Fall banding: Week #5 in review

This past week things picked up nicely, bringing us what we expect at this point in migration, a nice diversity and good numbers of birds. We missed a day and a half to rain, but banded 183 new birds and handled 31 recaptures, one of which was a Gray Catbird first banded in 2005. There were 37 species, including 15 species of warblers. We are already at or above our fall season average for Black-throated Blue, Blackpoll, Magnolia, and Nashville Warblers, and American Redstart. The most special warbler of the week was this great young male Hooded Warbler. It is the third ever banded for RRBO, and only the second fall record for Dearborn.

We banded two other unusual birds this week. The first was this dark, heavily marked form of the Veery, matching descriptions of the Newfoundland race.

The other surprise was this European Goldfinch. RRBO has done a lot of research on this species. While not a first for Dearborn, it was interesting nonetheless. This individual was not a wild vagrant from Europe, but an escaped or released cage bird.

We banded four species of vireos this week: Warbling, Red-eyed (we're already at our fall average), Philadelphia, and Blue-headed. I think Warbling Vireos look angry, while Philadelphia Vireos, like the one below, look "cute."

Blue-headed Vireos are one of my favorite species. We don't catch a lot of them, and they are just so handsome.


Actually, photographing any vireo is a challenge. They are all fuss and squirm. My general rule is that I only take a few quick shots of any bird I handle. If I can't get a good one, my loss. I don't have a lot of great vireo portraits because they are so uncooperative, most pictures end up like the next two.

We've been getting a lot of great samples for our study of what fruits birds eat in the fall at our site. This is the fourth year I've collected droppings from Catharus thrushes. I often find (in addition to the seeds, pulp, and berry skins I'm looking for) small hard parts of insects. Most often it is sections of millipedes, parts of beetles, and, frequently, ant heads. I guess thrushes aren't particular about the type of Hymenoptera they eat -- this head of an Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) stared out at me from a sample provided by a Gray-cheeked Thrush.

Dana Wloch, one of my undergraduate research associates, is in charge of identifying and categorizing the samples from all other bird species. This is mostly robins and catbirds, but this week we've gotten samples from Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Red-eyed Vireos. Seems like yellowjackets are on the menu, as this head and a couple legs came from one of the vireos.

I've been asked how birds manage to eat bees and wasps without getting stung. Usually, they wipe the insect on a branch or the ground and get rid of the stinger. A more lengthy answer can be found in my February 2007 column in Birder's World magazine.

And another new bander has joined the team. Welcome to Sara Cole, a senior at Wayne State University. Here is Dana showing Sara how to age and sex her first bird, a Common Grackle.

It was a fun week. More birds coming up.

“Newfoundland” Veery

On 13 September 2010, this Veery (Catharus fuscescens) was banded by the Rouge River Bird Observatory. It was so different-looking that the species identification was not readily apparent when it was pulled from the net. The bird was a young (hatching-year) bird based on plumage characteristics and, conclusively, a largely unossified skull ¹.

The upperparts of the thrush were a rich, medium brown (the lack of a contrasting, rufous rump and tail, plus measurements and other plumage characteristics, eliminated Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus).

The grayish face without an eye ring quickly ruled out Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus,but had me briefly considering Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus), and some measurements between this species and Veery overlap. The sixth primary feather of Gray-cheeked Thrushes, however, is usually emarginated, while in Veery this feather is only slightly emarginated, as was the case with this bird. Nearly all measurements were a little too large for this bird to be a Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli). Neither of these two species is noted to have plumage with this warm coloration.

This left Veery. The color of the RRBO bird was not the bright, nearly orange, color that is typical of most eastern Veeries seen here in southeast Michigan, seen at right. This is the nominate subspecies, C. fuscescens fuscescens. See, for example, this photo from New Jersey.


There are up to six subspecies of Veery, although they are often combined into three groups. One is the nominate eastern C. fuscescens fuscescens which breeds in much of eastern Canada, through New England, south through much of the Appalachians. Another is the western C. fuscescens salicicolus, sometimes called the Willow Thrush. References describe the upperparts as being “dull, dark brown with a warm rufescent-olive tinge” ², “dull, moderately dark brown with a reddish tinge” ³, and “slightly more olive-brown and on upperparts and only faintly tinged rufous comparied to nominate” ⁴. While descriptions also indicated that  has more distinct spots than the nominate race, the rich reddish color of the upperparts, without olive and evident even in the shade, did not seem to fit this western race.

Catharus fuscescens fuliginosus, or “Newfoundland Veery,” is a subspecies that nests in southwest Newfoundland, Magdalen Island and south-central Quebec, perhaps into northern Maine and southern Nova Scotia. The upperparts are described as “deep reddish brown,” “deep bright reddish brown,” and “slightly deeper or warm reddish-brown …than either nominate or salicicolus.” References also note the spots on this race are more distinct, with Clement (2000) specifying “sharply defined reddish-brown, arrowhead-shaped spots (larger than on nominate) extensively across breast.” The distinctness and shape of the spots is especially evident in the RRBO in the photo at left.

Our bird, then, seems to fit the description of a “Newfoundland Veery.” Some breeding populations in the southern Appalachians (considered by some as C. fuscescens pulichorum) also have upperparts similar to fuliginosus, as do some other western and Great Plains subspecies often lumped with salicicolus, but overall more plumage characteristics of the RRBO bird seem to coincide with fuliginosus than other races. Most authors note that there is variability among individuals and some that appear to be “intermediate forms” so we can’t be 100% sure of the provenance of this bird, only that the plumage corresponds to the Newfoundland race.

Finally, we can’t rule out a hybrid. Kent McFarland of the Vermont Center for Ecosystem Studies and member of the International Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Group told me he had once banded a Bicknell’s x Veery hybrid. Very intriguing, but not possible to determine without a feather or tissue sample, and someone able to do DNA work.

Veery is the least-common of the Catharus thrushes banded at RRBO, and it was a real treat to catch this one.

Martin Reid has an interesting page of Catharus thrushes, including some variations on Veeries.

1. The upper part of the skull of fledgling birds is single-layered. As the bird matures, a second layer develops, and “struts” of supporting bone develop between the two layers. This is known as ossification or pneumatization, and can be viewed through the thin skin of the head if the feathers are wetted and parted. The pattern and rate of ossification varies among species. 
2. Bevier, Louis R., Alan F. Poole and William Moskoff. 2005. Veery (Catharus fuscescens), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/142 
3. Pyle P. 1997. Identification guide to North American birds – part 1. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA, USA. 
4. Clement, P. 2000. Thrushes. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton. 

Fall banding: Weeks 3 & 4 in review

Weeks 3 and 4 (August 29 to September 10) were nothing much to write home about. We banded 117 new birds and handled 27 recaptures of 23 species. Looking back on the first month, it seems to be shaping up to be an above-average season for House Wrens, Red-eyed Vireos, and American Redstarts.

How can anybody get tired of seeing an adult male redstart?


In the fall, you see many more female-plumaged redstarts than these gorgeous males. Some are adult females, many are young birds, both males and females. Male American Redstarts do not get their bold black-and-orange plumage until their second full molt (for birds born this year, that will take place next fall). Still, young male redstarts are often a little more orange than yellow and can sometimes be differentiated from the even duller females. The young male below was especially bright.

Although it's a little hard to see in the photo above, the uppertail coverts are also quite dark and they contrast with the grayer-colored back. The orange patches at the base of the wings are...orange.

Meanwhile, in the young probable-female below, the patches are dull yellow, and so are the patches on the tail.


The tail-fanning is a characteristic behavior of this species, earning it the name "candelita," or "little flame" in some Latin American countries where it spends the winter.

Speaking of tails, Palm Warblers are beginning to come through.


Tail-pumping is a very distinctive trait of this species. They do not, however, do this in the hand.


And let's welcome our first new bander of the fall 2010 season, Carmen Volante. Carmen is a senior here at UM-D and is shown here on the left with one of our veteran banders Andy Dettling, and Dana Wloch, the undergraduate research associate in her second year of looking at robin and catbird diets.

The middle week in September coming up is often our best week for diversity of birds, especially warblers. We'll see what we come up with!

Fall banding 2010: Week #2 in review

Warblers welcome!

Week #2 was abbreviated due to my participation on a state advisory panel. The modest totals for the week were 59 birds of 21 species, plus recaps and another batch of hummingbirds released unbanded. Returns of birds banded in previous years included a female American Robin from 2007, and a Gray Catbird from last fall.

The best part of early fall is the nice variety of warblers that start to come through. Later, we'll have higher numbers of some species, or more diversity of birds overall. But this early in the season there is a nice parade of often-subtle, but always pretty, warblers. Here are a few from this week:

Blackburnian Warbler.

Chestnut-sided Warbler. Am I the only person who thinks the green looks like the color you get when you use a yellow highlighter on newsprint?

Black-and-white Warbler.

Wilson's Warbler. Audubon called this species "Wilson's Flycatching Warbler" and you can tell they do some aerial flycatching by the "whiskers" around the bill, known as rictal bristles. They help trap small flying insects.

Tennessee Warbler. More of a gleaner, it lacks the long rictal bristles of the Wilson's Warbler and uses its sharp bill to probe leaves for insects.


One thing we note when we band Tennessee Warblers is the presence (and size) of a white spot on the outer tail feather. About 30% of adult and 20% of hatching-year birds have this spot at our site, and usually if it is present in hatching-year birds it is smaller than this.

Other highlights this week included our first Swainson's Thrush, one of my focal species in my study of use of resources during migratory stopover.

The biggest thing I got in the nets was a female Cooper's Hawk. This is only the third Coop we've caught at RRBO, since they are generally too large and heavy to stay in the nets; and the first female, which are larger than males.

I've been grabbed by little male Sharp-shinned Hawks, which are only about the size of a flicker, and they have needle-sharp talons than can hardly be felt going in...but can be a real problem when the bird starts tugging to get them out! This big female Coop had talons to be respected and very long legs. It's times like these I'm glad I always carry too many bird bags. I handed her a wad to grab onto until I could secure her legs. Really, you can never let go of the legs when handling a hawk, so banding one is much easier as a two-person job. As luck would have it I was working alone and nobody was even in the building to snap some photos. Everything went without mishap as she was quite calm and cooperative, but I wished I could have photographed her eyes -- she had the very green-gray eyes of a young bird (soon to turn yellow and eventually red). That and the fact that her back feathers had extensive rufous tips may indicate she was hatched locally and not a migrant from farther away.

With hawks you worry about the feet, with Rose-breasted Grosbeaks you worry about getting bitten. That bill is very strong and while I've never had one draw blood, they pinch so hard you get left with a divot on your finger that lasts for hours. Plus, they just have nasty dispositions. This adult female didn't nip me, since I've handled enough of them to know not to be careless and always put them in a distinctive colorful bird bag so I don't get surprised when I reach in.

The weather forecast for at least the beginning of next week sounds like a return to summer; not very conducive to migratory movement. We'll see what ends up in the nets.

A reminder that we are moving the RRBO web site in the next few days. Please use this URL to access the current/soon-to-be-replaced site, it will continue working: http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/rouge_river and use my long University address (jcraves AT umd DOT umich DOT edu) or gmail address (jac DOT rrbo AT gmail DOT com) to contact me. Don't use the jac AT rrbo DOT org until further notice.

I'll be posting frequent updates here -- I'm very excited about the new site and can't wait to hear what you think!

Fall banding 2010: Week #1 in review

A week of scruffy birds

RRBO's 19th fall banding season got underway this week. First, a big thanks to local birder and RRBO volunteer Jim Fowler, who decided his songbird banding days are behind him, for donating his net poles to us. And to Robert Schubert, EIC student staffer, for cutting a whole batch more. We have a full set of straight poles to work with this season. Robert and Dana Wloch, one of my undergraduate research assistants, also helped out with getting the net lanes ready for banding. Many thanks!

The first week of banding usually starts slowly, as I tend to be putzing around pruning net lanes and putting up the final nets. This week there were 78 new birds banded, 4 recaptures, and 18 birds released unbanded (14 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, the rest House Sparrows). This represented 25 species. Most were local breeders, but migrants included Least and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers; and Black-and-White, Nashville, Magnolia, and Chestnut-sided Warblers.

Most of the locally nesting species have one thing in common this time of year: they are in the midst of their fall molt. Once finished with nesting, adult birds replace all of their feathers. It occurs systematically, so they can still fly, but not quite as well. Thus a lot of adults tend to be a bit secretive.

Gray Catbirds are our #1 species. This adult female was originally banded in May 2008, and recaptured this week. What a mess.

Young birds (born this year and called "hatching year", HY for short) are also beginning to molt heavily now, replacing their juvenal* plumage with their first set of adult feathers. This HY catbird is actually one of the better looking individuals.

Most HY songbirds only molt body feathers, but some species also replace some flight feathers (wing or tail). Upon examination, it looked like this disheveled HY Song Sparrow lost its tail and was replacing it, versus a normal molt. The rest of the messy look was typical, though.

Indigo Buntings nest on campus, but I've never had a nest in the banding area until this season. This recently fledged bird was being tended by a male parent, or I might have had a hard time figuring out what species it was! When I catch a bird this young, I immediately run back to the banding lab, process the bird, and run back and return it where I found it. Once reunited with his offspring, the dad quit scolding me!

Up to about 5 or 6 years ago, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers didn't nest on campus. In fact, 20 years ago, I don't remember them nesting very frequently in the county. During the first Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas (1983-1988), breeding evidence was noted in only four quarter-townships in Wayne Co. Things have changed rather dramatically. During Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas II (2001-2007), 39 quarter-townships had breeding evidence, and for the last few years, three to five pairs have nested on campus. This HY bird, likely from a family that has been present this summer near the banding area, is only the 12th RRBO has banded since 1992, and only the second in fall.

Two interesting "abnormal" birds were banded this week.

This HY Eastern Kingbird, probably from a nest on campus, had fleshy tumors on the "shoulders" of both wings. The tumor on the left wing was small, but this one on the right wing was 14.2 mm. I see tumors of this sort from time to time. I suspect this was a feather cyst; a contributing factor for this condition may be malnutrition. This bird also had a prominent "fault bar" on the tail. This occurs when actively growing feathers stop growing for a period of time due to nutritional stress (lengthy discussion here). The bird flew well, but it's hard to say how much this will hamper it on its long fall migration.

American Goldfinches are abundant in one section of the banding area. They are just starting to fledge their young. This bird, however, was an adult male. Note that the first secondary feather on one wing was completely black on the underside, rather than having a white base. Usually when one sees birds with odd-colored feathers, the aberrant feather is white. Excessive dark plumage, or melanism, is less common, and I don't recall ever seeing single melanistic feathers or patches of melanistic feathers any birds, much less the many thousands of goldfinches I've handled.

This will be the fourth year of collecting fecal samples from Catharus thrushes to examine what kinds of fruit they are eating. It's the second year that Dana Wloch will be assisting by collecting and compiling samples from other bird species. This week resulted in 19 samples being "donated" by catbirds, American Robins, and a couple of Cedar Waxwings.

Welcome rain and the passage of a front this weekend should perk things up next week.

***

*"Juvenal" is the term for a bird's first plumage; "juvenile" is a generic term for a youngster. For more on plumages and molts, extremely useful in aiding in ageing and identification of birds, Plumage and Molt at Audubon Guides, and Molt and Plumage Lab at Biological Ramblings. An excellent new book on the topic for birders, Peterson Reference Guide to Molt in North American Birds was published this year. I recommend it.

Distinguished alumni

Many volunteer bird banders have passed through the ranks at RRBO, over a hundred last time I counted. They have been staff, faculty, and students from U of M-Dearborn and other colleges as well as community members, friends, and relatives. A number of couples have met while volunteering for RRBO (it even led one couple to marriage: I met my husband Darrin in 1995 when he volunteered for me!).

Here are just a few current and past RRBO banders that have careers in wildlife or environmental fields. I like to think that their experiences here have proved valuable in their current work. Only a few of them band birds as part of their jobs, but banding can help hone organizational skills and attention to detail, as well as teach patience, how to appreciate good shade-grown coffee, the finer points of political debate, and tolerance of mosquitoes and bird poop.

Bold indicates the volunteer was a U of M-Dearborn student (undergrad) during their RRBO tenure, italics indicates a U of M-Ann Arbor student (mostly graduate students).

Dea Armstong -- City Ornithologist, Ann Arbor Natural Areas Preservation Dept.

Mary Bohling -- Extension Educator, Michigan Sea Grant.

Tom Dietsch -- Assistant Researcher, Center for Tropical Research, University of California, Los Angeles. Tom is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.

Kim Hall -- Climate Change Ecologist, The Nature Conservancy, Great Lakes Region (see a profile and interview here), Assistant Professor, Michigan State University.

Matt Kleitch -- Northern Lower Peninsula Project Director, The Nature Conservancy Michigan

Andrea Kreljevic -- Program Associate, Audubon International Alliances Program.

Greg Norwood -- Biological Technician, USFWS, Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

Sally Petrella -- Volunteer Monitoring Program Manager, Friends of the Rouge.

Beth Johnson -- Commissary Supervisor, Detroit Zoo (here's a great article on her!)

Julian Wood -- San Franciso Bay Program Manager, PRBO Conservation Science (formerly Point Reyes Bird Observatory), California.

Mark Dettling -- Terrestrial Ecologist, PRBO Conservation Science (formerly Point Reyes Bird Observatory), California.

Don Yee --Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi

Mike Clipper -- Program Analyst, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Nancy Parachini -- Forest Legacy Program, U.S. Forest Service

If you're an RRBO banding alum that I have lost track of, feel free to drop me a line and catch up!

Cats eat bird eggs

One of the presentations I attended at an ornithological meeting earlier this year was "Cats and fat doves: resolving the urban nest predator paradox." The project is looking at nest predators in urban versus rural areas, and if and how they differ.

This particular study used Northern Mockingbirds in Florida as subjects. Mockingbirds are to Florida what American Robins are to Michigan as far as common nesting yard birds are concerned. The researchers located dozens of nests and put cameras on them. These cameras included the ability to monitor the nests at night.

Although Cooper's Hawks were present at all the urban sites, they are not major nest predators of mockingbirds in urban settings, but tend instead to eat abundant, profitable, and easy-to-catch prey -- usually doves and pigeons.

The main nest predator in urban/suburban areas, accounting for 70% of nest predation, was house cats (see this chart). This didn't surprise me, but just reinforced what we know about outdoor cats: they are extremely effective predators of birds and other small wildlife. Also not too surprising was that the surveillance showed that cats were very adept at climbing the trees and raiding the nests.

Yet two facets of the results were particularly interesting to me. When cats predated a mockingbird nest, 28.6% of the time it was to eat the eggs; the rest of the time it was the nestlings that were taken. Thus, the reproductive ability of the mockingbirds was destroyed.

The other aspect was that 94% of the cat predation took place at night.

So please, keep your cat indoors. This is especially critical during the breeding season and at night.

My cats Sophie and Juniper are strictly indoor cats. Everyone is happy: the cats, the birds, and us.

Update: Shortly after I wrote this, The Wildlife Society and the American Bird Conservancy put out a joint press release to remind people that this is a particularly critical time to keep cats indoors. You can read it here.

Spring 2010 migration in review

The spring 2010 survey season took place on 47 days between 1 April through 4 June. There were surveys on most mornings in April and nearly every day in May except during heavy rain. As in past years, each survey always included a 1.5-mile standard route in the natural area on campus. Many days, additional area was covered; distance, time, and birds counted on these legs were recorded separately but are discussed below in aggregate. On campus, 129 species were recorded (another 9 were recorded in Dearborn off-campus). This equals the previous 12-year mean. The peak calendar week was 16 through 22 May with 92 species. This is the same peak week as 2009, but last year 95 species were recorded that week. The peak day was 16 May (18 May last year) with 76 species (ten fewer than 2009). Weather The National Weather Service reported that 2010 had the warmest spring on record for Detroit, and the warmest spring since 1991 across most of the southern Michigan region. This was largely due to warm temperatures in March and April (both months in the top 20 warmest lists for southeast Michigan). The first week in April was particularly hot -- the warmest first week in April in climate history at Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw. However, there were below-average temperatures the second week in May. At Detroit much of the spring was dry, with precipitation well below average through the end of April. Rain in May helped boost precip levels up and much of the region was near-normal by the end of May. These weather patterns were guided by a jet stream that was generally south of our region up until May. General trends One inevitable result of warm weather early in the spring is that trees leaf out earlier, making detecting birds more difficult. While most spring birds are recorded by hearing them sing, this obviously doesn't work with silent birds, especially females. The understory here on campus is now dominated in most areas by non-native shrub genera that also tend to leaf out early: Lonicera (honeysuckles) and Rhamnus/Frangula (buckthorns). These hindrances to detectability may have played a role in overall low numbers of many species of migrants, and late season migrants in particular. Species that make up the caboose of spring migration here, such as both cuckoos and Blackpoll, Canada, and Mourning Warblers, were found only in very modest numbers over a period of just a few days. I hope that detectability, favorable weather promoting migration past our site, or some other benign factor was responsible for the lack of late-season migrants. We will probably never know if the burning of oil from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf disoriented, sickened, or killed migrant songbirds. Whether it did or not, we can only wait and see how it effects southbound migrants, directly or indirectly. As of this writing, unknown thousands of barrels of oil are still belching from the sea floor. Right now, our minds are with the waterbirds, sea creatures, and humans that are being immediately and urgently impacted by these malignant plumes of oil. I'm sure we have yet to imagine the profound and far-reaching impacts this disaster will have on wildlife -- maybe even migrant songbirds -- in the years to come. Already troubling to me is the apparent decline in the number of individuals of some common species. Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, and Ovenbird are good examples. The number of individuals of each of these species posted a greater than 30% decline over the average number counted the previous three years. This ranged from 33% fewer redstarts to 57% fewer Black-throated Blue Warblers. These numbers have not been adjusted for effort, but effort has been similar the past four years, hence the short time frame given. In a few more months, 17 years of daily spring surveys with effort data will be digitized and available for analysis, providing a much clearer picture. But even this back-of-the envelope calculation may be cause for alarm, as this suite of species has something in common: they all winter primarily in the West Indies. John Faaborg's excellent long-term winter banding project in Puerto Rico has noted very alarming declines in some of the most common wintering North American migrants on his study plot -- and both Black-and-white Warbler and Ovenbird have declined to less than 20% of their original abundances since 1973. Migrant birds have complex life histories, so it is hard to draw conclusions from one year and one place. If you are interested in the struggle to understand how to monitor and evaluate migratory songbirds, I recommend this excellent overview (PDF): Conserving migratory land birds in the New World: Do we know enough? Ecological Applications 20:398-418. You don't need a lot of technical chops in bird ecology to get the gist of what we are up against when you read this paper. You can help! There is power in large amounts of data. For this reason, I encourage all readers to consider contributing their past and future bird data to eBird. I believe this is our best hope for strong evidence to shape conservation of birds for decades to come. Back to spring 2010... Arrival dates Only a few species posted record early spring arrival dates this year. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers arrived on 8 April, four days earlier than the previous early date. On 15 April, a Blue-headed Vireo showed up, four days early. When they were recorded on 16 April, Chimney Swifts were two days early. I keep track of the arrival dates of over 40 species of conspicuous (easily detectable) migrant species. About half of these species arrived earlier this year than the previous 16-year mean (an average of 4 days earlier), while about half arrived later (average 3 days later). More interesting, perhaps, is comparing the 2010 arrival date with the mean for the first 7 years (for most species, 1993-1999). In 2010, 62% of species arrived earlier than they did during the early 1990s, an average of 5 days earlier. The 31% that arrived later did so on average of 3 days later. If we look at this group of species and compare the early period (for most species, 1993-1996) with the current period (2003-2010), the trend toward earlier arrivals is even more pronounced. Nearly 79% of species are arriving earlier (by an average of 4 days), while less than 17% are arriving later (3 days). This method uses arithmetic means, and more rigorous statistical testing over longer time periods will be done once digitization of all years of spring survey data is complete. Highlights Notable birds were rather few and far between this year. No outstanding rarities were recorded. A number of less common species were found on campus: Common Loon (flyover, 15 Apr), American Coot (7 Apr), Sandhill Crane (flyover, 5 May), Red-headed Woodpecker (5 May), White-eyed Vireo (25 and 30 May, probably the same bird), Hooded Warbler (6 and 21 May), Summer Tanager (14 and 19 May), and Orchard Oriole (1 May, and another bird that arrived on 23 May and was present through the end of May). Perhaps more notable were the birds not recorded. For the first time in 18 years, we did not record any Blue-winged Warblers, normally a common species. Other species that are annual here but were missed this year -- Philadelphia Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Connecticut Warbler -- can be difficult to find and have often been picked up during banding operations versus surveys. Because we do not currently have a spring research project that can be addressed by the capture of birds, we did not band birds again this spring and so did not record these species. Many thanks to Darrin O'Brien and Jerry Sadowski, who assisted with surveys this spring.

How to help baby birds

The calls have already started. "I found a baby bird. What should I do?"

The answer is nearly always: leave it alone.

The vast majority of these birds are not orphans. Invariably, the ones that are "rescued" by well-meaning people end up dying because the folks that bring them home are like the proverbial dog that caught the bumper. Once they catch it, they have no idea what to do with it.

It is perfectly normal for a baby bird to leave the nest before it can fly. Baby birds grow rapidly, with many species leaving their crowded nests inside of two weeks. They are awkward, not fully feathered, and cannot fly.

American Robins, for example, can't fly when they leave the nest and are often found bumbling around, apparently alone and helpless. However, even if they are on the ground, their parents are most likely tending to them. The parents may be off finding food, or just in hiding because they are more wary of you than the young ones are.

If the baby is in immediate danger of being stepped on, run over, etc., you can move it a short distance. It isn't true that the parents will abandon it if it has been touched by a human. Do not chase the baby bird all around trying to catch it. The stress can kill it. If it can evade you, it can likely evade a predator.

Sometimes a nest gets blown down in a storm. You can reconstruct a nest in a container with drainage (like a berry basket) and securely fasten it near the original site. Do not try to raise the young yourself, it is not only difficult, in the U.S., it is illegal to possess a native bird.

If the bird you find is truly abandoned, it may be that by the time you find it, it is already too late, especially if it is a very young, naked baby bird. If you must take in a baby bird --

1. Make sure it is a native species (see below). Many rehabbers will not take non-native species, and the release of non-native species is prohibited in some areas.
   
2. Put the bird in a covered, ventilated box lined with a folded towel. Put it in a quiet, warm place, away from pets and children. In case you were wondering, yes, there are diseases you or your pets can contract from wild birds.
3. Do NOT try to feed the bird or give it water. You can easily kill it.
4. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator immediately (Google "wildlife rehabilitators" and your locality). Raising healthy baby birds takes nearly 24-hour specialized care and knowledge of the nutritional needs of each species at different ages. Sick birds are even more complicated. Again, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, it is illegal to possess a native bird without special permits.
   

The species you are likely to encounter are common, prolific, adaptable, and will have more than one brood of youngsters a year. Loss of eggs, nestlings, or fledglings is normal for all bird species and built into "the system."

A huge percentage of the calls I receive are for House Sparrows, European Starlings, or Rock Pigeons -- none of these are native to North America. It does not make ecological sense to spend time and resources "saving" these species, which are already overabundant. They are not protected under law by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and it may be/become illegal for these species to be rehabilitated and released into the wild.

It is not easy for many people to "let nature take its course," but it is nearly always the right thing to do.

Download RRBO's brochure on what to do if you find a baby bird (PDF).

RRBO on WDET

On March 15, I was on Detroit Public Radio, talking about bird population numbers on the Craig Fahle Show. I thought it went pretty well, considering I had no idea what he wanted to talk about besides "bird numbers"! You can listen to the show here (it's an MP3 link); I'm on about 2/3 of the way through the show.

Banding recovery: Michigan robin in Mississippi

Hot on the heels of a report of an RRBO-banded robin found in Louisiana last month, is another southern recovery. This robin, first banded here on campus as a hatching-year bird on 30 September 2007, and was found dead 5 miles north of McLain, Mississippi on 8 March 2010.

Interestingly, we recaptured this bird on 11 October 2008, when we determined it was a female. The bird was molting wing feathers when it was recaptured, which birds typically do on the breeding grounds rather than during migration. Recaptures of passage migrants are quite rare, as well, so this was likely a bird that nested somewhere on campus or nearby.

This is the 9th robin banded on campus recovered outside of Michigan. Most of them (6) were originally banded in fall (the others in spring and summer), and recovered en route to, on, or en route back from their wintering areas. This map shows all 9 areas where the robins were recovered. The Ohio bird was found just a month after it was banded in fall, so it was likely still southbound. You can click on the markers for details.

This is certainly demonstrating a pattern of Michigan robins -- breeding or migrant birds -- wintering in the southeastern U.S.

A similar map and chart of all of our out-of-state banding recoveries is on the RRBO web site.

Banding in Mexico

My husband Darrin and I have just returned from a trip to the western state of Jalisco, Mexico (highlighted above). You might recall that last year we went to Nicaragua where we conducted bird and insect surveys and did some bird banding on a shade coffee farm. This Mexican trip was sponsored by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory in Colorado, which has done a great deal of work in this area. Our trip supported conservation work in Jalisco, an area where there are many endemic bird species found nowhere else in the world.

While our itinerary took us to several locations, I'll focus here on a visit to the Las Joyas research station in the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve, where we, too briefly, learned about and lent a hand in one of the longest-running and most intensive bird banding projects in Mexico.

The Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve covers 1400 km² (roughly 350,000 acres). It was established in 1987, after being acquired by the government to preserve a large population of a rare species of wild maize, Zea diploperennis. The 345 km² of tropical dry forest in the reserve is the largest of its type protected in Mexico, and the 50 km² of cloud forest portion is the largest protected on Mexico's Pacific slope. Much of the land in Mexico is owned communally under the ejido system. Because there are so many landowners, biospheres in the country are structured so that there is a core area in which little or no human impact is allowed, and a buffer zone where managed activities such as sustainable agriculture can take place. A general map of the area is here.

The Las Joyas field station is operated by the University of Guadalajara in the core zone, and is not open to the public. If you put these coordinates <19.586010,-104.274028> into Google Maps or Earth and zoom in on the marker, you can see the buildings as well as the remoteness. The station is quite rustic, with solar power and outhouses with composting toilets. We slept in a dorm, 4 beds to a room, with thin walls that did not keep out the night-time chill at nearly 2000 meters! We were also warned to use a flashlight and beware of mountain lions and jaguars if we went to the outhouses at night. Four other wild cats are also common there: bobcats, ocelots, margays, and jaguarundis. Alas, we did not see any of them.

In the center is the dorm at Las Joyas; outhouses at left and kitchen at right.

The area around the dorms was full of bird life. The most common species were many usually-hard-to-see Crested Guans (Penelope purpurascens), roosting in the trees and flying back and forth; multiple sallying Tufted Flycatchers (Mitrephanes phaeocercus); several male Brown-backed Solitaires (Myadestes occidentalis) in constant song; and a pair of uncharacteristicly cooperative Blue Mockingbirds (Melanotis caerulescens). Singing Quail (Dactylortyx thoracicus) and Long-tailed Wood-Partridge (Dendrortyx macroura, a Mexican endemic) also lent their voices to the morning chorus; we got great looks at the wood-partridges at the compost pile.

The banding "station" is a table set up along a trail. Ten nets are run two days a week all year long, manned by station regulars and students working on various projects. I was very impressed by the speed and skill of the student banders, as well as the many scientific publications which have resulted from work here.

At left, University of Guadalajara's Sarahy Contreras explains some background of the banding project at Las Joyas, in which she has been involved for many years.

We just didn't take enough pictures. The pace of bird captures was steady in the morning. The students or Darrin and I were nearly always off checking nets, extracting birds, and bringing them back to the banding table. We were happy to help out even as most of our group went off for a walk.

The most common North American migratory species were Wilson's Warbler and Nashville Warbler. Most of the birds were residents, though, and a lot of them were hummingbirds.

They had a whole range of tiny hummingbird bands arranged in mint tins, and an array of special banding pliers to put the bands on. Some species we had that day were White-eared, Magnificent, Rufous, and Berylline Hummingbirds, and Green Violetear.

Here are a few of the highlights for me:

Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercers (Diglossa baritula) feed on nectar. The long hook at the tip of the bill is used to hold flowers firmly, while they stab the base of the flower corolla with their pointy lower bill and extract nectar by inserting their tongues through the slit. This is done incredibly fast! This is a small bird, perhaps the size of a Magnolia Warbler.

Golden-browed Warbler (Basileuterus belli).

Dwarf Vireo (Vireo nelsoni). I think this was the only bird we heard in the field but only saw in the hand. It is a very poorly known species endemic to Mexico. It's nearest relative is the endangered Texas-breeding Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapillus) -- one of which we also saw at a lower elevation! Black-caps have a very restricted wintering range in western Mexico, and the bird we saw was banded, most likely at the same wintering site by Sarahy two years before.

We had 8 species of vireo on the trip, including Golden Vireo (Vireo hypochryseus) and Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo (Vireolanius melitophrys).

Of course, as in Nicaragua, I was happy to get an opportunity to handle a couple of south-of-the-border Catharus thrushes, related to the birds I study here at RRBO.

Here is an Orange-billed Nightingale-thrush (Catharus aurantiirostris). They are smaller than a Hermit Thrush, generally the smallest Catharus thrush we get here in Michigan.

And here I am with a Russet Nightingale-thrush (Catharus occidentalis).

On the trip, we saw many other spectacular species. Among my favorites were:
Citreoline Trogon (Trogon citreolus) -- endemic to Mexico.
Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) -- a relative of the extinct Imperial and Ivory-billed Woodpeckers.
San Blas Jay (Cyanocorax sanblasianus) -- endemic to Mexico.
Red-breasted Chat (Granatellus venustus) -- endemic to the Pacific slope of Mexico.
Red-headed Tanager (Piranga erythrocephala) -- endemic to Mexico.
Rufous-capped and Green-striped Brush-Finches (Atlapetes pileatus and Arremon virenticeps) -- both endemic to Mexico.
Rusty-crowned Ground-sparrow (Melozone kieneri) -- endemic to west Mexico.
Orange-breasted Bunting (Passerina leclancherii) -- eye-popping Mexican endemic.

Our small group tallied around 250 species. Many thanks to Arvind Panjabi, Sarahy Contreras, Eduardo Santana, and Siux Diaz for hosting this great trip.

Winter Bird Population Survey, Year 18

Last year I introduced readers to our annual Winter Bird Population Survey. I've just completed the 18th year of this survey, recording two new species.

The two new species were: Mute Swan (two birds flying over on 4 February), and a Long-eared Owl on 21 January. This brings the total cumulative species list to 69. The number of species that have been recorded in only one year is now 15, and the number of species that have been recorded every year is 21.

Every year since 2002, the year West Nile Virus was first detected in Michigan, I have lamented the loss and subsequent lack of recovery of American Crows. This winter, only a single crow was counted during the survey period. This is the seventh year in a row with fewer than 10 total counted on the survey. The average number of crows found over the survey period prior to WNV was 139; the mean since (2003-2010) is 7. I know of only two pairs of crows nesting in Dearborn. I don't know if these four birds have some sort of immunity to the virus, but I find them in the same place every year, and they don't seem to produce any surviving young.

Tufted Titmouse is another species that suffers high mortality from West Nile virus. They seem to have made a come-back in recent years, and this year the survey recorded the highest number since 2002.

Sparrows in general were seen in lower numbers this winter, but this could be due to the fact that the many of the Ford properties, which typically attract thousands of birds and which we tend to see a little overflow, were harvested bare this year.

American Robins were plentiful, as they have been most recent years. This is the eighth year in a row where they have been recorded on 75% or more of the survey dates (the survey period runs from 20 December to 20 February). The average number of robins seen on each visit has also been increasing, as the graph below indicates.

So long as robins are able to access some water (although they will eat snow) and have a supply of food (mostly fruit, but also invertebrates in leaf litter, so snow cover is a handicap), they'll stick around.

Other than those "highlights," it was a rather below average winter. I tallied 37 species, just one species below the average. Other parameters, such as individuals counted per hour or per visit, were also slightly below average, although not dramatically. However dull, long-term data like this is very important for detecting population trends and responses to climate change, habitat alteration, or pathogen introductions, as the robin and crow examples illustrate. And since this survey uses multiple visits over the winter season, it is more robust than one-day counts such as the Christmas Bird Count. In fact, it is probably the unsung hero among the many datasets RRBO has put together over the years.

You can view an introduction to how the Winter Bird Population Survey works, as well as all the results, on the RRBO web site.

How to detect ruffled feathers

One of my favorite non-bird books is The Songs of Insects, a fabulous guide to dozens of species of crickets, cicadas, and katydids. Photographer Wil Hershberger's web site has a page where he notes the presence of two small filoplumes on the napes of songbirds he'd photographed. Filoplumes are specialized feathers, long and hairlike, that are most numerous at the base of wing feathers. Special sensory cells at the base of filoplumes transmit information on the position and movement of wing feathers during flight. According to the Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function, many passerines also have filoplumes sticking out of their crown and nape, "perhaps warning the bird when wind disrupts the smooth outer surface of the plumage."

I found this incredibly intriguing, and when I had the time, I looked for these plumes on the birds I banded. Sure enough, there they were! I was able to find them on a variety of species, both male and female, and could even see them on some older head shots I had taken during previous fall banding seasons. Although not particularly easy to photograph (especially with one hand!), here is a little slide show of some of my shots. Look at the back of the neck -- you might have to slow the speed down a bit or pause on some photos. (Note: apparently some Firefox users cannot see the Flickr slide show, a known bug with Flickr. If you have a Flickr account, it might help to log in.)

Species in order: Yellow Warbler (male then female), Orchard Oriole, Black-and-white Warbler, Brown Thrasher, White-throated Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male then female), Black-thr Green Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Purple Finch, Wilson's Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Common Yellowthroat. Created with Paul's flickrSLiDR.

A 1989 paper (pdf) in the Condor, the journal of the Cooper Ornithological Society, described the presence of these protruding filoplumes on the napes of many passerine species. The authors noted that species which lacked these plumes had dense, stiff feathering on their napes, while species that displayed the filoplumes had softer and more flexible feathering in this area. They also concluded that these plumes served to detect disturbances in the feathers in an area that birds could neither see nor reach. The looser plumage might have less insulative properties to begin with, and unnoticed disheveled plumage might make a bird even more vulnerable to heat loss. A quick shake or perhaps scratch of the head, or facing into the wind can smooth the feathers once again, correcting the situation.

It's hard to believe I handled tens of thousands of birds -- with part of the routine being close scrutiny of plumage -- without making particular note of this interesting characteristic!

Banding recovery: Michigan robin in Louisiana

We received a report of a young American Robin banded here on campus 28 October 2005 being found dead in Georgetown, Louisiana. There was no specific information on the date the bird was found, only "2009." Georgetown is in Grant Parish in north-central Louisiana, near the eastern border of the Kisatchie National Forest.

This is the 8th robin (out of nearly 3500) we have had recovered from out of state, and the third from Louisiana. Four more were also from the deep south, and one was from Ohio.

You can view a table and an interactive map of all of the birds banded at RRBO that have been recovered outside of Michigan on the RRBO web site.

Peregrine wintering in Dearborn

Wintering Peregrine Falcons are not unusual in Dearborn. Most years we have at least one sighting, and one has wintered every year for the past five years. Since Ford began planting sunflowers and other crops at their local properties, this has been the most common place to find them (Merlins, too). The Ford Rouge Plant has also been another Peregrine "hot spot."

This winter we have a Peregrine in a new location. On January 4, Dearborn police officer and long-time RRBO volunteer Mike O'Leary found a Peregrine at the Village Plaza, the tallest building on the west side of Outer Drive just north of Michigan Avenue. The "A" marker on the map below is the intersection of Michigan and Outer Drive. The red arrow points to the Village Plaza building. Enter off Michigan Avenue, past the sub shop, via the street marked in green on the map.

The Peregrine has been hunting around the building and the adjacent golf course. It likes to hang out on the concrete ledge on the southwest corner of the building. The arrow in the photo below shows where it especially likes to sit.

Believe it or not, the bird is in this photo at the tip of the arrow. While it was clearly identifiable with binoculars, a scope is needed for a good photo. Although the falcon was seen yesterday (January 22) by Mike, my husband Darrin and I -- ready with camera and scope -- did not see it this morning. When we get a shot, I'll post it here, and update the latest date seen. If you happen to go by and get a look, let me know in the comments.

Updates: A day or so after I posted this, Mike let me know that he was passing the Village Plaza when he saw the Peregrine heading west along Michigan Avenue. He followed it all the way into Inkster, when it easily passed Mike's car, going an estimated 65 MPH! Apparently, it hunts rather far afield!

7 Apr: Still present.
6 Mar: Still there!
30 Jan: Seen again today at the Village Plaza.
13 Feb: Now more often hanging out on the Michigan Avenue side of the building (see comments).

Dearborn CBC, 2010

RRBO has been coordinating the Dearborn portion of the Detroit River Christmas Bird Count (CBC) since 1995. The count is held each year on New Year's Day.

After last year's exciting count featuring winter finches, this year's count was very dull, with the second-lowest number of individuals in 14 years. The low numbers of raptors, Mourning Doves, and House Sparrows, and absence of any blackbirds, compared to recent years was due to most of the productive Ford properties being planted in hay and harvested this year, leaving them in barren stubble with no or few birds.

The best of these fields are the ones that are directly adjacent to a tree line where birds can roost or go for cover, with the original field at on the south side of Hubbard at Southfield being the one that has traditionally had the most birds. Here is what the field looked like this summer, after the grain was harvested and the hay bailed. This is looking west towards the Ritz Carleton hotel:

Whatever waste grain may have been left behind had long been picked over, leaving nothing for birds to eat. There is a coyote living in a den in the small nearby woodlot that I've seen several times. Here it is on count day, in the lower right.

A few fields did have sunflowers in them, but they had also been picked clean. We had very large flocks of blackbirds this fall in the sunflower fields. Here is a brief video I took in October:

A few fields were planted in a wildflower mix. Although some of the choicest plants, such as the bluestem grasses, had been de-seeded, there was still a lot of good seed left. We had most of our small birds in these fields.

The Ford Rouge Plant had not been harboring much waterfowl up to the count, since the Detroit River is still open. Among the usual suspects there was a new species for the Dearborn portion of the count: Bonaparte's Gull. This was also our first January record for this species. A few do winter in the Great Lakes, but most are found in the Gulf states or southern Mississippi River in winter.

On campus, several Golden-crowned Kinglets, and Fox and Swamp Sparrows were good finds. Elsewhere, in an undisclosed location, a Northern Saw-whet Owl was located. They are not too uncommon here in winter, just hard to find.

Afterwards, most local counters gathered on campus to exchange intelligence, warm up with a cup of coffee, and have some pizza. Below, clockwise from lower left, are Greg Norwood (territory = campus and Rouge River channel), Tom Carpenter (Rouge Park), Gary Hutman (Rouge Park), Rick Crossland (rover), me, and Jim Fowler (Ford Rouge Plant, Detroit River, compiler). Other participants missing from the photo are listed on the results page.

The majority of participants on the Dearborn count are Dearborn residents, and my own Dearborn neighborhood is well represented. Here are the Springwells Park birders: Cathy Carroll, Gary Hutman, my husband Darrin O'Brien, and yours truly.

For a complete list of the bird species seen and other stats, as well as the results of all previous years, head on over to the Christmas Bird Count page on the RRBO web site.