By Brian, on January 4th, 2011
In early November, we blogged about at least five gulls in the San Francisco area with cut beer cans around their necks. Though the person responsible for placing the collars is still at large, wildlife rescue workers have successfully cut off three of the rings, the last of which took place this past weekend.
The most recent rescue happened on San Francisco State University’s campus on Saturday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Someone spotted the bird in November, and called it in to WildRescue and International Bird Rescue Research Center. After a few weeks of gaining the animal’s trust, the rescue groups removed the can with scissors. Then they released the bird, which but for some damage to feathers around its neck, was unharmed.
Continue reading Update: Beer Collars Removed from Three Gulls
By Brian, on December 29th, 2010
 Cedar waxwing. Image by Ingrid Taylar, Wikimedia Commons. Between now and January 5, 2011, birders across the country and North America will get out their binocs (if you need a pair, check out this handy guide we ran last year), open their guides books, and start tallying up the birds. It’s not as simple as writing down every bird that crosses your path during this two-week period.
Here’s, how it works, from the National Audubon website:Count volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile (24-km) diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day. It’s not just a species tally—all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day.
Continue reading On Your Mark, Get Set, Count…
By Brian, on December 18th, 2010
Photo: anyjazz65, Wikimedia Commons Senior editor Alisa Opar recently offered up the five best bird feeders for wintertime.
But it’s not enough to set your feeder and forget it. You need to clean it out, or you risk inadvertently causing the birds that visit to get sick. The same goes for birdbaths. The Grand Rapids Press ran a great article about this, which you can find here.
Some of the more common diseases that birds can spread through feeders include house finch eye disease (the colloquial name for mycoplasmal conjunctivitis, which can infect more than just the bird for which it’s named), salmonellosis (caused by salmonella bacteria), aspergillosis (a fungal respiratory disease), and avian pox.
To prevent the spread of illness in the birds that frequent your seed buffet, try these three steps:
Continue reading 3 tips to Keep Bird Feeder Disease-Free
By Brian, on December 13th, 2010
Photo by Kevin Collins
Don Quixote might have been a tad afeared of California’s Altamont Pass. As you approach from the east on Interstate 580, over 4,000 cagy windmills stand ready on the bright green, then dry rolling hills that hold this gateway to the Bay Area. Most of the turbines are old, and they’re often idle. Built in the early ’80s, the Altamont wind farm was one of first in the U.S., and it’s still one of the largest, on average producing about 125 megawatts of power—not shabby, (though, in theory, it has a capacity of 500 mw). But unfortunately, every year several thousand raptors and many more songbirds are killed at Altamont, golden eagles and warblers alike sent spiraling out of the sky by the thumping mills.
In 2007, environmentalists (including several Audubon chapters) reached a settlement with turbine operators to reduce kills by 50 percent. To help achieve the goal, the windmills have been shut down during the wintertime, but stituating the turbines more thoughtfully and tweaking their design would make the bigger difference.
Continue reading A Win for Birds and Windmills
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