Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2019 i BirdWatching

Like sparkling gems in a glittering crown of protected areas, American Bird Conservancy’s reserve network spans more than 1 million acres across 90 sites in 15 countries. Taken together, these ABC-supported reserves provide habitat for thousands of bird species — 2,900, to be exact, including Araripe Manakin, Jocotoco Antpitta, Marvelous Spatuletail, and many other species that rank among the Western Hemisphere’s rarest. Creating reserves is often just the first step in the conservation story, however. ABC created the Conservation Birding initiative to promote birding tourism to the reserves, where accommodation fees help cover the costs of the guard stations, monitoring, and other management activities necessary to keep a protected area truly conserved. One example of Conservation Birding is the Tanagers Reserve, created in 2009 by Fundación ProAves with support from…

The American Ornithological Society’s North American Classification Committee is considering more than 50 changes to the continent’s official checklist of bird species. They include: Splitting Northern Fulmar into two species. If accepted, the proposal would recognize the two populations of the seabird as Atlantic Fulmar and Pacific Fulmar. Splitting White-winged Scoter into two or three species. This would distinguish North American birds from populations in Europe and Asia. Recognizing Harlan’s Hawk as distinct from Red-tailed Hawk. The proposal came from William S. Clark, an author of raptor field guides. The committee also received a lengthy counter-argument from a group of nine raptor experts who disputed the notion that Harlan’s can be considered a definitive species. Changing the name of Saltmarsh Sparrow to Peterson’s Sparrow. The change would honor field-guide pioneer…

CANON POWERSHOT SX70 HS Bridge cameras, more accurately described as “superzoom” cameras, look like SLRs but feature fixed, long zoom lenses. The latest Canon Powershot model, released last October, has a 65x zoom and a better higher-resolution image sensor than its predecessor. The electronic viewfinder, in particular, is comparable to those of higher-end cameras. As the least expensive camera in this roundup, it’s a good option for bird photography when the subject stands still or is moving side to side but isn’t a great choice for action shots. NIKON COOLPIX P1000 The P1000 is the latest in Nikon’s long-running Coolpix series. Introduced in September 2018, it features an incredible 125x optical zoom, which provides a 35mm-equivalent focal range from 24mm to 3,000mm. Outdoor Photographer named the P1000 the “best new…

“I don’t know who my friend murdered to get me a copy of Wingspan, but I’ve been so grateful,” Sharon Stiteler, well known for her Birdchick blog, told me over the phone when we discussed the unexpected success of the new board game recently released by St. Louis-based Stonemaier Games. Not only did Wingspan sell out within a week of its release in March, but in late April it was entering its sixth print run. By then, more than 30,000 copies had been printed in English and 14,000 in foreign-language editions. Plus, expansions — one dedicated to birds on each continent — were already in the works. The success was so swift that Stonemaier had to issue an official apology to fans for underestimating sales. (The game will be back in…

Getting there: Several major airlines fly from North American cities to Johannesburg, and international and regional flights also go to Cape Town and Durban. The country has a very good system of roads. Birding tours: Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, WINGS, Rockjumper, Tropical Birding, Field Guides, Eagle-Eye Tours, and other companies offer birding tours of South Africa. At least three companies offer pelagic birding excursions from Cape Town and other ports. Safety: The country is generally safe for travelers, especially if you’re with a tour group. The usual precautions apply, including being careful where you go after dark. Travelers’ vaccines: The CDC recommends most travelers receive vaccines for hepatitis A and typhoid. For some areas, including around Kruger National Park, a malaria vaccine is warranted. For info about the places I…

ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING origin stories for just about any birding hotspot is that of Bayocean Peninsula Park (pictured above). It sits on the Pacific coast of Oregon, due west of Portland, and today its notable features are sand dunes, beaches, and woodlands. In the early 1900s, a developer built a hotel, a general store, a saltwater natatorium, a post office, businesses, and four miles of paved roads. By 1914, the peninsula was home to about 2,000 people. But after a jetty was constructed in 1917, ocean currents began to erode the beaches. Within about 15 years, many of the buildings were gone, and a massive storm in 1932 destroyed the swimming hall. The post office closed in the early ’50s, and now only a commemorative sign at the…

A record-smashing number of wading birds produced nests in South Florida in 2018, according to a report released in mid-May by the South Florida Water Management District. During the 2018 nesting season (December 2017 to July 2018), an estimated 138,834 nests were initiated by the herons, egrets, spoonbills, ibises, and storks that nest in the Everglades and surrounding region. The Everglades is arguably the most important area for waterbirds in North America. “This is the largest annual nesting effort observed since comprehensive system-wide surveys began in South Florida in 1995 and is comparable with the historical large nesting events that occurred in the 1930s and ’40s,” wrote avian ecologist and lead author Mark Cook. “It surpasses the previous banner nesting season (2009) by over 51,000 nests and is approximately 3.5…

As you may know, my 32-year tenure with New Jersey Audubon has run its course. Saying goodbye to the programs and events that used to command my life wasn’t easy, but in the end, relinquish them I did — except for one cherished tradition. I elected to continue leading my Monday-morning bird walks in the South Cape May Meadows Preserve (as a volunteer rather than a paid staff person). From March through November, two hours and one and a half miles around. Every trip is different because you never know what kind of hand Ma Nature is going to deal, and, of course, every Monday brings a different mix of participants who change the chemistry of the experience. A field trip is just a birding excursion with a host of…

I’ve lived in New York City over 10 years and never truly paid attention to its bird habitat until spring 2018, when I heard that an avid birder, Annie Novak, was going to the top of the Empire State Building in the middle of the night to track bird activity. It piqued my interest. I got in touch with Novak and quickly learned there were birders, and birds, all over the city. Novak gave me my first bird tour in Central Park and invited me to a lecture on birding technology at the American Museum of Natural History and an exhibit focused on feathers at the New York Historical Society. Eventually, I was hitting up bird meet-ups all over the city – I was immersed and totally amazed that a…

During my 33-hour trip from Wisconsin to South Africa last November, I was excited to read this synopsis of the country in the 2017 book The Birder’s Guide to Africa by bird guide and conservationist Michael Mills: “South Africa, for good reason, is probably [Africa’s] most-birded country. With more than 75 endemics and near-endemics and essentially two endemic bird families (rockjumpers and sugarbirds), it is among Africa’s top birding countries. Add to this Africa’s finest travel infrastructure, good food, low prices, easy birding in spectacular landscapes, fantastic game reserves, wineries, and a whole host of other tourist attractions, and you have a first-class destination for any birder.” In fact, Mills developed a “Bird Importance Score” for the continent’s 68 countries and territories, considering bird endemism and diversity, safety, cost, ease…

When birdwatchers travel to the southwestern United States in late summer, hummingbirds usually rank high on their “want lists.” One of the most sought after is the uncommon and enigmatic Lucifer Hummingbird. Although it occurs annually in three states, its status is poorly understood. Originally known from central Mexico, the Lucifer Hummingbird was first detected in 1901 in arid country of what is now Big Bend National Park of western Texas. This is still the bird’s major stronghold north of the border. Experts have estimated the summer population there at about 50 breeding females and presumably a comparable number of males. (In discussing hummingbird populatins, we don’t say “50 pairs,” because they don’t form pair bonds and don’t defend territories as pairs.) Lucifers around Big Bend nest mainly on rocky…

One night last winter, I heard a Great Horned Owl, grabbed my recording equipment, and ran to the back porch. Two owls in my yard were hooting back and forth; a second pair off to the west answered. My yard must be on the border between two territories. I’ve never before heard four owls hooting simultaneously, but my recording was awful. In the four decades we’ve lived in our quiet residential neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota, background noise has melted from my consciousness even as it’s grown louder. A quarter mile to the north and south are avenues with steady traffic; a snowmobile trail runs beyond one. My microphone picked up trucks and a snowmobile, overwhelming the owls’ hoots. Gas furnaces, barking dogs, two airplanes flying over, cars starting up, doors…

Red-headed Woodpecker Red-headed Woodpecker, one of North America’s most distinctive breeding birds, does not follow a regular migratory pattern but instead moves in response to the availability of beechnuts, pecans, acorns, and other hard mast. The maps above plot where eBird users reported the species in summer and winter over the last decade. In August, the species is found in most of the eastern United States and in portions of southern Canada. The western edge of its breeding range is in eastern Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Its preferred breeding habitat is a wooded area with openings, along with dead limbs or snags, where they nest in cavities. By January, the species has withdrawn from the northern reaches of its breeding range to areas of the Midwest and Southeast, where it…

A Red-billed Oxpecker calls from the head of a giraffe. Oxpeckers feed from the hides of many large mammals, including buffalo, giraffes, and zebras. Red-billed is common in the Kruger region while Yellow-billed Oxpecker is rare.…

I’m watching a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird on bee balm. He’s hovering, as if on a skyhook, taking on nectar. Then he backs out about 5 inches and freezes in space, his wings a blur. Then he vanishes up and away, as if shot from a canon. I’ve lost him. Now he’s back, pauses, and shoots up about 6 inches, pauses, and then flies head-first into another flower. I’m mesmerized. Of all avian attributes, none is as essential as flight. For most flying birds, flight is a variation on a common theme. But not for hummingbirds; they’ve gone their own way. Hummers have developed an astonishing flight style that makes other birds look ordinary. Early in avian evolution, natural selection favored light and strong skeletal systems benefitting flight and massive breast…

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You might not be thinking of bird migration in July and August, but this is the peak of southbound shorebird migration, when any mudflat is likely to provide a resting place for a few species, and the best locations can host 20 or more species together. Shorebirds (sandpipers and plovers) provide some of the most exciting late-summer birding opportunities, but they are widely known for being among the most challenging birds to identify. Many similar species are often in mixed flocks. As with any other large group of similar species, the shorebirds can be subdivided into smaller groups of related species based on shared characteristics. Once you have found a flock of shorebirds, one of the best first steps is to figure out which of the subgroups are represented. Pay…