BirdWatching November/December 2019

This is our last issue of 2019, so I thought it would be fun to ask: What have been your most memorable birding moments of the year? Did you find a rarity? Did you witness a bird behavior you’ve never seen before? Did you take a dream trip? Did you get a child hooked on watching our feathered friends? Did you plant a boatload of native plants to benefit pollinators? My highlights of the year, so far, have included my first sightings of Black-backed Woodpecker and Canada Jay, which I saw during the Adirondack Boreal Birding Festival in New York State. I also saw, for the first time, truly wild Whooping Cranes, which I wrote about in our last issue. My No. 1 birding high point, however, didn’t involve life…

In late September, mainstream news outlets around the world carried stories about a new study that says North America’s bird populations are collapsing. The alarming study, written by scientists from seven conservation and research organizations, reported that since 1970, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent, or almost 3 billion birds, signaling a widespread ecological crisis. The results show tremendous losses across diverse groups of birds and habitats — from meadowlarks to swallows. Articles about the research appeared in dozens of media sources, likely reaching millions of listeners and readers who aren’t birders and, presumably, don’t pay much attention to trends in bird populations. Could the volume of news coverage of the study spark positive actions for conservation by individuals and/or politicians and decision…

Every year in North America, approximately 7 million migratory birds collide with tall communication towers and die. Most of these are night-flying long-distance migrants that crash into the towers after being attracted to and disoriented by their steady-burning red lights. The annual death toll includes an estimated 6.6 million birds in the United States and at least 220,000 in Canada. These include familiar backyard species such as the White-throated Sparrow; birds of rural and forested areas, including American Woodcock; and many Neotropical migrants such as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Blackpoll Warbler. Species of great conservation concern are impacted, including Black Rail, Bell’s Vireo, Golden-winged Warbler, and McCown’s Longspur. Luckily, awareness of this problem has grown, and change has begun. Simply turning off the steady-burning lights can reduce a tower’s rate…

Q I recently noticed that the male House Wren that uses my bird house stopped singing daily, then resumed after 10 to 12 days. I thought perhaps that once the first brood fledged and the parents were feeding off nest that they were either too busy or no longer needed to sing. Now they’re back at the box with a second brood, and the singing has resumed. Is this common in songbirds who raise two broods a season, or have I misunderstood the silence? — Judy Power, Cape Cod, Massachusetts A Many songbirds do largely cease singing once they’ve established a territory, attracted a mate, and especially when they begin feeding young. Some species, such as House Wren, demonstrate a little more complex song phenology. Males will continue singing over…

Scientists have known for a few decades about a genetic component to bird migration. Recent studies in birds have identified large regions of the genome, encompassing hundreds of genes, associated with migration, but it has been more difficult to pinpoint the specific roles of any single gene. In a study published in August, however, researchers who studied Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers found one gene that is associated with the final wintering destination of the species. The genetically similar species breed in the Midwest and Northeast. Blue-winged Warblers, for the most part, migrate to wintering grounds in Central America, from Guatemala to Panama. The Golden-winged population that breeds in the Great Lakes also winters in Central America, whereas the Appalachian population migrates to South America, primarily Venezuela. The researchers took genetic…

Red-necked Grebe The maps on this page show where users of eBird reported Red-necked Grebe and Green-tailed Towhee in North America in winter and summer over the last decade. The grebe breeds on lakes and wetlands from western Alaska to the Great Lakes region, as well as portions of the northern lower 48 states, from Washington State to Minnesota (see the June map). By December, individuals are mainly found along the northern Atlantic and Pacific coasts, where they forage in estuarine waters such as inlets and bays, but also well offshore. Small numbers of the birds winter on inland lakes such as the Great Lakes, and occasional ice-up can push birds toward open water in infrequently used areas in the Northeast (see December map). During the breeding season, individuals are…