Birdchick Blog
Reader Nan has sent in this photo asking to ID what it is. I think I know what it is, but since I have so much fun trying to id birds, I thought I would let everybody have a crack at it. Can you ID this bird--and this time we can do it in the comments section--how exciting!
At Morgen's request, I'm giving an update on the black-crowned night-heron foot.
First, I have to tell everyone that according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act you cannot have parts of native birds in your possession (even if you just found them on the ground without state and federal permits). I have an umbrella permit through The Raptor Center. I can have in my possession for education some of the most illegal bird parts out there--eagle parts by using their permits. Now, if you're reading this thinking, "Holy cow, I have a stock pile of cardinal feathers, I gotta flush 'em quick!!" Don't be alarmed. This treaty is in place to prevent poaching, let's face it, it's hard to prove poaching unless it's witnessed, so this is a tool for Fish and Wildlife to get someone suspected of poaching if they have parts without a permit. It's generally not abused, otherwise second graders across the country would be hauled in on a regular basis for every blue jay feather they find.
So, back to the heron foot. I tried to dry the foot in my office with nasty, smelly results but thanks to Morgen, I put it in some silica gel in a plastic bag and it worked great.
Here is my beautiful heron foot, dried in all it's glory. This will be a great prop for explaining why both herons and osprey are predators, but what's different--the feet for one thing. A heron's not going to get fish by using it's feet like an osprey does.
When I was in Maine our group found that washed up sooty shearwater and our guide was kind enough to cut the head off for me. I stopped and got some more silica gel and packed it in my carry on. I didn't have any permits with me so I was curious if I would get this past security. Of course my carry on was flagged at the Bangor Airport--I wondered if they thought the baggy full of a whitish substance was some type of drug? The screener pulled out the bag and raised an eyebrow. "It's got a bird head in it, see?" and I jiggled the bag to reveal the bird head. "I'm drying it out."
"Ma'am," he started, "we're not allowed to let you touch this table, but I'm going to make an exception and have you repack this bag."
So, for those curious, it is possible to get a sooty shearwater head past airport security without too much of a fuss. Here's the dried head, not too bad and more importantly, not too smelly.
I have the head in the bag about three weeks and took it out today. Some of gel is still a little grainy in the cranial cavity... say that five times fast.
Again, another tool for showing a predatory bird with a hooked beak but is still different from raptors. Hm, maybe I'll start doing the duck thing that WildBird on the Fly does, only with the sooty shearwater head. Will I be able to get wacky photos of people posing with my head?
I've enabled comments and in less than 24 hours I found my first spam comment. This does not bode well and is one of the reasons why I've been hesitant to enable them (that and the occasional obscene emails I get from someone who claims to be incarcerated). I may have to require comments to be made by only those registered with blogger.
I'll give it a little more time.
I will say, getting comments from people who felt they couldn't email me is a plus. You're always welcome to email, I just can't guarantee a response. If I didn't want people to email, I wouldn't have it available on the site.
"Um, excuse me, I need your attention."
"Hi there, what are you up to? Um, what's this button do? Gee, that's great, can I have your attention please? Hey, what are you typing about me right now?"
"Hey, I don't approve of you writing that about me on the internet! And I don't think you understand my meaning, pay attention to me right now or I delete this blog entry you've been composing for the last twenty minutes!"
"There, was that so hard? Now, be a smart girl and learn to type one handed, and say nicer things about me. Oh, a little harder behind that right ear...ahhhhhhhhhhh."So, yesterday I had meeting with my editor and we went page by page through the book deciding where I'd like photos. I had to fight for color for the book, but I think it's worth it. There are a lot of great books out there with great information, but if they don't have bird photos with them, the books just don't sell very well. I saw that at the bird store and don't want that to happen with this book.
Alright, here are the types photos I need for my book City Bird/Country Bird. Take a look, do you have a photo from your yard that might work for it? Keep in mind that all the birds need to be native to North America, commonly found east of the Rockies.
1. Wooden bird feeder
2. General shot of a yard with a bird feeding station (feeders need to look clean).
3. Birdbath on a deck (preferably with birds using it, but if you have a really cool birdbath, I'm interested in that too).
4. Heavily Wooded Yard
5. Mildly Wooded Yard
6. Few to No Trees Yard
7. Marsh/Wetland
8. Birds in obvious city areas--sidewalks, sides of buildings, etc.
9. Hummingbirds near people
10. Robins on lawn
11. Bird feeders mounted from a deck
12. Bird houses mounted from deck
13. House finch nest in plant basket
14. Hummingbird coming to plant basket
15. Photo of shepherd's hook pole w/feeder
16. Squirrel Baffles--hanging and pole mounted (raccoon resistant)
17. Window mounted bird feeders
18. Squirrel-proof feeders
19. Birds eating mealworms
20. Birds using egg shells
21. Birds eating berries--chokecherries, pincherries, crab apple, sumac
22. Birds bathing in birdbaths
23. Dirty bird feeders
24. Photo of a sick bird (puffed up, eyes half closed)
25. Bluebird houses (Peterson style, Gilbertson style, or Gilwood style)
26. Wren house (1 inch hole)
27. Chickadee house
28. Robin nest ledge
29. Purple martin house
30. Suet feeders
31. Wood duck houses
32. Cats
33. Woodpecker pecking on house
I need the following species either feeding on bird feeders or using bird houses or on some type of building or fence (or something that shows the birds are coexisting with humans):
1. Cardinal
2. Black-capped and Carolina chickadee
3. Orioles
4. Ruby-throated hummingbirds
5. Rose-breasted grosbeaks
6. Pileated woodpecker
7. Bluebirds
8. Goldfinches
9. House finches
10. Nuthatches
11. Squirrels (fox, red, gray, black phase and albino)
12. Raccoons
13. Blackbirds (grackles, red-wings, yellow-heads, starlings)
14. Crows
15. Blue jays
16. House sparrows
17. Canada goose
18. Hawks (Cooper's, sharp-shin, kestrel, red-tail, broad-winged, red-shouldered)
19. Rock pigeons
20. Indigo buntings
21. Scarlet tanager
22. Wild Turkey
23. Ring-necked pheasant
24. Pet birds at a bird feeder (budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, etc.)
25. Native sparrows (white-throated, white-crowned, song, Harris, chipping, tree, etc)
26. Eastern warblers
27. Bears
28. Deer
29. Flying squirrels
If you do have a photo based on the list above please email the highest resolution possible (or for those not so techno savvy --the large picture that comes straight from the camera). My editor and publisher have final say if it gets used and these are some of the considerations to keep in mind when submitting.
This is obviously a photo of an indigo bunting, but there are wires blocking and it's slightly out of focus. This couldn't be used in the book.
This is a cool shot of an oriole and downy woodpecker eating suet at the same time on the same feeder, but the oriole is cut off and the pole is blocking the feeder. Fun for the scrapbook, but not usable for the book.
This would be an ideal shot because you can see the bird's body, it's near a house--you can see cars and a trampoline in the background. Also, it's in focus and not taken through a window screen.
If your photo gets used, you get credit in the book and a free copy of the book. Please email photos to sharon@birdchick.com and be sure to put photo submission in the subject line of the email. If you send emails with blank subject lines, they have a greater chance of ending up in the spam file. Be sure to include your name and snail mail address.
I'm here at the Saturn Dealership getting my ignition looked at after the key snafu on Sunday. And I'm being sent this article about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker halting a huge dam project from several people. I'm sure other bloggers have this out already, but I remember last December when I was down in ye olde bayou hearing about this project and speculation on whether or not it would be stopped. Now, apparently it has.
By ANDREW DeMILLO
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal judge halted a $320 million irrigation project Thursday for fear it could disturb the habitat of a woodpecker that may or may not be extinct.
The dispute involves the ivory-billed woodpecker. The last confirmed sighting of the bird in North America was in 1944, and scientists had thought the species was extinct until 2004, when a kayaker claimed to have spotted one in the area. But scientists have been unable to confirm the sighting.
Still, U.S. District Judge William R. Wilson said that for purposes of the lawsuit brought by environmental groups, he had to assume the woodpecker exists in the area. And he ruled that federal agencies may have violated the Endangered Species Act by not studying the risks fully.
"When an endangered species is allegedly jeopardized, the balance of hardships and public interest tips in favor of the protected species. Here there is evidence" that the ivory-billed woodpecker may be jeopardized, he said.
You can read the rest here.
This is huge, this is not over and it's gonna get ugly. I personally think there are one to three ivory-billed woodpeckers down there, but there is no concrete proof. Look at the judge's quote, "allegedly jeopordized". That is not going to sit well for those who are pro dam. This could have gigantic ramifications. Will someone try to sue Cornell for declaring the refinding of an extinct bird without concrete proof because the dam is halted? Hm, I wonder if that last sentence is going to end up as a quote on another blog that likes to take things out of context?
Many parts of the country are having a dry spell--Minnesota included. We finally got some rain yesterday but when I was out in some agricultural fields before the storm yesterday, all the birds were congregating around those big water sprayers (I'm not a farm girl, I don't know the term for them--what are they irrigation systems?). That's where I saw most of the shrikes and kestrels and large flocks of blackbirds.
Kansas is having quite a problem right now too. Here's a story from the Hutchinson News and good reminder to all of us who are in areas with little to no rain to put out some extra water:
Egrets were dying of thirst Wednesday afternoon in Hutchinson, while others panted and wobbled in the heat at East Avenue C and Severance.
City of Hutchinson workers erected snow fence Tuesday to corral the birds after numerous egrets were hit by vehicles traveling in the area.
The two-sided fence covered half a city block, but the long-legged, white migratory birds - panting in the 104-degree heat - acted as if they were trapped.
Drivers swerved to avoid hitting throngs of birds, which scrounged the neighborhood near the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in desperate attempts to find water. Many of the egrets nested in the trees at the corner of C and Severance.
You can read the rest of the story here. I like how towards the end of the article it tells how Walmart donated a whole $25 dollars for a wading pool for the egrets. Normally, I don't like to criticize a business for its donation, since everybody hits up businesses for donations and every little bit counts, but c'mon. You can't tell me that Walmart couldn't donate some actual pools? A donation that small from a company that size just looks cheap--especially since many people have a negative view of how Walmart takes over great wildlife habitat.
The young hawk in question is an immature Cooper's hawk. That was a toughie, since the bird was being held and its body was crumpled in an awkward fashion. The flat head should have been a big clue.
I don't know what the final prognosis was for the bird, it did look good, there were no broken bones. This time of year a lot of young Coops learning to hunt fly into windows when pursuing birds at feeding stations.
I and the Bird is up at Bog Bumper this week.
For those who have never encountered I and the Bird, this a collection of bird related blog posts. Bloggers submit what they think are their best posts from the last week, so if you're interested in reading other bird blogs, this a great way to sample from the blog buffet.
"I don't approve of this."Okay, first and foremost I have finally enabled comments on the blog. I don't know if it's the hormones or just a plain old wild hair (or hare in my case) but I'm caving to reader pressure. My concern has always been that inappropriate comments will come in, but NBB assures me that we can get rid of those. I'll give it a whirl. I can always disable. That said, I'm gonna leave the hawk post unanswered another few hours. I'm still not sure about this whole comments thing.
This morning I met Stan in Dakota County at 7am to show him the goldfinch nest I found last week. After I showed him the nest I drove around and saw several fledging birds especially eastern kingbirds, kestrel and more loggerhead shrikes in a 2 mile area than I've ever seen in my life: 12! The really funny thing was that I was approaching an adult shrike when a newly fledged kestrel flew up and landed a few feet away on the same line. Intriguing...one predator gets it's food with it's feet, the other hacks at its food with its bill. What will happen here? The shrike looked as though it wanted to fly but perhaps realized that the kestrel could out fly it and decided to stay. The young kestrel looked just happy to be there and as if it was about to say, "Why hello there, isn't it great to be out of the dark nest box. By the way, do you have any food?" The kestrel then got distracted by a flock of blackbirds and took off towards them.
The kestrel landed again, this time next to a mourning dove. That dove totally wanted to take off but knew there was no way it could out fly a falcon. The kestrel just looked quizzically at the dove. They were similar in size so it probably wasn't occurring the falcon that this was potential prey. Eventually the falcon moved on, much to the relief of the mourning dove.
This afternoon I headed out to Cambridge to meet with my editor and come up with a photo list for the book--it's really coming together. I'll be looking for photos, and will post a list tomorrow--maybe someone out there can help me with bird photos from their yard.
When I left, I was surprised to find two adult sandhill cranes foraging in a field near the road. I know they're supposed to be around here, but they are always unexpected when I drive by them.