But They're Just Birds!?!

While I was visiting a friend in Florida, I mentioned that I had to get up early so I could go birding (potential warbler fallout at Ft. DeSoto). His significant other blurted out, "Why go to all the trouble, they're just birds?" I was speechless. I'm never speechless. Really. My brain simply could not process this statement, "...but they're just birds." I have seen an American Dipper in Oregon, a Cactus Wren in Arizona, a Vermillion Flycatcher in Texas, an Ivory Gull in Illinois (yes, Illinois), a Lesser Prairie Chickens in Kansas, and a Key West Quail Dove in Florida. All of these birds are beautiful, amazing and interesting. They are so far beyond "just birds."

Alight. If you have only been exposed to European Starlings, House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons, you might think "they're just birds." But if you really take the time to look, even these birds can be intriguing. Starlings are great mimics and their vocalizations can be quite varied. Mozart kept one as a pet for three years. And a murmuration of starlings can be quite mesmerizing, as can be seen here:

House Sparrows have their own interesting aspects as well. The British Trust for Ornithology page, "Whose the Daddy?" states; "Research shows that female House Sparrows can be attracted to several males in a neighbourhood, with 20% of nests containing one or more chicks that are unrelated to provisioning male."

The Rock Pigeon has amazing plumage variations which have led to research into the genetics behind the variation. This photo is from "Birds of a Different Color - Three Major Genes Set Feather Hue in Pigeons."

So, one is actually hard pressed to call even our most common birds "just birds." (Note: Yes, I am aware that these three species are widespread and are not protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The aggressive nature of Starlings and House Sparrows in particular make them successful competitors with our native species. But their behavior -including the reasons behind their success, make them interesting birds.)

In addition to the birds that I mentioned above, the list of intriguing birds and their behavior is long and varied - Sage Grouse displaying on a lek, Reddish Egrets "dancing," mating behavior of Western Grebes, huge flocks of migrating Sandhill Cranes and "booming" of Common Nighthawks are just some of the things that "quicken the pulse" of birders across the country.

And if you go outside the borders of the United States, the "wowness" factor can increase significantly. Perhaps the kings of beauty and intrigue are the Birds-of-Paradise. Not only are these birds beautiful, but their courtship dances are complex and approach the level of bizarre. To see these birds in action visit the "Birds-of-Paradise Project."

Wilson's Bird of Paradise*

As I write this, I'm still flabbergasted. How could anyone describe the enormous variety of birds as "just birds?" Have they ever been outside? Watched a nature special on television? Opened their eyes?  Are they aware of the millions of people that describe birdwatching their primary hobby? 

I think all birders have a responsibility to introduce people to birds. This doesn't mean they should be converted to avid birders, but they should be made more aware of the world around them. No one should ever go through life thinking of them as "just birds."

*"Wilson's Bird of Paradise" by Doug Janson - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson%27s_Bird_of_Paradise.jpg#/media/File:Wilson%27s_Bird_of_Paradise.jpg

Some Thoughts on Trip Planning

I recently took a trip to Florida, to reconnect with old friends, watch our daughter compete in the NAIA National Dance Championship and to do a little birding. I lived in Florida for roughly eight years and did some birding during that time, but all records of my sightings have long since disappeared. Because I had limited time in which to bird, I wanted to maximize my chances of seeing some specific species. I did some significant planning for the trip and based on conversations I have had with several birders it seemed it might be worth sharing my experiences. There are certainly other options but this is what worked for me. I was able to see 116 species during my trip, 30 of them were lifers. The numbers would have been much lower without prior planning.

Select Some Target Species

According to eBird, a total of 569 species have been recorded in Florida. I knew that even some casual birding would allow me to find some interesting birds, but I wanted to focus on birds that normally don't occur in my home state of Kansas (although Wood Stork, Brown Pelican and Roseate Spoonbill were recorded in Kansas in 2014). By selecting specific species, like Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman's Sparrow, Purple Gallinule, Limpkin, American Oystercatcher, Crested Caracara, etc. I was in a better position to plan my route through the state. I could select areas where I was most likely to see these species, I could restrict my research to the habits and habitats of these birds, and I had a more manageable amount of bird calls to learn.

Surf the Internet

Surf the internet using regional search terms - ones I used were things like, "birding Volusia County," "Red-cockaded Woodpecker Florida," "Florida birding," etc.I was able to find blog posts of birders who had recently visited Florida, publications of local Audubon Societies, like  "Greater Daytona Birdwatching Guide," and "Birding Sites in Hernando County," and various species accounts. Keep in mind that many internet posts/sites are not always updated on a regular basis. Any information should be verified.

Use eBird

eBird is an incredibly valuable tool for birders, and is a great resource for trip planning. In fact, I have spoken to birders who claim that they only use eBird to plan a trip. The "Explore Data" option allows you to explore specific regions such as states and counties, "Hotspots" and "Species Maps" which allows you focus on the specific locations (and dates) a target species has been seen. For me, my top target species was Red-cockaded Woodpecker (In my youth, this bird was considered to be on the verge of extinction). eBird allowed me to find areas that the bird had been most recently sighted.

Portion of the Species Map for Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

"Pins" show locations where Red-cockaded Woodpeckers have been seen.

Red "Pins" indicate recent sightings.

While eBird is a great resource, I didn't restrict my planning to this one tool. Not all birders use eBird, it does not provide information on habits and often birders will record sightings for a specific region, such as a wildlife refuge, as opposed to a more specific location within that region. 

Subscribe to Regional Listservs

A 'listserv" is a topic specific email system configured so that when an email is sent to the listserv, all members (subscribers) will receive a copy of the email. People post recent sightings, locations of "zooties" (rare birds), updates on specific areas, discussions on ID's, population trends, notifications of field trips, etc. The American Birding Association keeps a list of U.S. and some foreign listservs here. While there are five listservs for Florida, I subscribed to Birdbrains (for Kansas birders KSBIRDS-L is awesome). This was extremely helpful. I learned about new hotspots, what birds to look for in places I had planned to visit and most importantly it allowed me to connect with local birders. I posted an inquiry asking about birding in Volusia County (where the NAIA Championships were being held). I received numerous, detailed responses - which included directions, best times of days to visit, birds most likely to encounter, etc. The string of communications resulted in an offer to take me around Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge - which I accepted.

Connect with Local Birders

In my experience, birders are some of the most generous, helpful people I have ever encountered and they are more than willing to provide tips and information. Your chances of having a great birding adventure will increase significantly if you connect with local birders. Simply sharing my itinerary and target species list resulted in meeting a couple in Hernando County who have birded there for 29 years, and monitored Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, three days a week for fifteen years! In addition to giving me great views of the RCW's, they knew their life histories, had personal anecdotes - in short it was wonderful. They also asked me what other Florida birds I was hoping to see - and they took me to places where I was likely to see them - without them, finding Bachman's Sparrow, Limpkin, and Burrowing Owl might have proved more challenging. Another Florida birder, who had birded Merritt Island NWR for decades, joined me for a day of birding - showing me his favorite and most productive spots. It was a stellar day. When I asked him why he was willing to spend the day with a complete stranger (who could potentially be mentally unbalanced), he said he felt it was his responsibility to share his knowledge with other birders. In addition to expressing my gratitude to those who helped me, I reward them with bottles of Kansas City Bar-B-Que sauce.

Learn Bird Calls of Target Species

Prior to my trip, I purchased Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern Region. One of the disks in this set contains MP3 files of the bird calls which allowed me to copy specific calls to my iPhone. I had plenty of time to listen to them on my drive to Florida. Because of this I was able to recognize the call of the Bachman's Sparrow the first time I heard it.

Go Old School

In this day and age, people are beginning to rely exclusively on technology. I learned that when birding in remote areas, our technology may not be 100% dependable. I would recommend purchasing a Delorme Atlas for whichever state you are visiting. These Atlases provide detailed maps of many back roads that can help you get out of a jam when your technology lets you down. They can also be used to create personal itineraries in a more "granular" fashion than online mapping tools.

 Gull-billed Tern, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

April 8, 2015

eBird – The Birder’s Swiss Army Knife

When I got back into birding in 2014 after a 20-year hiatus, the first thing that caused some serious head spinning was how technology has impacted the birding world. In my early days of birding a birder would keep track of his sightings by a collection of checklists or by adding notes to his faithful field guide. This image shows some of my early warbler documentation (Mill Grove was John James Audubon's home in Pennsylvania, Hawk Mountain is the famous raptor viewing site, and Hardwood Island is a 200 acre island in Blue Hill Bay, Maine).

A page from "A Field Guide to the Birds: Eastern Land and Water Birds" 

by Roger Tory Peterson, copyright 1947, 40th printing

But now there is an online tool that not only allows you to track your sightings, but it provides tools that allow you to plan your next outing and will notify you of birds missing from your state, county and life lists. eBird from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is described as a set of "Global tools for birders, critical data for science." It is a free tool (although I would encourage everyone to donate so it will never go away) and once you register you can track your sightings on your computer or from your phone via Bird Log North America.

Having an easily accessible database for tracking your bird sightings is spectacular. But eBird does not stop there. You can sign up for "rare bird alerts" that will notify you of sightings of uncommon birds in a specific area, as well as "needs alerts" that will notify you of birds sighted in a specific area that are missing from you own lists.

eBird Subscription forms for "Rare Bird Alerts" 

and "Needs Alerts"

This is a far cry from my early birding days. I remember being in the Everglades when a Key West Quail Dove was sighted. I believe I stumbled across a note on a cork board which said it was found on a certain trail. I hiked that trail and came upon a small cairn. I scanned the woods at that point and sure enough spotted the bird. Now the alerts provide you the opportunity to see exactly where a bird has been seen - including longitude and latitude! In the case of the recent sightings of Key West Quail Dove on Long Key in Florida, I can find the co-ordinates in eBird, plug them into Google Maps on my iPhone and drive to the location - without having to rely on a small pile of rocks.

Which leads to another great feature of eBird, "Trip Planning" - you can peruse sightings by Region, HotSpot or Species and plan your trip accordingly. I am currently planning a trip to Florida and I have utilized eBird to help maximize the possibility of seeing some of my target species such as Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Snail Kite and Short-tailed Hawk.

These are just a few of the tools provided by eBird. If you have used eBird, I would strongly encourage you to give it a try. If you are currently using eBird, I would strongly suggest you make sure you are taking advantage of all it has to offer.

The Concept of a Favorite Bird

I don't get it. I see posts on Facebook and birding blogs where people are proclaiming their "favorite birds." Bald Eagle, Pileated Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Painted Bunting are some of the birds considered as the bird world's rock stars. Don't get me wrong, these are all wonderful birds and I get a thrill every time I see one. But how can you choose just one? And what about birds outside your personal birding areas? Tropical species such as the Marvelous Spatuletail or Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager can certainly rival the previously mentioned birds. I can't pick a favorite bird for a variety of reasons. As I continue to bird I am always  learning something new about a particular species or seeing a new behavior that keeps a bird at the top of my list. But for me it is not just the bird but the experience surrounding the sighting. If I was forced to pick a favorite bird, without hesitation I would shout - "Le Conte's Sparrow." Le Conte's Sparrow??? It's just a little brown bird? Bleh. Well, I would disagree. I think they exhibit a subtle beauty, but more importantly my first sighting of this bird was part of a wonderful birding experience.

Le Conte's Sparrow by Laura Erickson*

I had just connected with the local birding community when I was invited to a morning bird walk to search for Le Conte's Sparrow. This was a bird I seen in field guides over the course of my life, but had never seen and was on my list of mystery birds. The directions were simple, "Meet us below the dam by 7:00 AM. Wear waterproof boots, we will be walking in very wet areas." I arose before sunrise, put on a pair of $19 rubber boots and drove through dense fog to meet people I didn't really know in a place I had never been. There were six of us standing in the middle of the street waiting for it to get light enough to start walking through the marsh. I was pleased to have new friends, but I imagined my morning to be filled with the standard frustration of watching a sparrow get flushed from the ground and immediately fly back into the brush out of sight. When the light was right we headed into the marsh in search of our quarry. After about 20 minutes one was sighted. To my amazement the bird was sitting about 5 feet up in bush out in the open.! And it stayed there long enough for me to get a good look. And I was captivated. It was beautiful. And it just kept getting better. As we walked along more of them popped up, some as close as 15 ft away. It was like they wanted to be seen. Oh, and in the middle of it all, three Sedge Wrens appeared, another lifer for me. I couldn't believe it. I was outside in a beautiful space, with extremely knowledgeable birders and seeing new birds. It was magical. 

*"LESP-Erickson" by Laura Erickson - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LESP-Erickson.jpg#mediaviewer/File:LESP-Erickson.jpg

Back To Birding

After a 20 year or so hiatus from birding, I have resumed pursuing a passion that started when I was eight years old. On January 1, 2014, I started a "Kansas Big Year" to reconnect with birding and to explore my home state. I netted 224 species in Kansas in 2014 - not a record setting year by any means, but what a year! It wasn't just about the birds. It was about discovering technological advancements like eBird that make bird finding more efficient. It was discovering that Facebook was more than about pictures of cats, but a great tool to learn of "real time" sightings of rarities and vagrants. It was about connecting with the local birding community like the Kansas Ornithological Society, Burroughs Audubon Society and passionate local birders. It was about discovery - learning that Kansas has incredibly diverse habitats, which make for great birding. Not just the gems of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area but the sand-sage prairie in Morton County and the scenic views of the Red Hills. It was also about the birds. I had the opportunity to see birds that seemed mysterious and unapproachable in my youth - Snowy Owl, American Pipit, Townsend's Solitaire, Green-Tailed Towhee, Mountain Bluebird and Northern Shrike.

So as I continue my journey back to birding, I thought I would document my adventures with a blog. I will document my thoughts on optics, gear, food, resources and the occasional birding adventure. My posts will be irregular, so feel free to sign up for email announcements in  the box on the upper right.

Western Kingbird, Smoky Hills Audubon Sanctuary

Saline County, KS - July 2014