Palouse Audubon Society
The Prairie Owl
Volume 37 Issue 2
EVENT CALENDAR
OCTOBER
4, 11, 18 and 25—Field
Trip; Mann Lake
7—Board Meeting, 7:30pm,
1912 Center, Moscow
15—Program; Roadless
areas in the Clearwa-
ter Drainage
NOVEMBER
4—Board Meeting, 7:30pm,
1912 Center, Moscow
12—Program; Birds of the
Inland Northwest
DECEMBER
2—Board Meeting, 7:30pm,
1912 Center, Moscow
PALOUSE AUDUBON
President: Terry Gray, (208) 882-
1585, clgtlg@moscow.com
Vice-President: Sarah de la Rue,
sarah.delarue@vandals.uidaho.edu
Secretary: Diana Jones,
joneses01@myway.com
Treasurer: Henry Willmes (208)
882-2649, hwillmes@verizon.net
Board Members: Laura Bloomfield,
laurabloomfield22@yahoo.com, (206)
388-7938; and Donal Wilkinson
Conservation: VACANT
Education: Donal Wilkinson, (208)
310-3010, donalwilkinson@yahoo
Field Trips: Terry Gray, (208) 882-
1585, clgtlg@moscow.com
Membership: James Storms, (509)
635-1272, nbutte@pullman.com
Newsletter/Program/Website: Tom
Weber, tweber@wsu.edu, (509) 334-
3817
Publicity: Diane Weber, (509) 334-
3817, catbirdz@roadrunner.com
October-November 2008
Bewick’s Wren
declines in the eastern
United States coincided
with range expansion in
The Bewick’s Wren is a documentation. Today the
small gray and brown song- wren is relatively common the House Wren. It is sus-
bird (5 inches) with a mod- in brushy riparian habitat pected that the House
erately long tail often held throughout eastern Wash- Wren, which frequently
cocked over the back; a thin ington. removes eggs from nests in
pointed bill with a long A bird at home near hu- cavities, was directly re-
white stripe over the eye; man buildings and gar- sponsible for the decline.
middle tail feathers brown
and barred with black—
others black with brown
barred edges and tipped
with whitish gray spots; the
outermost tail feathers are
barred black and white—
often wags tail from side to
side; upperparts brown;
throat white and under-
parts light gray.
The Bewick’s Wren has
been a welcome edition to
our Pullman neighborhood.
During the past weekend its
presence has been noted by dens, the Bewick's Wren
a rich and beautiful reper- was formerly common The increased availability
toire of song. Even more across the Midwest and of nest boxes may have
welcome is that the wren is eastern mountains. East- helped the spread of the
a year around resident. ern populations dropped House Wren and therefore
Until about five years drastically starting early the decline of the Bewick's
ago, sightings of the Be- in the 20th century, and Wren.
wick’s Wren during Christ- now it is nearly restricted In the west, until re-
mas Bird Counts required to the West. The severe cently, the spe- (see page 3)
FROM THE PREZ the most valuable tools for about 50 bird species each
bird conservation in North week for a total of 108 spe-
The Christmas Bird
America. More informa- cies. As winter birds start
Counts are 3 months away.
tion about the Christmas entering our area we still
The Moscow-Pullman count have the potential of seeing
Bird Counts will be pub-
will be conducted on Decem-
lished in our next newslet- at least 20 more species
ber 20 and the Clarkston-
ter. that we have not seen since
Lewiston count on January these trips started on Au-
Mann Lake field trips
3, 2009. Please think about
are every Saturday morn- gust 2th. Please join us on
participating in one or both
ing at 8:30am at the boat Saturdays through the end
of these counts. Participa- of October for fun and good
ramp. Currently a total of
tion has been a fun day for
45 people have attended birding at Mann Lake.
me and others. The data
one or more of these morn- Terry Gray President
gathered has become one of
ing trips. We have seen
PAGE 2 V O LU ME 3 7 IS SUE 2

Programs November 12—Birds of the Inland

Northwest and Northern Rockies;
October 15—Roadless areas in the Mike Denny, Birder Extraordinaire,
Clearwater River Drainage; College Place. Mike Denny, Harry
Friends of the Clearwater. Nehls, and Dave Trochlell have au-
thored a new bird guide for Eastern Treasurer’s Report— 9/28/08
Washington, Idaho and other parts of
Checking Balance 6/30/08 $8,097.32
the Inland Northwest. Birds of the Norcross Grant ($77.80)
Checking Balance 9/28/08 $8,019.52

Certificate of Deposit $5,129.71

Liabilities (Grants) ($4,471.74)

Total Assets: $8,677.49

Membership Report—9/28/08
National & Palouse Audubon 225
Palouse Audubon (only) 47
National Audubon (only) 119
Total Membership 391

PAS Membership Year—Sep 1 to Aug 31

Inland Northwest and Northern Rock-
ies was just released and Mike will be
here to discuss the new book, He will
also have books for purchase and will
Weitas Valley be happy to autograph your copy. See
related book information on page 3.

Field Trips a.m. This is a great time of year to

MANN LAKE—October 4, 11, 18 and
25— These birding trips every Octo-
ber Saturday morning are sponsored
by Palouse Audubon and Canyon
Birders, and will focus on the fall mi-
gration of waterfowl and shorebirds
through our region. Field trip leaders
will be there from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30
observe migrants at the lake. Partici-
pants are to meet at the Mann Lake
boat ramp at 8:30am.
To get to Mann Lake:
From the north end of Lewiston,
follow US 12 south into town, stay
left at the first light and cross the
Clearwater River on Memorial
Bridge. The left lane directs you up
21st Street at the next light. Follow
it up the hill, through the Lewiston
Orchards until it turns into a 2-lane
road. Turn left on Powers Avenue
and follow it all the way to the grain
towers and the boat launch

Migration of Alaska-marked tundra swans

In Alaska this summer, tundra
swans have been marked with neck
bands. As in previous years, birds
were banded in 5 different regions of
the state. In the next few weeks I
will send out a flyer that gives the
codes used in each area of the state,
in the hope that it will help you learn
more about the birds that you ob-
serve, and also encourage you to get
out and read collars.
We have also implanted 50 tundra
swans with satellite transmitters
(PTT's) - 10 in each of the 5 areas. If
you have Google Earth on your com-
puter, a link gives the current loca- dated maps of their locations. Some
tions of the PTT-marked birds. All of the swans marked on the North
you have to do is enter the link Slope are beginning to migrate al-
'daily_tusw08_19Sep2008.kmz' in ready. Happy viewing.
your browser and Google Earth will
open it up. If you do not have a cur- Craig R. Ely
rent version of Google Earth, I recom- Alaska Science Center
mend down-loading it off of their web- 4210 University Drive
site, as it is free and has some new Anchorage, AK 99508
features that assist with tracking the (907) 786-7182
birds.
The Alaska Science Center website
(http://alaska.usgs.gov/) will soon have
a page dedicated to the movement of
the PTT-marked swans as well as up-
PAGE 3 T HE PR A I R IE OW L V O LU ME 3 7 IS SUE 2

There is a new Northwest bird

guide hot off the press entitled "Birds
of the Inland Northwest and North-
Bewick’s Wren(from page 1) ern Rockies" that was written to help
identify the birds of Eastern Oregon
cies was pretty much confined to & Washington, Idaho and Western
west of the Cascade Range. It is Montana. This book is a handy
now relatively common—preferring pocket size field guide that was writ-
brushy areas, thick undergrowth, ten by three long time Northwest
clearings, gardens, orchards, fence- birders, Harry Nehls of Portland
rows, suburbs, stream edges, and Oregon, Dave Trochlell of LaGrande,
open scrubby woods. The male Oregon and Mike Denny of College
Bewick's Wren learns its song Place, Washington. It was published
while still on the parents' territory. by the R.W. Morse Company, Olym-
It learns the song not from its fa- pia, Washington.
ther, but rather from the neighbor- There are 260 of the most common
ing territorial males. The song rep- species in the region featured, and it
ertoire developed before the first contains outstanding photographs by
winter is retained for life. many gifted western bird photogra-
phers. It is a great field guide that
can be taken everywhere there are
birds in the great Interior Pacific
Northwest. It will be available at our
November Program Meeting.

2009 LOCAL MEMBERSHIP DUES ARE DUE

Palouse Audubon Society estab-
lished membership dues to provide
a local chapter membership option.
Your membership in the local chap-
ter will help us maintain a high
standard of service to the re-
gion. We feel that our efforts at the
"grass-roots" level do much to
broaden the appreciation of nature,
birds, and wildlife in our re-
gion. Your membership will provide
support for local classrooms, for lo-
cal birding recreation opportunities,
for our monthly entertaining and
educational programs at the 1912
Building, for the bi-monthly news-
letter, The Prairie Owl, for youth
programs, for local conservation
efforts, and for basic operating ex-
penses. Paid PAS members receive
a hard copy of the newsletter,
PRAIRIE OWL.
We encourage you to submit your
local chapter dues by September 15,
2008. You may even wish to include
an additional donation for one of
your favorite programs. Please in-
clude any corrections to your ad-
dress. Be sure to include an email
address if you have one and we will
add you to our email announce-
ments list.
We, the Board members of Pa-
louse Audubon Society, sincerely
thank you for your support and en-
courage you to attend as many of our
programs or field trips as you can
during the coming year. If you have
any questions, please contact Terry
Gray (208) 882-1585
clgtlg@moscow.com or James Storms,
(509) 635-1272 nbutte@pullman.com.
Check our website regularly
http://www.palouseaudubon.org/ for
current information on programs and
field trips.
James Storms, Membership
MEMBERSHIP
Palouse Audubon Society, PO Box 3606
University Station, Moscow ID 83844, is a
chapter of the National Audubon Society.
Our mission is to conserve and restore
natural ecosystems, focusing on birds,
other wildlife, and their habitats for the
benefit of humanity and the earth’s bio-
logical diversity.
General membership meetings are held at
the 1912 Building, 3rd and Adams St,
Moscow ID, at 7:30 p.m. on the third
Wednesday of each month, September
through May. The board of directors meet
at the 1912 Center at 7:30 p.m. on the first
Tuesday of each month.
The Prairie Owl is published every other
month, August through April. Material for
the Owl should be sent to the editor, Tom
Weber, 230 SE South St, Pullman WA
99163, or email tweber@wsu.edu by the
20th of the month. Subscription problems
should be addressed to the membership
chair, James Storms, PO Box 235, Garfield
WA 99130, (509) 635-1272 or email
nbutte@pullman.com. Visit the Palouse
Audubon Society website at
http://www.palouseaudubon.org/
PAGE 4 T HE PR A I R IE OW L V O LU ME 3 7 IS SUE 2

Behavioral Ecology of Red-winged Blackbirds

Gordon Orians, Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Washington

A life history is a sequence of choices made by in-
dividual animals that influence their survival and
reproductive success. Individuals choose habitats in
which to live, forage and breed, types of food to hunt,
with which other individuals to
mate and produce offspring, and
how to avoid predators. Early
choices usually constrain subse-
quent ones. For example, choice of
breeding habitat determines the
array of nesting sites available and
the places within reasonable travel-
ing distances in which to seek food.
Males and females may make
many different decisions. Male Red-
winged Blackbirds, the species I
have studied most intensively, are
jet black with bright red epaulets.
The streaked brown females are
much smaller. During the breeding
season, males acquire and defend
territories, mostly in freshwater
marshes. They devote much time to
attracting females, obtaining as
many as 10 mates. Females do not
defend territories. They decide
where and when to nest, with whom to copulate, and
what food to bring to their offspring.
To understand how redwings make decisions and
how those decisions affect their lives, for thirty years
we studied birds on marshes in the Columbia Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge near Othello. Unique combina-
tions of colored leg bands allowed us to identify indi-
viduals at a distance. We determined which female built
each nest, monitored the outcomes and measured DNA to
identify parents of nestlings. We estimated lifetime repro-
ductive output and identified factors that most strongly
influenced success.
For males, success requires getting and
holding a good quality territory. The
many males that fail to get territories
do not sire offspring. The number of
fledglings a male produces increases
directly with the number of years he
holds a territory and the number of
females that nest on his territory each
year.
When deciding where to nest, a female
selects both an area and a male how-
ever, other females may already have
settled there. Although females do not
copulate with non-territorial males,
they copulate with males holding
nearby territories. About one-third of
the offspring we tested had fathers
other than the male on whose territory
they were born! Females may seek ex-
tra-pair copulations because other
males who had copulated with them
were more likely to help defend their nests and allow them
to feed on their territories.
These studies, as well as those carried out on many
other avian species, show that birds have much more com-
plex lives than might appear first glance. Take time to
watch redwings; you will find their behavior quite fascinat-
ing. (From the Seattle Audubon Society newsletter)

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Y05-7XCH

NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY (New only) Palouse Audubon Society

Includes National Audubon Society and Palouse Audu- Financially supports the programs and activities of the
bon Society membership and subscriptions to AUDU- Palouse Audubon Society and includes an annual sub-
BON MAGAZINE and THE PRAIRIE OWL newsletter. scription to THE PRAIRIE OWL newsletter. Send your
Send check payable to National Audubon Society check payable to Palouse Audubon Society

Introductory Membership $20.00 Annual Membership $15.00

Student & Senior Citizen (62+) $15.00 For additional information call: (509) 635-1272

NAME ____________________________________________ ADDRESS _________________________________________

CITY ____________________________________ State ____________________ Zip _________________________

PHONE _________________________________ EMAIL ___________________________________________________

Return this form with your check to: Palouse Audubon Society, PO Box 3606, University Station, Moscow, ID 83844
PAGE 5 T HE PR A I R IE OW L V O LU ME 3 7 IS SUE 2

Knock on Wood Pat Leonard

Woodpeckers are beautiful and enter- call of a hawk. Only
taining unless they're turning your the streamers worked
home's siding into Swiss cheese. If the with any consistency:
birds are looking for insects, the holes the shiny coating and
are small. If they're creating a nest cav- movement in the
ity, the hole is much larger and causes wind kept the wood-
even more damage. peckers at bay and
"A Downy Woodpecker that could fit in completely eliminated
the palm of my hand made it his mission damage at half of the
to dig into my cedar siding for two 16 test sites.
months," says Phil Miller of Ithaca, New "Birds are smart,
York. "There were showers of sawdust and they get used to
everywhere—and a fist-sized hole that the other types of de-
went right through to the insulation." terrents, even the
Miller is not alone. Woodpeckers cause distress calls,” says
millions of dollars in damage to North Sandra Vehrencamp,
American homes each year. a scientist at the Lab
A Cornell Lab of Ornithology study of Ornithology and
surveyed 1,400 homes in the area around one of the study's co-
Ithaca to learn which ones were most authors, "The sounds
enticing to woodpeckers. It also tested six are obnoxious.
common long-term deterrents to see how Neighbors hate it—
effectively each prevented woodpecker plus, it's just not ef-
damage. The results were published in fective at all.”
the August 2007 issue of the Journal of "I've seen wood-
Wildlife Management. peckers sitting right
"I learned a lot from these birds," says on top of sound de-
study author Emily Harding, who con- vices as they played,”
ducted the research as part of her mas- says Harding. ''I've
ter's program in wildlife management at seen them digging
Cornell. "They have a lot of personality, into houses with suet
and a great ability to adapt." feeders a few feet
It has long been known that homes away. I've recorded hours of video- "The homeowner needs to care-
that are badly infested with ants or car- tape with not one woodpecker ever fully evaluate deterrent devices,
penter bees are especially attractive coming to tap—yet new holes would and not rely on anecdotal claims,”
sources of food. Exterminators often must mysteriously appear.” says Cornell professor and study
be called in to stop the infestation. In Miller tried dousing the affected coauthor Paul Curtis. "Many of the
addition, the study found that homes area with ammonia, hanging strips devices simply have not been ade-
sided with vinyl or aluminum, or painted of aluminum foil, and dangling com- quately tested under field condi-
and sealed in light colors—such as white, pact discs on strings. Each time, he tions,"
yellow, blue, or other pastel shades—are says, the woodpecker moved to a Vehrencamp used the tape
less likely to get hammered than wood- new spot on the house—until one streamers on her own earth-toned,
sided or dark-colored homes. If new sid- day it just disappeared. wood-sided home and was pleased
ing or insect exter- ''I'm knocking with the results. "It's a very simple,
mination are not Scientists show what on wood that inexpensive solution. I would
options, homeown- the problem rather have these somewhat un-
ers can try scaring works—and what doesn’t— may be sightly streamers on my house and
the woodpeckers solved,” he attract the woodpeckers with suet
away.
to stop woodpeckers from says. "We feeders—they're wonderful birds,
Harding says she pounding on homes. haven't seen and I love seeing them!"
and her team tested the wood-
six deterrents: life- pecker in a By Pat Leonard for BirdScope
sized plastic owls with paper wings, re- couple of weeks, so maybe we irri- Winter 2008, Cornell Lab of Orni-
flective streamers, plastic eyes strung on tated him enough that he's pursuing thology
fishing line, roost boxes, suet feeders, other housing options for the win-
and a sound system that broadcasts ter.” The bottom line: nothing works
woodpecker distress calls followed by the all the time.
PALOUSE AUDUBON SOCIETY

Palouse Audubon Society

PO Box 3606
University Station
Moscow ID 83844-3606

The mission of the National

Audubon Society is to conserve
and restore natural ecosystems
- focusing on birds, other
wildlife, and their habitats -
for the benefit of humanity and
the earth's biological diversity.

We’re on the Web at:

palouseaudubon.org

CASPIAN TERN UPDATE

Some of you might remember the salmon. The agencies developed a pairs this June. A third site is
fuss about the Caspian terns nesting new plan to locate many of the terns planned for Summer Lake in south
near the mouth of the Columbia - they away from the Columbia, using simi- central Oregon. Apparently, Caspian
were eating a lot of juvenile salmon, lar techniques. Two such nesting terns are a flexible species.
including listed salmon. The fuss was sites have been prepared. A nesting
about the plan by several Federal site at Crump Lake in southern Ore- From the Vancouver Audubon Society
agencies (the Corps of Engineers, U.S gon that was constructed in Febru- newsletter, ‘The Columbia Flyway’
Fish and Wildlife, National Marine ary attracted more than 135 nesting
Fisheries Service) to move the terns to
an island closer to the ocean. The
terns were not to be injured in any
way, but were to be discouraged from
nesting in the old site and encouraged
to nest in the new site. Encourage-
ment was through habitat manipula-
tion and the placement of tern decoys
and playing tern calls. Seattle Audu-
bon and National Audubon sued to
stop the plan. The chapters on the
Columbia (including Vancouver Audu-
bon) were either in favor of the plan or
neutral.
After going through the courts, the
plan was put into effect and it worked.
The new tern colony boomed. This
caused a new problem - too many
terns eating too many juvenile