DAVID SIBLEY: HOW BIRDS BEAT THE HEAT • PETE DUNNE: AUGUST RICHES

August 2017

Attract • Find • Identify • Enjoy

PIPING PLOVERS 4
SUMMER

BOUNCE HOTSPOTS

BACK
BOREAL BEAUTIES
Maine’s attractions
5 northern birds to ID

How a star of
Pretty Little Liars
rediscovered birds The endangered
PIPING PLOVER
population in the
Great Lakes had a
record year in 2016.
Page 22
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August 2017 Vol.31 No.4

Visit us online:
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com

FEATURES IN EVERY ISSUE

16 North for the winter
Researchers studying Fork-tailed Flycatchers gain new insight
into bird migration in South America. BY ANDREW JENNER
22 A ray of hope COVER STORY
How biologists and volunteers are helping endangered Piping
Plovers return to their historic nesting locales in the Great Lakes.
BY SHERYL DEVORE
4 From the publisher
7 Birding briefs
News about Connecticut Warbler’s astound-
ing migration, how Common Murres help
their struggling partners, birding’s biggest
day ever, and how birds deal with extreme
weather events. Plus, a nesting Whooping
Crane up close and fall festivals.

26 Maine’s North Woods 8 Since you asked JULIE CRAVES

A birder explores the wilds of a newly proclaimed national mon- Answers to why birds sleep with their heads
ument and discovers a habitat for hundreds of thousands of birds, on their backs, the difference between a
including several protected species. BY ERICA ZAMBELLO wild Mallard and a domestic duck, and
why some diurnal birds sing at night.
32 Rediscovering birds
A star of TV’s Pretty Little Liars explains how he fell back in 10 On the move EBIRD
love with birding. BY IAN HARDING Where and when to find Blue-winged
Warbler and Cliff Swallow.
41 Hotspots
Tips, maps, and directions for places to bird in California, Indiana, 14 Birder at large PETE DUNNE
South Carolina, and Washington State. BY CHUCK GRAHAM, DAVID Who says that August is a lousy month
RUPP, ERIC HARROLD, AND ANNE MURRAY
for birding? Not Pete Dunne.

38 ID tips KENN KAUFMAN

How to identify boreal forest birds.

46 Amazing birds ELDON GREIJ

Where Why and how birds flock.
to see
48 Attracting birds LAURA ERICKSON
condors, How backyard birds benefit from the
p.41 Duck Stamp.

49 Bookshelf
The Home Place by J. Drew Lanham and
the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of
Eastern North America by Nathan Pieplow.

55 Classifieds
56 ID toolkit DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY
How birds deal with summer heat.

FROM OUR READERS

50 Your view
Five pages of amazing photos of birds
taken by our readers.
Andriy Blokhin/Shutterstock

COVER PHOTO Piping Plover by

Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: Flickr: BirdWatching
Ray Hennessy/Shutterstock
BirdWatchingMagazine @BirdWatchDaily group photo pool
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 fromthepublisher
EDITORIAL
Publisher Lee Mergner
Senior Editor Matt Mendenhall
Associate Editor Sean Dennis
This issue features the first piece we’ve ever Founding Editor Eldon D. Greij
published from a successful television personality. Ian Contributing Editors Julie Craves, Pete Dunne,
Laura Erickson, Kenn Kaufman, David Allen Sibley
Harding, who stars in the popular show Pretty Little
ART & PRODUCTION
Liars, which recently ended after seven seasons, has
Art Director Carolyn V. Marsden
written Odd Birds, a warm and engaging memoir Senior Designer Lizz Anderson
about how the seemingly different pursuits of birding
SALES & MARKETING
and acting have defined his life. In the chapter Vice President, Media Solutions Stu Crystal
“Rediscovering Birds,” excerpted on page 32, he writes scrystal@madavor.com
about reviving his passion for birds during a break Media Solutions Manager Michael Echevarria
mechevarria@madavor.com
from the show. Client Services clientservices@madavor.com
The 30-year-old sees a connection between acting Director, Sales & Marketing Andrew Yeum
and birding. “There’s this whole thing about being in the moment,” he says. “In Marketing Associate Briana Balboni

acting, between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ you have to get very focused, and [it’s] very much
so with birding. Your eyes and ears are open, and you’re taking in everything EXECUTIVE
around you, and you’re very present.” Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey C. Wolk
Harding is a regular visitor to the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve in Chief Operating Officer Susan Fitzgerald
SVP, Sales & Marketing Robin Morse
Playa Del Rey, California (Hotspot Near You No. 212). And he has his eyes on SVP, Content Cheryl Rosenfeld
more exotic birding hotspots – from Cuba to Central America to Africa. He keeps Vice President, Strategy Jason Pomerantz
a life list, but checking birds off his list is not his number-one priority. “Birding is Director, Custom Content Lee Mergner

different for different people,” he says. “It’s very much a meditative thing for me.” OPERATIONS
Harding had been away from birding until recently, and he seems to be Vice President, Operations Courtney Whitaker
Executive Director, Operations Justin Vuono
working overtime to catch up. He’s taking an online bird course through the
Senior Circulation Associate Nora Frew
Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He studies field guides, and he has befriended Kenn Custom Content Specialist Nate Silva
Kaufman, whom he calls “a true genius.” He uses the Sibley and eBird apps. And Human Resources Generalist Katherine Walsh
he acknowledges that he needs to brush up on his recognition of songs and calls. Supervisor, Client Services Jessica Krogman
Client Services Kristyn Falcione,
No question that in Odd Birds, Harding really announced himself as a serious Vanessa Gonsalves, Tou Zong Her, Cassandra Pettit
birder, geeking out, in his words, about seeing new birds and admitting to being Accounting Amanda Joyce,
star-struck by a Red-cockaded Woodpecker. He even compared rare-bird birders Tina McDermott, Wayne Tuggle

to paparazzi. “I wanted to make that comparison because there is almost a AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
celebrity element,” says Harding. “I’ve never seen a Painted Bunting, but I’ve had Vice President, Audience Development Heidi Strong
Digital Product Manager Rebecca Artz
so many close encounters. I’ve seen so many pictures and I have this image of it in
Technical Product Manager Michael Ma
my mind. You can make the argument that that is its own form of celebrity. So Senior Digital Designer Mike Decker
when you see [the bird], you’re shocked by that moment. ‘Oh my God, that’s it.’”
It’s important to Harding to not only be recognized for his writing but also Newsstand National Publisher Services

accepted in the birding community. “I hope that people who are not fans of my Subscriptions (877) 252-8141
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4 B i r d Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
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6 B i r d Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
N E WS • PHOTOS • BOOKS • CON S E RVATION • Q& A • S IG HTI NG S • PRODUCTS • FE STI VA L S & E V E NTS

Robert Royse/BIA/Minden Pictures

A HALF-OUNCE WONDER: Researchers have confirmed the open-ocean flight of the little-known Connecticut Warbler.

Another songbird’s epic autumn migration

Connecticut Warbler makes long journeys over the Atlantic, Caribbean en route to the Amazon
In 2015, researchers used
light-level geolocators to
confirm the long-held
assumption that Blackpoll
Warblers make a nonstop
flight south over the
Atlantic Ocean each fall,
from New England and east-
ern Canada to Caribbean
islands. The marathon flight
ranges from 1,410 to 1,721
miles (2,270 to 2,770 km)
and takes two to three days.
Now another team of
scientists has found that
Connecticut Warblers make
a similar flight. Emily
McKinnon, a bird biologist
at the University of Manito-
ba and a postdoctoral fellow
at the University of Windsor,
and her colleagues fitted 29
male Connecticut Warblers
with geolocators at their
breeding sites in Manitoba
in June 2015.
A year later, they
recaptured four of the birds
and studied the data stored
on their devices. The
trackers provided clear
evidence that the birds
migrate nonstop over the
Atlantic for at least 48 hours
from the eastern shores of
the United States to landing
points on Cuba or Hispan-
iola. Total distance: 1,050
to 1,490 miles (1,700 to
2,400 km). After a stopover
of five to seven days, the
warblers flew over the
Caribbean Sea in a single
flight, covering 375 to 500
miles (600 to 800 km), to
South America. They then
continued farther south into
the Amazon basin.
Writing in the journal
Ecology, McKinnon notes
that the birds’ main
stopover appears to be in
Haiti, on the western side of
Hispaniola. “Hispaniola’s
landscape is rugged, and
humanitarian crises have
resulted in few bird surveys
there in recent decades. If
this is a major stopover for
Connecticut Warblers, it is a
cause for concern, as the
forests of Haiti and the
Dominican Republic are
almost entirely gone.”
Identifying major
stopovers and nonbreeding
sites, she says, “is now a
critically important step
toward ensuring the
conservation of this little-
known warbler before it
disappears altogether.”

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 7
sinceyouasked
YOUR QUESTIONS
ANSWERED BY
BIRD BANDER EYE ON CONSERVATION
JULIE CRAVES

Q
I saw a peculiar duck in
an urban park. It looked
like a male Mallard,
except that it had a lot of
white on its neck and
chest. I thought it was
Mallard crossed with a
white domestic duck, but
my friend said it was a
variety of domestic duck.
Who is right? — Dave
Paul Thompson, New
York, New York

A
Technically, you are both likely

Tacha Coleman Parr

correct. Nearly all domestic
ducks are descended from
the familiar Mallard, a duck
native to much of the Northern
Hemisphere and introduced
elsewhere in the world. The
all-white domestic duck, often
known as the Pekin Duck, was
developed from the Mallard.
So were several varieties that
maintain plumage similar to wild
Mallards, such as the Duclair,
which is white-bibbed like the
one you saw. Many additional
varieties are also bred from
Mallards, including those that
are very dark (Cayuga), quite
pale (Buff Orpington), or pied
(Magpie). Some crested types
look as if pompoms were stuck
on the backs of their heads.
Mallards and other wild
ducks readily hybridize. Mallards
crossed with American Black
Ducks, Northern Pintails, and
Gadwall are not uncommon.
So when a wild Mallard comes
in contact with a domestic
(continued on page 10)
Julie Craves is supervisor of avian
research at the Rouge River Bird
Observatory at the University of
Michigan Dearborn and a research
associate at the university’s
Environmental Interpretive Center.
CONSERVATION CHAMPION: Michael J. Parr has taken the helm of the American Bird Conservancy.
ABC names new leader
Michael J. Parr is the new president of
American Bird Conservancy (ABC), succeed-
ing George Fenwick, who led ABC since its
founding in 1994. Parr previously served as
ABC’s chief conservation officer and began his
new duties June 1.
“I am thrilled that Mike will be ABC’s next
leader. His passion, vision,
and courage are just what
we need to continue and
build on the outstanding
work that ABC is doing,”
said Larry Selzer, chairman
of ABC’s board of directors.
“No other bird conservation organization does
as much, and no other leader is positioned
as well to do the hard work of preventing bird
extinctions, conserving their critical habitats,
and building the capacity of local partners.
The board was unanimous, enthusiastic, and
very optimistic.”
Parr was chosen from a highly talented
group of candidates. “In our search for the
successor to George Fenwick, we considered
and met with many wonderful and inspiring
conservation leaders,” said Warren Cooke,
American Bird Conservancy is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization whose mission is to conserve native birds and their habitats
throughout the Americas. You can learn more about its work at www.abcbirds.org.
former chairman of ABC’s board and the
head of the committee that led the search. “In
selecting Mike Parr, we are extremely pleased
to have someone with a unique combination of
vision, deep experience in bird conservation,
and excellent leadership skills, as well as prov-
en dedication to ABC’s mission to bring back
the birds in the Americas.”
“It is an enormous honor
for me to take on this impor-
tant role,” said Parr. “Bird
conservation is my personal
mission in life. I have had a
wonderful 20 years working
with the great staff and board at ABC already,
and I am looking forward to helping lead the
next chapter in the history of this remarkable
organization. I’m grateful for the opportunity to
build on the tremendous bird conservation leg-
acy of ABC leaders George and Rita Fenwick.”
Parr joined ABC in 1996 after graduating
from the University of East Anglia and work-
ing for BirdLife International. He is an author
and an avid birder who lives in Washington,
D.C., with his family. Follow him on Twitter at
@michaeljparr.

8 B i r d Wa t c h i n g
 birdingbriefs

Birding’s biggest day ever Extreme impacts

eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology promoted As a field of biological
May 13 as the third annual Global Big Day, encouraging research, the study of
birders worldwide to post their checklists for the day on extreme climatic events is in
ebird.org. The results (through May 22): its infancy, but interest in
the impact of severe
Species 6,596 droughts, floods, and other
Participants 19,431 events on nature is growing
rapidly. That’s partly
Checklists 52,296 because it is now increas-
ingly clear that the impact
COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST SPECIES
of extreme events on animal
Colombia 1,486 behavior, ecology, and
Peru 1,340 evolution could well be
Ecuador 1,259 greater than that of the
“normal” periods in
Brazil 1,081

Martijn van de Pol/NIOO-KNAW

between, and it’s also
because the frequency of
OTHER NOTABLE SPECIES TOTALS
events is likely to increase
Mexico 746 due to climate change.
United States 715 In the June issue of
Costa Rica 645 Philosophical Transactions ACTION NEEDED: The rising waters of the Wadden
of the Royal Society B, Sea close in on a Eurasian Oystercatcher nest.
India 617 researchers at the Nether-
Australia 487 lands Institute of Ecology report on how a few bird species, including
Kenya 468 Eurasian Oystercatcher, are affected. On a Dutch barrier island in the
Canada 403 Wadden Sea, Martijn van de Pol and his colleagues used time-lapse footage
of nests in flood-prone areas and found that when a nest is lost to flooding,
China 366 the oystercatchers don’t make their next nests on higher ground. “We’ve
Spain 281 studied these nests for two decades, and during that time the number of
United Kingdom 213 flooding events has more than doubled,” he says. “Yet the oystercatchers
don’t take any action.”

Taking a break
Seabird parents compensate for struggling partners
For species in which both
parents work together to raise
their offspring, cooperation is
key — it’s as true for birds as it
is for people. A new study
from The Auk: Ornithological
Advances shows that pairs of
Common Murres update each
other on their condition so
that when one partner needs a
break, the other can pick up
the slack.
Common Murre parents
trade duties throughout the day
— one stays at the nest while
the other leaves to find a fish for
the chick. Because brooding the
chick requires much less energy
than foraging, staying at the
nest is preferable for a bird
that’s in poor condition.
Linda Takahashi, Anne
Storey, and Carolyn Walsh of
Newfoundland’s Memorial
University, along with Sabina
Wilhelm of the Canadian
Wildlife Service, studied the
“turn-taking ceremony” that
parents perform when they
switch places. They found
that the time they spend
preening each other provides
a way for the two birds to
exchange information about
how they’re doing, so that if
one is in poor shape the other
can compensate.
The researchers observed 16
pairs of murres with chicks on
an island off the coast of
Newfoundland in summer
2009, recording their behavior
when parents switched duties at
the nest and capturing the birds
to check their body condition.
Their results show that
nest-relief interactions take
longer when one partner is
especially low in body mass,
suggesting that when brooders
withhold preening and stall
their departure, they’re letting
their mates know that they need
more time to rest; the returning
mate can then compensate by
going off to forage again rather
than trading places immediate-
ly. Similarly, the brooding mate
might let a struggling returner
take over at the nest even if it
hasn’t brought back a fish.
“The roles of avian pair
members have been much
studied in terms of energy
investment and food delivery,
but we are accustomed to
thinking of these problems in
terms of evolutionary tradeoffs.
The ways in which contribu-
tions are actually negotiated
within individual pairs has,
until recently, been largely over-
looked,” says seabird researcher
Tony Gaston of Environment
Canada. The murre research
“addresses this deficiency, and
this is a field which promises to
open up additional avenues of
research on within-pair
communication.”

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 9
sinceyouasked
(continued from page 8)
ON THE MOVE FROM eBIRD
duck, which is even more
A declining warbler and a widespread swallow to watch for in summer
closely genetically related than
other duck species in the same Blue-winged Warbler
genus, matings are successful.
The outcomes of the pairings
are “wild” Mallard offspring that
incorporate any number of color
patterns; the white-chested
Mallard you saw is a common
result. Ducks of questionable
heritage are often referred to as
“manky Mallards.”

Q
Why do some diurnal
birds sing at night?
— T. N. Roman,
Columbus, Georgia
August 2006-16 January 2006-16

The spritely Blue-winged Warbler has experienced dynamic changes in its breeding range since the
European settlement of North America. Formerly restricted to the shrubby savannahs of the Ozarks,

A
Tennessee, and Kentucky, the species benefitted greatly from forest clearing in the East by early
In North America, mockingbirds settlers, but currently many populations are in decline due to forest regeneration and loss of habitat
are famous nighttime songsters, to urban sprawl. In January during the nonbreeding season, Blue-winged Warbler occurs mainly
as are Common Nightingales of from southern Mexico and the Yucatan to western Panama. In August, warblers are distributed
the Old World. A primary reason throughout the Midwest and Great Lakes states, the Northeast, and south through Appalachia.
male birds sing is to attract Blue-winged Warbler is a relatively early migrant, and by August many birds have already departed
mates, and it has been found their breeding sites. Look and listen for the distinctive beeee-buzzzz of males in shrubby secondary
that unmated mockingbirds and growth habitats during the breeding season.
nightingales sing at night more
frequently than mated males. Cliff Swallow
Until relatively recently, not too
many other species of diurnal
songbirds were known to regu-
larly sing at night.
In the last decade or so,
researchers have determined
that more bird species are
singing at night in urban areas
so that they do not have to
compete with ambient noise
such as traffic sounds that are
more common in the daytime.
In addition, some species have August 2006-16 January 2006-16
started singing earlier in the day
or have increased the volume of Cliff Swallow has dramatically expanded its breeding range over the past 100-150 years and now
their songs in noisy places. breeds across much of North America. Its spread is largely credited to the construction of bridges,
Not only is human-created culverts, and buildings that mimic natural nesting sites, and new breeding colonies are discovered
environmental noise often simply each year. In January, the bird has almost entirely vacated its breeding range and occurs mainly in
loud, but it tends to be generated southern Brazil and Argentina, but scattered records come from Central America, Mexico, and the
at lower acoustic frequencies. southern U.S. In August, the swallow is distributed across most of the lower 48 states, and stragglers
A number of species, including may also be seen in the northern reaches of the breeding range in Alaska and northern Canada. Look
Song Sparrow and House Finch, for their distinctive mud-gourd nests under bridges and on rock walls during the breeding season
have been found to sing with and for individuals foraging in mixed-species flocks of swallows during migration.
modified acoustic frequency in
response to human-generated eBird is the real-time online checklist operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon. “On the Move” is written by
eBird’s Garrett MacDonald, Chris Wood, Marshall Iliff, and Brian Sullivan. Submit your sightings at eBird.org.
(continued on page 12)

10 B i rd Wa t c h i n g
 birdingbriefs

A VALUABLE EGG: Seurat, an 18-year-old female Whooping Crane steps carefully

around her egg, which she laid in her nest this spring at the International Crane Secret life of birds
Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin. She and her mate are on exhibit to visitors and
build a nest in early May each year. Managers remove their eggs, and those that
are fertile are hatched and reared in the foundation’s breeding facility — a key
part of the ongoing reintroduction program of the world’s rarest crane.

Leslie Andrich

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 11
sinceyouasked
(continued from page 10)
PHOTO GALLERY
lower-frequency noise, reducing Recent rare-bird sightings in North America
the masking of their lower-fre-
quency notes by ambient clamor.
Being heard clearly is
important to birds for mate
attraction, territory defense, and
communicating threats to other
individuals. Noise pollution has
had similar impacts on other
types of creatures, including Explore.org/National Audubon Society

amphibians and insects.

Jeff Cherry
Why do birds sleep with
their heads over their
backs? — Nicole Lucas, FIRST IN MAINE: This immature male Vermilion FIRST IN MAINE: This Fieldfare, an Old World
Indianapolis, Indiana Flycatcher was spotted April 17 via a web-cam thrush, was seen April 19 with a small flock of
pointed at an Osprey nest on Hog Island. robins west of Newcastle in Lincoln County.

A
Birds tuck their bills into the
back feathers to conserve heat.
Because the bill is bare and
contains many blood vessels, it
loses heat quickly. In fact, birds
that live in colder climates —
even within the same species
— generally have smaller bills
than those that live in warmer
climates. This helps decrease
heat loss in the cold and, con-

Michael Woodruff
Terence Walsh

versely, get rid of excess heat

in hot conditions. The tendency
for warm-blooded animals to
have smaller extremities in high FIRST IN INDIANA: Far from its range in the West, FIRST IN ARIZONA: On May 6, birders at Mormon
latitudes and cold climates is this Golden-crowned Sparrow showed up in Lake south of Flagstaff spotted this Common
known as “Allen’s Rule” after the mid-April in a suburban Indianapolis garden. Crane, a visitor from Eurasia.
ornithologist who recognized
and described the pattern.
A posture with the head
turned backward and partially
buried in feathers can come at
a cost, reducing the ability to
detect threats or quickly escape
predators. It’s why you often see
birds that sleep this way in the
open, such as shorebirds, keep-
ing one eye open or frequently
waking up to look around.
Mitchell Harris
Skye Haas

Send a question
Send your question to ask@
SECOND IN MICHIGAN: This Garganey, an Old World FIFTH IN FLORIDA: Birders found this Bahama
birdwatchingdaily.com or visit
duck, was found in early May at the mouth of the Woodstar in mid-May at the Maritime Hammock
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com
Tahquamenon River in the Upper Peninsula. Sanctuary south of Melbourne.
and look for “Contact us.”

12 B i rd Wa t c h i n g
 birdingbriefs

Field sketches on view

Exhibit highlights birds of Massachusetts Festivals + events
Four top-flight festivals slated for fall
Through September 17, the
Alabama Coastal BirdFest
Museum of American Bird Art at
A variety of planned and self-
Massachusetts Audubon in Canton, directed birding opportunities are
Massachusetts, will present “In a available at this festival in the Five
Natural State: Barry Van Dusen Rivers area east of Mobile. Par-
Paints the Nature of Mass Audubon.” ticipants can expect to see gulls,
Van Dusen, the museum’s artist- herons, egrets, and sandpipers
and other shorebirds. A bird and
in-residence and an illustrator whose
conservation expo will be held on
works have appeared in variety of the Fairhope campus of Coastal
nature-related books and publica- Alabama Community College.
dish Egret, and Yellow-crowned
Night-Heron. Free tram tours,
wildlife presentations, and a
variety of family events will take
place throughout the week.
October 15-21
Cape May Fall Festival
This southern New Jersey event
coincides with peak fall bird
migration. Counts will take place

Barry Van Dusen

tions, has visited nearly all of October 4-7 at Avalon Sea Watch (seabirds),
Massachusetts Audubon’s 56 wildlife Higbee Dike (songbirds), and
refuges over the past two years. The “Ding” Darling Days Cape May Hawk Watch (raptors).
exhibit of his watercolors chronicles the diversity of habitats During “Ding” Darling Days at A variety of bird walks, boat trips,
J.N. “Ding” Darling National and indoor programs are avail-
and wildlife found in the refuges; nearly half of the more than Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, able. Featured speakers include
100 paintings he has created for his residency are on display. Florida, participants will bird on BirdWatching Contributing Editor
“Field sketching has become my way of exploring and beach walks, boat tours, and Pete Dunne and Nick Whitehouse
discovering the natural world,” Van Dusen says. “My sketchbooks kayak trips. Notable species of Spurn Bird Observatory in the
are my science lab and my art workshop. Through the drawing include Mangrove Cuckoo, Red- U.K. October 20-22
process, I’m able to uncover the underlying patterns of nature and For festival contact info, or to list your event in our
see how plants and animals interact with their environment and calendar, visit our website: www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/events
each other.”
For more details, visit www.massaudubon.org/learn/ Correction: In our June issue, we misidentified the county where a Black-backed
museum-of-american-bird-art/. Oriole was seen. It was in Berks County, Pennsylvania, not Bucks County.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 13
 birderatlarge
EARLY MIGRANT: Yellow Warbler is one of many migratory species that fly south in August.
August riches
Go birding in late summer to get a jump on fall migration
August ranks among the richest of
birding months. Southbound shore-
birds are near peak diversity, and many
songbird species are starting their
southern push. One day in early
August, I was privileged to be standing
on the banks of Great Bear Lake in
Arctic Canada and was astounded by
the number of migrating warblers
bunched up along the rocky shoreline.
Farther south, at established
hawk-watching junctions, a few raptors
can always be counted upon to make an
August appearance including Bald
Eagle, Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk,
and American Kestrel. Watch the
14 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
BY PETE DUNNE
weather and enjoy the parade.
In my corner of the planet, Cape May,
New Jersey, the southbound migration of
Yellow Warbler peaks during the first
week of August; the exodus of American
Redstart and Northern Waterthrush
peaks at month’s end. A passing cold
front any time in August will make the
air vibrate with the wind-chime call
notes of Bobolink. Every evening tens of
thousands of Purple Martins funnel into
phragmites flanking the Maurice River
to spend the night. Purple Martin roosts
are widely scattered across eastern North
America and form the centerpiece for
several bird festivals.
In some fortunate locations, Common
Nighthawks are still common enough for
birdwatchers to see their evening show as
the birds begin their exodus. In my
youth, during late August, I used to
delight in sitting out and watching the
twilight-dimmed sky fill with the
V-winged forms — scores, sometimes
hundreds of nighthawks might be viewed
before darkness closed. One momentous
day in early September, in Cape May,
under strong northwest winds, I detected
a clustered kettle of migrating birds high
over the lighthouse. Binoculars disclosed,
to my astonished eyes, a flock of Com-
mon Nighthawks, migrating in broad
daylight and using thermals to gain lift in
the manner of Broad-winged Hawks. I
had no idea nighthawks engaged in this
behavior, and I wonder how many people
know about this.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are
yet another August migrant. At the hawk
watch in Cape May, it is not uncommon
to see their solitary forms zipping by at
the rate of three to five an hour. Before
you can shout “hummingbird,” they’re
gone — the name is about two syllables
too long.
Eastern Kingbirds are more social
and obliging, migrating in small,
well-spaced aggregations that announce
their arrival with strident chatter, then
meander a bit.
Orchard Orioles are more circum-
spect, but after the passage of a cold
front, the colorful blackbirds may be
counted upon to festoon the forested
edges of fields. Speaking of blackbirds, it
always surprises me to see numbers of
Red-winged Blackbirds on the move in
August since the big blackbird push
comes in October and November. But
this vanguard movement, involving
hundreds of birds, is hard to ignore as
ball-shaped clouds of Red-wingeds wind
their way south.
While most ducks are late fall
migrants, some species are on the move
in August. Throughout the month,
John L. Absher/Shutterstock
American Wigeon and Blue-winged Teal
have a talent for appearing on ponds and
sloughs where only yesterday they’d
been absent. In fact, I consider the piped,
two-note whistle of American Wigeon
 “In my corner of the Experience the
planet, Cape May, New beauty of the birds
Jersey, the southbound Birding
migration of Yellow Northern California
Warbler peaks during year around tailored
to your request.
the first week of August;
Birding Tours from
the exodus of American Barrow Alaska to Belize
Redstart and Northern Field Trip Schedule
• Personalized trips Northern California
Waterthrush peaks at Summer/Winter, June-December.
• Belize – Fall Raptor Migration Caribbean Coast
month’s end.” + National Parks, October 15, 2017
• Belize – Spring Migration, March 11, 2018
• France – Spring Migration the Province,
the signal for autumn to begin. Camargue, Mediterranean Coast, May 5, 2018
August seems also to be a month • Nome Alaska, June 4 & 9, 2018
• Barrow Alaska, June 14, 2018
when less-common species make their
• California Sierra Nevada – Nevada Great Basin,
appearance. The burly Lark Sparrow is July 6, 2018
an uncommon vagrant in my area, but
August is the month to find it. On
beaches, among the ranks of flocks of Yellowbilled Tours
Common and Forster’s Terns, south- For details and registration visit
www.yellowbilledtours.com
bound Arctic and Roseate Terns are the 925-353-0266
sought-after prizes. Black Terns? Yes, the
bat-like terns are August migrants, too.
1-800-728-4953
fieldguides
Yet for all its bird riches, August ®
seems to get short shrift from birders. www.fieldguides.com
So this August, buck the trend: When
the winds turn northerly, visit a migrant
trap near you and get a jump on autumn Birding Tours Worldwide
migration and your August-oblivious
birding friends. Who knows what you’ll
find, which is reason enough to get out
there. Right?
Then, after beating the bush, head
for your local hawk watch to catch the
parade of early raptor migrants. Kestrels
tend to be afternoon migrants, and Bald
Eagles and Broad-wingeds like thermals
to boost them aloft. No raptors? Try
searching a drought-stricken lakeshore
or the local sod farm for shorebird
migrants. Must be an American Golden-
Plover or Buff-breasted or Upland
Sandpiper around here somewhere.

Pete Dunne is New Jersey Audubon’s birding

ambassador at-large. He is the author of Birds of John Coons Willy Perez Terry Stevenson
Bret Whitney
Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of in Antarctica, in Arizona, Brazil, in Galapagos, Chile, in Kenya, Tanzania,
North America (2017), The Art of Bird Guyana, and Spitsbergen, Argentina, and Namibia, South
Identification: A Straightforward Approach to on multiple Australia, Panama, on multiple Africa, Ethiopia,
Putting a Name to the Bird (2016), and other Brazil tours Alberta, and Texas Ecuador tours and Hungary
books about birds.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 15
SPECIES PROFILE

A GLORIOUS TAIL: Fork-tailed

Flycatcher is common in Central
and South America. Its nearly
11-inch-long tail is the longest
tail relative to body size of any
bird on Earth.
 FOR THE WINTER
Researchers studying Fork-tailed Flycatchers gain new insight
into bird migration in South America BY ANDREW JENNER
I
t’s in September that the Fork-tailed
Flycatchers show up in Puerto
Ordaz, Venezuela, on the eastern
edge of the llanos, grasslands that
stretch hundreds of miles west into
Colombia and are big enough to fit the
state of California and then some. Late
each afternoon, the flycatchers converge
by the tens of thousands on several large
trees along a busy city street, swirling in
the air like a mass of murmurating
starlings before descending to roost.
“The sky just darkens, but it’s too
early for it to be nightfall,” says Maggie
MacPherson, a researcher who witnessed
the spectacle in Puerto Ordaz in 2012.
“It’s like a tornado.”
Luciano Queiroz/Shutterstock
The swarm of birds swoops down with
a racket, a sustained thwacking as
thousands of pairs of wings and feet crash
into branches and leaves. The spectacle
attracts gawkers, stops passers-by in their
tracks, and made MacPherson wonder
whether the trees would withstand the
sheer weight and violent arrival of tens of
thousands of birds.
And soon enough, the storm passes.
The birds settle in for the night, perfectly
still and quiet enough that if you missed
their arrival, you’d probably walk by
unaware that a few trees were bursting
with Fork-tailed Flycatchers — Tyrannus
savana, genus-level relatives of the North
American kingbirds and Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher, a kindred spirit in the
glorious tail department.
Then, by early October, the birds
depart Puerto Ordaz, pulled elsewhere
by that old migratory itch felt by so many
members of the bird kingdom.
•••
Migration may well be the best-
known bird behavior, and for good
reason. You don’t have to be a birder to
be wowed that Arctic Terns can cover
more than 50,000 miles each year, or that
the Blackpoll Warbler, weighing less
than half an ounce in the extreme
featherweight category, can spend
several consecutive days aloft over the
ocean en route to South America. Even
the language of migration has bled into
the larger culture: People who buy
second homes in Florida are “snowbirds”
who “head south for the winter.”
But that very phrase, south for the
winter, says much about the way
migration has been traditionally studied
and understood — in the Northern
Hemisphere, where “south” corresponds
with “warm” and winter is the season
during which one calendar year flips
over to the next. That perspective ignores
the entire southern half of the globe, and
it gets everything backward about how
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 17
TRACKABLE: A Fork-tailed Flycatcher wearing
leg bands and a geolocator on its back perches
in a park in Brasília, the capital city of Brazil.
The species breeds in the city each year from
September to December.
the Fork-tailed Flycatchers that come
swarming into Porto Ordaz every year
actually migrate.
“Neotropical austral migration” is the
technical term for movements that
occurs between the temperate and
tropical latitudes in South America,
where the seasons and directions are
“The data have allowed scientists to describe in detail
VJGƃ[ECVEJGToUHWNNCPPWCNE[ENGtCƂTUVHQTCPCWUVTCN
OKITCPVUQPIDKTFKP5QWVJ#OGTKECq
reversed (compared to the better known
“nearctic-neotropical” migration
practiced by North American birds).
Though well over 300 bird species
migrate like this in South America, until
the past few years scientists had little
understanding of how, where, and when
South American neotropical migrants
move across the continent. Several
reasons account for the lack of knowl-
edge, including a traditional bias in the
field toward Northern Hemisphere birds,
the logistical challenges of field work in
18 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
South America, and technological
limitations. Additionally, most South
American austral migrants are “partial
migrants,” meaning some individuals,
populations, or subspecies migrate while
others remain sedentary.
It’s a fact that has “obscured the
presence of migration for a lot of
species,” says Alex Jahn, a post-doctoral
research fellow at the Smithsonian
Migratory Bird Center. “It’s a more
subtle kind of migration that takes more
data to unveil.”
In 2010, Jahn began coordinating a
study of Fork-tailed Flycatcher migration
in South America, using geolocators to
trace birds’ annual movements across the
continent. The data that he and his
collaborators have collected in the years
since have allowed them to describe in
detail the species’ full annual cycle — a
first for an austral migrant songbird in
South America.
Since 2013, Jahn (who until late 2016
was based at the State University of Sao
Paulo, Brazil) and his team have fitted
0.7-gram light-level geolocators on at
least 180 Fork-tailed Flycatchers
captured within their summer breeding
territories in Brazil and Argentina. Since
geolocators are an “archival” technology,
meaning they store but don’t transmit
data, recovering the devices is key. The
flycatchers help out with this task in the
sense that they have relatively strong
loyalties to home.
“Some pairs will even nest in the same
exact tree year after year,” says Jahn.
Even still, the odds are against
Tancredo Maia Filho
recapturing any given geolocator from a
tagged bird. Some birds don’t return to
the same breeding territory, others
return but have gotten wise to the mist
net, and a few birds don’t make it back
due to predation. Though Jahn and his
collaborators, including MacPherson,
only recovered around 15 percent of their
geolocators, they still had plenty of data
to describe the annual cycle of migratory
Fork-tailed Flycatchers.
“We think we have a fairly good
handle now on [the species’] basic
migration timing and routes and the
wintering area,” says Jahn.
The Argentinian birds breed on the
pampas during the austral summer, from
October to January, before beginning
their northward fall migration in
February. After covering about 4,000
kilometers (2,485 miles) in two months,
keeping east of the Andes as they cross
Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru, they arrive at
their wintering grounds on the Colom-
bian llanos by mid- to late March. About
half the population appears to spend the
entire winter in Colombia; the others
— for reasons that aren’t exactly clear but
may relate to maximizing food availabil-
ity during the energetically costly winter
molt — move eastward to Venezuela,
where a great many of them eventually
congregate in Puerto Ordaz.
The flocking behavior contrasts
sharply with the flycatcher’s territorial
proclivities during the breeding season.
Jahn describes the annual mood swing to
extreme winter gregariousness as a
“Jekyll and Hyde” sort of existence,
noting that few other parallels exist in
the bird world. The winter flocking
behavior may afford the birds protection
during molt.
The birds’ return journey, south for
the summer, is quicker than their fall
migration. Starting in October, they
head directly across the Amazon basin,
reaching their southern breeding
grounds about a month later.
There are wrinkles and nuances
within this general pattern. Another
migratory population (though still the
same subspecies) breeds in Brazil,
considerably north of the Argentine
pampas. Its breeding begins about a
month earlier and ends in December
with the onset of the dry season. Some of
these birds then migrate west within
Brazil, where they spend a few weeks
prior to flying north to Colombia. They
may undergo a molt prior to fall
migration, but at this point, that’s a
hypothesis that hasn’t been fully
examined. Other Brazilian breeders
simply head north immediately in
mid-summer when the December dry
season arrives, not to return until the
following spring.
•••
Fork-tails north
MacPherson’s doctoral research at
of Mexico
Tulane University involves study of The northern edge of Fork-
migration behavior in several Tyrannus tailed Flycatcher’s year-
species in North and South America. round range is in south-
Based on data collected from the central Mexico, and yet,
geolocators, she says Fork-tailed every year a few individuals
Flycatcher appears to synchronize its turn up in the United States
migration with rainfall. In addition to or Canada. Flycatchers
becoming much more sociable during have been recorded in more
winter, the species also switches from an than half of the lower 48
insect-heavy diet during breeding season states, as well as Ontario,
to a fruit-intensive one on the llanos. Quebec, the Maritime
Provinces, and Bermuda.
(Plants in the mistletoe family are a
particular favorite.) MacPherson says Most records are in
Fork-tailed Flycatcher migration likely Texas, Florida, and
tracks precipitation because rainfall cues along the Atlantic Coast,
the appearance of the fruit they eat. from North Carolina to
Interestingly, the closely related Newfoundland. The birds
Eastern Kingbird (T. tyrannus), another are usually seen in spring
species MacPherson is studying, tracks or mid- to late fall, and
temperature rather than precipitation when they stay in one spot
during migration. Again, MacPherson for a day or two, they’re
says this likely has to do with emergence sure to draw a crowd.
of fruit, which the kingbird also
primarily eats during winter. Tulane’s In the 2014 book Rare
sports mascot, the Green Wave, has Birds of North America,
Steve N. G. Howell and
given her a convenient way to differenti-
Will Russell say most of
ate the migratory strategies pursued by
the vagrants appear to be
the closely related flycatchers. While
of the migratory T. savana
Eastern Kingbirds surf the heat wave,
savana subspecies — birds
Fork-tailed Flycatchers catch the “green that flew north instead of
wave” of verdancy. south from their wintering
Though consensus is that airborne range in Colombia and
insectivores are experiencing widespread Venezuela. Howell and
decline, and despite the “doom and Russell report that a few
gloom” outlooks that can feel pervasive records in coastal Texas
in her field, MacPherson points to two may be of T. savana
aspects of the flycatcher’s migratory monachus, a smaller,
behavior that may represent bright spots. shorter-tailed subspecies
First, its varied diets throughout the year that breeds from Mexico to
may offer resilience if availability of a northern South America,
particular food source begins to but “as yet there appears
decrease. Second, evolving a migration to be no unequivocal
strategy based on the inherently variable record of monachus in
phenomenon of rain might also be to the the US,” they wrote.
flycatcher’s benefit.
“They’re already tracking a resource
— rainfall and emergence of fruit — out-
side of their breeding season that varies
within and between years,” MacPherson
says. “So with climate change projections
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 19
of changing rainfall patterns, [the birds]
may already be equipped with the
necessary genetic tools to continue to
track the resources they rely on.”
•••
In addition to being the first to
describe the annual migration cycle of
a South American austral migrant
songbird, Jahn and his collaborators
have been using their data to study
other aspects of the flycatcher’s
evolutionary history and biology.
One of the reasons the species was
chosen for the study is that it is just one
of many South American birds to display
partial migration. A primary appeal of
the behavior is that it presents an
opportunity to study how migration
evolved, one of the field’s hot research
topics. It’s a classic chicken-or-egg sort of
question: Was migrating the ancestral
behavior? Or is sedentarism the base
condition from which a great number of
species across the globe later departed?
Valentina Gómez-Bahamón, another
20 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
researcher on the project, began focusing
on the questions while working on her
master’s degree at University of the
Andes (Uniandes) in Colombia. While
that research has yet to be published, she
says DNA analysis suggests that migra-
tion is the original condition for the
species. That would mean three of the
Fork-tailed Flycatcher’s four recognized
subspecies that are sedentary simply quit
flying south to breed at some point in the
past, and a nominate subspecies, T.
savana savana, is the only one still
racking up major frequent-flyer miles
across the continent.
Across the bird kingdom, Gómez-
Bahamón says, losing migration appears
to be more common than gaining it,
though much remains to be learned
about this aspect of bird evolution. That
provides all the more reason, she says, to
study little known migration systems like
neotropical-austral movements to “shed
light into how [migration] evolved.”
Now based at the Field Museum and
the University of Illinois at Chicago,
Gómez-Bahamón is also building on the
flycatcher research by comparing the
shape of primary feathers from migra-
tory and non-migratory subspecies to
learn more about the effect of migration
on morphology.
In Argentina, another collaborator on
the project is Diego T. Tuero of the
University of Buenos Aires and CON-
ICET, the country’s national council of
science. He’s investigating the relation-
ship of natural selection pressures of
migration and sexual selection as they
relate to the flycatcher’s tail length — an
instantly recognizable aspect of the
species’ morphology.
Prior to joining Jahn on the project,
Tuero had collected data showing that
flycatchers with longer tails don’t enjoy
higher reproductive success than ones
with shorter tails, contrary to what
sexual selection theory would suggest.
Now, he’s begun to wonder whether the
birds’ 8,000-kilometer (4,971-mile)
annual round trip to Colombia and
Venezuela favors shorter, lighter tails
YOUNGSTERS: One-week-
old flycatchers crowd a nest
in Reserva Natural El
Destino in Buenos Aires
Province, Argentina. After
hatching, chicks typically
spend about 14 days in the
nest before fledging.
 FLYCATCHER COUNTRY: Grasslands in
Venezuela known as llanos host wintering
populations of Fork-tailed Flycatchers.
p#RTKOCT[CRRGCNQHRCTVKCNOKITCVKQPKUVJCVKV
RTGUGPVUCPQRRQTVWPKV[VQUVWF[JQYOKITCVKQPGXQNXGF
QPGQHVJGƂGNFoUJQVTGUGCTEJVQRKEUq
and pushes against the sexual selection
at work on the pampas. This theory is
supported, Tuero says, by his initial
comparison with resident populations in
northern South America showing that
sedentary flycatchers have longer tails
than migrants.
•••
The development of geolocators
small enough to fit on small songbirds
over the past decade has led to an
explosion of migration research across
the world, says Jahn. At the same time,
the logistical challenges of fieldwork in
South America have begun to dimin-
ish, as infrastructure improves and its
universities turn out a growing number
of well-trained ornithologists. That
means that migration theory in general
— developed almost entirely based on
study of migrants that breed in the
Northern Hemisphere — seems headed
for revision and expansion based on the
OPPOSITE PAGE: Alex Jahn; ABOVE: Paolo Costa/Shutterstock
data that has begun to emerge from
South America.
“There is evidence that [North and
South America] are quite different in
terms of how environmental factors
affect birds,” says Tuero, pointing to
another of his projects in which he found
that flycatcher nesting success increased
drastically in Argentina during an
unusually dry year.
That’s not a finding that meshes with
the northern-biased conventional
ornithological wisdom that environmen-
tal stress during the nesting season
should hurt breeding success. On a
similar note, Jahn says, there are reasons
to believe that migration in the Southern
Hemisphere is not the most dangerous or
riskiest part of a bird’s annual cycle, as is
generally thought in the Northern
Hemisphere. (One factor is the relative
mildness of the austral winter, where the
enormous oceans heavily moderate the
smaller continent’s climates.)
“What’s next on the horizon is to test
the migration theory that has been
developed exclusively in [North America
and Europe] and see if it stands up to all
types of long-distance migrants,”
MacPherson says. “And that will be
extremely important for a place as rich in
biodiversity as South America, as we
need to rapidly establish conservation
plans for species as they’re still being
discovered and understood in the
context of annual cycles.”
When it comes to the practical
implications of the research, conserva-
tion is an obvious one. Whether a bird is
abundant or critically endangered or
somewhere in between, it’s hard to plan
and execute conservation strategies
without knowing exactly where and how
it lives throughout the year. Another
pragmatic argument for better under-
standing bird migration in South
America, Jahn says, is to better account
for the ecosystem services like pest
control and seed dispersal to which
migratory birds can make enormous —
and often underappreciated — contribu-
tions. Finally, there are grimmer things
to consider, like the H5N1 and West Nile
viruses that can threaten human and
economic health and can hitch rides
from place to place on migrating birds.
And don’t forget the fundamental
attraction to the unknown, the one that’s
been luring scientists to blank spots on
the map and gaps in the literature for
centuries. While the migration behaviors
of hundreds of migratory bird species in
South America remain — more or less
— a mystery, that’s no longer the case for
the boldly patterned, spectacularly
accessorized Fork-tailed Flycatcher. And
the time seems right for a lot more pieces
of the neotropical-austral migration
puzzle to fall into place.
“It’s just easier to study migration
now,” Jahn says. “It’ll continue to
grow.”
Andrew Jenner (www.akjenner.com) is a
freelance journalist based in Porto Alegre,
Brazil. In past issues, he wrote about
Golden Eagles in eastern North America
and the U.S. Nightjar Survey Network. 
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 21
CONSERVATION

NATIONAL TREASURE: In
June 2016, a banded adult
Piping Plover navigates the
shoreline pebbles on North
Manitou Island, in northern
Lake Michigan. The island is
part of Sleeping Bear Dunes
National Lakeshore.
 A ray of
HOPE
How biologists and volunteers are helping endangered Piping Plovers
return to their historic nesting locales in the Great Lakes BY SHERYL DEVORE
Brittany Woodthorp walked a sandy beach in May 2016
at Waugoshance Point in Michigan’s Wilderness State Park,
like she has for nearly a decade, looking for signs of nesting
Piping Plovers. The park, 11 miles west of Mackinaw City, at
the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula, was once a stronghold
for the Great Lakes population of nesting plovers — holding at
least 14 nesting pairs decades ago. The last time a pair nested
at the point was in 2006.
Woodthorp, a plover monitor for the Michigan Department
of Natural Resources, heard the telltale piping sound.
Then she saw a Piping Plover and then another. A pair!
Every day after that, she trekked two miles to the spot. And
when she saw the male do its goose-step courtship display next
to the female, she knew. “The male stood up really tall, lifted his
legs straight up and down really fast, then approached the
female,” she recalls. “The female leaned down and let him hop
on her back. Confirmed.”
Three chicks fledged from that pair’s nesting attempt
— giving Woodthorp, biologists, and other officials and
volunteers another ray of hope that restoration work, monitor-
ing, nest protection, captive rearing of abandoned chicks and
eggs, and public education is helping the federally endangered
species’ population grow. But more works needs to be done and
funds raised if the plover is to continue to be successful.
AN ENCOURAGING YEAR
Piping Plovers nest in three reproductively isolated populations
in the United States and Canada. About 2,000 pairs breed in
the northern Great Plains, and approximately 2,000 more nest
Vince Cavalieri/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
along the Atlantic coast. The two populations are listed as
threatened. By contrast, only 75 nesting pairs — including the
one Woodthorp discovered — nest along the Great Lakes. The
pairs produced a record 138 young in 2016.
Vince Cavalieri, a biologist and the Great Lakes Piping
Plover recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, is encouraged. “One of our recovery goals is to reach
150 pairs in the Great Lakes
population and to get 50 pairs
outside of Michigan,” he says.
“For a long time we were hovering at about 10 or 12. In 2016,
we jumped up to 24 outside of Michigan — which includes 15
pairs in Ontario, two in Illinois, two in New York, and at least
five in Wisconsin.”
Piping Plovers nest on sandy beaches, often near pebbles
with sparse vegetation. They winter along the Gulf and southern
Atlantic coasts, although much less is known about their winter
habits compared with their breeding season activities.
The males return to their breeding grounds in April and
May, flying over their territory with deep wing beats while
giving a repeated piping sound. The females return a few weeks
later, when the males begin digging scrapes in the sand and
perform other courtship activities to attract a mate. “They get
flat down on their bellies and kick out backward and shape out
the scrape with their belly,” Cavalieri says.
After that, the female sits in the nest cup while the male
stands over her, spreading his wings wide and tilting up and
down in what biologists call the tilt display. “Once you start
seeing that, that’s an indication that nesting is about to
begin,” he adds.
Four eggs are laid, and four weeks later, the precocial young
hatch. Almost immediately, they begin searching for food. In
another month, they’re able to fly and migrate south before the
cold autumn winds arrive. Both adults care for the young as
they grow, and the male often remains with them and migrates
later than the female.
IN NEED OF HABITAT
Habitat loss, human disturbance, and predation have led to
the bird’s decline. Historically, 30 pairs nested along the Lake
Michigan beach shoreline in Illinois alone, within a space of
two miles, according to the 1907 book The Birds of the Chicago
Area, by Frank Woodruff. By 1904, in another stronghold, the
Indiana shoreline, the species was down to two pairs.
In 1981, just 17 nesting pairs of plovers were left in the Great
Lakes population, according to Cavalieri.
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 23

Loss of quality habitat has been key — not only the loss of
beaches, but pressure from recreational activities as well. “Nests
were getting stepped on or crowded out, and that was too much
disturbance for adults to successfully raise the chicks,”
Cavalieri explains. A recovery program began in 1986 after the
species was listed as federally endangered. “Then in the early to
mid-1990s, we really started to ramp up protection efforts.”
Biologists began closing small portions of beaches where the
plovers once nested. “At Dimmick’s Point at Sleeping Bear
Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan, we did a complete
beach closure, because that was one of the strongholds of the
plover’s historic nesting range,” he says. “It has one of the widest
beach locations in the entire Great Lakes — there’s a mile of
rolling dunes a long way from any tree line. It’s really a great
habitat spot. That entire point is closed to the public.”
Dimmick’s Point is on North Manitou Island, in northern
Lake Michigan. Most of the island is managed as wilderness.
People can visit, but to protect plovers, the point is closed from
May 1 through August 15 each year. Volunteer and paid
monitors look for nesting plovers, and when they find them,
they put up nest exclosures to deter predators, then keep tabs on
the birds, reporting daily to Cavalieri and other biologists.
The exclosures resemble a wire cage topped with netting.
Plovers can move in and out freely, but predators such as crows
are kept out. Throughout the plover’s nesting range, other
predators, including raccoons, foxes, skunks, coyotes, and
raptors, may take eggs, chicks, or even adults.
For example, two years ago pairs of American Kestrels and
Peregrine Falcons raised families at Illinois Beach State Park
north of Chicago, near where a pair of plovers nested after an
attempt in 2009 (and a 30-year absence in the state prior to that).
One of the falcons likely killed the male plover, says Brad Semel,
a biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
24 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
PRECIOUS: A days-old Piping
Plover pauses on the rocks in
Darlington Provincial Park, east of
Toronto, in July 2016. Two pairs
nested in the park last summer
— the first nests on the Canadian
side of Lake Ontario since 1934.
Remarkably, all four chicks survived and were banded, and one
was spotted on the plover’s traditional wintering grounds.
Last year, two pairs nested at the park. A few volunteer
monitors tried to keep tabs on them, but there aren’t enough
people to guard the areas daily. The young hatched and
survived, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials banded
them in hopes of tracking where they winter and if they nest. In
fact, all Great Lakes Piping Plovers — adult and young — are
banded for tracking purposes.
Many more strategies are needed, including educating
people on how rare the plovers are and on their importance to
the ecosystem. “They’ve always been here,” Cavalieri says. “You
have these share-the-beach campaigns. A lot of our monitors
like to show the public the chicks in their scopes. One of the
things I talk about is Piping Plovers are an umbrella species for
the Great Lakes ecosystem. By protecting the plovers, it’s like an
umbrella protection over the entire Great Lakes dune system,
which is the largest freshwater dune system in the world.”
The ecosystem provides habitat for plant species such as the
federally listed Pitcher’s thistle, as well as migration habitat for
the threatened Red Knot.
HELPING HANDS
Habitat restoration has helped plovers return to their historic
nesting grounds, including at Wilderness State Park, where up
to 12 pairs have nested in the past. “But for the last 10 years,
we didn’t find any Piping Plovers there,” Cavalieri says. The
Paul Reeves Photography/Shutterstock
culprit: non-native species, including spotted knapweed, which
grows in a dense monoculture. Plovers prefer sparse vegetation.
A federal grant has helped restore plover habitat, which
includes removing the non-native plants and reseeding with
native ones. “The restoration project required a lot of physical
labor,” says Woodthorp, who helped with the work. Mother
Nature had a hand, too. “Last year was a good year for ice scour,
which pushes pebbles and cobblestones in a way that is
attractive to nesting plovers,” she explains.
In addition, restoration involves enhancing what’s called a
cobble pan, a flat zone of large gravel that naturally occurs on
beaches — and that attracts Piping Plovers to nest.  their oceanfront property. “When they put sand on the beach, it
“I’m hoping next season we have more than one pair,” says
Woodthorp. “We did have a couple lone birds that were
hanging out on the point mostly around the nesting pair. It’s a
big area that could house two or three nesting pairs.”
Other efforts include retrieving eggs or chicks from areas
“One of our recovery goals is to reach 150 PAIRS IN THE GREAT LAKES
POPULATION and to get 50 PAIRS OUTSIDE OF MICHIGAN.”
where adults have abandoned the nest and hatching them via
an incubator at a facility in Michigan. When the chicks are
ready to fly, they’re released into the wild with other Piping
Plovers. In 2015, seven chicks rescued as eggs were raised and
released. In 2016, six chicks were fledged from the captive
facility. In 2014, “due to a lot of abandonments,” Cavalieri says,
“we fledged 24 chicks from the captive facility.”
In April 2009, three abandoned chicks were found along the
Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois — the first nesting attempt
observed in the state since 1979. Adults likely abandoned the
nest due to predation or human disturbance. The eggs were
incubated at Lincoln Park Zoo, then the chicks were transport-
ed to Michigan, where they were raised and later released at
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. One of the chicks
later bred at Port Inland in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
WINTER HAUNTS
The majority of the Piping Plover population winters along the
Atlantic and Gulf coasts from North Carolina to Texas, as well
as into the Caribbean. Cumberland Island National Seashore,
on the southeastern Georgia coast, is a major wintering area
for Great Lakes plovers. “Some of the birds migrate over 1,000
miles from the Upper Peninsula to the Bahamas, and they need
stopover habitat along the way,” says Cavalieri. “To increase the
overall survival of these birds, we also need to increase efforts
on their wintering grounds.”
Melissa Bimbi, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, has been working in the plovers’ wintering habitats for
about a decade. She monitors the Carolinas, Georgia, and the
Caribbean, while co-workers do the same in Florida and the
Gulf States. “When I started working on plovers in 2005, we
didn’t know much about them on the nonbreeding grounds,”
she explains. “We have come so far. We’ve definitely got our
work cut out for us. The most important thing is to collect the
data that show where there are negative impacts to the birds.”
Most Great Lakes plovers winter in Georgia and South
Carolina. “Georgia’s coastline is a lot less developed than South
Carolina’s shoreline,” Bimbi notes. “They have a lot more
islands that are undeveloped and only accessible by boat.
There’s a lot of recreation pressure where our Great Lakes
plovers winter in South Carolina. They go to Hilton Head, a
very popular vacation and recreation site. What we’re finding is
that the sites we’re monitoring, whether it’s in Georgia or South
Carolina, if those habitats are developed and used extensively
for recreation, the plovers have a lower survival rate.”
Another issue is renourishment projects, which involve
bringing in sand to give homeowners more beach to protect
depresses invertebrate populations, which is what plovers eat,”
Bimbi says. “It can take a couple months to two years for the
invertebrates to recolonize.”
If the sand on the beach is a not good match for what was
originally present, it makes it hard for the animals to
recolonize at all. “What we’re finding in a lot of these
projects,” she adds, “is if they have good quality sand, the
better it is for the beach, for tourism, for sea turtles, for the
invertebrates.” And for Piping Plovers.
The birds require good roosting and feeding habitat in
winter. They like to roost in areas with a lot of wrack — spar-
tina grass that washes up on shore and acts as a sand binder.
The wrack also serves as wind breaks for the birds and gives
them a place to hide and remain camouflaged.
“The reality is, a lot of this stuff is political,” Bimbi says.
“In North Carolina, for example, it used to be illegal to
build terminal groins (man-made sea walls). They are not
good for dynamic barrier islands or Piping Plovers, but a
bill recently was passed that allows for four terminal groins
to be built in the state.”
Bimbi has been banding plovers at Hilton Head and working
to teach people that the beach is an ecosystem that provides a
home for many living things. “When they begin to realize that,
they become really fascinated,” she notes.
Piping Plovers still face many challenges: ever-increasing
recreation pressure, continuing development of beaches on
both the breeding and wintering grounds, and, thanks to
climate change, rising sea levels. “Still, Piping Plovers have
many fans and folks that are looking out for them throughout
their range,” Cavalieri explains. “If we can continue to protect
the birds on both their breeding and wintering grounds, there
is no reason to think we can’t eventually reach recovery.”
“The future for Piping Plovers and other beach-dependent
species of conservation concern would be a lot brighter if
people embraced the idea of sharing the beach with plants and
animals that live there,” Bimbi adds. “We can choose to be good
beach stewards by respecting the needs of the living things that
use the same sites we do.”
Sheryl DeVore is a longtime contributor to BirdWatching. She is
the chief editor of Meadowlark, the quarterly magazine of the
Illinois Ornithological Society, and the co-author of Birds of
Illinois (Lone Pine Publishing, 2004) and other books. She works
as a freelance writer and photographer for the Chicago Tribune
and Sun-Times Media. She has previously written for us about
Minnesota’s northernmost Christmas Bird Counts and diving
ducks that overwinter on the Great Lakes.
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 25
BIRDING HOTSPOTS

north
woods
A new national moment is the highlight of a trip to northern Maine • BY ERIKA ZAMBELLO
Zack Frank/Shutterstock
 hen someone asks me to
choose my favorite Maine
birding memory, an August
afternoon in the North Woods immedi-
ately springs to mind. I am paddling,
surrounded by a mixed softwood forest
of red spruce, American beech, maple,
and birch trees, a clear pond beneath my
green, Old Town canoe. Golden reeds
sway gently in the summer breeze, while
the puffy clouds of a recent storm skirt
across the blue sky. The air is alive with
noise: chirping frogs, bird calls, and the
gentle splash of my husband’s and my
paddles hitting the surface. Suddenly, the
afternoon echoes with the eerie calls of
the Common Loon.
Slowly approaching a pair of the
ancient birds, I raise binoculars, holding
my breath. There it is, the fuzzy form of a
loon chick, bobbing on the gentle waves
between parents. The three swim slowly,
allowing the webbed feet of the little one
to keep up with the adults’ stronger
strokes. Have you ever heard the squeaks
of a loon chick? They sound like little
kittens, melting the heart of the most
stoic of observers. While the family
floated away from us, my smile stretched
from ear to ear.
As a recipient of a National Geo-
graphic Young Explorers Grant, over four
seasons I visited the headwaters of five of
the major rivers of Maine, birding as I
went. One was the East Branch of the
Penobscot River, a 75-mile-long tributary
of the second longest river system in the
state. The East Branch runs alongside and
through portions of the Katahdin Woods
and Waters National Monument, which
President Obama designated in August
2016. I spent three days exploring the
natural area nearly a year before the ink
was dry on the proclamation.
I sincerely hope that many more
visitors will have the opportunity to

REMARKABLE: Forests and lakes cover the

Katahdin Woods and Waters National
Monument in northern Maine, home of Spruce
Grouse, Gray Jay, Canada Warbler, and other
boreal birds.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 27
 improvement in access for the public,
CANADA New including birders.
The national monument has been in
Brunswick the works for two decades. Roxanne
Quimby, cofounder of personal care
Quebec products company Burt’s Bees, pur-
chased land in the region, known for its
extensive logging history. Her son, Lucas
St. Clair, is president of the board of
Elliotsville Plantation, Inc., a foundation
that managed the land before it was
Maine transferred to the National Park Service
at the end of August 2016. (The founda-
tion also funded part of my expeditions.)
There’s no doubt that the national
monument was and is politically
1 contentious, but as St. Clair says: “To
have this landscape recognized in the
3 same vein as Yellowstone and the
2 Everglades and the Grand Canyon is a
pretty powerful testament for just how
4 remarkable it is.”
While easy access is always a bonus,
5 birders should put the new national
monument at the top of their travel list
for one simple reason: its community of
species. As I followed the East Branch of
6 the Penobscot from its headwaters down
8 into the national monument itself, I
spotted Gray Jays and Spruce Grouse —
7 95 beautiful boreal species at the southern
NORTH WOODS HOTSPOTS end of their range. As I walked along an
1. Allagash Wilderness overgrown road, which provided a trail
Waterway bordering the banks, neotropical
2. Allagash Lake migrants like Black-throated Green and
3. Munsungan Lake
Yellow-rumped Warblers and Blue-
4. Baxter State Park
headed Vireos called from the canopy
5. Katahdin Woods and
Waters National Monument above me, at home in the foliage of white
6. Nahmakanta Public birch and sugar maples. Simultaneously,
Reserved Land
Bangor I never tired of the Red-breasted
7. Lily Bay State Park
Nuthatches and Black-capped Chicka-
8. Moosehead Lake
dees that are common throughout the
state. Birders can see all these species and
many more within the park.
experience amazing moments with birds logs were floated down the long rivers Doug Hitchcox, staff naturalist for
of the state’s North Woods, like my sight- until they reached mills, guided by Maine Audubon, notes that migrant
ing of the loon family. A recently loggers and woodsmen. Railroads warblers that pass through the southern
announced “review” by the Trump reached the area but were later aban- part of the state breed in abundance in
administration, however, may jeopardize doned, and sections of the forest shroud the North Woods.
the monument; the move put the future rusted tracks and locomotives. Allison Wells, senior director at the
of Katahdin Woods and Waters and 26 The North Woods is accessible by Natural Resources Council of Maine and
other national monuments in doubt. (See boat or along dirt logging roads and is co-author with husband Jeff of the book
sidebar, page 30.) visited by 100,000 people each year; Maine’s Favorite Birds, underscores the
At approximately 87,500 acres, the however, the roads can be rough, and importance of nesting area for birds and
new national monument protects a many are blocked by gates. As a result, birders alike. “The new national monu-
significant area within the 3.5 million the Katahdin Woods and Waters area, ment is an exciting victory for people and
acres of the North Woods, most of which with its hiking, hunting, biking, fishing, wildlife, including birds,” she says.
Brian E. Small

is owned by private timber companies snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing “These protected lands will provide
(that allow access for a fee). Historically, opportunities, represents a significant nesting and migratory habitat for

28 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
hundreds of thousands of birds includ- in much of the privately owned sections AND BABY MAKES THREE: Common Loons
ing many that are of high conservation of the North Woods. flank their chick on a lake. The species is
concern — Rusty Blackbird, Canada widespread in summer on inland waters of
Warbler, and Olive-sided Flycatcher,” PRISTINE, UNALTERED SHORELINES the Pine Tree State.
Wells adds. The monument is also Katahdin Woods and Waters and Bax-
important for iconic species such as ter State Park, however, are not the only My husband and I put in our canoe
Common Loon and Bald Eagle and birds areas within the North Woods to ex- above Allagash Lake in late August,
of the boreal forest, such as Spruce plore. I also visited a few other hotspots alternatively lining the canoe in low
Grouse, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, and in the region. water and paddling where the stream
Black-backed Woodpecker. The Allagash Wilderness deepened. Barely five minutes into our
The national monument is Waterway allows visitors to paddle, we spooked a moose, watching as
adjacent to Baxter State experience the forest without it galloped through the undergrowth like
Park, itself covering more the obvious trappings of a fur-covered bulldozer.
than 200,000 acres. Boreal bird ID humanity. The 92-mile- The birds were easy to spot. An
Together, the monument Turn to “ID Tips,” page long waterway protects Osprey soared above, a dozen Spotted
and park provide a large 38, for Kenn Kaufman’s ponds, lakes, streams, and Sandpipers dipped their tails and peeped
tract of land where forests advice on identifying much of the Allagash as they flew from one bank to another.
can mature. The protec- northern birds. River from the town of Within the canopy, chickadees and
tion will “certainly help us to Allagash, which is just south nuthatches sounded their nasally calls.
have more diversity in the of the Canada border, to the No planes can land on Allagash Lake,
forest,” Hitchcox says, referring to southern end of Telos Lake, which is and access without a boat is difficult to
the young and managed forests logged near the western edge of Baxter. say the least. We could still hear the dim

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 29
WOODS AND WATERS: The new rumblings of logging trucks, but the
monument sits in the shadow of shores of the lake remained natural,
Mt. Katahdin, the state’s highest peak. white birch bark contrasting with the
dark forest behind their trunks. Though
they are difficult to see across the water,
the area includes campsites, which we
definitely appreciated when we spent the
night next to Allagash Falls.
John McPhee, noted naturalist and
environmental writer, recounted his pad-
dle on Allagash Lake in his 1975 book
The Survival of the Bark Canoe:
“The lake is broad in all directions,
and is ringed with hills and minor
mountains. Its pristine, unaltered
shoreline is edged with rock — massive
outcroppings, sloping into the water,
interrupting the march of the forest. It
is a reward, this lake — handsome,
natural, serene, remote, the long stream
and the long portage holding it aloof on
either end.”
Though McPhee visited in the 1970s
Monument review ‘threatens birds’ and I made my voyage in 2016, word for
In April, President Trump issued an executive order calling for the word his experience matched my own.
Interior Department to review all national monument designations from For birders, the Allagash Wilderness
the last 20 years and make recommendations as to which monuments Waterway offers the chance to see
should be rescinded, resized, or modified. The review covers 27 sites, riparian-dependent species as well as
including Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, as well as forest residents and migrants, from
monuments in 10 western states and several marine monuments. Common Loon to shorebirds to Black
Tern, Belted Kingfisher, Gray Jay, vireos,
“These are places Americans hold in their hearts, and this is just a and warblers.
mean-spirited, dangerous, political game the president is playing with Paddling opportunities are not
America’s national monuments,” said David Yarnold, president and limited to the waterway; neither are the
CEO of the National Audubon Society. “Birds depend on public lands
camping resources. The region is dotted
and waters as places to breed in the spring or ride out the winter. Each
with lakes, ponds, and accompanying
president since Teddy Roosevelt has used the Antiquities Act to protect
access points. Because I was interested in
extra special places. And until today, no president has initiated such
river headwaters, I chose Munsungan
a broad assault on the conservation legacy of those before him.”
Lake, headwaters to the Aroostook River,
“Like his recent actions to eliminate national climate policy and for one of our final excursions. We
protections for wildlife and public lands, the president’s latest order carried the canoe down a rough dirt
is contrary to overwhelming public support for conserving our natural road, putting in near a lakeshore
heritage,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders campsite. Here we paddled past more
of Wildlife. “This isn’t what the American people want, and the only loons, Red-breasted Mergansers, and a

Zack Frank/Shutterstock; Ian Maton/Shutterstock; Paul Reeves Photography/Shutterstock

acceptable outcome of this order is the continued preservation and chuckling kingfisher. As we moved
stewardship of our national monuments — every single one of them. across the widest section of lake, a
Common Raven’s croaks reached us
Steve Holmer, vice president of policy for the American Bird Conservancy, across the water.
noted the importance of monuments to bird conservation. Oregon’s
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, for example, is the only monument
WINTER FUN
created specifically to conserve biodiversity, providing habitat for the
Moosehead Lake, headwaters of the
threatened Northern Spotted Owl. The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National
Kennebec River, and adjacent Greenville
Monument, established by President George W. Bush in 2006, protects
provide an excellent home base for win-
the land and waters of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and is home to 99
percent of the world’s breeding population of Laysan Albatross, as well as
ter birding. I explored the lake only one
critically endangered Laysan Duck, Nihoa Finch, and Nihoa Millerbird.
day after a huge blizzard blew through,
coating the ground with more than a
“This review process is a step in the wrong direction,” Holmer BONUS foot of bright white powder. The tem-
said. “It threatens endangered birds and diminishes the 7 Things to know perature had dropped below 10°F, with a
about Trump’s
natural heritage of future generations of Americans.” attack on national brisk wind chilling me even further.
monuments
TAP HERE
 BIRDS TO WATCH FOR: Katahdin Woods and Waters National
Monument and other sites within Maine’s North Woods are great
places to look for Black-backed Woodpecker (left) and Rusty
Blackbird (above). The wetland-dependent blackbird has declined
by more than 90 percent in the last half century.

My mother and I, decked out in as
much winter gear as we could manage,
opted to snowshoe Lily Bay State Park,
which lies on the lake’s eastern shore.
The path through the woods was easy to
follow, and we dodged falling snow as it
slipped from the hemlock boughs above.
Kinglets and Boreal Chickadees sang
from the bare branches, and we watched
a Hairy Woodpecker, undaunted by the
temperature, peck away at a dead snag.
As we moved, the snow fell so hard that
I could hear it, like the gentlest of rain
hitting soft ground. Looking out across
the lake, the curtain of white obscured the
near shore, and it was easy to imagine us
all alone in the North Woods.
Moosehead Lake boat launches are
great places to look for wintering
waterfowl, and when the ice closes in,
many visitors cross-country ski around
the edges. Though we chose to snowshoe
at Lily Bay, entire trail systems for
snowshoers and skiers alike are
groomed at the Birches Resort and
throughout the area.
LOCAL WISDOM
Much of the North Woods is a work-
ing forest, and one cannot overlook
the local, human resources. One of the
best aspects of my expeditions was the
opportunity to stay in various sporting
camps and speak with those have lived
here for decades, if not generations. At
Pittston Farms, I listened to Wilson’s
Snipes and Great Horned Owls calling
across Seboomook Lake. Bob Johnson
from Johnson’s Allagash Lodge gave me
advice for paddling the headwaters of
the Allagash and Aroostook rivers, and
Joe Christianson from Matagamon Wil-
derness Campground led us miles down
dirt roads, across a beaver bog, and to
a canoe launch on Third Lake, part of
the East Penobscot River system. They
not only helped me navigate around the
North Woods but also instilled a richer
sense of the region as a whole.
The Katahdin Woods and Waters
National Monument is an ideal place for
birders to explore. Plus, Maine’s North
Woods offers so much more. Paddle the
Allagash Wilderness Waterway, hike
Mount Kineo near Moosehead Lake,
camp on the shores of Munsungan Lake,
or spend a few nights at one of the area’s
sporting camps. I guarantee you won’t be
disappointed.
Erika Zambello is a National Geographic
Young Explorer grant recipient and the
cofounder of the communications
company TerraCommunications.org. She
has written for Florida State Parks,
National Geographic Adventure, and
other outlets. In our August 2016 issue,
she wrote about Black Skimmers and
Least Terns in the Florida Panhandle.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 31
EXCERPT

SLEEK AND ELEGANT: Cedar

Waxwings devour berries on a
winter day, a sighting that would
make anyone wish for a quality
pair of binoculars.
 Rediscovering
birds
A star of TV’s Pretty Little Liars explains how he fell back in love with birding
BY IAN HARDING
I
’ve played a handful of different
roles in my relatively short career
as an actor. I’ve been a French
aristocrat, a jellyfish, a heroin-
addicted pornographer, a Roman
centurion, a cat burglar, Pfizer trainee
#1. At a summer theater program, I once
played a pair of haunted cowboy boots.
Most of all, though, I’ve enjoyed
getting to play America’s most beloved
pedophile [on Pretty Little Liars].
The role of Ezra Fitz — despite the
creep factor and the obvious ethical
issues of dating a minor who happens to
be one of my students — has been an
incredible learning experience. I’ve
played the part for seven years now,
longer than any other role I’ve had, and
I’ve grown substantially as an actor and
Lorraine Hudgins/Shutterstock; Nadiia Korol/Shutterstock
as a person.
The first few seasons were a wild
ride. I strapped in and hoped to God
that I wouldn’t fall off. The show turned
out to be a hit — I was even getting
recognized on the street. The whole
experience was exciting and surreal, and
every day was something new. I felt like
I’d really made it.
But, as with everything, after a few
seasons, the newness began to fade a
little. I love my castmates and the crew —
they are some of my favorite people on
earth — but there were days on set when
I counted down the hours until I could
clock out and head home to see my
girlfriend and play with my dogs. There
were days when the job felt like a have-to
instead of a get-to.
I knew I was in danger of becoming
jaded. I was beginning to act like what
Dustin Diamond might have called a
“douche nozzle.” I knew
that I needed to shake
the feeling off posthaste
or I was going to start
losing friends.
Nobody wants to hang
out with a douche nozzle.
•••
IT WAS WINTER. Or the
Los Angeles version of
winter, elsewhere called
“autumn.” We were on
break from filming, and I
was going on a ski trip
— a welcome chance to duck out of town
for a few days and clear my head.
Every year since we graduated, a big
group of my college friends and I have
rented a cabin up in Big Bear Lake, a
small town in the mountains about two
hours northeast of LA. I studied acting at
the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama,
and I’m still close with a lot of my
classmates. It’s a tight-knit group, and
the annual ski trip is a lot like a mafia
summit — except instead of checking on
business and figuring out whose
kneecaps to break, the
major goals are skiing
and inebriation.
That year, we’d
rented a cabin that
could comfortably sleep
six. There were two
dozen of us, but we’d all
gone to school together,
so we were used to
sharing beds.
The real problem was
that it was only mid-
December. We’d
scheduled the trip a bit
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 33
early that year, thinking nothing of the
suspiciously low rental prices. There
wasn’t much snow yet. In fact, I’m pretty
sure the only powder on the mountain
was man-made. There were just two
runs open in the entire resort: a bunny
run for beginners, and a longer,
intermediate-level blue.
The first day, we said screw it and
decided to ski anyway. It was shorts and
T-shirt weather on the mountain, not a
cloud in the sky. The snow was the
consistency of a Slurpee.
My friend Jack had never skied
before, so I skied down the bunny slope
with him a few times to help him with
the basics. He got the hang of it pretty
quickly, and after four or five times
down, Jack decided he wanted to try his
luck on the more difficult blue.
About a hundred yards into the run,
Jack skidded over a rough patch of snow
and went down. Hard. He reached out to
catch himself and broke his arm — really
shattered it.
I was above him on the mountain and
didn’t see him wipe out. I came around a
bend to find several of my Carnegie
compatriots huddled around him. At
first I thought he was more shaken than
hurt. But then Jack lifted his arm — it
was bent at an unnatural angle: some-
thing was very wrong.
Jack had to be taken down the
mountain in a paramedic snowmobile,
and then we drove him to the emergency
room in town.
“I’d stopped birding as a child because I’d felt judged by my peers.
Here I was, 25 years old, an adult, and I was feeling embarrassed by birds again?
If I didn’t stand up for myself now, when the hell was I going to start?”
In the ER, an unhygienically musky
doctor came up to us. “What seems to
be the problem here? Got a hurt arm?”
he asked.
Before Jack could respond, the doctor
reached out, grabbed his arm, and gave it
a hard squeeze, shaking it up and down.
Jack screamed and jerked his arm back.
The doctor whistled. “That’s definitely
broken,” he said.
“Yeah, you think?” Jack spat back.
For future reference: people with
broken arms don’t like having them
squeezed and shaken. Just so you know.
Eventually a different doctor
34 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
splinted Jack’s arm and loaded him up
with enough pain meds to knock out a
small elephant. I offered to drive him
back to LA, but Jack was a total champ
and said he wanted to stay the rest of
the weekend with us.
Unsurprisingly, the next morning
nobody felt like skiing. While we all tried
to figure out what to do, my buddies
Nick and Frank, both from New Jersey,
both of Italian descent, made us all a
massive breakfast. Nick and Frank are
always the chefs on these trips. They
never ski. They just come to hang out,
drink, and cook, like the Italian grand-
mothers they secretly are.
My girlfriend Sophia and I loaded up
our plates with eggs and pancakes and
Italian sausages, and sat down at the
breakfast table to feast.
Sophia and I have been together for
six years, the longest I’ve been with
anyone. We went to college together but
didn’t start dating until we’d both moved
to Los Angeles. She has the looks of
Audrey Hepburn and the comedic
timing of Buster Keaton. She’s also an
exceptional photographer and artist.
One of our group, a friend from
Carnegie we all call Wiggy, shuffled into
the kitchen, half asleep, carrying an
electric guitar and an amp. He was
wearing boxers and an American flag
T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. He
grunted good morning to no one in
particular and sat down on top of the
table. He leaned over to plug in the amp
and then proceeded to strum out a series
of death-metal arpeggios.
I reached over and unplugged the
amp. Wiggy continued to play as if
nothing had changed.
After breakfast, I took a couple of
people into town to the grocery store. We
needed to stock up on provisions since
we weren’t going back out on the slopes.
Mostly I think we were getting beer for a
little day drinking. Maybe marshmal-
lows and chocolate bars for s’mores.
On the drive to town, I started feeling
irritable. The weekend was beginning to
seem like a total waste. It wasn’t my
friends’ fault. It was me.
I’d been craving activity — some-
thing to take my mind off everything.
Instead, I found myself once again
worrying about my work and the
ever-lengthening to-do list I’d left back
in Los Angeles.
Driving into town, to the right of the
car, there was a massive, shimmering
body of water. Big Bear Lake is named
for a lake, after all. The late-morning
light glittered beckoningly off the surface
of the water.
Sitting shotgun was a guy named
Walter — a childhood friend of my CMU
buddy John. We’d just met the day before.
He was one of the only people on the trip
who hadn’t gone to Carnegie — he may
well have been the only person there who
hadn’t studied theater or taken an acting
class. For most of the drive he’d been
looking out the window, which I assumed
was because he was new to the group.
Walter was on the lake-side of the car,
and as we drove along, I glanced over to
look out at the water. Looking over, I
could see that he was focused intently on
an object floating on the lake.
I craned my neck forward to look past
him. Close to the shore was a duck,
floating serenely on the glittering blue. It
had a low, sleek profile, and a thin bill.
Not your normal duck profile, if that’s
the kind of thing you pay attention to.
Something about that bird drew me
in. For a moment, I was at a loss. I kept
driving in silence. A word lodged
somewhere in the depths of my brain
bubbled up into consciousness:
merganser.
That’s what it was, a type of duck
called a merganser.
I braked for a stop sign, then drove on.
But I couldn’t get the bird out of my head.
I looked at Walter. He’d definitely seen
that duck. But did he know what it was?
“Merganser,” I mumbled. There was a
Lowe Llaguno/Shutterstock
good chance he’d have no idea what I was
talking about.
Walter looked over. A big smile
spread across his face. “Yeah, dude. That
was a Hooded Merganser!”
WHERE IT HAPPENED: The author’s first
birding excursion as an adult occurred at Big
Bear Lake, located in the mountains northeast
of San Bernardino, California.
“Wait, for real?” I said. “How’d you
know what that was?”
Turns out Walter, who’d grown up in
Texas, had been a birder since he was a
little kid.
I was a birder when I was a kid, too. I
just hadn’t thought about it in a really
long time.
•••
WHEN I WAS younger — way younger,
like back before elementary school — I
loved looking at birds. It was one of my
childhood passions. Right up there with
Pogs and poop jokes.
I was born in Heidelberg, Germany.
My parents were both in the U.S. military,
and they were stationed there when I was
a baby. When I was three years old, they
got called back stateside, so we moved
from Germany to Springfield, Virginia.
Our first home back in the States was
a red-brick town house with forest-green
shutters. It was a picture-perfect
middle-class suburban home. I had a
best friend who lived three doors down,
and my sister’s best friend lived next
door. It was a safe place for kids to play
out front in the street. One time some
high-schoolers had a knife fight on a
basketball court nearby and the cops
showed up, but nothing else exciting
ever happened.
Behind our house, a path led across a
little creek to a playground in the woods.
There were swings, a slide, a merry-go-
round. And beyond all that, the forest
stretched out endlessly.
There were squirrels and deer and
foxes. Crawfish in the stream. And lots
and lots of birds. I’d chase the robins that
were perched on the ground. I don’t
know what I would have done if I’d ever
caught one. But I liked following them. I
wanted to get as close as possible.
At some point it occurred to me that
instead of going out and chasing them, I
could get the birds to come to me.
I went through the trash at home and
pulled out all the empty plastic soda
bottles. I cut holes in the sides and filled
them with birdseed. I then tied strings
around the necks of the bottles, and
hung them from low-hanging branches
in our backyard. For neighbors walking
by, it must’ve looked like some low-
budget human sacrifice cult. The whole
setup was pretty Blair Witch-y.
Once the feeders were hanging from
the trees, I went up to my bedroom on
the second floor and waited for the birds
to arrive. I had a cheap pair of binocu-
lars with plastic lenses, and over the
coming weeks I’d patiently focus them
on the nuthatches, woodpeckers,
sparrows, and goldfinches that came in
to feed. It was like Rear Window, except
without any murder. Unless you count
the murder of crows.
Sorry. That was just — I’m sorry.
The point is, I really liked birds. I had
notebooks full of drawings of them that I
copied out of an Audubon field guide.
And in second grade, I once threw a
tantrum when my science project group
wanted to build a model volcano instead
of a bird feeder.
But then I graduated to middle
school. Puberty happened, as it does to
many people. I became far more
self-conscious and felt a strong need to fit
in with the other kids. Birding is often a
solitary pursuit. It’s not something you
need to share with others. For as much
joy as it brought me, I was afraid it would
come across as weird, outsider behavior.
Also, middle-schoolers think about
sex a lot: like, all the time. To my 13-year-
old mind, birding was the equivalent of a
vow of chastity. I couldn’t risk it, so I very
willfully set birds aside.
There’s a book I read recently that
reminds me of my middle school
experience. Before J. M. Barrie wrote
Peter and Wendy — the classic tale of
Peter Pan and Captain Hook and the
wonders of Neverland — he wrote a
book called The Little White Bird. This
book is the first time Barrie ever wrote
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 35
AWESOME: A Hooded Merganser opens
its thin, serrated bill, which it uses to
catch fish and other prey.
about a boy named Peter Pan. Before
there was a Neverland, before there were
pirates or mermaids, there was just a
little boy locked in a park at night after
the gates had closed.
Barrie talks in the book about how all
children used to be birds: “They are
naturally a little wild during the first few
weeks, and very itchy at the shoulders,
where their wings used to be.” Children
only become fully human when they
forget how to fly. And forgetting how to
fly is easy. It just takes doubt. The
moment you first doubt whether or not
you can fly is the moment you lose the
gift of flight forever. The moment when
you cease to be a bird and become a
human, destined to grow old and dull
and unimaginative.
In my adolescence, I took this odd
interest I had, and I hid it. Buried it. I was
afraid of getting picked on, of getting
made fun of by the opposite sex, by
anyone really. It was easier to be normal
and try to fit in — and wash my face
three times a day to prevent breakouts.
As long as I tried to be like everyone else
— as long as I tried to look normal — I
had a chance at being cool. And it’s
embarrassing to admit it, but being cool
36 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
meant a lot to me. I wanted to be friends
with everyone. Birding seemed like the
opposite of all that. If anything, it just
seemed like a way to be friends with old
people. And everyone in middle school
knows that old people aren’t cool.
When high school rolled around, I’d
forgotten that I’d ever even liked birds in
the first place. My attention and interests
were elsewhere. I switched from a public
middle school to a private high school
called Georgetown Prep. I wasn’t used to
the rigorous academics, and I had to
work a lot harder in class.
In high school I also discovered acting,
which was a whole new creative outlet for
me. I spent all of my free time in Figge, the
school’s theater building. I would often set
up a table in the middle of the stage to do
my homework, the auditorium otherwise
empty. Sometimes the janitor would kick
me out — I would walk around the
building and sneak back in.
Now, sitting in the car in Big Bear,
looking at the Hooded Merganser, I felt a
familiar excitement rising in my chest, a
connection to my childhood — back to
when I’d stared out my bedroom window,
learning the names of the birds that were
eating from the bird feeders I’d made.
I had forgotten that just looking at
birds — simply watching them, observ-
ing their idiosyncratic behaviors and
colorful beauty — could bring me such
joy. I felt inspired, light, and totally in
touch with a part of me that had been
lying dormant for almost 15 years.
•••
“WHAT THE HELL is a merganser?”
someone said from the backseat.
I looked at Walter: “You want to tell
him?”
Walter tried to downplay it. “It’s a
kind of duck,” he said.
I suddenly felt a flash of defiance —
not at Walter, but at the entire situation.
I’d stopped birding as a child because I’d
felt judged by my peers. Here I was, 25
years old, an adult, and I was feeling
embarrassed by birds again? If I didn’t
stand up for myself now, when the hell
was I going to start?
I half shouted, “It’s not just a duck!” I
had no idea where I was going with this,
but I had to set the record straight. “It’s
Arto Hakola/Shutterstock
got a serrated bill! It’s a f------ awesome
duck!”
Yeah, that’d show them. That would
make them understand. From the
backseat, a bored voice said,
“Whatever,” and then went back to
what they’d been talking about before
the merganser interlude.
When we got back to the cabin with
provisions an hour later people were
getting antsy. It was downright balmy
outside — a ridiculous, global warm-
ing-induced 70 degrees. Someone
suggested to the group that, since we
couldn’t ski, we all go for a hike along
Big Bear Lake.
A handful of people wanted to stay
back to get drunk and eat marshmallows,
and Wiggy was still strumming his
unplugged guitar, but the rest of us piled
into a couple of cars and drove back down
to the lake. We parked near a bridge.
As we were getting out of the cars,
putting on sunscreen, I noticed that
Walter had a small pair of binoculars
hanging around his neck.
“Do you always have those around?”
I asked.
“Yeah. Actually, I keep them in the
glove compartment of my car,” he said.
“It might be crazy, but you never know.
I’ve seen a lot of birds in places I wouldn’t
have expected to find them.”
The group set off, tromping around
the lake. I was suddenly aware again of
the world in a different but oddly
familiar way. Birds were outlined in
silhouette out on the water. They were
chirping overhead in the trees and in the
bushes along the shore. I was paying
attention to every sound.
I wasn’t in my head, worrying about
work, or thinking about how I needed to
watch what I ate over the holidays. It
might sound like some hippie California
nonsense, but I felt very, very present.
A flock of birds fluttered between
trees off to the side of the trail, gorging
themselves on tiny red berries. Walter
passed me his binoculars. I raised them
to my eyes and adjusted the focus knob
with my index finger, trying to get a bird
to come into view.
The birds were moving targets, and I
was out of practice. I lowered the
binoculars and looked for them again. I
could hear them: their call a single
high-pitched note, barely noticeable
unless you were listening for it.
Suddenly there was a flurry of wings
as one hovered to snatch a berry. I quickly
From Odd Birds by Ian Harding. Copyright © 2017 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press.
raised the binoculars and adjusted the
focus: a little brown crest, a black mask, a
dab of yellow at the end of the bird’s tail.
Very sleek, very elegant. A Cedar
Waxwing.
I made a mental note to invest in a
pair of binoculars when I got back to Los
Angeles.
In the bushes along the shore, another
bird called — it sounded like the avian
“There was a childlike sense of wonder to the
whole experience: I was a birder again.”
version of an old-timey phone ring. I
could swear I’d heard that call before, but
I couldn’t place it.
“That’s a Red-winged Blackbird,”
Walter said, as it flew out and landed in
the branches at the top of the bush. It was
a glossy black, with red and yellow
epaulettes on its wings.
Farther along, coots were paddling
close to shore. We scanned the lake — no
sign of that merganser. I noticed a bird
twisting its way up a tree. A Downy
Woodpecker? It spiraled back around the
trunk, coming into view. Not a wood-
pecker after all, but a White-breasted
Nuthatch.
It was the same type of nuthatch that
had come in to the feeders I’d set up in
my backyard in Virginia when I was a
kid. Here I was, wandering around a lake
in California, the same boy that used to
play in the woods, chasing robins.
In the far distance, Sophia and my
friend Michele were skipping stones,
trying to hit a floating log. The rest of the
group was out of sight down the path.
I didn’t mind being left behind — it
was like I’d found a key to a room that
hadn’t been opened for years, and I was
just beginning to explore what was
under all the dust that had accumu-
lated. It was slow work, but I was
ecstatic. Yes, that’s the word. Ecstatic. It
was like reconnecting with a long-lost
friend. I couldn’t stop smiling.
Walter pointed out birds as we walked
along. A lot of them were different from
the ones I’d grown up with. I had a lot to
learn, and a lot to relearn. There was a
childlike sense of wonder to the whole
experience: I was a birder again.
Of course, the trip had to come to an
end. As I drove back to Los Angeles at the
end of the long weekend, there was a
lump in my throat. My mind kept
jumping back to the merganser, and to all
the other birds we’d spotted around the
lake. I didn’t know when I’d get another
chance to go birding like that again.
Later that week, I found myself back
on the Warner Bros. lot, wandering past
the sound stages where Pretty Little Liars
is filmed. The show was on hiatus, but I
had a casting session for a horror film.
Driving onto the lot, I was feeling
irritable again. I wanted to be back in
the mountains. And just being in the
physical location of where I work made
me a little anxious — for something
different, for something more. Looking
to the mountains in the distance, I felt
completely cut off from nature.
I parked and got out of the car. Just
then, a pair of swallows darted by,
spiraling over and under each other as
they shot up into the sky and vanished
overhead. I was stunned. I stood there in
awe, trying to see where the birds had
disappeared to.
An assistant with a clipboard walked
up. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, still looking up at the
sky. “Just trying to see where those
swallows went.”
The assistant scratched his head. “I
know there are a couple of birds that live
up in the WB sign,” he said, pointing
toward Stage 16.
Right above the load-in doors on the
soundstage, the iconic WB sign beamed
out over the lot. Nestled in the shade
below the W, a nest made of mud clung
to the side of the sign.
“That’s it!” I said. “Those are Cliff
Swallows.”
I smiled. It felt good to be back. I’d
left the mountains behind, but birds —
birds are everywhere. I just hadn’t been
looking for them.
Ian Harding is an actor best known for
his role as Ezra Fitz on the television
show Pretty Little Liars, for which he
won seven Teen Choice awards.
w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 37
 idtips BY KENN KAUFMAN • PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN E. SMALL

Boreal forest birds

Mostly hunts by watching
from high, exposed perches Often perches
more horizontally
than other owls

Long tail,
but can look
short-tailed
when molting
Heavily barred in mid-summer
underparts, almost
unique among North
American owls

Often most active by day

Northern Hawk Owl, adult January in St. Louis County, Minnesota

Stretching from west-central Alaska

to easternmost Canada, occupying well
What to look for over two million square miles, the boreal
forest is one of the most significant
Find your spot. Fine tracts of boreal forest are located
habitats in North America. Ironically,
in most Canadian provinces, much of Alaska, and spar-
because this region is so large, it’s often
ingly into the northern edge of the lower 48 states.
overlooked or taken for granted. But this
vast, sprawling land of forests, meadows,
Take advantage of the season. In early summer birds
lakes, bogs, and rivers is a paradise for
sing more frequently. Populations are higher in late sum-
birds and other wildlife.
mer, swelled by fledged young birds. Winter has fewer Part of what makes the boreal so
species, but some of the specialties are more conspicu- fascinating, and so valuable for birdlife,
ous then. is its strong seasonality. Winters are long
and harsh, and few bird species are
Consider bird behavior. Some boreal species are adapted to surviving the season there.
regarded as elusive, but they can be surprisingly tame During the short spring and summer,
and easy to approach once found — and that can make the region explodes into life. Flowers
them easy to overlook, as they may not flush when bloom everywhere, buds burst into
you approach. leaves, and abundant tiny insects
resume their life cycles. The northern
forest can support far more birds in

38 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
summer than in winter, and migrants
come flooding in to take advantage of
the temporary surfeit of resources. At
the end of the breeding season, billions
of birds pour southward out of the
boreal, headed for wintering grounds
that span the Western Hemisphere.
Wherever we are, we can enjoy these
migrants when they pass through. But
there’s a special mystique to birds that can
survive in the boreal forest year-round.
For example, “winter finches” like Pine
Grosbeak, or northern owls like Great
Gray, Boreal, or Northern Hawk Owl, can
draw legions of admirers when they stray
a short distance southward in winter. But
for dedicated birders, it can be even more
fascinating to track down these species in
their usual haunts in summer.
“Tracking down” is an appropriate
term, since several of the birds are Boreal Chickadee, adult June in Somerset County, Maine
renowned for being hard to find. Spruce
Grouse, for example, may become a The year-round range of Boreal Chickadee is almost Distinctively drab, Boreal Chickadee has an overall
nemesis for observers who seek it an exact match for the extent of boreal forest in “dusty” look, with no white in the wings and only a
repeatedly without success. But it’s not a Canada and Alaska, barely extending into the lower small white cheek patch. Juveniles can look more
shy bird that flees from humans — the 48 states. The more widespread Black-capped grayish, and in Alaska they’re sometimes mistaken for
Chickadee also occurs in much of this range, but the rare Gray-headed Chickadee. Unlike Black-capped
problem is the opposite. It’s too tame, where they overlap, the Boreal usually lives in more or Carolina Chickadees, Boreal has no whistled song,
and will sit motionless while a person purely coniferous stands, especially of spruce. and most of its calls have a hoarse or wheezy quality.
walks by a few feet away. But when you
finally spot a Spruce Grouse, you may be
able to observe it at leisure.
The Boreal Chickadee has a reputa-
tion for being more elusive than other
chickadees, but this is partly because it
lives in dense spruces where it’s harder to
see. Birders often seek the species in early
summer when it’s incubating eggs or
feeding nestlings, and all chickadees
become more secretive at that stage in
their nesting cycle.
What’s the best season for a trip into
the boreal forest? It can be fascinating
any time. Bird song is at its peak in late
spring and early summer, but my
favorite time to visit is just after
mid-summer. At that time, independent
young birds and family groups may be
conspicuous. Warblers and other
migrants have gathered into flocks but
haven’t yet departed for the south. Bird
populations are at their highest point of Pine Grosbeak, adult male January in St. Louis County, Minnesota
the year, making the importance of this
habitat obvious to the fortunate visitor. Widespread in coniferous forests across northern consistent ID, it’s worthwhile to study the shape.
Europe and Asia, as well as throughout the boreal This is a bulky finch with a fairly long tail, short
Kenn Kaufman is author or co-author of field guides zones of North America, Pine Grosbeak is a unique neck, rounded head, and short, stubby bill with a
species with no close relatives. Adult males like this curved outline. That bill shape is ideal for crushing
to birds and butterflies and other books. Brian E.
one are easy to recognize by their color combina- seeds, buds, and other plant materials, which make
Small (www.BrianSmallPhoto.com) is a nature tion, but females and young males can be mostly up the great majority of its diet all year, supple-
photographer whose photos illustrate many books. gray with accents of yellow or dull orange. For mented by insects in summer.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 39

Blackpoll Warbler, breeding adult male June in Somerset County, Maine
Boreal forests are breeding grounds for enormous
numbers of migratory birds that visit each summer.
They include more than 25 species of warbler, most
of which migrate to the tropics for the winter.
Blackpoll Warbler, one of the more extreme
migrants, has almost its entire breeding range in
boreal forest, and winters exclusively in South
Spruce Grouse, adult male May in Chippewa County, Michigan
Spruce Grouse aren’t usually considered migratory,
yet many individuals make regular movements
between summer and winter ranges that may be as
much as seven miles apart. Whether they migrate or
not, their diets are predictable. For adults, much of
the diet in summer, and practically all of it in winter,
consists of the needles of pine, spruce, and other
40 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
America. Easy to recognize in spring and summer,
the male molts to a drab greenish plumage before
migrating south in fall, becoming the classic
“confusing fall warbler.” For a clue that applies well
to warblers in general, look at wing pattern: while
body plumage colors may change radically with the
seasons, wing pattern is much the same all year.
conifers. Young birds enjoy a more varied menu at
first, taking many insects, fungi, and other items. In
the widespread form seen here, adult males have
buffy tail tips and uppertail coverts finely patterned
with black and gray. In the “Franklin’s” form of the
northwest, males have plain dark tails and large
white spots on the uppertail coverts.
Too big to ignore
North America’s boreal forest
is vast, and vastly important
from the standpoint of bird
conservation. More than 300
bird species rely on the region
for at least part of the year, and
dozens of species breed almost
entirely within the zone. Includ-
ed among the boreal breeding
avifauna are birds that winter
throughout North, Central, and
South America, as well as the
Caribbean, so protecting the
birdlife of the region is a goal
with widespread consequences.
Over such a broad area,
threats to the habitat are varied,
but their cumulative effect is
large. Logging has been a
significant threat in the past, but
recently there have been en-
couraging moves toward more
sustainable forestry practices.
However, oil and gas develop-
ment has been increasing, as
have mining activities. Even
when local developments cover
only small areas, they break up
the habitat, leaving fragments
that have less value for wildlife
than continuous tracts. Finally,
the effects of climate change
are much more noticeable in
polar regions than in the tem-
perate zones, and they’re
already having significant
impacts on northern stretches
of the boreal forest.
Although several organiza-
tions are addressing conserva-
tion issues in this region, one of
the most effective — and one
with particular relevance for
birdwatchers — is the Boreal
Songbird Initiative. Its website
contains a wealth of detailed
information, as well as ways to
get involved with the issues;
see www.borealbirds.org to
learn more.

hotspotsnearyou
Mt. Pinos, California
HOTSPOTS 257-260
no. 257 lighthouse marine park
point roberts, washington
no. 258 mt. pinos
los padres national forest, california
no. 259 goose pond fish and wildlife area
linton, indiana
no. 260 santee coastal reserve wma
Chuck Graham
mcclellanville, south carolina
aug
17
HOTSPOTS NEAR YOU
OF THE 276 CALIFORNIA CONDORS tallied in
the wild last year, 80 of them lived in the mountains
between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, while another 86
were counted farther north, in the coastal areas and
mountains south and east of Monterey Bay. Places you
can look for them include Pinnacles National Park,
Carrizo Plain National Monument, Bitter Creek
National Wildlife Refuge, Tejon Ranch, and Mt. Pinos
(pictured above), which is in Los Padres National
Forest. Writer and photographer Chuck Graham
describes the mountain in this issue, noting that
condors can be seen soaring on afternoon thermal
updrafts. Thanks to the ongoing recovery work by
many agencies and organizations, our grandest bird
continues to come back from the brink of extinction,
and we birders can enjoy the view. — Matt Mendenhall
w w w. B i rd Wa t ch i n g D a i ly. c o m/ h o t s p o t s ma p 41
no.
257
lighthouse marine park AT A GLANCE
HOTSPOTS NEAR YOU

point roberts, washington HABITAT

48°58'23.12"N 123°4'54.18"W Tidal shoreline, grassland, shore pines,
blackberry clumps, wild roses, and fresh water
2000 ft Tsawwassen

56th St.
1 km slough with shrubby areas.

CANADA
TERRAIN
Roosevelt Way UNITED STATES
Flat. Wide shoreline gravel/sand trail and
narrow winding trails through the bushes and
Tyee Dr. picnic area. Paved driveway to car park and
Marine D

boat ramp wheelchair-accessible. Adjacent

r.

campground has paved access and level trails.

B oundar y Point Roberts
B ay
BIRDS
Summer: California Gull, Caspian Tern,
Marina Dr. Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Rufous
Beach at Point
Roberts Marina Lily Point Hummingbird, warblers, Savannah Sparrow.
Marine Park Spring and fall: Pacific Loon, Bonaparte’s and
r.
ar ds D
Lighthouse Edw Heermann’s Gulls, Common Tern, Parasitic
Marine Park
Jaeger, American Pipit. Winter: Brant, Snow
Goose, Harlequin Duck, Surf, White-winged,
Lighthouse Marine Park is a park in Point Roberts, which is on a peninsula divided by the
49th parallel and can only be reached by road from British Columbia. From Tsawwassen, and Black Scoters, Long-tailed Duck, Greater
head south on 56th St. to the Canada/U.S. border. After crossing, continue south on Tyee Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted
Dr. to Marina Dr., which soon turns onto Edwards Dr. Go 0.65 miles to the entrance. Merganser, Red-throated and Common
Loons, Horned and Western Grebes, Brandt’s
Situated on the exposed Cormorant, Black Turnstone, Sanderling,
southwest tip of Point Roberts, sites nearby Mew Gull, Common Murre, Fox and Golden-
Lighthouse Marine Park has an crowned Sparrows. Year-round: cormorants,
Lily Point Marine Park
abundance of birds (but no Bald Eagle, Black Oystercatcher, Glaucous-
On the southeast corner of the Point
lighthouse!). The ocean drops winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northwestern
Roberts peninsula. Steep cliffs
to 400 feet deep offshore, and Crow, Bushtit, Bewick’s Wren.
overlook Boundary Bay. 1.4 miles of
the mingling of salt water with shoreline. Excellent for ocean and
fresh water from the nearby woodland birds and migrants. WHEN TO GO
Fraser River makes it an Year-round. Go early in the morning.
excellent feeding area for Beach at Point Roberts Marina  
waterbirds. East of the marina off Simundson Dr. AMENITIES
I love visiting in September, A short gravel trail leads to a beach Picnic tables, restrooms, whale-identification
when migrating terns and and breakwater. Winter: Harlequin sign, boat launch, campsites (April to October),
Bonaparte’s Gulls are diving for Duck, Snow Bunting, and Western shelters. Park is a good place for spotting
fish and there’s a chance of Meadowlark. Rarities such as Rock
orcas and other marine mammals in summer.
seeing them harassed by a Wren have turned up here.
 
Parasitic Jaeger. In winter my
ACCESS
fingers turn icy as I scan the
County park. No fees for day use or parking;
pounding surf for Long-tailed Ducks and search for Black Turnstones
open sunrise to sunset.
camouflaged among the wet pebbles of the beach. The dozens of scoters,
mergansers, loons, cormorants, and grebes bobbing in the waves test my  
identification skills to the maximum. TIPS
Spring brings skeins of Brant headed for the Arctic, flocks of Pacific A scope is useful for offshore birds and marine
Loons, and the first swallows, while calm days in June are great for spotting mammals. Dress warmly for winter weather as
Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots. When I tire of looking out to the shoreline is exposed to the wind.
sea, I stroll among the shore pines, wild roses, and bramble patches, finding
White-crowned Sparrows and Bushtits, warblers, and hummingbirds, and FOR MORE INFO
always looking for some exciting wind-blown rarity. — Anne Murray Lighthouse Marine Park, (360) 945-4911, what-
comcounty.us/1956/Lighthouse-Marine-Park.
Anne Murray is an author and a newspaper columnist. She has written for us
about the Boundary Bay Dykes and other topics. www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/hotspotsmap

42
 no.
258
AT A GLANCE mt. pinos

HOTSPOTS NEAR YOU

HABITAT
los padres national forest, california
Open stands of conifer trees separated by 34°48'46.01"N 119°8'44.48"W
chaparral sage scrub and woodlands. 3 mi
3 km To Bakersfield
TERRAIN 5 Tejon
Summit is relatively flat and its surrounding Mil Potero Hwy. Ranch
trails are well-maintained for easy hiking. Cudd
y Val
ley R
d. Frazier Park
Rd.
BIRDS t. Pinos F razie r Moun t ain Pa r k Rd.
M
More than 300 species. Ash-throated Mil Lake of
Mt. Pinos l
Flycatcher, White-throated Swift, Western a n yon the Woods

C
Rd.
Wood-Pewee, Bullock’s Oriole, Bushtit, Oak To Los Angeles
Titmouse, Pine Siskin, Mountain Chickadee,
Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, Frazier Mountain
Rock Wren, Cassin’s Vireo, Cliff and Violet-

.
Rd
green Swallows, Anna’s, Calliope, and Rufous

ey
Los Padres National Forest

Hummingbirds, Fox and Bell’s Sparrows,
Orange-crowned and Hermit Warblers, Green-
tailed Towhee, Townsend’s Solitaire, Red
Crossbill, Lazuli Bunting, Western Bluebird,
Steller’s Jay, White-headed and Lewis’s
Woodpeckers, Clark’s Nutcracker, Band-
tailed Pigeon, Mountain and California Quail,
Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks, Northern
Goshawk, Prairie Falcon, California Condor,
Golden Eagle, America Kestrel, Long-eared
and Spotted Owls, and Northern Pygmy-Owl.
WHEN TO GO
Year-round. Best in spring, summer, and fall.
 
AMENITIES
Campground with 19 first-come, first-serve
campsites. Picnic tables, vault toilets, parking.
 
ACCESS
National forest. Open year-round, but check
for closures during winter. Purchase a Forest
Service Adventure Pass ($5 per day) to park
at the summit; available at a ranger station on
Lockwood Valley Rd., one mile from Lake of
the Woods.
TIPS
Dress in layers. Weather can change quickly
on the summit. Lower elevations also offer
good birding opportunities, so take your time
driving the paved road to the summit and utilize
pullouts along the way.
FOR MORE INFO
Mt. Pinos Ranger District, (661) 245-3731.
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/hotspotsmap
ll
Va
rt
ha
ck
Lo
Mt. Pinos is a mountain about 35 miles due south of Bakersfield. From either Bakersfield
or Los Angeles, take I-5 to the exit for Frazier Park and head west on Frazier Park
Mountain Rd. At Lake of the Woods, continue west on Cuddy Valley Rd. for five miles.
Turn left onto Mt. Pinos Rd. and follow it up the mountain to a large parking area.
I truly enjoy the diversity of
birdlife surrounding the sites nearby
heaping summit of Mt. Pinos,
Tejon Ranch
straddling Ventura and Kern
East of Frazier Park. The largest
counties in southern Califor-
contiguous private property in
nia. At 8,847 feet, it is the
California. Tricolored Blackbird,
highest summit in the Trans- Mountain Plover, California Condor,
verse Ranges and also in and about 200 more bird species.
Ventura County.
Cloaked in fragrant, mixed Ormond Beach and Wetlands
evergreen forests, the flattop Hotspot Near You No. 227
summit is home to one of the About two hours south of Mt. Pinos,
most significant populations of on the Pacific coast. Breeding
birds of prey in the Golden Western Snowy Plover and California
State, including five species of Least Tern, plus American Avocet
owl, Golden Eagle, and and other shorebirds.
Northern Goshawk. Endan-
gered California Condors
typically soar on afternoon thermal updrafts.
You can drive nearly to the summit. From the parking area it’s an easy
two-mile hike along a dirt road to its high point before entering the
Chumash Wilderness. Mt. Pinos is considered by the Chumash Indians to
be the center of the world, where everything is in balance, and the birdlife
certainly is: Alpine endemics such as Clark’s Nutcracker, Steller’s Jay,
Hermit Warbler, and Pygmy Nuthatch are commonly seen on the summit.
The mountain lies within Los Padres National Forest, and the summit
offers stupendous views of nearby ranges, the Carrizo Plain National
Monument, the southern Central Valley, and more. — Chuck Graham
Chuck Graham is a freelance writer and photographer (chuckgrahamphoto.
com) who has written a dozen previous reports for “Hotspots Near You.”

43
no.
259
goose pond fish and wildlife area AT A GLANCE
HOTSPOTS NEAR YOU

linton, indiana HABITAT

38°58'10.58"N 87°11'58.58"W Nearly 5,000 acres of shallow wetlands and
1,300 acres of prairie grasslands.
To Terre Haute
59 TERRAIN
54
Mostly flat; 37 miles of levees, some of which
can be hiked. Area can be birded from a
vehicle. Stop at numerous small parking areas
Greene-Sullivan
Linton 54 and walk up on levees for a better view.
State Forest To Bloomington
59
159 BIRDS
Goose Pond Fish 280 species. Breeding: Northern Bobwhite,
Ct. Rd. 200 S and Wildlife Area
American Bittern, Bald Eagle, Common
Visitor 67
Gallinule, Black-necked Stilt, Least Tern, Willow
center
Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, swallows, Marsh and
Ct. Rd. 400 S
Sedge Wrens, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow
Ct. Rd. 450 S
Warbler, Grasshopper, Henslow’s, and Field
59
Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel, Eastern
3 mi
3 km Meadowlark, Orchard Oriole. Migration:
Trumpeter Swan, many duck, shorebird, and
Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area protects more than 8,000 acres of prairies and marshes
between Terre Haute, Vincennes, and Bloomington, Indiana. From the north, drive south on wading bird species, American White Pelican,
State Rd. 59 to Linton. Continue south of Linton on SR 59 for 5.5 miles. Turn right on Sandhill Crane, Bobolink, Rusty Blackbird.
Cty. Rd. 400 S and go half a mile to the visitor center. Winter: Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow
Goose, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk,
Throughout the year, Goose Whooping Crane, Short-eared Owl, several
Pond Fish and Wildlife Area sites nearby sparrow species.
never disappoints. I look back at
Greene-Sullivan State Forest
the many times I’ve birded the WHEN TO GO
Immediately west of Goose Pond.
area, and the memories are too Year-round. Crane migration best in February.
Offers fishing, camping, and birding in
numerous to recount, but here  
a mixed coniferous/deciduous forest.
are a few: sorting through all Good for warblers and other songbirds AMENITIES
the shorebirds to find a Curlew in the spring. Visitor center (13540 W. CR 400 S) open 8-3
Sandpiper in May 2012; having most days and offers restrooms that can be
both a White-faced Ibis and a Hillenbrand Fish and Wildlife Area accessed from the parking lot.
Marbled Godwit in the same Five miles north of Linton. 3,400 acres  
scope view last fall; and of mostly reclaimed surface-mine ACCESS
gathering with other birders land. Summer: Bell’s Vireo, Henslow’s State fish and wildlife area. Admission free.
from around the country to Sparrow, and Blue Grosbeak. Winter: Never closed. Visitors required to carry a
admire a wayward Hooded Northern Harrier and other raptors.
permit while on the property. Permits available
Crane among the thousands of
at the visitor center and at check-in stations.
Sandhills in February 2012.
 
And earlier this year a Prairie
TIPS
Falcon was kind enough to circle above me.
Hunting allowed, so be aware and wear
Even without the rarities, Goose Pond offers more than 8,000 acres for
birders to explore. It provides breeding habitat for Black-necked Stilt, Least hunter’s orange during appropriate seasons.
Tern, Henslow’s Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, and more. I participate in the Because of the open landscape, conditions
Marshbird Monitoring Survey, listening for rails and bitterns at dawn can be more extreme than anticipated: colder,
several times each spring. During migration, I don’t think anything beats hotter, windier, or buggier, depending on the
the sight of American White Pelicans soaring in a clear blue sky. In winter, I season. Bring a spotting scope if you have one.
love watching Short-eared Owls hunt at dusk. The Goose Pond Christmas
Bird Count is one of the best in the state each year, regularly surpassing 100 FOR MORE INFO
species. — David Rupp Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, (812) 512-
9185, www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3094.htm.
David Rupp owns IndiGo Birding Nature Tours, based in Bloomington, and
he has worked in environmental education and wildlife biology. www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/hotspotsmap

44

AT A GLANCE
HABITAT
Longleaf pine forest, plantation ruins,
freshwater swamp, tidal marsh, impoundments,
cypress lake.
TERRAIN
Easy trails with little or no slope. Bicycles
permitted on four trails and the entrance road.
BIRDS
Year-round: Anhinga, Northern Bobwhite,
herons, egrets, Black-crowned Night-Heron,
White and Glossy Ibises, Wood Stork, King
and Clapper Rails, Common Gallinule, Royal
Tern, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman’s
and Seaside Sparrows. Winter: Tundra Swan,
American White Pelican, American Bittern,
Bonaparte’s Gull, Loggerhead Shrike, American
Pipit. Spring: Gull-billed and Least Terns,
Chuck-will’s-widow. Summer: Least Bittern,
Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites, Black-
necked Stilt, Painted and Indigo Buntings. Fall
through spring: Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs,
Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Short- and Long-billed
Dowitchers.
WHEN TO GO
Year-round. Spring through fall for songbirds,
winter for waterfowl, waders, and marshbirds.
 
AMENITIES
Restricted primitive camping available year-
round on barrier islands, which require
watercraft to reach. All other camping activities
require a permit.
 
ACCESS
State wildlife management area. No fees.
Portions of reserve closed during scheduled
hunts conducted from November through
February each winter.
TIPS
Stay on trails and boardwalks. Along
impoundments watch for alligators, some of
which are quite large. Bring bug spray or other
insect protection during spring and summer.
FOR MORE INFO
Santee Coastal Reserve Wildlife Management
Area, www2.dnr.sc.gov/ManagedLands/
ManagedLand/ManagedLand/61.
www.BirdWatchingDaily.com/hotspotsmap
no.
260
santee coastal reserve wma
HOTSPOTS NEAR YOU
mcclellanville, south carolina
33°9'5.48"N 79°21'36.75"W
17
San
tee
Ri
ve
r
Santee Gun Club Rd.
45
Francis Marion
National Forest
S. Santee Rd.
Santee Coastal
McClellanville Reserve WMA
17 Cape Romain
National Wildlife Refuge Atlantic O cean
To Charleston 5 mi
5 km
The Santee Coastal Reserve is a 24,000-acre wildlife management area about 35 miles
northeast of Charleston. From the city, travel north on Hwy. 17. About three miles past
McClellanville, turn right onto S. Santee Rd. Go about three miles and then turn right onto
Santee Gun Club Rd., which leads into the reserve.
This favorite spot along South
Carolina’s coast features a sites nearby
variety of habitats that can yield
Francis Marion National Forest
many species in a day’s visit.
Hotspot Near You No. 134
The entrance is a tract of
Adjacent to Santee Coastal Reserve
longleaf pine forest where you
and accessible via Hwy. 17 and I’on
can look for the highly sought Swamp Rd. Swainson’s Warbler,
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
and Bachman’s Sparrow, as well
as Summer Tanager and Cape Romain NWR
Brown-headed Nuthatch. South of reserve and east of
Beyond the forest, you will Hwy. 17. More than 66,000 acres of
come to an open area with barrier islands, salt marshes, coastal
trailheads, picnic tables, and waterways, sandy beaches, fresh
numerous live oaks draped in and brackish water impoundments,
Spanish moss. From here, you and maritime forest.
can choose one of several trails
that will take you to either a
freshwater swamp along an 800-foot boardwalk, old impoundments, pine
forest, or tidal wetlands.
Along the boardwalk in the breeding season, look for Prothonotary
Warbler, as well as Wood Stork and a variety of wading birds perched high
in the cypress trees. The impoundments hold waterfowl in winter and
elusive birds such as King Rail. The views of the tidal wetlands permit looks
at Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites and Black-necked Stilt.
Nearby Murphy and Cedar islands are barrier islands that are home to
nesting loggerhead sea turtles and colonial waterbirds and stopovers for
migratory shorebirds. — Eric Harrold
Eric Harrold is a naturalist, environmental educator, and tour guide. He also
wrote about the Virginia Creeper Trail, Hotspot Near You No. 211.
45
 amazingbirds
SAFETY IN NUMBERS: A flock of Dunlins rests on the Skagit Flats in Washington State.
The value of flocks
Birds come together to improve their survival chances
While I was walking a wooded area
near a Michigan pond one spring, the
forest floor stopped me cold. It was
carpeted with White-throated Sparrows
— the largest sparrow flock I had ever
seen — that apparently had dropped in
overnight. The birds were foraging and
affirmed the old adage, “Birds of a
feather flock together.”
Part of a bird’s feeding time is spent
looking around and being alert for
predators. A single bird must balance the
two critical activities and is vulnerable to
a sneak attack. If a second or third bird
joins the first, and all three randomly
check for predators, the total amount of
46 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
BY ELDON GREIJ
time watching for threats increases
significantly. It doesn’t take many
individuals grouped together to ensure at
least one of them is keeping watch almost
all of the time. And when a bird detects a
predator, its call alerts the entire flock.
It’s easy to see why flocks form. Not
only does feeding in a flock allow more
time for each bird to feed (and less
individual time looking for predators), a
flock will discover more food sites than
an individual can.
White-breasted Nuthatches, for
example, are often part of mixed flocks
that include Tufted Titmice and
Black-capped Chickadees, which seem to
“It doesn’t take many
individuals grouped together
to ensure at least one of
them is keeping watch
almost all of the time.”
be flock leaders. In an experiment in
which titmice and chickadees were
removed by trapping, the nuthatches
increased their vigilance for predators
and reduced their feeding time, leading
to decreased vigor.
As another testament to the value of
flocking, flock sizes are larger when food
is scarce and/or opportunities to forage
are limited. During winter in the high
latitudes of Norway, temperatures are low
and daylight hours few. Willow Tits (look-
a-like relatives of our chickadees) forage
almost constantly to consume enough
food (up to 10 percent of their body
weight) to make it through the night.
Feeding squabbles, commonly seen in
large flock behavior, are almost non-exis-
tent during the extreme conditions.
The benefit of flocking to individual
birds, however, can vary with social
status. Adult male White-crowned
Sparrows are dominant over females and
younger birds of both sexes. In a study
where food was placed at varying
distances from cover, adult males
utilized the sites closest to cover. If
subordinates were using the sites, the
males would displace them or otherwise
interfere with their feeding. Subordi-
nates were willing to feed at sites more
distant from cover, where the risk of
predation was greater but the likelihood
of negative social interaction was less.
A study of Laughing Gulls in South
Africa compared the reaction time for
detecting an approaching “predator” (a
hawk model on a wire) to flock size. In
general, larger flocks detected the
predator earlier, but when feeding time
was considered, an optimum flock size
was revealed. Small flocks of less than
four birds detected the predator more
Sarah Jessup/Shutterstock
quickly than did birds of larger flocks,
but the birds in small flocks were more
skittish and uneasy, and consequently,
spent less time feeding. Large flocks of
more than 15 birds had a slower reaction
time to the predator, probably because
they were having more feeding squab-
bles and were generally less attentive.
Similarly, shorebirds in California were
at less risk from a falcon attack when in
medium-size flocks.
Flocks in flight can also deter
predation. Peregrine Falcons attack
single birds and will take a bird from the
edge of a loose flock. If a Peregrine
stoops on a loose flock of starlings,
however, the flock tightens and loose
singles from the edge squeeze into a
solid oval. The likely confused falcon
usually veers off with empty talons.
Starlings, when threatened, display
amazing flight patterns, such as
tightening and expanding a flock or
splitting or merging flocks, sometimes
with artistic grace. (For an appreciation
of the behavior, search for “starling
flocks” on YouTube.)
One of the most elusive questions
about flocking is how birds communi-
cate within a flock. Anyone who has
watched a flock of acrobatic shorebirds
twist and turn in flight has almost
certainly wondered about the phenome-
non. The dark backs of birds in a flock
change to white in an instant as the birds
tilt and bank, showing their underparts.
To the human eye, the changes are
simultaneous — all birds turning at the
same time. So how do they know when
to turn? Which bird or birds turn first?
By using a series of high-speed
cameras, researchers in Italy have
tracked the movements of hundreds of
individual starlings within a flock and
analyzed the data with sophisticated
software that creates a three-dimen-
sional flock structure. This permits
determination of spatial relationships
between individuals. Each starling pays
attention to the movements of six or
seven neighboring birds — not neces-
sarily the closest ones. The number of
flock members tracked by an individual
may be related to its cognitive ability, as
laboratory studies have shown that
pigeons can discriminate between up to
six different objects. A few birds within
the flock initiate movement, which
spreads through the flock like a wave
and in a fraction of a second.
Flocking is a widespread behavior
that provides important survival
benefits for birds. While the overall goal
is the same for all species, the nuances
and particular aspects are as varied as
the number of species involved, offering
further evidence of the amazing biology
of birds.
Eldon Greij is professor emeritus of biology at
Hope College, located in Holland, Michigan, and
the founder of Birder’s World magazine.

CUBA
BIRD SURVEY
December 7-16, 2017
Presented by BirdWatching Magazine
in partnership with Caribbean
Conservation Trust

Cuban Tody David Sibley Cuban Trogon

Five reasons
• Accompany BirdWatching contributor David Sibley on a 10-day trip to Cuba.
• Experience the unique natural beauty of the Western Mountains,
Zapata Peninsula, Northern Archipelago, and Escambray Valley.

to join us • Observe and count birds in the field as part of conservation efforts.
• Licensed, legal travel coordinated under U.S. government authorization
by Connecticut-based Caribbean Conservation Trust (CCT).

in Cuba! • This will be our 3rd trip to Cuba in the last three years with CCT, which
has managed more than 200 legal birding programs in Cuba since 1996.

For more information, email cubirds@aol.com or go to www.cubirds.org or bit.ly/cubirds

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 47
 attractingbirds
THE LONG VIEW: Duck Stamp sales support national wildlife refuges such as Minnesota Valley.
Stamp of approval
How backyard birds benefit from the Duck Stamp
Every summer, I am thrilled anew by
the bounty of birds in my backyard. Our
cherry trees draw in tanagers, orioles,
warblers, and a host of other colorful
birds. Dozens of Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds visit our feeders and
backyard flowers, dart about capturing
insects swarming here and there, and
take quiet siestas in our trees.
From mid-July through early
September, I can count on a dozen or
more Cedar Waxwings any time I step
outside, feasting on berries and flying
insects both. Their soft, sibilant snores
define the sleepy, comfortable ambiance
of late summer afternoons.
48 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
BY LAURA ERICKSON
Scanning the bushes and trees and
keeping a careful watch on my bird-
baths, I spot a host of other birds, from
flycatchers to finches. A few of them
nested in the neighborhood, but the vast
majority arrive by happenstance in my
little backyard during their long journey
between their breeding and wintering
ranges.
Neither my husband nor I are
gardeners, and we live in a long-settled
neighborhood in a small city, so our
backyard habitat is hardly exceptional.
We do have a good variety of trees and
shrubs and a good brush pile. But just as
important, our yard is situated less than
The 2017-18 Federal Duck
Stamp features Canada Geese.
half a mile from the Lake
Superior shoreline, an
important migratory
pathway. Early migrants
passing overhead in
mid-summer may be
attracted by the colors of the
cherries and other fruits, a particular tree
(Evening Grosbeaks, for example, are
partial to box elders), or my birdbaths. I
suspect even more are attracted by the
sounds of birds already there. With birds,
it’s often true that the more you have, the
more you get.
Those of us who enjoy this rich
abundance know how important
backyard habitat is to attract birds. But
it’s easy to forget that even the finest
backyard habitat serves as little more
than a waypoint as most of “our” birds
journey between their nesting and
wintering ranges. Birds flying straight
south from my yard pass through
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri,
Arkansas, and Louisiana before reaching
the Gulf. Even the slightest westerly
component to the wind can send them
into Illinois or Mississippi, too. They’ll
need to make dozens or even hundreds of
stops along the way to rest and feed.
That is why even though I’m not a
hunter, every year I buy a Federal Duck
Stamp. I want to ensure that “my” birds
will be able to find quality habitat in our
national wildlife refuges as they travel.
My Duck Stamp costs $25, the cost of a
couple of large bags of sunflower seed. A
full $24.50 of that goes directly to
habitat acquisition to protect birds and
other wildlife.
As long as quality habitat exists in
Joe Mamer/Shutterstock; James Hautman/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
the north where these birds breed, in the
tropics where many of them winter, and
in enough feeding and resting places in
between, I can count on a wealth of
birds in my yard every spring and fall,
long into the future.
Laura Erickson is the author of the American
Birding Association’s new Field Guide to Birds of
Minnesota. In 2014, she won the ABA’s highest
honor, the Roger Tory Peterson Award.
 bookshelf BY MATT MENDENHALL

The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, by J. Drew
Lanham, Milkweed Editions, 2016, hardcover, 232 pages, $24; 2017, paperback, 240
pages, $16.

J. Drew Lanham, an alumni distinguished

professor of wildlife ecology and master teacher
at Clemson University, grew up on a 200-acre
farm and forest in Edgefield County, in western
South Carolina. Edgefield, he writes is “a
hidden gem, a source of biodiversity that is easy
to pass by on the way to somewhere else.” It was
where Lanham, growing up in the 1970s,
gradually fell in love with nature — the place
that led to his career and his lifelong interest in
birding, hunting, and conservation. In The
Home Place, which was a finalist for the John
Burroughs Medal, Lanham describes his family,
teachers, and others in his life, and he honestly
conveys his experience as a black man in a
hobby and a profession that is overwhelmingly
white. “Somehow my color often casts my love
affair with nature in shadow,” he writes. “Being who and what I am doesn’t fit
the common calculus.” By turns angry, funny, elegiac, and heartbreaking, The
Home Place is a remarkable meditation on nature and belonging, at once a
deeply moving memoir and riveting exploration of the contradictions of black
identity in the rural South — and in America today.
SPEAKERS
Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America, by Nathan Pieplow,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, softcover, 608 pages, $28.

Identifying birds by sound is arguably the most

challenging and important skill in birding. Until
now, just about every resource on bird sounds
required users to memorize the songs, calls, and
other sounds of birds. This book, by Nathan
Pieplow, one of the creators of the terrific website
earbirding.com, is the first comprehensive guide
to the sounds of eastern North American birds,
and it doesn’t call for musical training or auditory
memorization. The guide covers 520 species, most
of which are presented on a full page. One or
more small illustrations and a range map are
presented, but spectrograms — visual graphs of
sounds the bird makes — account for the bulk of
each species account. With a brief introduction to
five key aspects — speed, repetition, pauses, pitch
pattern, and tone quality — readers can learn to
visualize sounds. Picturing sounds makes it possible to search the book’s innova-
tive visual index to look up unfamiliar sounds heard in the field. We can also
listen to accompanying audio tracks available at www.petersonbirdsounds.com.
Perhaps most remarkable is that this book was not created by a birder who can
identify every bird by its call. Pieplow’s high-frequency hearing is getting progres-
sively worse, but by using spectrograms he can visually distinguish bird sounds.
Now the rest of us can, too.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 49
 From
our
yourview Birding experiences and photographs submitted by readers readers!

A real head-turner

QUITE A STRETCH: A Great Egret cranes its neck to preen beneath a

wing in Chincoteague, Virginia. Sarah Blodgett of Ithaca, New York, made
the photo with a Canon 5D Mark III and a 500mm f4 lens.

50 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
 NEW TO THE LIST: In late April
subscriber Fran Baer of Hilton
Head Island, South Carolina, added
Blue Grosbeak to her yard list
when this gorgeous male perched
above a hummingbird feeder. She
used a Canon 7D Mark II and a
100-400mm lens.

SPRING SENSATION: Linda

Trautman of Columbus, Indiana, found
this White-eyed Vireo at Stillwater
Marsh near Bloomington, Indiana. She
used a Nikon D7200 camera with a
Sigma 150-600mm lens.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 51
52 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
 SMALL AND HARDY: A male Downy Woodpecker forages on a birch tree near
St. John’s, Newfoundland, in January. Geoff Smith took the photo with a Canon 80D
and a 300mm f/4 IS lens.

GOLDEN SWAMP
WARBLER: In late April
Kathy Nice found this
Prothonotary Warbler at
Nahant Marsh in Davenport,
Iowa. She shot its portrait
with a Canon PowerShot
SX60 HS.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION: On an early April

morning, Lesser Yellowlegs fight in a pond in
the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland,
Florida. Pierre Deguire of Casselman,
Ontario, captured the action with a Nikon
D500 and a 300mm f/2.8 lens with a Nikon
TC-20E II 2x teleconverter.

w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 53
 HOME SWEET HOME: Ann
Lowrey photographed this
Black-capped Chickadee
peering from its nest hole in
Milwaukee’s Lake Park. She
used an Olympus E-M5 Mark II
and a Panasonic-Leica
100-400mm lens.

GOLDEN GLOW: This

Golden-crowned Kinglet
displayed its namesake
crown stripe in a nature
reserve in Biddeford, Maine.
Seth Davis shot the photo
with a Nikon D7200 and a
200-500mm lens.

Let’s hear from you!

Submit photos as full-resolution,
high-quality JPG files via email
(no TIFFS, please). Include a short
description of the photo; include
the bird name, the equipment used,
and the location. Please include
your name, address, phone num-
ber, and email address. If we pub-
lish a story or photo of yours, we’ll
send you a complimentary copy
of the issue in which it appears.
There’s no payment for use of text
or photos in “Your View.”

Send your photos and stories to:

Your View Editor
BirdWatching Magazine
yourview@birdwatchingdaily.com

54 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
advertisers
We believe that our readers are as important as our
advertisers; therefore, we try to handle all readers’
complaints promptly and carefully. If, within a reasonable
length of time, you do not receive your merchandise or a
satisfactory reply from an advertiser, please write to us. In
your letter detail exactly what you ordered and the amount
of money you sent. We will then forward your complaint to
the advertiser for action. If no action is ultimately obtained,
we will refuse to accept further advertising from them.

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w w w. B i rd Wa t c h i n g D a i l y. c o m 55
 idtoolkit ART AND TEXT BY DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY Look for our next issue
On sale August 29

COOLING OFF: A House Finch in a normal posture (left), and in a heat-stress

posture with feathers compressed, bill open, and wings out.

Avian air conditioning

To find birds in summer, understand how they deal with heat
Hot weather is tough on everyone,
birds included.
With a high body temperature,
extremely good insulation, and limited
ways to dissipate heat, one of the
biggest risks for birds in hot weather is
simply overheating. Maintaining a
normal activity level in hundred-de-
gree heat is potentially fatal for a bird,
and some of the strategies birds use to
keep cool can dramatically change
their overall appearance.
The activity patterns birds employ to
survive the heat are generally what we
would call “common sense,” and your
strategies for finding birds in hot
weather are straightforward. Birds are
most active in the cooler temperatures
of very early morning, so the earlier you
can start birding, the better. As the day
warms up, birds slow down and seek
shade — especially shade with water. A
small pond or stream (or a bird bath)
“Birds do not sweat,
so the only option for
evaporative cooling is to
open their bill and flutter
their throat to allow
moisture to evaporate
out of the mouth.”
shaded by trees and shrubs will attract
birds throughout the day, and if you can
find a shady place to sit where you can
see the birds without disturbing them,
you’ll have a really pleasant time.
Some birds remain active in the
open during the heat of the day — often
they’re adults with young in the nest
and have no choice but to continue
gathering food and carrying it back to
their growing offspring. And their
strategies for dissipating heat can
change their appearance.
Birds do not sweat, so the only
option for evaporative cooling is to
open their bill and flutter their throat
to allow moisture to evaporate out of
the mouth. Other options for cooling
off include reducing insulation by
compressing feathers tightly against the
body, which makes the legs look longer,
and holding the wings away from the
body to expose bare skin.
Watching how common birds deal
with heat can help you understand the
range of appearances shown by all
birds, and it will give you a greater
appreciation of the challenges they face
every day.
David Allen Sibley is the author of The Sibley
Guide to Birds, Second Edition, Sibley’s Birding
Basics, and field guides to the birds of eastern
and western North America. In our last issue,
he explained how to identify found feathers.

56 B i rd Wa t c h i n g • Au g u s t 2 017
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MONUMENTAL THREAT
TO PUBLIC LANDS
Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona

7 things to know about President Trump’s attack on national monuments has struck a nerve with
Americans, generating tons of media coverage and an outpouring of support for these
Trump’s attack on our spectacular public lands.
Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Interior Department has opened a 15-day comment period
ronnybas/Shutterstock

national monuments for Bears Ears National Monument and a 60-day comment period for the rest of them.
That’s ostensibly so people can share their thoughts on the administration’s “review”
BY RANDI SPIVAK of 27 monuments created since 1996. More likely it’s to give Trump and Republicans
political cover when they try to hand monument land over to the oil, gas, coal, and
timber industries.
 National monuments
at risk under Trump
NATIONAL MONUMENT ACRES
ARIZONA
Grand Canyon-Parashant 1,054,264
Ironwood Forest 189,731
Vermillion Cliffs 294,160
Sonoran Desert 496,337
CALIFORNIA
Giant Sequoia 327,769
Carrizo Plain 246,048
San Gabriel Mountains 346,117
Berryessa Snow Mountain 330,780
Mojave Trails 1,600,000
Sand to Snow 154,000
COLORADO
Canyons of the Ancients 182,422
IDAHO
Craters of the Moon “VI” 661,287
MAINE
Katahdin Woods and Waters 87,563
Giant Sequoia, California
MONTANA
Upper Missouri River Breaks 494,451
presidents and the Antiquities Act after treasures in their backyards. From gear
NEW MEXICO
Congress failed to act. outfitters to hotels and restaurants, the Rio Grande del Norte 242,555
tourism industry is booming as more Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks 498,815
5. NATIONAL MONUMENTS ALLOW Americans seek the wide open spaces
NEVADA
BROAD PUBLIC ACCESS. Monument and historical context that national Basin and Range 704,000
designations protect the land from be- monuments provide. Gold Butte 296,937
ing exploited by oil, gas, coal, mining, Even if economics were not on the
OREGON
and timber companies, as well as from side of protecting cultural and natural Cascade-Siskiyou 52,000
other harmful activities. Valid mineral resources on public lands, it’s still the (expansion) 48,000
rights and existing livestock grazing right thing to do and the reason Con-
UTAH
are generally preserved when new gress enacted the Antiquities Act more Grand Staircase-Escalante 1,885,800
monuments are created. than a century ago. Bears Ears 1,350,000
National monuments also allow
WASHINGTON
hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, 7. TRUMP HAS NO LEGAL AUTHORITY
Hanford Reach 195,000
mountain biking, and motorized TO RESCIND MONUMENT DESIG-
vehicles on roads. NATIONS OR CHANGE MONUMENT
A recent report from outdoor BOUNDARIES. Trump can’t overturn MARINE MONUMENTS*
sporting groups details the widespread a monument designation under the AMERICAN SAMOA
use of national monuments by anglers, Antiquities Act, period. And while Rose Atoll 11,400,364
birdwatchers, river rafters, hikers, and there’s precedent for a president shrink- ATLANTIC OCEAN
hunters, as well as the broad local support ing the boundaries of a monument de- Northeast Canyons & Seamounts 4,164,002
that led to their creation. The lands are clared by a predecessor, it’s never been
GUAM/NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS
well used and well loved by generations of challenged in court. Marianas Trench 80,700,105
area families, as well as tourists. Trump is certain to face a court
challenge if he tries to rescind or reduce HAWAII
Papah naumoku kea 118,481,240
6. MONUMENT DESIGNATIONS ARE the size of a national monument. If he Papah naumoku kea “II” 375,278,034
GOOD FOR BUSINESS. National punts to Congress, voters will remember
monument protections are a boon the elected officials who supported MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS
Pacific Remote Islands 73,641,727
to local economies (ask Utah’s taking away their national monuments
Pacific Remote Islands “II” 416,145,936
Escalante-Boulder Chamber of or weakening the Antiquities Act.
Commerce), and research shows that The fate of our natural wonders is not
Western counties with public lands negotiable. Send in your comment today. TOTAL ACRES
had healthier economies and created Terrestrial national monuments 11,738,036
more jobs than those without. Randi Spivak is the public lands director at Marine national monuments 1,006,156,976
Total terrestrial and marine
Reams of evidence show monument the Center for Biological Diversity. This
national monuments 1,017,895,012
status helps states and local businesses article was originally published on the
promote the cultural and natural Center’s Medium page on May 15, 2017. * Marine national monument acreage is
based on nautical square miles.

Source: Center for Biological Diversity

Return
to magazine
Carrizo Plain, California
There’s a significant amount of
misinformation being spread by Trump
and other monument opponents, but
what’s clear is that national monuments
and the Antiquities Act, which gives a
president authority to designate national
monuments, are at grave risk.
Because of this unprecedented attack
on more than 1 billion acres of our most
beloved public lands and waters — from
California’s Giant Sequoia National Mon-
ument to Katahdin National Monument
in Maine to the Rose Atoll Marine
National Monument near American
Samoa — we need your support. You can
submit a comment to the Interior
Department expressing how much you
value Bears Ears and all of America’s
national monuments. Act before the
comment period closes: Deadline is May
26 for Bears Ears National Monument
and July 10 for all others.
Here are seven things you should know:
1. NATIONAL MONUMENT DESIGNA-
TIONS DON’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.
The Antiquities Act gives the president
authority to create national monuments,
but in the 111-year history of this bipar-
tisan, congressionally approved power,
there haven’t been any big surprises.
That’s because monument designa-
tions take years of study, collaboration,
and review to ensure they contain
“historic landmarks, historic and
prehistoric structures” or “other objects
of historic or scientific interest,” as
required by the act.
Trump and Utah’s monument-hating
politicians, led by Sen. Orrin Hatch and
Rep. Rob Bishop, claim that the Bears Ears
and Grand Staircase-Escalante national
monuments were created in the dead of
night, with little public input. In fact, both
monuments were years in the making.
2. OIL AND COAL COMPANIES
THREATEN NATIONAL MONUMENTS.
There’s ample evidence that Trump’s
April 26 order to “review” national
monuments came at the behest of the oil
and gas industry. These companies have
long wanted to profit by drilling into
these iconic landscapes. Trump’s order
itself is instructive, saying monuments
can “create barriers to achieving energy
independence” and “otherwise curtail
economic growth.”
The Western Energy Alliance has
said there’s “certainly an industry
appetite” for drilling at Bears Ears, and
President Clinton’s 1996 designation of
Grand Staircase scrubbed a Dutch
company’s plan to dig up 72 million tons
of coal. The fossil fuel industry’s determi-
nation to destroy public lands for private
profit is exactly why these protections
were put in place.
3. OPPOSITION TO NATIONAL MON-
UMENTS IS NOTHING NEW. Many of
our treasured national parks were first
protected as national monuments —
including Grand Canyon, Grand Teton,
Zion, Bryce, and Olympia — and each
had detractors and doomsayers.
A century ago, naysayers made the
same arguments we hear today about
jobs and economic growth. History
shows they were wrong then, and it will
again show they’re wrong now.
The Antiquities Act has allowed
presidents from both parties to bypass
congressional inaction, hand-wringing,
and alarmist rhetoric to permanently
protect pristine wildlands, and the
wildlife and irreplaceable cultural
artifacts within, from special interests
driven by short-term gains.
4. MOST PEOPLE, BY FAR, SUPPORT
PROTECTING NATIONAL MONUMENTS.
Polls consistently show overwhelming
public support for national monuments.
Surveys of Western voters, who live in
and around most of the public lands at
risk, clearly demonstrate that they value
public lands and monument protections.
Hunters and anglers, and the outdoor
industry that supports them, are also
huge monument supporters. In a May 9
letter to members of Congress, more
Kenneth Rush/Shutterstock; kavram/Shutterstock
than 100 hunting and fishing organiza-
tions across the West decried any efforts
to weaken the Antiquities Act or rescind
monuments.
It’s worth noting that local and
national conservation organizations,
Native American tribes, and sporting
and recreation groups turned to