camping and bicycling around the Hero Islands and Isle La Motte and was pleasantly surprised at the number of loons I observed from my bicycle seat. There were at least 12 loons along the east coast of the islands (known as the Inland Sea). What made the observations even more satisfying is that I was not intentionally searching for loons; they were just there when the roads came near the water. Thus, there were likely more than 12 loons in the area. I also heard yodeling, the male territorial call, coming from the Savage Island region. There have been reports of loons nesting on Lake Champlain, but we still have not confirmed any nests or chicks.

Back in 2002, I spent nearly 3 weeks in June and July conducting loons surveys on Lake Champlain, and I only observed 2 or 3 loons in this entire NE section of the lake. With the help of 25 volunteer observers on Loonwatch day, we did estimate that there were at least 30-40 adults and 15-20 subadults on the entire lake during mid-summer. Now in mid-September, it could be that loons are already moving to Lake Champlain in preparation for migration, especially non-breeders and breeders without chicks. However, most loons really do not start moving from their territorial waters until later September and October.

Where do these loons come from? We know that one loon from the Adirondacks with an implanted satellite transmitter stopped on Lake Champlain for a day on its way to the Cape. Since loons tend to eventually return to their natal lake areas, I would guess that most loons observed on Lake Champlain are either from the Adirondacks or Quebec. Vermont loons likely stay to the east side of the Green Mountains. This summer we captured a loons in Williston (stuck on a water retention pond at Tafts Corners shopping center) that was very small indicating it was from central or northern Quebec. Loons become smaller the further they are from coastal areas. Ted Murrin, an avid Vermont birder, has counted over 500 loons in one day migrating along the shores of Lake Champlain in late October.

Next time you are on the shores of Lake Champlain, keep your eyes peeled (and enter your sightings on VT ebird). During the next two months, scores of loons and other birds will be flying south over Lake Champlain's waters. ** Eric Hanson, Vermont Loon Recovery Project Coordinator

VCE Hires Caribbean Bird Conservation Coordinator

2011-09-16T07:26:00.003-04:00

VCE is pleased to announce the hiring of a Caribbean Coordinator for the International Bicknell's Thrush Conservation Group (IBTCG). Juan Carlos Martinez-Sanchez will begin work in October, and he will be an excellent fit for this crucial, challenging position.

Juan Carlos is Spanish by birth and received his undergraduate degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in 1980. He has since spent a diverse career as a conservation biologist, with a concentration in field ornithology, throughout Latin America, but mainly in Nicaragua. His work has included not only research (he received a PhD from U. Washington in 2008, studying the role of organic shade coffee production in conserving biodiversity in Nicaragua), but protected areas management, training of conservation professionals, and implementation of on-the-ground conservation initiatives. Needless to say, this background is extremely relevant to IBTCG's needs for Bicknell's Thrush-related conservation throughout the Greater Antilles. Juan Carlos is passionate about conservation and ornithology, and he is eager to share that passion and his knowledge with diverse groups of people.

Juan Carlos recently moved to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a fortuitous relocation that places him squarely in the heart of IBTCG's Greater Antillean focus area. Although we expect his first few months to be concentrated on Hispaniola, which harbors most of the global wintering population of Bicknell's Thrush, ultimately Juan Carlos will initiate IBTCG activities on Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

This is an exciting development for IBTCG, for montane forest conservation in the Greater Antilles, and for the Caribbean bird conservation community. Juan Carlos will spend 2-3 weeks at VCE next month, visiting numerous IBTCG partners around the Northeast, before tackling our ambitious agenda in the DR and Haiti. We welcome him to VCE and the IBTCG!

Epic Visit to Our Mt. Mansfield Study Area

2011-09-15T08:39:00.003-04:00

VCE's final mist-netting foray to the Mansfield ridgeline on Monday
evening and Tuesday morning featured fine weather, a full moon, and
stellar avian activity. As is usual in mid-September, Bicknell's
Thrushes showed a resurgence of vocal activity. Calling was frequent,
especially at dusk and dawn, and several birds sang. Kent McFarland
even heard dusk flight songs. With only 15 nets, we ended up with an
all-time single-visit record of 20 Bicknell's Thrush captures - 13
immatures (young-of-the-year) and 7 adults (5 retraps from earlier in
the summer). Most responded strongly to playback, suggesting that all
age classes may be prospecting for turf and/or mates in anticipation of
being back on the mountain next spring. We know site fidelity of both
adult males and females is strong (60-65% from one year to the next), so
it may make sense for individuals to make their presence known just
prior to migrating south.

Other birds banded:
Swainson's Thrush 2
Hermit Thrush 1
Blackpoll Warbler 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 10
White-throated Sparrow 2

Other birds captured but not banded:
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 immature male
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Ovenbird 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Dark-eyed Junco 4

Miscellaneous sightings:
Common Raven 16 cavorting over and around the summit, the most we have
ever seen together in 20 years working on Mansfield
Cedar Waxwing 12+
Golden-crowned Kinglet 4
White-winged Crossbill 6 calling overhead

A memorable finale to our 2011 field season!

Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly A Hybrid Species Of Two Other Swallowtails, Scientists Find

2011-09-09T15:09:00.003-04:00

Flitting among the cool slopes of the Appalachian Mountains is a tiger swallowtail butterfly species that evolved when two other species of swallowtails hybridized long ago, a rarity in the animal world, biologists from The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University have found.

They discovered that the Appalachian tiger swallowtail, Papilio appalachiensis, evolved from mixing between the Eastern tiger swallowtail, P. glaucus, and the Canadian tiger swallowtail, P. canadensis. The Appalachian tiger swallowtail rarely reproduces with its parental species and is a unique mixture of the two in both its outward traits and inward genetic makeup.

Their research is published in PLoS Genetics.

"How new species form is one of the central questions in evolutionary biology," says Krushnamegh Kunte, a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard who began his research as a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin. "Hybrid speciation is more common in plants, but there are very few cases in animals. This study may create the fullest picture we have to date of hybrid speciation occurring in an animal."

Kunte and colleagues studied three of the eight species of North American tiger swallowtail butterflies. These large insects are generally recognized by yellow wings with black stripes and small "tails" on their hind wings.

Of the three species, Eastern tiger swallowtails prefer warmer climes and lower elevations, and the females come in two different forms. They are either striped (yellow and black) or almost entirely black, the latter mimicking a poisonous butterfly called the Pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor. Canadian tigers are only striped yellow and black, and found in cooler habitats at higher latitudes and elevations.

The Appalachian tiger exhibits a mix of those traits. It shares an affinity for cooler habitats with the Canadian tiger, while sharing the ability to mimic the black Pipevine swallowtail with the Eastern tiger.

Digging into the butterflies' genomes, the scientists found that the Appalachian tiger inherited genes associated with cold habitats from males of the Canadian tiger, and inherited a gene for mimicry from Eastern tiger females.

They also found that the Appalachian tiger's genome has become significantly distinct from the genomes of its two parental species, even though the butterflies come into contact with each other in the wild (the Appalachian tiger's range nudges against the Canadian tiger in the northern Appalachian Mountains and against the Eastern tiger in the lower elevations surrounding the mountains).

The conventional view of speciation is that one species splits into two over time. With time, the new "sister" species become more and more reproductively isolated from each other.

In the case of hybrid speciation, new species are formed when two species interbreed to create viable hybrids that then evolve on their own. This can occur when two young species haven't yet evolved over a long enough period to be completely reproductively isolated.

Kunte says this is probably the case with these tiger swallowtails. The Eastern and Canadian tigers diverged from each other a mere 600,000 years ago. The Appalachian tiger seems to have diverged from both the parental species only about 100,000 years ago.

"That's not a very long time," says Kunte, "but still we found that the Appalachian tiger has been isolated long enough to have a different appearance and genetic makeup than its parent species."

As for identifying the species in the wild, Appalachian tigers are twice the size of Canadian tigers. Kunte says it's a bit more difficult to distinguish the Eastern and Appalachian tigers. The Eastern tiger has more blue on the hind wing and a spotted yellow band on its fore wing underside compared with a solid broad band on the Appalachian tiger.

"Once you train your eyes to tell them apart," says Kunte with a confidence that comes from years of collecting butterflies, "they are relatively easy to distinguish."

Source: University of Texas - Austin

Photo: A female Appalachian tiger swallowtail. Credit: Krushnamegh Kunte.

Kunte's coauthors include Marcus Kronforst at Harvard, and Kunte's graduate advisers Larry Gilbert and Tom Juenger at The University of Texas at Austin. The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.