Monthly Archives: August 2012

For the Birds: Reading Wilson

Posted on by
Reply

Here are some articles of interest in the current issue of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (fee or subscription required):

Capsaicin as a Deterrent Against Introduced Mammalian Nest Predators
Hot pepper will keep non-native rats away from bird eggs in nests, says this study from New Zealand.

Variation in the Diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) Along an Urban-Rural Gradient
Barn owl populations are most dense in the suburbs, this Argentinian study finds. In that periurban environment, barn owls find both native rodents found in rural areas and the non-native rodents found in cities. Barn owl pops are not declining in South America as they are here, but this paper may offer tidbits for local population-boosting efforts.

Eastern Screech-Owl Responses to Suburban Sprawl, Warmer Climate, and Additional Avian Food in Central Texas
The suburbs also have benefits for screech owls in Texas — earlier nesting and higher fledgling productivity.

Simultaneous Multiple Nests of Calliope Hummingbird and Rufous Hummingbird   Two different species of hummingbirds in Montana were observed laying eggs in a second nest while still feeding young in the first nest of the season.

For the Birds: Reading Wilson

Posted on by
Reply

Here are some articles of interest in the current issue of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (fee or subscription required):

Capsaicin as a Deterrent Against Introduced Mammalian Nest Predators
Hot pepper will keep non-native rats away from bird eggs in nests, says this study from New Zealand.

Variation in the Diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) Along an Urban-Rural Gradient
Barn owl populations are most dense in the suburbs, this Argentinian study finds. In that periurban environment, barn owls find both native rodents found in rural areas and the non-native rodents found in cities. Barn owl pops are not declining in South America as they are here, but this paper may offer tidbits for local population-boosting efforts.

Eastern Screech-Owl Responses to Suburban Sprawl, Warmer Climate, and Additional Avian Food in Central Texas
The suburbs also have benefits for screech owls in Texas — earlier nesting and higher fledgling productivity.

Simultaneous Multiple Nests of Calliope Hummingbird and Rufous Hummingbird   Two different species of hummingbirds in Montana were observed laying eggs in a second nest while still feeding young in the first nest of the season.

New Nest Helps Eagles in Arizona

Posted on by
Reply

After three years of ticks killing off bald eagle nestlings in Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department constructed “starter nests” in nearby trees. This year the bald eagle pair used one of the man-made nests and successfully fledged two young, says a department press release.

Several attempts to protect the nestlings from the ticks in the old nest were unsuccessful. While building the man-made nests, the old nest was removed and burned.

The press release gives more detail about the attempts to rid the nest and the tree from ticks, but does not give any detail about techniques used in the building the starter nests.

According to the release: “Bald eagle conservation in Arizona is a partnership effort of the Southwest Bald Eagle Management Committee — a group of 25 government agencies, private organizations and Native American tribes.”

Photo: Building a new bald eagle nest, courtesy of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

New Nest Helps Eagles in Arizona

Posted on by
Reply

After three years of ticks killing off bald eagle nestlings in Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department constructed “starter nests” in nearby trees. This year the bald eagle pair used one of the man-made nests and successfully fledged two young, says a department press release.

Several attempts to protect the nestlings from the ticks in the old nest were unsuccessful. While building the man-made nests, the old nest was removed and burned.

The press release gives more detail about the attempts to rid the nest and the tree from ticks, but does not give any detail about techniques used in the building the starter nests.

According to the release: “Bald eagle conservation in Arizona is a partnership effort of the Southwest Bald Eagle Management Committee — a group of 25 government agencies, private organizations and Native American tribes.”

Photo: Building a new bald eagle nest, courtesy of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

CWD Hunting Season Too “Confusing” For Wisc.

Posted on by
Reply

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wants a four-day antlerless deer hunt as part of its strategy against Chronic Wasting Disease. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has cancelled that hunt, reports the Pierce County Herald, saying that he is bowing to the wishes of the state’s hunters, who found the extra deer hunting season confusing and felt it took the fun out of the November season.

Read the very short piece in the Pierce County Herald.

Of course, Governor Walker has already made what he thinks of his state’s employees abundantly clear. Why hunters who don’t like the added season can’t simply not participate in it is not as clear.

Photo: Michigan does, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife

Non-native Species and Democracy

Posted on by
Reply

If you have some time and are in the mood for some Big Thoughts, read “What’s a Monkey to Do in Tampa?” which ran in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine. As a Sunday magazine, this is a publication for a general audience, so it is not interested in technical details as much as big ideas.

Writer Jon Mooallem goes way big in the piece, which is, after all about a macaque monkey, not native to North America, fitting it in to the American notion of freedom and a climate of political rancor lacking in a democratic ideal of compromise — that last theme perhaps a needed tie-in considering the monkey’s location and the location of this week’s Republican Convention.

Not mentioned in the article is that in Florida, the land of invasive (that is, harmful) non-native species like pythons, apple snails and melaleucas — monkeys (and there are whole troops of wild monkeys in the state) are relatively benign.

Mooallem is a deft writer, so you will have fun. And the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission plays a starring, although not heroic, role.

Read The NY Times “What’s a Monkey to Do in Tampa?” here.

Alligator Violations Soar in Louisiana

Posted on by
Reply

The number of alligator related hunting violations has jumped from 60 five years ago to 98 just this year, says an article in Houma Today. Most of the violations are for hunting out of season and for hunting without a license. The article says that most of the violations are in the Terrebonne-Lafourche region, as well as in the parishes of Assumption, St. James, St. John, St. Mary and St. Martin — areas that did not see many violations five years ago. (Parishes are the Louisiana equivalent of counties.)

The article fingers the reality TV show “Swamp People” as the culprit in the rise in scofflaws. The show features alligator hunting, and some of the suspects have admitted to mimicking the behavior of the show’s subjects, while clearly missing some of the, erm, finer details.

If that theory is true, the risk for an increase in alligator hunting violations extends beyond Louisiana to just about everywhere there are alligators in the wild and television sets that get cable channels.

Read the whole article in Houma Today.

Photo: Alligator, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service

Alligator Violations Soar in Louisiana

Posted on by
Reply

The number of alligator related hunting violations has jumped from 60 five years ago to 98 just this year, says an article in Houma Today. Most of the violations are for hunting out of season and for hunting without a license. The article says that most of the violations are in the Terrebonne-Lafourche region, as well as in the parishes of Assumption, St. James, St. John, St. Mary and St. Martin — areas that did not see many violations five years ago. (Parishes are the Louisiana equivalent of counties.)

The article fingers the reality TV show “Swamp People” as the culprit in the rise in scofflaws. The show features alligator hunting, and some of the suspects have admitted to mimicking the behavior of the show’s subjects, while clearly missing some of the, erm, finer details.

If that theory is true, the risk for an increase in alligator hunting violations extends beyond Louisiana to just about everywhere there are alligators in the wild and television sets that get cable channels.

Read the whole article in Houma Today.

Photo: Alligator, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service

Feds Announce State Wildlife Grants

Posted on by
Reply

Oregon vesper sparrow and Mazama pocket gopher; mountain plover, burrowing owl and McCown’s longspur; the palila, a rapidly-declining Hawaiian honeycreeper; Karner blue butterfly, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow’s sparrow, and northern harrier; and white-tailed, Gunnison’s, Utah, and black-tailed prairie dogs are among the non-game species to benefit from this round of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grants.

The competitive federal grants focus on large-scale, cooperative conservation projects for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) that are included in State Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plans (also known as State Wildlife Action Plans — what would government be without changing terminology?).

Seven projects will take place in 12 states: Washington (2), Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, Montana, Texas, Wyoming (and also British Columbia, Canada).

Read about the projects in the USFWS press release, here. Don’t bother to follow the link in the press release for more information about individual projects. It takes you to information about the grants that hasn’t been updated in years.

Photo: Black-tailed prairie dog, by Gary M. Stolz, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

 

Feds Announce State Wildlife Grants

Posted on by
Reply

Oregon vesper sparrow and Mazama pocket gopher; mountain plover, burrowing owl and McCown’s longspur; the palila, a rapidly-declining Hawaiian honeycreeper; Karner blue butterfly, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow’s sparrow, and northern harrier; and white-tailed, Gunnison’s, Utah, and black-tailed prairie dogs are among the non-game species to benefit from this round of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grants.

The competitive federal grants focus on large-scale, cooperative conservation projects for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) that are included in State Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plans (also known as State Wildlife Action Plans — what would government be without changing terminology?).

Seven projects will take place in 12 states: Washington (2), Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, Montana, Texas, Wyoming (and also British Columbia, Canada).

Read about the projects in the USFWS press release, here. Don’t bother to follow the link in the press release for more information about individual projects. It takes you to information about the grants that hasn’t been updated in years.

Photo: Black-tailed prairie dog, by Gary M. Stolz, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service