[birdky] FW: Birding Community E-bulletin - April 2008

["Vorisek, Shawchyi (FW)" <Shawchyi.Vorisek@xxxxxx>]

FYI:

Shawchyi Vorisek 
Avian Biologist 
Wildlife Diversity Program 
KY Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources 
#1 Sportsman's Lane 
Frankfort, KY  40601 
(502)564-7109 Ext. 368 
shawchyi.vorisek@xxxxxx 
www.fw.ky.gov <http://www.fw.ky.gov/>  



________________________________

From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:paul.baicich@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 11:50 AM
To: Paul J. Baicich
Cc: Wayne R. Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - April 2008



THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
            April 2008
 
This Birding Community E-bulletin is being distributed through the generous 
support of Steiner Binoculars as a service to active and concerned birders, 
those dedicated to the joys of birding and the protection of birds and their 
habitats.
 
This issue marks the 48th E-bulletin we have produced, four years of sharing 
bird, birding, and bird conservation information. You can access an archive of 
our past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association 
(NWRA):
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
 and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
                                    
 
RARITY FOCUS 
            
On 6 March a Common Crane was found near Kearney, Nebraska not far from the 
Rowe Sanctuary along the Platte River. It was found by a group of about 10 
birders, mostly from the Minneapolis area, including Stan Tekiela, Sharon 
Stiteler, and Amber Burnette. The Common Crane was accompanying a flock of 
Sandhill Cranes.
 
Common Crane is an Old World species, a vagrant to Canada and United States, 
usually found with migrating Sandhill Cranes. It can be distinguished by its 
blackish head and neck, prominantly marked by a broad white stripe. (See page 
152 of the latest National Geographic Guide for more details.) There are about 
15 previous reports of this species in North America (some certainly 
representing multiple sightings of the same individuals) from Alberta, Alaska, 
Indiana, Nebraska, Québec, and Saskatchewan, all since 1957. Most reports have 
occurred in September-October or March-April. It is assumed that some of the 
these birds become "attached" to Sandhill Crane groups in Siberia, then follow 
them east and then southward to North America during migration.
 
The Common Crane near Kearney was seen off and on through the evening of 9 
March, always in the company of Sandhill Cranes. The Platte River is a major 
concentration point for Sandhill Cranes, with perhaps half a million birds 
gathering in mid-to-late March, prior to migrating northward. This staging area 
represents a breathtaking natural spectacle each spring, and is a major 
avitourism draw to central Nebraska, from Grand Island to Kearney. Local 
Nebraskans have come to appreciate both the birds and the avitourists attracted 
to the phenomenon.
 
While the Common Crane was not relocated among the Sandhill Cranes after 9 
March, there was an interesting sighting later in the month on 23 March about 
200 miles to the south. At about 6:30pm on 23 March, a Common Crane was seen 
and photographed by Michael Anderson at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in 
central Kansas. The crane was going to roost with about 1,000 Sandhill Cranes 
near the Big Salt Marsh at the refuge. The crane was never found there again, 
despite multiple searches.
 
 
MEXICAN GOVERNMENT DESIGNATES 45 NEW WETLANDS UNDER RAMSAR
 
Our friends at the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) have 
brought to our attention recent efforts by the Government of Mexico to 
designate 45 New Wetlands of International Importance under provisions of the 
Ramsar Convention.
 
This laudatory action that took place in early February is a world record for 
the most new Ramsar sites ever designated in one day, breaking Mexico's own 
record of designating 34 sites in a single day in 2004. By designating these 
new sites, Mexico is helping to safeguard another 2.7 million hectares of 
habitat important for a number of migratory birds, including waterfowl, 
shorebirds, gulls, terns, herons, egrets, and wetland-associated songbirds. 
Mexico is currently in second place worldwide with its 112 designated Ramsar 
sites. 
 
The announcement was made by conservation leaders from the Secretariat of the 
Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), National Commission for Natural 
Protected Areas (CONANP), and the Government of Sinaloa, in conjunction with 
the State's celebrations honoring "World Wetlands Day."
 
For more information (in Spanish), visit:
http://ramsar.org/wwd/8/wwd2008_rpts_mexico_semarnat.htm
 
 
MARBLED MURRELET CRITICAL HABITAT MAINTAINED
 
The Marbled Murrelet was listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA) in October 1992. This alcid spends most of its time at sea, nests in tall 
trees in old-growth conifer forests, sometimes as far as 50 miles inland.
 
Critical Marbled Murrelet breeding habitat covering almost 3.6 million acres 
was designated on 24 May 1996. In mid-September 2006, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service proposed to revise the designated critical habitat for the 
Marbled Murrelet in Washington, Oregon, and California, potentially downgrading 
approximately 94% of the designated critical habitat from final designation.
 
Last month, however, the Service presented added findings pursuant to the ESA. 
Due to uncertainties regarding plan revisions in western Oregon, the Service 
determined that it is not appropriate to revise the designation of critical 
habitat for the Marbled Murrelet at this time. (The USFWS will continue to 
consider whether revisions of critical habitat for this species might be 
appropriate at some future time.) Accordingly, the 24 May 1996, final rule 
designating critical habitat for the Marbled Murrelet stands. This represents 
an important victory for this enigmatic little alcid.
                                    
For some of our previous coverage on Marbled Murrelet (October 2006) see:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/octSBC06.html#TOC07
  and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/oct06.html
 
 
NATIONAL AVIARY BULLETIN
 
The Department of Conservation & Field Research at the National Aviary in 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was created to study and address the impacts of human 
population and resource consumption on birds and the environment. Their 
projects are founded on the belief that field research, conservation, and 
community education are intertwined and are best done in concert. To get a feel 
for this approach, check out their Spring 2008 newsletter, FLIGHT PATH, 
downloaded here (free subscriptions also available through this page): 
http://www.aviary.org/nlet/birdcalls.php
 
 
AMBER-ENCASED "FEATHERS" ANALYZED
 
In mid-March, scientists reported that seven dinosaur-era feathers, or 
proto-feathers, recently found preserved in amber in western France may 
highlight a crucial stage in feather evolution. The hundred-million-year-old 
plumage, about 50 million years younger than the first know flying bird, 
Archaeopteryx, has features of both feather-like fibers found with some 
two-legged dinosaurs known as theropods, and those of modern bird feathers.
 
These fossils could fill a key gap in the puzzle of how dinosaurs gave rise to 
birds, according to a team led by Vincent Perrichot of the Museum fur 
Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. The find provides a clear example of the 
transition between primitive filamentous down and the modern feather.
 
Although the study team isn't sure yet whether the feathers belonged to a dino 
or a bird, the feathers' central shafts, or rachises, are primitive and most 
closely resemble down feathers.
 
The feather filaments, or barbs, had not become fully fused at the base, and 
they lacked the hooklets, known as barbules, needed to hold the filaments 
together. The research team asserted that today's birds could not fly with such 
feathers.
 
Paleontologists at the University of Rennes found the tiny feathers encased in 
a lump of amber (fossilized tree resin) in a quarry in the Poitou-Charentes 
region of France in 2000. More samples from the fossil record will be needed to 
settle the issue of ancestry and function of these structures.
 
You can find more details and photos here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080311-amber-feathers.html 
 
 
FARM BILL EXTENSION HAS EVERYONE GUESSING
 
A 15 March Farm Bill deadline has come and gone, and a new Farm Bill has yet to 
be passed by Congress. A short-term extension of the old bill has reset the 
clock, however, and is now ticking towards a new deadline of 18 April.
 
The rewrite of the five-year multi-billion-dollar Farm Bill overseeing farm, 
conservation, energy and even nutrition programs has been gridlocked, as the 
House and Senate have tried to trim the reauthorizations and find offsets for 
new spending from the bill they passed last year. The conservation title of the 
Farm Bill represents the single largest federal investment to conservation on 
private land in this country, and is crucial for bird conservation (especially 
considering the well-known CRP and WRP elements).
 
While there is a tentative agreement to work toward a bill that would spend $10 
billion over the current bill's baseline for the next 10 years - much less than 
the House or Senate had included in their respective bills - there has yet to 
be an agreement on the breadth of the required cuts and the revenue-raisers 
that could offset new funding.
 
Significant bird conservation efforts could suffer if the delay continues and 
if a new Farm Bill is not passed by the approaching deadline.
 
We have discussed this issue recently, including August, 2007:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/augSBC07.html#TOC13
  and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/aug07.html
 
And we have covered it also in January, 2008:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/janSBC08.html#TOC05
  and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/jan08.html
 
 
TRANSLOCATED BERMUDA PETRELS RETURN TO BERMUDA ISLET
 
Three rare and endangered Bermuda Petrels (also known as Cahows), translocated 
to Nonsuch Island before fledging in 2005, have returned to the small island 
(15.5 acres), where they have been observed entering artificial nesting burrows 
constructed for them.
 
Bermuda Petrels were thought to be extinct for almost three centuries. In 1951, 
however, 18 pairs were rediscovered breeding on sub-optimal rocky islets in 
Castle Harbour, Bermuda. Incorporating conservation measures that would 
restrict the size of burrows (using "baffles" to exclude larger tropicbirds) 
and providing concrete burrows at nesting sites, the petrel population has 
recovered gradually, doubling approximately every 20 years.
 
Returning sub-adult Bermuda Petrels gravitate to their natal colonies, so 
regardless of the "appropriateness" of the sites on Nonsuch, the island 
remained uncolonized. Because Hurricane Fabian caused the flooding and partial 
collapse of traditional nesting sites in 2003, young Bermuda Petrels were moved 
to Nonsuch Island, in the entrance to Castle Harbour. The idea was to imprint 
the translocated chicks to the new site, hoping that the chicks would 
eventually return to this new natal site once they were mature in about 3-4 
years.
 
In the last four years, a total of 81 chicks have been translocated, of which 
79 have fledged successfully. The Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve provides 
nesting habitat which is elevated enough to be safe from hurricane flooding and 
erosion. The present nesting islets actually total less than 2.5 acres.
 
Removal of invasive rats and Cane Toads from Nonsuch was mandatory before 
effective translocation and potential return could be attempted. 
 
As avid North American birders know, Bermuda Petrels have occasionally been 
observed on North Carolina birding pelagic trips. One hopes that with more 
Bermuda Petrels returning (like the recent three returns) and nesting at 
multiple sites, the future of the species will become more secure. 
 
For more information:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/03/Bermuda_Petrel.html
 
 
BOOK REVIEW: YOUNG BIRDER'S FIELD GUIDE (EAST)
 
Bill Thompson, III, editor of BIRD WATCHER'S DIGEST, asked his 11-year-old 
daughter, Phoebe, and her school class for some advice on what would make a 
birding guide most helpful for kids in the field. The upshot is THE YOUNG 
BIRDER'S GUIDE TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA (Houghton Mifflin 2008). This 
is a book that youngsters can use on their own, without assistance from adults. 
It is part of the popular "Peterson Field Guide Series."
 
Each of the 200 species included in the book provides a color photograph on a 
page brimming with added information and written in an appropriate style for 
young people. Field marks are clear; range maps are easy to read, and there is 
even a space for young birders to check off birds they have identified along 
with the date the species was originally seen. Accompanying black-and-white 
line drawings by Julie Zickefoose illustrate interesting bird behaviors or 
characteristics.
 
If you know young birders who live in the East and are curious about birds, 
definitely get this book into their hands.
 
 
TIP OF THE MONTH: NESTWATCH IS WAITING FOR YOU
 
The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has just launched its newest 
citizen-science program in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird 
Center and funded by the National Science Foundation.
 
It's called NestWatch, and it entails volunteers collecting information on 
nesting birds: location, habitat, eggs, incubation, etc. Participation is free, 
and potential volunteers should begin to get ready as nest-building begins this 
spring. Volunteers are strongly encouraged to follow the Nest Monitor's Code of 
Conduct and Protocol (both available on the program's website).
 
The Cornell Lab will also be folding its Birdhouse Network project (already 
with 70,000 submissions) into NestWatch. Now, anyone who has been keeping nest 
records on their own will have a way to put this important information to use 
through NestWatch. The Lab will be able to accept data from as far back as 
1900! The database will also incorporate more than 300,000 records from the 
historic Cornell Nest Record Program, dating back to 1965.
 
For more information and to sign up with NestWatch, see:
www.nestwatch.org <http://www.nestwatch.org/> 
 
- - - - - - - -
You can access past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association 
(NWRA) website:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
  and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
                                    
If you wish to distribute all or parts of any of the monthly Birding Community 
E-bulletins, we simply request that you mention the source of any material 
used. (Include a URL for the E-bulletin archives, if possible.) 
 
If you have any friends or co-workers who want to get onto the monthly 
E-bulletin mailing list, have them contact either:
            
            Wayyne R. Petersen, Director
            Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program
            Mass Audubon
            718/259-2178
            <wpetersen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
                                                                                
                            
                        OR
            
            Paul J. Baicich 
            410/992-9736
            <paul.baicich@xxxxxxxxxxx> 
            
We never lend or sell our E-bulletin recipient list.

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[birdky] FW: Birding Community E-bulletin - April 2008