[Bristol-Birds] Chapter on birding for regional high school students
- From: Ed Talbott <aquilaet@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Bristol Birds <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:43:53 -0800 (PST)
Bristol Birders,
I have been asked to revise a chapter of a free book that will be distributed
to high school age students in the region. I had originally written a chapter
for the Big Sandy River distributed in Buchanan County, VA and one for the
Upper Clinch River for Russell and Tazewell County, VA. The program has been a
success and now the plan is to provide a book to high school students along the
Powell, Holston, and Clinch river watersheds. The book will cover a variety of
subjects including wildlife, botany, insects, geology, outdoor activities,
water quality, etc. but the few pages I'm working on only include bird life in
the area. This is not a scientific paper but is intended for a non-birder at
about the 11th grade level to try to get them interested in birding and outdoor
activities. Since I am certainly not the most qualified person to write about
birding in this region, I am posting it to this list for comments and
suggestions.
Thanks,
Ed Talbott
Richmond, Kentucky
Birds of the Powell, Clinch, and Holston River Watersheds
Three major river systems arise in the hill and valley region of Southwest
Virginia and follow the ridgelines, flowing southwest into Northeast Tennessee.
The rivers are the Clinch, the Powell and the Holston, and these rivers, along
with the French Broad River, eventually form the mighty Tennessee River. This
region is characterized by high spruce-covered mountain peaks, wide fertile
valleys, and long straight ridgelines. This combination, along with several
man-made reservoirs in the region, creates a diversity of different habitats
that act as a magnet to a wide variety of bird species. In fact, this area is
one of the most biologically diverse areas in North America.
More than 300 species of birds have been identified along the streams, lakes,
and ridges of the region. Many are year-round residents, some travel here from
South America each year to breed in the valleys and on the mountain slopes,
some are only passing through and show up in our region during their spring and
fall migrations, and still others spend their winters here to escape the bitter
winters of Canada, where they will return in the spring to breed. In fact, at
various birding events in the area, over 100 different species of bird have
been identified in a single day.
Wildlife watching, in particular bird watching, has become one of the biggest
hobbies in the United States. One of the attractions of bird watching is that
is can be combined with other hobbies such as hiking, camping, canoeing, and
horseback riding. All it takes is a pair of binoculars and a field guide to
help identify different birds. Many people who are unable to hike can also
enjoy bird watching from their homes by putting out bird feeders and seeing
what species visit their feeders at different times of the year. Bird watching
can be thought of as a type of scavenger hunt - you never know what bird might
show up around the next bend in the trail - and with over 300 possible species
in the region, you are always challenged to try and identify each new one.
Most people do not realize that bird watching has become so popular. Clubs are
springing up all over the country and the hobby generates billions in tourist
dollars each year. In fact, more
people now watch birds in the United States than go hunting or fishing.
It is no surprise that the mountains of Southwest Virginia and Northeast
Tennessee can provide some of the best bird watching in the country. Many
different families of birds are found here, including hawks, owls, vireos,
sparrows, finches, shorebirds and ducks; however, the highlight of local
birding is our diverse and beautiful collection of wood-warblers. Over 30
different species of these “jewels of the forest” can be found here in our
mountains. Their songs fill the morning air and their plumages vary with
shades of golden yellow, deep blue, olive green, and bright orange. It is not
uncommon to find 15 species of warbler in a single morning of bird watching in
the region.
The vivid markings of warblers include the stark contrast of the
Black-and-white Warbler, the flame-colored throat of the Blackburnian Warbler,
the bright orange and black of the American Redstart, and the distinguished
coloration of the Golden-winged Warbler. At higher elevations, Black-throated
Blue, Magnolia, and Canada Warblers fill the morning air with their song. With
such diverse colors and songs, the wood-warblers are favorites of many bird
watchers, and the mountains of this region include some of the best spots in
the world to see them.
Many species of warbler are now in decline in our region. The main threats are
habitat loss due to the activities of man, such as the clearing of forest land
and the invasion of the Brown-headed Cowbird. The cowbird is found throughout
the entire lower 48 states and much of Canada. It was once called the “buffalo
bird,” as it would follow the huge bison herds of the prairies and eat the
insects that swarmed around these herds. Since the cowbirds could not follow
the herds and also raise a family, the females starting laying their eggs in
the nests of other birds. The aggressive cowbird chicks would hatch earlier
than the other eggs and this would result in the deaths of the other chicks in
the nest. Many times a small wood-warbler would raise a cowbird chick that was
over four times her size. Being a bird of the open prairie, the female
cowbirds were not comfortable in the forest and would only fly a few hundred
yards into the woodlands in
order to find a suitable nest in which to lay their eggs. This protected many
species of woodland birds that lived in the vast, unbroken expanse of virgin
forest that extended from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico before the year 1800.
As man began to clear the land for farms, timber, mining, roads, etc. over the
next 200 years, the cowbirds gained access to the millions of songbirds that
lived in the deep forest. Over the past 100 years there have been sharp
declines in many deep forest species due to habitat destruction and cowbird
parasitism.
As many species native to virgin forests have seen declines in population over
the past 100 years, the clearing of land for timber and farms has actually
created habitat suitable for other species of birds to live here. Grassland
species such as Eastern Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Killdeer and some species of
wood-warbler have no doubt benefited from land clearing activities in the
region. The Chestnut-sided Warbler used to be one of the rarest birds in all
of North America. In fact, John James Audubon, the noted naturalist and
ornithologist of the early 1800’s, was reported to have seen only one of these
birds in his entire life of traveling North America. The preferred habitat of
this warbler is second-growth timber and scrub-land. Farming has created
thousands of acres of this habitat in the mountains and this particular species
is now a fairly common warbler along the Clinch, Holston, and Powell watersheds.
If the wood warblers are the jewels of the forest, then the raptors are the jet
fighters of the bird world. They are silent hunters that strike without
warning. Eagles, hawks, falcons, osprey, harriers, and kestrels fall into this
category. The owls are the silent hunters of the night and include the Great
Horned Owl, the Barred Owl, and the Eastern Screech Owl, among others.
Year-round raptors of the area include the Red-tailed Hawk, the Red-shouldered
Hawk, the Cooper’s Hawk, the Sharp-shinned Hawk and more recently, our national
symbol, the Bald Eagle.
The Broad-winged Hawk is a stocky forest-dwelling hawk common in the mountains
of our region but is sometimes hard to find during the breeding season. That
all changes during the hawk’s annual 4,000-mile migration to its wintering
grounds in South America. Starting in mid-September, millions of Broad-winged
Hawks start streaming along the mountain-tops of the Appalachians, headed
south. At Mendota on Clinch Mountain, hundreds and sometimes thousands of
hawks can be counted in a single day. The hawks look for thermals, or columns
of air, that swirl upward from the mountain ridges. These thermals act as
invisible elevators that the hawks can ride upwards for hundreds of feet
without flapping their wings. Over 100 hawks can be seen at times swirling
upwards over a mountain point in a formation known as a “kettle.” As the birds
near the top of the thermal they peel off and sail southward, continuing their
long journey to South America.
Each winter the Golden Eagles return to the high country of the Clinch, Holston
and Powell river valleys. They can been seen sailing in the wind without
flapping as their seven foot wingspan provides all the lift they need to stay
in the air. The eagles spend their winters here and then migrate north in the
early spring to breed in Canada near and above the Arctic Circle. Another
northern visitor in the winter is the Rough-legged Hawk, a beautiful, lightly
colored hawk with a white head and a circular dark patch on each wing. These
hawks will also follow the eagles north to breed in the high arctic tundra.
Sparrows are a favorite of many birders in the region. Several different
species can be found in the region at different times of the year. These
include the Song, Field, Chipping, Fox, White-crowned, White-throated,
Lincoln’s, Vesper, Swamp, Savannah, Grasshopper, Henslow’s, Sharp-tailed, and
American Tree Sparrows. The Eastern Towhee and the Dark-eyed Junco (Snowbird)
are also included in the sparrow family.
Finches are also favorites of many bird watchers. The American Goldfinch is
the bright yellow and black bird that many people here call “mountain canary.”
House and Purple Finches both have crimson coloration on their heads. To
attract finches and other birds, just put out some black-oil sunflower or
thistle seeds. You will soon have finches, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice,
and cardinals visiting your backyard. Hang a hummingbird feeder with sugar
water and you will soon have Ruby-throated Hummingbirds sampling the homemade
nectar during the summer. These tiny birds weigh only a tenth of an ounce
(about the weight of a single penny) yet fly thousands of miles to breed here
in this area.
Some of the members of the thrush family that reside in the region include the
American Robin, the Eastern Bluebird, the Wood Thrush, and the Veery. The
Wood Thrush and the Veery are two of the greatest songsters in the world. For
what they lack in bright colorful plumage they more than make up for with their
haunting and lilting calls that roll through the morning fog on the mountain.
In fact, both species have a complex voice box that allows them to produce two
notes at the same time, essentially allowing them to sing in harmony with
themselves. Everyone should take the time to listen to the remarkable songs of
these two thrush species.
The large lakes and reservoirs in the area also are a magnet to migrating
waterfowl, shorebirds, and other aquatic birds. Over 20 species duck, along
with various grebes, swans, geese, and other waterfowl can be found in the
area. Rails, plovers, and sandpipers can be found at various times of the year
along the mudflats and farm ponds in the region.
Most people never realize that our forests and fields contain over 300 species
of birds. Each of these species is unique and each has a fascinating story to
tell. The public libraries in the area have a lot of information on birds and
other species in the area. Local bird clubs and state parks regularly schedule
hikes to learn more about the wonders of nature. Birding clubs such at the
Bristol Bird Club, the Buchanan County Bird Club, the Lee and Lois Herndon
Club, and the Russell County Bird Club have a wide variety of outings to enjoy
the natural beauty and flora and fauna of our region.
Everyone should strive to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy
the diverse wildlife of the Clinch, Holston, and Powell River Valleys. The
protection of these natural resources will help ensure that we never lose our
“jewels of the forest.”
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