Mere Coincidence?

Last Friday, the Senate quietly confirmed Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as the new Secretary of the Interior, replacing Gale Norton. The news, coming as it did on a Friday preceding the Memorial Day weekend and being overshadowed by the confirmation of General Michael Hayden as director of the CIA, produced relatively little media coverage.

In a short NOTED WITH INTEREST column on page A17 of today’s Washington Post titled "Questions about salmon are directed upstream," Blaine Harden notes that

only three people in the entire agency [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], all political appointees, are authorized to speak of salmon.

Harden hypothesizes that the crack-down on comments about salmon was in response to positive statements in this earlier article by biologists from NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the benefits of dam removal on salmon populations.

So what’s the connection, if indeed there is one, between Kempthorne’s Senate confirmation and the suppression of information on salmon?

Well, on May 9, 2006, the Center for Biological Diversity and more than 100 other conservation groups had sent a letter to members of the U.S. Senate opposing Kempthorne’s confirmation, citing, among other concerns, his work

to suppress scientific information that shows that hydroelectric dams negatively impacted salmon populations in Northwest rivers.

Food for thought, certainly.

Southwestern Michigan Birding Hotspot

Under the heading HOTSPOTS, an article by Tom Funke entitled "Smile for the birdies as they return" and published in the Battle Creek (Michigan) Enquirer on 04/30/06 contained the following remarks about one of my favorite Michigan birding localities when I was a teenager and college student:

Are you looking to be overwhelmed, unable to keep track of all the birds flitting about? Just a few miles inland of Grand Mere State Park is Warren Woods Natural Area. Bisected by the Galien River, this climax beech maple forest is a magnet for migrants.

Visit in mid-May and look for such rarities as Worm-eating Warbler, Hooded Warbler, and the Northern Parula. Woodpeckers feast on old, dead trees.

Thrushes race through the understory. Even an advanced birder struggles to keep up with all the activity. An added treat is the abundant and diverse flowers that grow in this forest that has never seen the plow or axe.

I spent many enjoyable hours observing and recording the birdlife of Warren Woods, activities that resulted in one of my earliest publication on birds, in the pages of the Michigan Audubon Society’s Jack-Pine Warbler (a now defunct quarterly journal of ornithology).

Royal Ornithologist

This may be old news to some, but it’s new to me, so I’m blogging about it here. The former Princess Nori Sayako of Japan was a part-time ornithologist who conducted research on kingfishers at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology and published on the subject. In November 2005 she gave up her royal status to marry a commoner. In so doing, she also relinquished her job as an ornithologist to focus on married life and potential motherhood. So sad that she couldn’t do both as the newly married Sayako Kuroda. The following are examples of the articles published by Princess Sayako:

Sayako, N., and E. C. Dickinson. 2001. Systematic notes on Asian birds 10. The “Nouveau recueil de planches coloriees” of Temminck & Laugier (1820-1839): the little-known impression of 1850. Zool. Verh. Leiden 335 (10):557-560.

Sayako, N., S. Kanoya, Y. Sato, T. Ando, and R. Kalizawa. 1991. Observation on breeding of the Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis in the Akasaka Imperial Grounds. Journal of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology 23:1-5.

Cinema Magnate, Ornithologist, Philanthropist, & Photographer

In his short lifetime, Dato Loke Won Tho (1915-1964) was an unlikely combination of cinema magnate, ornithologist (and sometime field companion of none other than Salim Ali), photographer, and philanthropist all rolled into one, yet remains relatively unknown in the Western World. See here for more on Loke Won Tho's career.

The Rollo Beck Online Exhibit

In a previous post, I made reference to an exhibit on the life of ornithologist Rollo Beck at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. The online exhibit is available here. A fascinating collection of material!

Dick E. Bird's Nature News

If you have never had the pleasure of enjoying the insane hilarity of Dick E. Bird's Nature News, reward yourself by checking out the online edition now!

Ornithologists in the News #1

These news items gleaned from Google News span the period from May 19-25, 2006 (and are listed here in reverse chronological order):

In Iceland, ornithologist Olafur K. Nielsen reports that a recent spell of harshly cold weather has killed a number of nesting birds and driven others off their nests. (05/25)

In Pacific Grove, California, the Museum of Natural History’s new permanent exhibit will feature “The Life Adventures of Rollo Beck,” a career ornithologist and scientific collector extraordinaire (1870-1950). (05/25)

Nigel Clark, an ornithologist with the British Trust for Ornithology, is quoted on the significance to shorebirds of the purchase by the non-profit Conservation Fund of a 75-acre spit of sand, mud, and rock in Mispillion Bay, Delaware. (05/25)

Catherine Rideout, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, is quoted in this article about Mississippi Kites frequenting in towns. (05/24)

French ornithologist Pierre Jouventin has produced DNA evidence that the rockhopper penguins of Amsterdam and St. Paul islands are a unique species, Eudyptes moseleyi. (05/24)

Obituary of Patrick Watt Sandeman, a Scottish ornithologist who spent many years studying Golden Eagles in the Scottish Highlands. (05/24)

Laura Erickson, staff ornithologist at binoculars.com and the genius behind the Birder Blog (and who has recently published her third book about birds) is the focus of this wonderful interview. (05/21)

Michael Good, identified as an ornithologist who runs a nature tour business, is quoted in this article on the Down East Birding Festival. (05/21)

Cliff Shackleford, an ornithologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, is quoted in this article on bird-plane collisions. (05/20)

Allan Drewitt, senior ornithologist for English Nature, is quoted on the recovery of the Marsh Harrier. (05/19)

Brief remarks of Mark Robbins, a University of Kansas ornithologist, in response to news that Ivory-billed Woodpeckers eluded searchers this winter. (05/19)

CapeNature ornithologist Tony Williams on a proposal to shoot seals that “came into the colony, killed birds and ate them,” forcing the gannets to leave the island. (05/16)

Daniel Klem, an ornithologist at Muhlenberg College, is quoted on the special treatment being afforded to birds that collide with buildings in Chicago. (05/13)

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Comment Offends Blogger

Amy at WildBird on the Fly posted an entry regarding the negative results of the search for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers and was offended by this anonymous comment:

I guess it was too good to be true. Oh well.

In a follow-up post she concluded that the phrasing of that comment

seems to imply that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker rediscovery was false and that the people who say they saw the bird lied

and, furthermore, that she is

not ready to say that ornithologists and birders who say they saw an ivory-bill lied.

.I’m not sure where this reaction is coming from. Certainly none of the prominent ornithologists who have questioned the validity of the evidence provided to date (Jackson, Kaufman, Robbins, Sibley et al.) have alleged fraud or lying on the part of investigators. They have simply disputed the quality of the evidence presented and questioned whether it provides indisputable proof of the existence of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Arkansas. This kind of discourse is completely fair and legitimate.

I do agree with Amy that the posting of anonymous comments to blog postings should be discouraged. If a person has something legitimate to say, particularly if it is on a somewhat controversial subject such as the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, they shouldn’t object to having their name associated with it. The one thing I object to on the Ivory-bill Skeptic blog, which I otherwise like, is that nearly all of the comments are posted anonymously or with pseudonyms.

Red-headed Woodpecker is Special in West Virginia

This Red-headed Woodpecker photographed at a feeder near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, by Scott Wilkinson is special indeed, as the species is not commonly encountered anywhere in West Virginia. It is extremely rare in the Appalachian Mountains (never seen on more than 1.5 percent of trips afield) and nearly as rare in the Piedmont to the east (where never seen on more than 5 percent of trips afield), and is spottily-distributed in the Mid-Atlantic. Be warned that these graphs from eBird may take a considerable time to download!!

Although rarely mentioned in West Virginia literature, the following references to Red-headed Woodpeckers seem particularly notable:

The bill of a bird found dead (of starvation) in Upshur County on 11 January 1934 had penetrated an acorn so deeply (ca 3/8 in) "that extrication had proved impossible." (1)

On 11 May 1938, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers vigorously attacked a Red-headed Woodpecker that showed interest in a nest cavity newly excavated by the Downies near Charleston, Kanawha County. (2)

Among the examples given of intense fighting witnessed among birds in West Virginia was intraspecific fighting between Red-headed Woodpeckers. (3)

A Jackson County hunter apprehended with a Red-headed Woodpecker in his possession in the early 1950s claimed he had mistaken it for a "woodcock." (4)

On an unspecified date in fall 1963 near Elkins, Randolph County, a male Red-headed Woodpecker "repeatedly flew into the air in a spiral manner much like a spinning top only to return almost immediately to the ground in the same manner." Upon capture, the bird’s bill was found to be imbedded in its body near the left wing. After freeing the bill, the released bird "flew away in a normal manner." (5)

A Red-headed Woodpecker with a territory 50 yards from a suet feeder in a Kanawha County backyard defended the feeder against individuals of 5 other species of woodpeckers (Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker), May-June 1969. (6)

Sources:
(1) Brooks, M. 1934. An unusual Red-headed Woodpecker accident. Auk 51:379.

(2) Upton, C. B. 1938. Down and Red-headed woodpeckers fighting. Redstart 5:60-61.

(3) Legg, W. C. 1946. Birds in combat. Redstart 13:42-43.

(4) Harris, R. S. 1952. Paragraph from field notes. West Virginia Conservation 15(10):27-28.

(5) Vanscoy, E. 1964. The spiral woodpecker. Redstart 31:53.

(6) Katholi, C. 1969. Territorial defense. Redstart 36:90.

I and the Bird #24

Twenty-six entries in I and the Bird #24 blog carnival are now available in cartoon format at Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding thanks to the artistic and creative genius of Carel Brest van Kempen. The carnival includes this entry from Birds Etcetera. Enjoy!

Fictional Ducks

For a lengthy list of such characters, with links to discussions about each of them, click here.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Skepticism

The following quote seems appropriate considering the current controversy surrounding recent claims of the "rediscovery" of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the failure of subsequent searches to confirm those claims this past winter:

Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it. – George Bernard Shaw

A certain amount of skepticism is a healthy thing in the pursuit of science.

More Descriptive Terms for Birders

In addition to this earlier list of adjectives attributed to birders by the Google search engine, we find that birders are also described as lucky (about 1,470 “hits”), pro (323), full-time (210), young (199), knowledgeable (194), amateur (101), lone (70), happy (54), disabled (40), exceptional (38), devoted (34), teen (34), patient (32), prominent (28), part-time (25), and excited (18). In total, I have found 43 descriptive terms that have been commonly associated with birders, the most frequently used (each with 1,000 or more "hits") being backyard, experienced, lucky, and serious.

By contrast, birders are rarely if ever described as able-bodied, aloof, amiable, assertive, athletic, bleary-eyed, controversial, dapper, disadvantaged, eccentric (how odd!), ecstatic, educated, euphoric, exasperated, excitable, funky, funny, fussy, frustrated, geeky, inane, incompetent, innovative (Kenn Kaufman seems to be the sole birder to have earned this attribution), insensitive, kinky, muscular, odd (ditto too), pathetic, provocative, quirky (ditto once again), restless, skeptical, sophisticated, sultry (compared to more than 11,000 “hits” for sultry actress), tanned, terrible, or well-dressed, to name just a few. Combined with the earlier list, this makes 72 terms rarely if ever applied to birders (and I'm sure that's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg). This is all most interesting, except that I've always considered birders to be a rather eccentric, odd, and quirky bunch of people (at least the ones I've known). Have I been wrong about that all these years?

All Things Penguin

Read all about it/them in the Penguin Post, "the world’s only all-penguin publication," brought to you by Penguin Place (which is physically located in, of all places, Brooklyn, New York).

Life List: A Birder's Spiritual Awakening

That’s the title of a new book by Chris Dunford, a field biologist who works with a U.S.-based development agency. It is illustrated, appropriately enough, by Robin Mouat. As described by the publisher:

This is a unique book about birding that is as much about spirituality as it is about the fanatical interest that some people have in birds. Dunford is a bird-watcher, not a mere ‘birder’ – the book explains the vital difference.

And finally, a review of this book from an unusual source. So new--or obscure--that it hasn't even warranted a description on Amazon yet, this sounds like a book that might actually be worth checking out.

Noted added 05/24/2006: This book actually has a release date of 02/23/2006, but the review that I reference above is dated 05/16/2005, so the book has apparently been available for about a year. But further checking reveals a publication date of 2006, so maybe this really has just come out!

Omelet Anyone?

The strange story of an Ostrich egg (identity confirmed by oologist Kimball Garrett of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History) that ended up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Could it possibly be that a previously unknown population of the world’s largest bird roams the isolated woods of the U.P.? Better send up a search team from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology!

Movie About Ornithologist

This tickler for a soon-to-be filmed movie called The Colossus, a fictionalized story (based on a novel by Ann Harries entitled Manly Pursuits) about an "ornithologist [played by Colin Firth] hired to transport English songbirds to the recently deposed South African prime minister," includes a stunning portrait of actress Rachel Weisz, just the kind of creature that any male ornithologist would fantasize about discovering in the wilds of South Africa. Yes, folks, this is most definitely fiction!

More on Birders and Bloggers

This post follows up on an earlier discussion of the frequency with which 24 different types of outdoor activities, including birding, are mentioned by bloggers. That discussion focused on the verbs used to describe the activities. In a slight variation of that theme, this post examines the frequency with which the nouns used to describe the people who engage in each of those activities appear in blog postings.

Over the past six months, birders garnered less attention from bloggers than people engaged in 13 other kinds of outdoor interests (fishers, hunters, campers, hikers, boaters, joggers, bikers, golfers, surfers, swimmers, sailors, skiers, and gardeners), more attention than 8 others (white-water rafters, snorkelers, snowmobilers, whale watchers, cavers, hang gliders, beachcombers, and sunbathers), and about the same amount of attention as 3 more (kayakers, canoeists, and rock climbers). The details follow, thanks to the magic of BlogPulse:

Birders versus fishers and hunters (virtually the same result as obtained for birding-fishing-hunting, with birders barely registering a blip on the graph)

Birders versus campers and hikers (the result is similar to that for birding-camping-hiking, with birders on the very bottom)

Birders versus boaters and kayakers (compared to birding-boating-kayaking, this graph indicates more equality between birders and kayakers, but boaters are mentioned at least twice as frequently as birders)

Birders versus canoeists and rock climbers (in marked contrast to birding-canoeing-rock climbing, this confused graph shows much overlap in coverage, but note peaks in the mention of birders associated with Christmas Bird Count in mid-December and spring migration in mid-May)

Birders versus joggers and white-water rafters (in contrast to birding-jogging-rafting, birders are mentioned appreciably more often than white-water rafters but 3-5 times less frequently than joggers)

Birders versus bikers and golfers (just as with the birding-biking-golfing comparison, birders rank at the very bottom)

Birders versus surfers and swimmers (as was the case with birding-surfing-swimming, birders just can’t compete with surfers and swimmers)

Birders versus sailors and skiers (as with the birding-sailing-skiing comparison, birders don’t merit nearly as much attention as sailors and skiers)

Birders versus snorkelers and snowmobilers (in marked contrast to birding-snorkeling-snowmobiling, birders come out on top compared to snorkelers and snowbilers)

Birders versus gardeners and whale watchers (similar to the birding-gardening-whale watching comparison, except that birders are mentioned significantly more frequently than whale watchers)

Birders versus cavers and hang gliders (considerably more messy than the birding-cave exploration-hang gliding comparison, but nevertheless birders are more "popular" than cavers and hang gliders)

Birders versus beachcombers and sunbathers (again, a more muddled picture than for birding-beachcombing-sunbathing, but birders win out over beachcombers and sunbathers)

S. Dillon Ripley, American Ornithologist

From the archives of The New Yorker comes this wonderful 1950 profile by Geoffrey T. Hellman of a young S. Dillon Ripley (1913-2001). This article was but a prelude of bigger things to come, as Ripley would go on to become one of America’s foremost ornithologists and serve as the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1964-1984). Also of interest is this biographical memoir from the September 2003 issue of the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.

Bird Flu Surveillance in Alaska

Strangely, this otherwise excellent article by Associated Press writer Dan Joling is illustrated by a photo of a "racing pigeon" in Jakarta, Indonesia. The project is said to be so massive that Alaska biologists face a shortage of swabs for collecting fecal samples.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Eludes Searchers in Arkansas

After all the fanfare last year about the “rediscovery” of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Arkansas, the news this spring is somber and subdued. Teams of professional and volunteer searches came away from the Arkansas swamps with little more than “teasing glimpses and tantalizing sounds,” not the hoped for photos or videos of birds or nesting cavities (not even evidence of bark scaling) that would have confirmed the continued presence of this species in the White River region.

Provocative Headline

Hunting up Hooters – an interesting story about owls from the Anchorage Daily News.

Descriptive Terms for Birders

I thought it would be fun to see what adjectives are most frequently associated with birders on the Internet. If the Google search engine is to be believed, the typical birder is experienced (about 21,200 hits), serious (13,600), and focused on the birds of his or her backyard (24,400). Birders are also described as crazy (933), beginner(s) (925), keen (821), professional (586), active (527), average (325), dedicated (302), renowned (267), excellent (262), seasoned (226), accomplished (202), obsessed (87), intrepid (76), obsessive (48), superb (42), super (41), outstanding (36), successful (20), ambitious (18), stealthy (17), compulsive (13), elite (12), helpful (11), and quiet (11).

On the other hand, birders are rarely if ever described as affluent (rather surprising, considering some of the statistics that I’ve seen), arrogant, chic, crafty, creative, devious, elitist, envious, erudite, esteemed, fun-loving, furtive, gentle, glamorous, handsome (the lone exception apparently being the title character in the Jonathan Wilder Mysteries), ingenious, intelligent, jealous, lonely, nasty, peevish, peripatetic, perplexed, reclusive, rich (see comments under affluent), rude, savvy, secretive, sexy, shy, smart, sneaky, superlative, surreptitious, or wily.

Can you suggest other adjectives that have been used to describe birders?

The Popularity of Birding

"Is still growing," according to results from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment, as summarized in this article (PDF) by Ken Cordell and Nancy Herbert (originally published in February 2002 issue of Birding).

Breasted Birds

Although birds do not have external breasts in the sense that mammals do, it still seems to me that birders (and ornithologists, too) exhibit an inordinate obsession with the breasts of their quarry. In support of that premise, I note that the common English names of no fewer than 254 species of birds worldwide are based on the size, shape, pattern, or color of their breasts (from Clements 2000):

Apricot-breasted Sunbird
Ash-breasted Antbird, etc. (4 species)
Azure-breasted Pita
Bar-breasted Firefinch, etc. (3)
Bay-breasted cuckoo & warbler (2)
Black-breasted Barbet, etc. (14)
Blood-breasted Flowerpecker
Blue-breasted Bee-eater, etc. (6)
Brassy-breasted Tanager
Brown-breasted Bamboo-Tyrant, etc. (5)
Buff-breasted Babbler, etc. (10)
Chestnut-breasted Bunting, etc. (11)
Cinereous-breasted Wren
Cinnamon-breasted bunting & tody-flycatcher (2)
Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove
Cream-breasted Fruit-Dove
Creamy-breasted Canastero
Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker, etc. (3)
Dark-breasted rosefinch & spinetail (2)
Drab-breasted Bamboo-Tyrant
Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, etc. (7)
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker
Flame-breasted Flowerpecker, etc. (3)
Freckle-breasted Thornbird
Fulvous-breasted flatbill & woodpecker (2)
Golden-breasted Bunting, etc. (5)
Gray-breasted Babbler, etc. (15)
Green-breasted Bushshrike, etc. (4)
Hairy-breasted Barbet
Ivory-breasted Pita
Lemon-breasted berrypicker & seedeater (2)
Lilac-breasted Roller
Maroon-breasted Philentoma
Ochraceous-breasted Flycatcher
Ochre-breasted Antpitta, etc. (5)
Orange-breasted Bunting, etc. (9)
Pale-breasted Illadoptis, etc. (3)
Pearl-breasted Swallow
Pearly-breasted conebill & cuckoo (2)
Pink-breasted Lark
Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, etc. (4)
Purple-breasted cotinga & sunbird (2)
Red-breasted Blackbird, etc. (15)
Rose-breasted chat & grosbeak (2)
Ruddy-breasted crake & seedeater (2)
Rufous-breasted Accentor, etc. (14)
Rusty-breasted Antpitta, etc. (3)
Saffron-breasted Redstart
Scallop-breasted Antpitta
Scaly-breasted Bulbul, etc. (9)
Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, etc. (4)
Silver-breasted Broadbill
Slaty-breasted Rail, etc. (3)
Speckle-breasted Antpitta, etc. (3)
Spot-breasted Antvireo, etc. (12)
Streak-breasted Bulbul, etc. (5)
Streaky-breasted Fantail, etc. (3)
Stripe-breasted Rhabdomis, etc. (5)
Sulphur-breasted bushshrike & warbler (2)
Tawny-breasted Flycatcher, etc. (5)
Vinous-breasted Starling
Violet-breasted Sunbird
Wavy-breasted Parakeet
White-breasted Antbird, etc. (18)
Yellow-breasted Antpitta, etc. (20)
Yellowish-breasted Racquet-tail

Okay, so maybe I lied about size and shape. Only among breeders of domestic poultry and female Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) does there seem to be a preference for big-breasted birds; in the case of sage-grouse, the males have developed an elaborate courtship display that exaggerates the size of the breast by expansion of large esophageal pouches and partial extension of cervical apteria (i.e., unfeathered areas between feather tracts), with larger-breasted males attracting and mating with more females.

And further, who among us has never typed Double-crested Cormorant only to have it come out Double-breasted Cormorant? It happens to me all the time! And who else but birders could report back excitedly to friends and acquaintances of the opposite sex about having seen boobies and tits without blushing?

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Americans celebrate International Migratory Bird Day (which “may be celebrated at any time, depending on the local migratory bird schedule,” but typically on the second Saturday in May), National Fishing and Boating Week, and National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week. Could someone please explain why it is that fishing and invasive weeds (that’s right, weeds!) warrant seven-times more exposure than migratory birds?

Where Do West Virginia's Neotropical Migrants Winter?

This map from Partners in Flight shows the composite wintering range of 33 priority neotropical migrants with West Virginia connections.

Not unexpectedly, the wintering ranges of West Virginia migrants show strong similarities with those of migrants from the surrounding States of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Note: All links are to PDF files.

Birdwatcher Comes Out of the Closet

A true confession from a burly sports columnist, who hopes that other like-minded adult males (and females too) "will feel comfortable" joining him.

Why So Few Blog Postings About Birding?

I recently posted what I considered o be a surprisingly expansive list of North American bird blogs. But in the greater sphere of blogging, discussions of birding generally occur much less frequently than do discussions of most other outdoor activities. To illustrate this, I have used the handy-dandy tracking tools at BlogPulse (which scan the contents of more than 14 million blogs on a regular basis) to display six-month trends in the percentage of all blog postings that mention birding relative to 24 other outdoor activities. The results follow:

Birding versus fishing and hunting (compared to these popular outdoor activities, birding is rarely mentioned in blog postings)

Birding versus camping and hiking (again, compared to these popular activities, birding barely registers a blip on the graph)

Birding versus boating and kayaking (boating is mentioned about four times more frequently than birding blog postings, kayaking even more often)

Birding versus canoeing and rock climbing (why is rock climbing mentioned six times more frequently than is birding in blog postings?)

Birding versus jogging and rafting (why are people more apt to blog about their rafting trips than their birding experiences?)

Birding versus biking and golfing (why doesn’t birding also show a pronounced upward trend in the spring?)

Birding versus surfing and swimming (surfers and swimmers are obviously way more tuned into blogging than are birders)

Birding versus sailing and skiing (okay, skiing we can blame on the Winter Olympics, but sailing?)

Birding versus snorkeling and snowmobiling (this is really getting depressing!)

Birding versus gardening and whale watching (not surprisingly, gardeners rule!)

Birding versus cave exploration and hang gliding (finally, two outdoor activities that have less of a presence in the blogosphere than birding)

Birding versus beachcombing and sunbathing (birding is discussed by bloggers more often than beachcombing but less often than sunbathing)

Note added 05/22/2006: The exact spelling of search terms can make a big difference, as in the case of "beach combing" and "sun bathing" versus beachcombing and sunbathing. Use of the former terms in the initial search indicated that birding was mentioned more frequently than either "beach combing" or "sun bathing." A subsequent search using beachcombing and sunbathing not only resulted in more "hits" for these terms, but also indicated that sunbathing was actually mentioned more frequently than birding. Thus, the preceeding paragraph has been appropriately corrected.

Today is Endangered Species Day

Educate someone today about "the enduring threats to endangered species and successes in species recovery." I'm pleased to see that one of my senators (Robert C. Byrd) was a cosponsor of this resolution introduced by Senator Feinstein.

Ivory-bills as Cryptids

Well, it’s finally happened, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has officially crossed over into the mysterious realm of cryptozoology, as reflected in this post from Cryptomundo.

Birds Reported from West Virginia in April 2006

A nominal total of 181 species was reported by subscribers to the WV-Bird listserv in April 2006, compared to 125 species in March. As of April 30, the number of species reported in West Virginia in 2006 stood at 202. April witnessed the first observations in 2006 of 63 species (indicated by an asterisk in the following list), the vast majority of these being migrants or summer residents returning from southern wintering grounds. The largest one-day influx of new species (9) occurred on April 22 (a Saturday). Unless otherwise noted, species are presumed to have been present the entire month (parenthetical notes include first and last dates reported, singular observations, high counts, etc.):

Canada Goose
Wood Duck (high of 50+ at Green Bottom WMA on 16th)
Gadwall (last on 22nd)
Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal (high of 16+ at Green Bottom on 16th)
Northern Shoveler (last on 16th)
Green-winged Teal (last on 1st)
Redhead (last on 19th)
Ring-necked Duck (last on 22nd)
Greater Scaup (high of 20 in Berkeley Co. on 1st)
Lesser Scaup (last on 10th)
Bufflehead (high of 7 in Raleigh Co. on 8th; last on 22nd)
Hooded Merganser (last on 22nd)
Common Merganser (last on 16th)
Red-breasted Merganser (high of 31 in Cabell-Mason co. on 1st; last on 11th)
Ruddy Duck (last on 17th)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
Common Loon (5 reports; last on 26th)
Horned Grebe (last on 17th)
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant (high of 75 at Bluestone Lake on 30th)
American Bittern* (first on 22nd)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron* (first on 11th at Green Bottom)
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk* (first on 7th at Pipestem SP)
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin (first on 11th)
Virginia Rail (first on 22nd at Green Bottom)
Sora* (first on 16th, last on 23rd, both at Green Bottom)
American Coot (last on 23rd)
Killdeer (nest with eggs in Cabell-Mason cos. on 1st)
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs* (first on 12th near Lewisburg)
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper* (first on 19th near Bluestone SP)
Upland Sandpiper* (first & only on 12th near Lewisburg)
Least Sandpiper* (first on 22nd at Gallipolis Ferry)
Pectoral Sandpiper* (first & only 12th near Lewisburg)
Wilson's Snipe (last on 23rd)
American Woodcock
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull (last on 22nd)
Caspian Tern* (first & only at Gallipolis Ferry on 22nd)
Forster's Tern* (first on 7th in Berkeley Co.)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo* (first on 23rd in Cabell Co.)
Barn Owl* (Hardy Co.)
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl* (Canaan Valley)
Whip-poor-will* (first on 14th in Berkeley Co.)
Chimney Swift* (first on 15th in Wood Co.)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird* (first on 14th in Raleigh Co.)
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher* (first on 30th at Muddlety)
Eastern Wood-Pewee* (first on 29th at McDonough Slough)
Acadian Flycatcher* (first on 30th at Huntington)
Least Flycatcher* (first on 25th at Seneca Rocks)
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher* (first on 23rd in Summers Co.)
Eastern Kingbird* (first on 19th)
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo* (first on 15th in Cabell Co.)
Yellow-throated Vireo* (first on 9th at Kanawha State Forest)
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo* (first on 16th at Green Bottom WMA)
Red-eyed Vireo* (first on 19th in Fayette Co.)
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark (Gallipolis Ferry on 23rd)
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow* (first on 17th in Wetzel Co.)
Carolina Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren* (first on 22nd at Green Bottom)
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery* (first on 29th at McDonough Slough)
Gray-cheeked Thrush* (first on 29th at McDonough Slough)
Swainson's Thrush* (first on 7th in Greenbrier Co.)
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush* (first on 13th)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler* (first on 15th in Wayne Co.)
Golden-winged Warbler* (first on 29th in Raleigh Co.)
Tennessee Warbler* (first on 30th at McDonough Slough)
Orange-crowned Warbler* (first on 15th in Wayne Co.)
Nashville Warbler* (first on 23rd in Wetzel Co.)
Northern Parula* (first on 13th at McDonough Slough)
Yellow Warbler* (first on 12th near Jane Lew)
Chestnut-sided Warbler* (first on 28th at Pipestem SP)
Magnolia Warbler* (first on 22nd in Tucker Co.)
Black-throated Blue Warbler* (first on 19th in Fayette Co.)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler* (first on 29th at Cranberry Glades)
Yellow-throated Warbler* (first on 1st in Cabell-Mason cos.)
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler* (first on 15th in Wayne Co.)
Palm Warbler* (first on 21st in Wetzel Co.)
Cerulean Warbler* (first on 22nd in Kanawha SF)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart* (first on 19th in Fayette Co.)
Prothonotary Warbler* (first on 23rd in Cabell-Mason cos.)
Worm-eating Warbler* (first on 19th in Fayette Co.)
Ovenbird* (first on 13th)
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler* (first on 22nd in Kanawha SF)
Common Yellowthroat* (first on 3rd in Mingo Co.)
Hooded Warbler* (first on 19th in Summers & Wetzel cos.)
Yellow-breasted Chat* (first on 23rd in Cabell Co.)
Scarlet Tanager* (first on 15th in Wood Co.)
Eastern Towhee
American Tree Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow* (first on 20th in Berkeley Co.)
Henslow's Sparrow* (first on 22nd in Tucker Co.)
Fox Sparrow (last in mid-April)
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow* (first on 26th in Tucker Co.)
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak* (first on 21st in Randolph Co.)
Indigo Bunting* (first on 22nd in Jefferson Co.)
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole* (first on 21st in Randolph Co.)
Baltimore Oriole* (first on 23rd near Bluestone SP)
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin (14th at Dry Fork, 23rd in Jefferson Co., & 29th in Preston Co.)
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Sixteen species that had been reported in March were not reported in April, most of these being wintering visitors that have exited the State (exceptions are indicated with an asterisk): Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Mute Swan, Tundra Swan, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Canvasback, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Rough-legged Hawk, Ring-necked Pheasant*, Sandhill Crane, Bonaparte’s Gull, Eastern Screech-Owl*, and Red Crossbill.

Edit of 06/01/2006: The number of species reported in West Virginia in March is changed from 124 to 125, and the number of species reported in West Virginia in 2006 is changed from 201 to 202. The addition of American Pipit to the list of species reported in March but not reported in April brings the number of such species to sixteen.

Birders as Voyeurs

Let’s face it. Birders like to watch! For good reason were birders once called bird watchers, because that’s exactly what they do. They like to watch birds in all aspects of their lives, such as when they’re courting, when they’re mating, when they’re attending to their nest, when they’re laying, incubating, and hatching their eggs, when they’re feeding their young, when they’re engaged in comfort behaviors such as bathing and preening, even when they’re asleep. Not a moment of a bird’s life is free from the prying eyes of birders; ever wonder if they might "resent" it? In some quarters, this obsessively voyeuristic tendency to delve into the secret lives of birds has earned birders an undeservedly fowl reputation (don't get too upset folks, it's just a spoof).

We census, count, monitor, report and track ("any place, any time!")study, and survey birds, we photograph them, we leg-band, color-band, neck-collar, and radio-tag them to track their daily movements, we use radar to track their seasonal migrations, and we erect surveillance cameras to watch and record their most intimate behaviors. We go so far as to listen in on their private conversations, even to the extent of recording, storing, and analyzing their songs and calls.

Birders seem to be especially fascinated with the sex lives of birds. Even the award-winning nature-writing team of Kit and George Harrison has considered it necessary to popularize the subject of bird sex.

Yes, birding can be addictive. So please remember one thing. The next time YOU get an uncontrollable impulse to spy or eavesdrop on your bird neighbors, be sure to follow the code of birding ethics.

Intelligent Birder

Given the current flap over the impending appointment of a new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, I started to reflect back on a former Director of that agency (February-July 1973) who counts birding as one of his principal interests. James R. Schlesinger, who also served as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (1971-1973) and Secretary of Defense (1973-1975), was and remains an avid birder.

Schlesinger’s interest in birds was well-publicized in the mid-1970s. In this reflective essay on the history of Missouri’s Websters Grove Nature Study Society (WGNSS), James P. Jackson describes an impromptu visit by then-Secretary of Defense Schlesinger:

Fast forward to the spring of 1973. Well-known WGNSS birder Dick Anderson gets a phone call from the Pentagon. Could he show Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger the Eurasian Tree Sparrow for his listing?

Dick explains where the birds might be located and agrees to be there at the designated time. The Secretary is dropped nearby via helicopter, then whisked to the site by limousine. Dick shows him the Eurasian Tree Sparrow and they bird together for an hour.

In that relaxed setting, Dick poses the question, "Mr. Secretary, is birding your favorite pastime?" Schlesinger's response: "These days, with all the pressures on my time, it's how I maintain my sanity."

Schlesinger continues his long-time interest in birds by serving as a member of the advisory council of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute (PDF). It’s too bad that more of today’s top officials haven’t developed an interest in birds. It would be a great way to promote international diplomacy!

Ivory-bill Yarns

This link from the Ivory-bill Skeptic leads to a delightful tale by Jack Hitt (published in The New York Times) about the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

North American Bird Blogs

I started Birds Etcetera in February 2002 with a focus on "wild birds and other natural history topics of interest, with special (but not exclusive) reference to West Virginia and surrounding States." For the next several years I searched in vain for other bird blogs. I could locate blogs on numerous other topics, but few if any on birds. Even environmental blogs were hard to find. What a difference four years makes. There is now a far-flung and substantial community of bird bloggers. In the last month, I have made a concerted effort to locate as many North American bird blogs as possible, a task made easier by the advent of Google’s Blog Search and other search engines. At last count, I have tabulated 90 blogs currently active (i.e., at least one entry posted in 2006) that feature North American birds. Some of these blogs deal exclusively with birds, while others are nature or science blogs that include a substantial number of posts on birds. North American bird blogs are listed alphabetically in the right-hand column of this blog. If you have a bird blog that I have not listed, or are aware of other bird blogs that I have missed, please let me know, as I am interested in compiling a comprehensive list.

Known bird bloggers in "Greater West Virginia" (i.e., WV and surrounding States) include the following:

A DC Birding Blog
Bill of the Birds (Ohio)
birdDC
Birds Etcetera (West Virginia)
DC Audubon Society*
Julie Zickefoose (Ohio)
Ohio Birding Blog
PAHawkowl* (Pennsylvania)
The Birdchaser (Pennsylvania)

Note added 05/08/2006: Asterisks denote sites added after initial posting.

Books, Books, and More Books!

I just perused a printed copy of the April 2006 Books on Birds, touted as “the best catalogue of books from specialized publishers,” from Lynx Edicions. The catalog lists no fewer than 377 bird books, 77 of them new (i.e, published in 2005 or 2006)! They are categorized as follows:

General – 55 (22 new)
Palearctic – 95 (16)
African – 27 (6)
Oriental – 38 (8)
Australasian – 18 (0)
Nearctic – 8 (0)
Neotropical – 37 (9)
Monographs – 92 (16)
Other – 7 (0)

While this list has a decidedly Eurocentric flavor, it does illustrate the overwhelming (and continually increasing) number of bird books being made available (i.e., marketed) to birders and ornithologists.

Most Beautiful Birds Meme

Home Bird has tagged me for the most beautiful birds meme, which was started by John at A DC Birding Blog.

The rules are simple: Post a list of the 10 birds you consider most beautiful on your blog; you may limit the list to the ABA area (continental United States and Canada) or use a geographic area of your choice. Mark birds you have seen with an asterisk. Tag 3 bloggers to keep it going.

Without investing too much thought or introspection, and without referring to field guides, here’s my "top 10" list (in no particular order):

Rose-breasted Grosbeak*
Northern Cardinal*
Cedar Waxwing*
Blackburnian Warbler*
Tufted Puffin*
Red-headed Woodpecker*
Black Oystercatcher*
Baltimore Oriole*
Scarlet Tanager*
Harlequin Duck*

In closing, I feel compelled to mention my "favorite" bird. Few (not even me) would go so far as to call the Red-faced Cormorant beautiful (see image above, courtesy of Fish and Wildlife Service), but I do find it incredibly fascinating. How, for example, can a fishing-eating diving bird whose feathers are not waterproof survive in the frigid waters of the North Pacific and Bering Sea? It seems to do very well, thank you.

I tag the good folks at Drew’s Birds, The Rookie Birder, and Thoughts of an Iowa Birdwatcher.

BirdersUnited

I just received this bumper sticker from BirdersUnited.com. I will display it proudly.

Songs of West Virginia Birds

Authors of bird guides and other texts have long struggled in trying to describe the songs and calls of birds in human terms. Most have reverted to some type of mnemonic rendition, a device to help humans more readily relate to the sounds emitted by the birds. The use of mnemonics to describe bird songs has a long history, but was perfected by Aretas A. Saunders in his 1941 book, A guide to bird songs.

In subsequent posts, I will summarize written descriptions of the songs of selected West Virginia breeding birds. Each summary will include relevant text from the following sources:

Alderfer, John (editor). 2006. Complete birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 664 pp.

Alsop, Fred J., III. 2001. Birds of North America: eastern region. Smithsonian Handbooks, DK Publishing, New York. 751 pp.

Bull, John, and John Farrand Jr. (as revised by John Farrand Jr.). 1995. National Audubon Society field guide to North American birds: eastern region. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 797 pp.

Dunn, Jon L. 1999. National Geographic field guide to the birds of North America. 3rd edition. National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 479 pp.

Farrand, John, Jr. (ed.). 1985. The Audubon Society master guide to birding: Old World warblers to sparrows. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 399 pp.

Griggs, Jack. 1997. Field guide to all the birds of North America. American Bird Conservancy, Washington, D.C. 172 pp.

Peterson, Roger Tory, and Virginia Marie Peterson. 2002. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. 5th edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 427 pp.

Robins, Chandler S., Bertel Bruun, and Herbert S. Zim (as revised by Jonathon P. Latimer, Karen Stray Nolting, and James Coe). 2001. Birds of North America: a guide to field identification. Revised and updated. Golden Guides from St. Martin’s Press, New York. 359 pp.

Sibley, David Allen. 20000. The Sibley guide to birds. National Audubon Society and Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 544 pp.

Stokes, Donald, and Lillian Stokes. 1996. Stokes field guide to birds: eastern region. Little, Brown, and Company, Boston. 471 pp.