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 . . . → Read More: Update: Beer Collars Removed from Three Gulls]]>

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.

The captured gulls are luckier than those left to deal with the aluminum on their own, Rebecca Dmytryk told the Chronicle. “The can will kill them eventually, in a very slow way,” she said. Here’s what can happen, according to the Chronicle:

The jagged cans force the birds to adjust how they eat, but exposure is the rescuers’ chief concern. Because the animals aren’t able to properly preen, their feathers lose their warmth and water-proofness, leaving them susceptible to the elements.

In November, the reward for capture of the responsible criminal was $2,500. IBRCC and WildRescue upped that to $6,500 for anyone with information that leads to an arrest. Once again, if you spot one of these gulls, don’t try to catch it. Instead, call (831) 429-2323 or e-mail rescue@wildrescue.org.

View the original article here

Every year, an event takes place Australia-wide that brings twitchers together to . . . → Read More: Chasing Birds]]> Australia is home to over 800 species of birds from honeyeaters to hawks, from spoonbills to cockatoos. It is also home to different species of bird lovers, some of whom take their interest to the extreme. These enthusiasts are known as “twitchers”.

Every year, an event takes place Australia-wide that brings twitchers together to take part in a highly competitive race – the “Twitchathon”. The aim is to spot as many species as possible in twenty four hours. Not easy at the best of times – but especially difficult with a camera crew tagging along.

“Chasing Birds” follows three teams – the Hunter Home-Brewers, the Hunter Thickheads and the Whacked-Out Woodswallows as they travel up to five hundred kilometres from the desert to the sea – in their attempt to spot more species than any other team.

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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 . . . → Read More: 3 tips to Keep Bird Feeder Disease-Free]]>
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:

1. Clean feeders regularly, recommends the National Wildlife Health Center, part of the U. S. Geological Survey. Rinse the feeder well with soapy water, then dunk it into a bleach-water solution. “A monthly cleaning with a nine-to-one water-bleach solution will deter bacteria in plastic, ceramic, and metal feeders,” reads an Audubon at Home guide to Feeder Maintenance & Hygiene. “A dilute vinegar solution (three-to-one) or non-fragranced biodegradable soap should be used on wood to minimize fading.” Dry out the feeder before hanging it back up. Double the frequency of cleaning if you suspect disease a-lurking.

2. Tidy below the feeder. This can mean raking or shoveling up feces and hulls (seed casings)—particularly those that are moldy, wet, or spoiled—and throwing them out, recommends Project FeederWatch, a joint effort between Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada. “Bird food scattered on the ground also can attract rodents.” On snow-covered lawns, scraping off a few layers of snow should do the trick, the Audubon guide states. 

3. Share the wealth. Spread out food among a couple feeders so there’s less opportunity for sick birds to touch and contaminate each other, says the National Wildlife Health Center. “Crowding only expedites the spread of disease,” the Audubon guide reads, “so give the birds variety and plenty of room.”If you see what you think is a sick bird, don’t try to treat it yourself. Instead, call the National Wildlife Health Center for instructions. Also, Cornell Lab of Ornithology tracks cases of avian illness so report any sick birds there, too.

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The Hawk Eye Nature Cam is a miniature television camera that brings the great-out-of-doors right into the living room!

Also has a 6 volt transformer and 100 ft of . . . → Read More: Hawk Eye Nature Cam Camera]]> Miniature video camera for wildlife viewing. Connects to the television.

Real-time, color video. Infrared night vision. Built in microphone. Weather shield allows outdoor use.

The Hawk Eye Nature Cam is a miniature television camera that brings the great-out-of-doors right into the living room!

Also has a 6 volt transformer and 100 ft of extendable cable.

6.00 inches tall x 3.00 inches long x 0.75 inches wide

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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, . . . → Read More: A Win for Birds and Windmills]]>
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.

Yesterday, an agreement of that kind was announced: NextEra Energy Resources, which owns about half the blades at Altamont, plans to replace its 2,500 turbines with fewer, but larger, more efficent rotors by 2015, or else remove them. (Additionally, the company will contribute $2.5 million to raptor habitat restoration—$10,500 for each refurbished megawatt.)

The swap will be made in phases and incorporate feedback from the previous, in particular evidence of mortality among redtails, goldens, burrowing owls and kestrels. The new windmill sites will be surveyed once a month for casualties.

Biologists monitored raptors for over 700 hours recently at the nearby Vasco Caves Regional Preserve to help determine what types of airspace are favored as hunting grounds or fly zones (and for burrowing owls, nest sites). Their findings (along with other bird data from Altamont) will be used to guide Altamont’s coming installations. Abrupt shifts in elevation (like notches, saddles and benches) as well as low ravines and valleys are especially hazardous to birds: They not only attract prey, but also funnel air forcefully.

Altamont’s fatalities are part of the price we’ve paid for this early experiment in green energy, but we’re learning. Certainly, we need more windmills. Oil spills apart, dirty energy sources have hidden side effects that destroy habitat, and thus birds, globally. (High rises, meanwhile, lure countless more to glassy ends.) The U.S. has enormous wind energy potential, and it makes sense to go forward and harness it. But, as at Altamont, let’s make sure the best available studies on birds (and bats!) help lead the charge.

View the original article here

Courtesy FWS

Here’s fodder for an age-old, but hopefully not old-news, endangered species conversation:

In southern Washington, a timber company that owns a 45,000 swath of forest within reach of spotted owl nest sites–a holding  it intends to harvest on a relatively generous 60-year rotation–has committed to a “safe harbor” agreement with the U.S. . . . → Read More: Spotty Protection?]]>

Courtesy FWS

Here’s fodder for an age-old, but hopefully not old-news, endangered species conversation:

In southern Washington, a timber company that owns a 45,000 swath of forest within reach of spotted owl nest sites–a holding  it intends to harvest on a relatively generous 60-year rotation–has committed to a “safe harbor” agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a “landowner option plan” with related Washington State agencies. In exchange for attention to habitat, this deal excepts the company for the next 60 years from sudden logging restrictions, should spotted owls move in. Additionally, the company, Port Blakely Tree Farm, would be absolved of any “incidental take” down the line, should, say, one of those eventual falling timbers take out an owl, mid-glide.

As the Oregonian reports in depth, when Port Blakely bought the Morton Block, it was aware of nine nest sites nearby. What that meant was large portions of their holding could be rendered more or less uncuttable under Endangered Species Act provisions if spotties came to town—an obvious business conundrum. The very thought can lead to “panic cutting,” a preemptive strike against encroaching endangered species. It’s happened elsewhere. But instead of panicking, Port Blakely cooperated with the agencies to come up with a plan (the kind Audubon has reported on elsewhere, in terms of aplomado falcons).

Now, their foresters are purposefully girdling trees—shaving a ring of bark from the tree, killing it—to make new snags that woodpeckers and squirrels will  excavate for spotties, which nest in cavities. Port Blakely is also cultivating the understory, leaving woody debris, and thinning purposefully. In other words, they’re trying to speed up and simulate spotted owl habitat, ushering along an almost-old growth so that young birds can use it as a stopover ground, or even for breeding.

This is only the third “safe harbor” agreement geared toward spotted owls, and the first two involved much smaller plots. Whether it will really benefit the birds is up, of course, in the proverbial air. You might be able to create snags, but is it so easy to attract the rest of an old growth ecosystem to what’s actually a 60-year-old, heavily-managed forest? And should a company be forgiven of incidental take (goodness forbid), out of hand? Few are sure.

View the original article here

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