Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2017 i BirdWatching

One of the most common questions I’ve been asked about this magazine over the years is, “How can I get a photo on your cover?” The answer is that a lot of factors go into cover choices. We look for photos that are technically sound, tack-sharp, colorful, and engaging. Plus, we need space around the bird for headlines, so don’t crop too close! Perhaps most importantly, we want photos of wild birds. That is particularly true when we look for images of owls and raptors. Lots of pictures are available of captive birds, and as you may know, some photographers bait owls and raptors to bring them in close for “the perfect shot.” It is our long-standing policy not to publish photos in which birds have been baited. The Long-eared…

Wings Over Willcox At this event in Willcox, Arizona, east of Tucson, attendees will have the chance to see Painted Redstart, Elegant Trogon, Arizona Woodpecker, Montezuma Quail, and other specialties of southeast Arizona. New tours this year include full- and half-day photography workshops and trips to Fort Bowie and Chiricahua National Monument. January 11-14. Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival During this festival headquartered in Titusville, Florida, adjacent to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, birders will look for Wood Stork, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, King and Black Rails, Florida Scrub-Jay, Short-tailed Hawk, and many other birds. Contributing Editor Pete Dunne and photographer Kevin Karlson, authors of Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons and Vultures of North America, will be among the speakers. January 24-29. Winter Wildlife Festival Visitors to this event in…

FIRST IN WASHINGTON STATE: This Swallowtailed Gull was seen in September north of Seattle, a long way from home in the Galápagos. FIRST IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: Birders found this Yellow-headed Blackbird on September 24 at Floyd Bennett Field, Hotspot Near You No. 141. FIRST IN SOUTH CAROLINA: In mid-September, Hurricane Irma likely pushed this American Flamingo north to a marsh near Charleston. FIRST IN TENNESSEE: On September 20, this Crested Caracara flew over a boat ramp on the Mississippi River in Dyer County. FOURTH IN WISCONSIN: On September 22, this Magnificent Frigatebird flew over a park in Wausau, in central Wisconsin. FIRST IN PENNSYLVANIA: This White-winged Tern, a bird of the Eastern Hemisphere, was spotted in mid-August on Lake Nessmuk, south of Wellsboro.…

Long-eared Owl is often considered a classic case of a “sensitive species.” When you find a Long-ear, it’s natural to want to share the news with your birding friends and members of birding listservs or Facebook groups, but I recommend a more cautious approach. Here’s why. Consider this typical scenario: A birder finds a roost with one or more Longears and tells people about it online. Then a string of other observers — all well intentioned — go to the location, resulting in repeated, if unintentional, flushing of the bird or birds. This can be detrimental to their survival, especially in winter, when they may already be stressed by other factors. One way to deal with reporting sensitive species, especially if you eBird your observations, is to hold off on…

Guatemala is often called the travel bargain of the Americas. The country is easily accessible, spectacularly beautiful, friendly, safe, intriguing, and relatively inexpensive. What makes Guatemala unique is no single ingredient but the sum of its many parts. From the black sand beaches of the Pacific to the frigid peaks of 30 volcanos, from cactus-studded deserts to tropical rainforests, Guatemala is one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world. Getting there: Several major airlines serve Guatemala City from Dallas, Miami, Houston, and Los Angeles. From Guatemala City, Avianca and TAG Airlines operate daily flights to Flores. Tikal is 37 miles from the Flores airport. Some lodges provide shuttles to the park, or ground transportation can be arranged at the airport. Where to stay: You’ll find a variety of…

I like this region in the South Hills because the mix of habitat types leads to great birding. Of course, Cassia Crossbill is the star bird. Search for it in the older and more open stands of lodgepole pine, and especially look for trees with old cones that are gray in color. The birds are most active early in the day, and they can be found any time of the year. Note also that two types of Red Crossbill — Types 2 and 5 — occur regularly in summer in the South Hills. The calls are different enough to distinguish them, but be sure to listen to recordings before you go, so you know what to listen for. At Porcupine Springs, dense forests, forest patches, high-elevation sagebrush, mountain shrub, and…

Without a doubt, Cave Creek Canyon is a premier birding location in North America. In fact, the Chiricahua Mountains, which surround the canyon, were benighted by the King Penguin himself, Roger Tory Peterson, in the 1980 book Roger Tory Peterson’s Dozen Birding Hot Spots. I have been coming to Cave Creek for 20 years to bird, hike, backpack, and take photos. What initially attracted me was that the Chiricahuas are the northernmost section of a chain of mountains that extends south to Mexico’s Sierra Madre; birds and other wildlife that are found in the Sierra Madre and other areas south of the border can possibly make their way to the Chiricahuas. Target species for many birders, such as Elegant Trogon, Mexican Chickadee, Montezuma Quail, Elf Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Painted Redstart,…

Might a wren house or chickadee box need repairs or replacement? Would this be a good year to plant new trees or shrubs? As every year draws to a close, I start planning how to make the next year better, especially for my backyard birds. When we first moved to Duluth in the 1980s, I used to consider a few birds killed each year by a picture window to be heartbreaking but unavoidable. I quickly learned better. Our dining room window was the biggest culprit. It overlooked most of my feeders, situated 10 to 15 feet away. A 1990 scientific paper by Muhlenberg College ornithologist Daniel Klem suggested that feeders should be placed within 3 feet of a window, so we screwed a large tray feeder into the window framing.…

Discussions of birding skills focus mainly on finding and identifying birds, but being able to describe the location of a bird so that other people can see it is another very important, and often overlooked, aspect of birding. Giving directions is a learned skill, and everyone can get better at it with concerted effort and practice. If you’ve been on a few birding field trips, you’ve probably learned about the “clock” method. It involves imagining a tree as the face of a clock, so that top center is twelve o’clock, halfway down the right side is three o’clock, etc. The method can also be used from inside a car or boat, with twelve o’clock straight ahead, etc. The location of a bird can be described by the numbers, but using…

“How many Peter?” Yossi Leshem asked of the flock of White Storks soaring over the heads of our ornithological tour group. It was the fifth day of our promotional tour of Israel hosted by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Yossi is a senior researcher in the zoology department at Tel Aviv University and the former CEO of SPNI. “One hundred and thirty-two,” I announced, pleased that out of the 40 or so ornithologists assembled, Yossi had gauged correctly that I could be counted upon to have quantified the birds in the migrating flock. Once a hawk counter, always a hawk counter. “That is what I get, too,” Yossi proclaimed, not at all surprised that our figures matched. What struck me most were the looks on the…

EXCLUSIVE FOR READERS OF OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS Watch for bonus digital content with our January-February 2018 issue, available on December 26! RETURN TO MAGAZINE…

Q A flock of starlings left many small nickel- or quarter- size holes in my grass. What were they looking for? — Bob Wolf, Jefferson, Missouri A The starlings were likely foraging on some type of grub, such as beetle or moth larvae. On residential lawns, this type of prey often includes the larvae of Japanese beetles and “cutworm” moths, both of which are considered garden pests. A squadron of hungry starlings is a great alternative to pesticides and less destructive than skunks or moles, which also eat these kinds of grubs. Q I was at a popular birding location this year, and a few people were making various shushing noises, apparently trying to get birds to come out of bushes. What is the idea behind this? — Russ Kelly,…

The U.S. Department of the Interior recently published a preliminary report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that shows that 101.6 million Americans — 40 percent of the U.S. population 16 years old and older — participated in wildlife-related activities in 2016, such as hunting, fishing, and wildlife-watching. The survey illustrates gains in wildlife-watching — particularly around the home — and fishing, with moderate declines in the number of hunters nationally. The findings reflect a continued interest in engaging in the outdoors. The activities are drivers behind an economic powerhouse, where participants spent $156 billion — the most in the last 25 years, adjusted for inflation. The survey, the 13th in a series conducted nearly every five years since 1955, shows that the most substantial increases in participation involve…

It has been an up-anddown year for the endangered Whooping Crane. Here’s a summary of recent news. More chicks: At Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Canada, government surveys found a record 98 Whooper nests in mid-May and a record 63 fledglings in late July. The previous records were 82 nests in 2014 and 49 fledged chicks in 2006. This year’s youngsters included four sets of twins. New population high: In September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced an estimated 431 cranes — an all-time high for the Aransas- Wood Buffalo Population (AWBP) — inhabited the primary wintering area in and around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas in winter 2016-17. The total is 31 percent higher than the estimate of 329 birds the previous winter. Officials attributed part…

ONE YEAR DURING the Christmas Bird Count in Milwaukee, good fortune led me to a Long-eared Owl. It perched in dense brush and a row of trees along a creek during a steady snowfall. I had found the species in Milwaukee County previously, but I don’t find it every year. It’s always a wonderful bird to see. When I came upon the owl, it was at eye level, only about 15 feet away. The closely spaced, long “ear” tufts, reddish facial disks, and heavily marked breast were immediately apparent. I used no recordings to locate the bird. I mention that because, as a birder, you probably know that Long-eared Owl is not only one cool bird. It’s also difficult to find, a fact that sometimes tempts people to play recordings…

A nest box that the Blue-throated Macaw likes — and crucially, that its competitor, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, does not like — has proved a challenge. “The Blueand- yellow Macaw is bigger and more aggressive,” says Bennett Hennessey, Armonía’s development director. “They have removed Blue-throated Macaws from nest cavities and even killed one once.” “Finding the right material took quite some time because these birds can be so destructive,” adds Tjalle Boorsma. “With small adaptations we figured out how to stop the competition between the species. Just creating a smaller entrance hole inhibited the more aggressive Blue-and yellow Macaws.” The program, which began in 2005 in Loreto, Bolivia, produced its first second-generation nestling this year, and an additional six breeding pairs were observed in the area. Lately, nest boxes have been placed…

If you’re travelling along the North Carolina coast during the winter holidays, a visit to Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge is sure to reward you with many excellent birds. While the refuge offers sought-after shorebirds, marsh birds, and passerine migrants in other seasons, it is widely reputed as a winter waterfowl destination. Lake Mattamuskeet and its impoundments offer 40,000 acres of shallow foraging and resting habitat for hundreds of thousands of swans, ducks, and geese. Birding along Hwy. 94 (the causeway) and the entrance road will give you the greatest diversity of waterfowl. Dabbling and diving ducks as well as large numbers of Tundra Swans begin to arrive in early November. Impoundments surround much of the edge of the lake and are occupied primarily by dabbling ducks and divers. Snow Geese…

Located 30 miles north of the Golden Gate, Point Reyes National Seashore is a birding mecca. With an abundance of diversified habitats surrounding its prominent peninsula, the birding at Point Reyes is arguably the most fulfilling in the Golden State. Point Reyes is the only national seashore on the West Coast. Several marine protected areas along its western boundary fortify the seashore’s value to wildlife. On the east edge of Point Reyes is 15-mile-long Tomales Bay, the largest unspoiled coastal embayment on the California coast. The park offers no shortage of opportunities to see birds. It has 150 miles of hiking trails, and you can bird from a kayak on Tomales Bay and Drakes Estero. With nearly 490 bird species documented, Point Reyes boasts the largest avian diversity of any…

Steeped in lore and admired by all, albatrosses have found their niche in some of the most inhospitable regions of the globe. Albatrosses are large, heavy birds with goose-like bodies and long, narrow wings. The smaller species have wingspans of 6 to 8 feet, while those of the Royal are about 9. The wingspan of the Wandering, the longest of all birds, can exceed 11 feet. The long, very narrow wings are the most efficient for flight of all birds because a narrow wing has less drag. This principle carried over to airplane design when gliders were given albatross-like wings. The lift of any wing can be increased most dramatically by increasing speed — either the wing moving more rapidly through the air (strong engine) or air moving more rapidly…

Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World, by Noah Strycker, foreword by Kenn Kaufman, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, hardcover, 352 pages, $27. Shortly after Noah Strycker came home from his 2015 global Big Year, in which he visited 41 countries and recorded 6,042 bird species, he wrote an article for this magazine about the 10 most memorable birds, and birding experiences, of his record-setting year. He mentioned that he would write a book about the “places, people, cultures, adventures, and misadventures along the way that were as interesting as the birds themselves.” The book is now published, and it was worth the wait. Strycker, as you may know, is a top-notch birder, and he’s young and full of energy. Those qualities alone would…