New Project FeederWatch Season Begins

Nature Notes for October 31, 2014

For two days in the week of November 8, you will find me, for part of the day, sitting in the rocking chair near my back door, counting the birds visiting my feeder. November 8 marks the beginning of another Project FeederWatch season.

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. FeederWatch data help scientists track broad scale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.

Project FeederWatch was started as an Ontario based feeder survey, begun in 1976 by Dr. Erica Dunn of Long Point Bird Observatory. By 2014, it had grown into an international research project, co-sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada.

In the 2013-14 season, 128,586 checklists were submitted from 9,940 unique locations. Counts were submitted from every province and territory in Canada and every state in the U.S., including two from Hawaii.

The 2013-14 year-end summary included an article about the effects of the severe winter weather in Canada. Average numbers of individual birds at feeders in Canada, as well as average numbers of species at each station were lower than the usual. Perceptions of feederwatchers were supported by the data collected.

The year-end summary lists the top 25 species of birds seen at feeders by region. For this region, the top of the list, that is the species seen at the greatest number of feeders, was chickadee. Because this region extends south into the range of the Carolina Chickadee, “chickadee” in the summary includes both Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees. 

 

Photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

 Dark-eyed Junco, second in the "Top 25" list from 2013/14 Project FeederWatch in eastern North America.

Second on the list was Dark-eyed Junco. Third was Mourning Dove. Last winter’s harsh weather was very hard on Mourning Doves. FeederWatch data showed slight declines in the percentage of sites visited by Mourning Doves and also in the average group size across the country. One study of wintering Mourning Doves in Ontario found that the majority of birds spending the winter in Ontario had lost one or more toes to frostbite.

Project FeederWatch makes use of the information that can be collected from the popular activity of maintaining backyard bird feeders. The counts of numbers of birds and species of birds are collected in a systematic way, using a specified protocol.

I have been participating ever since the winter of 1996-97, the first complete winter I spent at my house in Port Hope. When I started, all data were reported on paper forms and mailed in at the end of the season. Now, the data can be directly input on-line, which makes the job much easier.

Anyone with an interest in birds and a feeder can sign up to participate in this project. Those interested can get more information at www.birdscanada.org/pfw.tml. There is a fee to participate. The fees support the project – printed materials, web site, data analysis, publication of a year-end report (which is sent to all participants). FeederWatch also produces instructional material in both print form and on-line to assist participants with tricky identification.

The Rhythm of Seasonal Changes

Nature Notes for September 26, 2014           

The rhythm of the seasons continues with fall migration. Although the cool summer season probably delayed the nesting of some birds, they did nest. This may be delaying the southward passage of migrants as the young birds need time to mature before they leave the natal area.

As well, the weather has not been conducive to migration of small birds. Winds have been very strong and out of the south, west and east. There have been many cloudy and rainy nights, too. Most small birds migrate at night, so this hasn’t helped them. They have to wait for clear nights with light northerly winds.

Nevertheless, the birds are moving. The southern Ontario hawk watches are up and running. Finally, this week, they are reporting good numbers of birds. Until Monday, September 22, Hawk Cliff on the Lake Erie shore south of St. Thomas had reported 75,803 birds for the season, with 683 passing on the 22^nd.

The flight line for hawks leaving southern Ontario in the fall is south to the north shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie and then southwest, to cross the Detroit River in the Windsor/Detroit area. They then continue south through the Mississippi basin. Some travel as far south as South America.

This week, there has been a noticeable flight of Blue Jays. They follow the same flight line as the hawks, but generally stop for the winter somewhere in the continental U.S. Like the hawks, they move during the daylight hours, so readers who live near the Lake Ontario shore may have noticed this flight.

In my neighbourhood, another sign of fall is the flock of Turkey Vultures that have again taken up roosting atop the water tower on Dorset St.W. These birds time their arrival with the arrival of the spawning salmon in the Ganaraska River. After the fish spawn, some die, which provides an ample banquet for the vultures. Last year, there was a report of about 200 Turkey Vultures along the Ganaraska between downtown Port Hope and Corbett’s Dam.

There was one unusual avian visitor on Port Hope’s west beach which appeared on Sept. 13 and stayed for a few days.  A Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found feeding on the algae alongside the Sanderling. Buff-breasteds are usually found on drier parts of the beach or in fields with short vegetation, so this was an odd location to find one. They nest on the tundra and travel to wintering areas in South America. 

Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Port Hope west beach.

© Rob Lonsberry Photography

Last Saturday was Alderville Black Oak Savanna’s annual Prairie Day celebration. The high winds concentrated the landbirds in the shelter of the wooded valley on the property. In addition to a large number of Black-capped Chickadees, some of which may have been migrants, there were many other migrants in the woods: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Redstart, Nashville Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throatedGreen Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Northern Parula, Winter Wren, BrownCreeper, Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo and Ovenbird.

In the past week, the first few White-throated Sparrows have turned up in my garden. They will soon be joined by Dark-eyed Juncos and perhaps the first few winter finches.

All these departures and arrivals reflect the change of the seasons.

Common Nighthawks on the move

Nature Notes for August 29, 2014

“I saw a flock of birds flying over my yard, but I don’t know what they are. They are bigger than a swallow with a white blotch on each wing and their flight in like bats. Would you have any idea what they are?”

Several times in the past couple of weeks, I have received queries similar to the one above. I wish all bird identification questions were as easy as this one. The birds in question were Common Nighthawks. There have been a number of recent reports of migrating Common Nighthawks and I’ve seen them over my house in Port Hope.

Common Nighthawks aren’t hawks at all, but are part of a group known as nightjars. For reasons that no one really knows, this group is sometimes called goatsuckers. It was thought that they entered barns and sucked on the teats of goats. This is, of course, a myth, but the name has stuck.

They are aerial foragers which hunt for flying insects primarily at dawn and dusk. For the size of the bird, they have a very large mouth with rictal bristles. These are similar to the whiskers on a cat and, combined with the wide mouth, are very effective in scooping flying insects from the air.

The colouring of Common Nighthawks is a mottled mixture of shades of brown. Since they prefer to nest on the ground in open sites, this coloration provides good camouflage. The white spots on the wings aren’t visible when the bird is perched.

Their natural nesting habitat is in open areas, such as those provided after a forest fire, or on rocky outcrops in the Canadian shield. Their nests can be found in openings in the forest due to fires or clear cuts, on sandy blowouts and in old, unused gravel pits.

Since the mid-1800s, they have also been found nesting on flat gravel roofs in urban areas. This type of roof is no longer in favour with builders, so this habitat has reduced somewhat. Initially, the rooftop locations provided protection from predators such as foxes, raccoons and skunks. However, urban gulls and crows have discovered the nighthawk nests and are now major predators of roof-nesting nighthawks.

In the spring, Common Nighthawks are most often detected by sound. Their call is a loud “peent”. The males have a spectacular display flight. The will fly to a great height and plummet towards the ground and a waiting female. Just when it seems that they will crash, they pull up, which causes a loud booming sound from the wind forced through their wing feathers. This boom can be heard over quite a distance and has contributed to another colourful name for this species: Bullbat. Bull was because of the loud booming sound and bat because of the style of their flight.

As with all the aerial foragers, their populations are showing declines. In the twenty years between the two Ontario Breeding Bird Atlases, there was a significant decline in the observations of Common Nighthawk. They are listed as “Threatened” by the Committee on the Status of Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) and as of “Special Concern” by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources  (OMNR).

Their breeding range includes most of North American south of the tundra. The ones that are passing through Northumberland now are heading to wintering areas in South America, as far south as northern Argentina.

Probably by the end of this week, when this article appears in print, most of the Common Nighthawks will have moved through the area.

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Presqu’ile Provincial Park is holding the 30^th annual Monarchs and Migrants event over Labour Day weekend. Check the Friends of Presqu’ile web site http://www.friendsofpresquile.on.ca/ for the complete schedule of events. They include guided bird hikes, bird banding and Monarch butterfly tagging.

On September 20, Alderville Black Oak Savanna hosts Prairie Day, a project of the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative.

Local Birds Can Appear Exotic

Nature Notes for July 25, 2014

There was an audible gasp from all the members of the group as binoculars focused on the bird. It was a richly velvet black with red and yellow on its wings. What was this rare bird? Why a Red-wingedBlackbird, a common breeding species in our local marshes. The observers, however, were from Japan so this was a new bird for them.

It has been my pleasure and privilege recently to introduce my local birding patch to two groups, one from a great distance and one from further north in Ontario. Many bird species which are common here were new to both groups.

One of the reasons people like birds is for the beauty of their plumage. It is very easy, however, to think that one must go to an exotic location to see beautiful birds. If you really look at them, the regular inhabitants of many gardens are quite exotic.

Once at a bird banding demonstration in Presqu’ileProvincial Park, a member of the public asked the identity of that large black bird with all the colours on its head that was hanging around his campsite. As I asked additional questions about the bird, it was identified as a Common Grackle. This person had seen them before, but not really looked at the bird. There is an iridescent sheen of purple and green on the head of the males which is quite striking.

Another bird which delighted the Japanese visitors was a male Northern Cardinal. This bird is bright red with a black mask around the eyes. It was a visiting a feeder, so offered very good views. The male was accompanied by a female, too. She is more a buff colour with red highlights, more subtle, but still beautiful.

The other red bird seen locally is Scarlet Tanager. Males of this species are all red with black wings. This plumage only lasts through the breeding season. They arrive in this plumage in the spring, but after nesting molt to yellow with black wings, the plumage they hold for most of the year.

I never tire of the sight of male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. They are black and white with a splash of red at the throat.

Although many woodpeckers have some red, the Red-headed Woodpecker is certainly the most striking. It has an all red head with large blocks of black and white on body and wings. In this species, both male and female have the same bright plumage. Sadly, this bird is in decline throughout most of its range. Northumberland County is fortunate enough to still have breeding Red-headed Woodpeckers.

A local breeder like this Yellow Warbler can seem quite exotic
 to those unfamiliar with the bird.

photo  © Rob Lonsberry

This spring and summer, several people have asked me the identity of a bird seen on the ground. It had some red on its head and a black V mark at the throat/upper breast. This bird turned out to be a common woodpecker, a Northern Flicker. Because they often eat ants, they can be found on the ground. In addition to the markings described, this bird has yellow wing linings and a white patch on the rump.

If Blue Jays were not so common, I expect that they would be considered quite exotic. There are several different shades of blue on their plumage from almost turquoise through sky blue to navy highlights. Mixed in with a black necklace and black and white spots on the wings and tail, it is quite striking.

There seem to be fewer blue birds in this part of the world than other colours, so they seem more exotic. I was able to show my groups two others. The male Indigo Bunting is iridescent blue all over. Because this colour is iridescent and not a pigment, in some lights the bird just looks dark. However, in the right light, the blue colour is amazingly bright.

The other local blue bird is actually called that: Eastern Bluebird. This one is a member of the thrush family. The male has a blue back and red breast the same colour as a robin’s breast. No doubt this colouring has encouraged many people to put us suitable nesting boxes for this species.

I haven’t even mentioned the orange and yellow birds such as Baltimore Oriole or Yellow Warbler. These, too, to unfamiliar eyes seem very exotic. Perhaps readers will take a closer look at some of our common birds.