Archives

29 April 2005 
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Ivory-billed Woodpecker Rediscovered in Arkansas!

28 April 2005 - More than 50 years after the last confirmed sighting, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, one of the largest and most spectacular of the world’s woodpeckers, has been rediscovered. Officially listed as extinct in 1996, the news, announced by the journal Science, has created excitement world-wide.
  Observations of a male by amateur ornithologists early in 2004 galvanized an organized effort, led by the Nature Conservancy and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, to officially document the existence of the species. At least seven sightings in Arkansas'  Mississippi River basin involved at least one bird, a male. More may be present, since potential habitat for a thinly distributed source population is vast.
   Video footage taken by the team clearly shows an Ivory-billed flying away from the observers. No other living Ivory-billed Woodpecker had been conclusively documented in continental North America since an unpaired female was filmed in Louisiana's Singer Tract in 1944. To learn more about this incredible discovery, click here.

Caribbean Festival Focuses on Region’s Birds

22 April 2005, BirdLife International - Conservation organizations throughout the Caribbean today launched a month-long celebration of the unique birds found in the region. The Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival runs from 22 April, "Earth Day," until 22 May, "International Biodiversity Day," and is coordinated by the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB). Activities will range from exhibitions of drawings and paintings by local schoolchildren, public lectures, church services, bird-watching excursions, and theatrical productions in celebration of the region's rich bird life.
  In launching the Festival, Andrew Dobson, President of SCSCB, said, "This Festival is a celebration of the magnificence and diversity of life found throughout the Caribbean, and an acknowledgement of the region as an irreplaceable repository of global biodiversity. More than one in five Caribbean bird species are found nowhere else on Earth. Thanks to this annual Festival, people will learn to appreciate the value and global significance of our region's birds and other wildlife and join us to help conserve them for future generations to enjoy." To learn more about this event, click here.

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New Online Avian Journal Calls for Papers

27 April 2005 - Editors-in-Chief Thomas Nudds and Marc-André Villard are pleased to invite authors to submit articles to Avian Conservation and Ecology - Écologie et Conservation des Oiseaux (ACE-ÉCO). ACE-ÉCO is an open-access, fully electronic scientific journal, sponsored by the Society of Canadian Ornithologists and Bird Studies Canada.
  The journal publishes peer-reviewed, scientific papers pertaining to the conservation, ecology, and status of birds. In focusing on research that is simultaneously ornithology and avian science, the journal will complement other publications, such as traditional ornithological journals, conservation publications, general ecology journals, and those focused on specific groups of birds. Although ACE-ÉCO is intended in part to enhance the international profile of Canadian ornithology and applied avian science, contributions will be welcomed from all over the world. To learn more about the journal, and for information on submitting papers, click here.

Pledge your Support for Kenn Kaufman's Birdathon

This year's guest birder for BSC’s Baillie Birdathon is Kenn Kaufman. Kenn is a world authority on birds. He is the author of several birding books and guides, including Kingbird Highway and the comprehensive Lives of North American Birds. He has been studying birds for four decades and has dedicated his life's work to sharing his knowledge and passion as a writer, public speaker, artist, and photographer.
  Bird Studies Canada is very pleased that Kenn has accepted our invitation to be this year's guest birder. Kenn will conduct his Birdathon in the Okanagan area of British Columbia this May, and hopes to see over 120 species in 24 hours.
  Please show your support for Kenn and his efforts to raise critical funds for Bird Studies Canada's conservation science by donating to his Birdathon. You can pledge your support online at Bird Studies Canada's secure website by clicking here or phone toll-free 1-888-448-2473.

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Christmas Bird Count Results Available

29 April 2005 - Data from Canada’s Christmas Bird Counts have now been finalized. A record high 354 Canadian counts sent their data in to Bird Studies Canada and the National Audubon Society, an increase of 9 over last year. The number of participants, 11,787, was almost exactly the same as last year’s numbers. The species total was up to 301 from 292, but the total number of individual birds dipped to 3.05 million, a drop of about 7 percent from last year. The full results can be viewed on the Audubon Christmas Bird Count website by clicking here.

Breeding Bird Survey Coordinators Meet

24 April 2005 - BSC British Columbia Program Manager, Dick Cannings, attended the Breeding Bird Survey coordinators meeting held on 21 April in Washington, DC. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Wilson Ornithological Society meeting that followed on 22-23 April. The Breeding Bird Survey is a program of the Canadian Wildlife Service in Canada, and is coordinated by BSC staff in British Columbia and Ontario. For more information on the survey, click here.

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LPWWRF Researchers Track Lesser Scaup by Satellite

Photo: Theodore Smith

28 April 2005 - Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund (LPWWRF) researchers Scott Petrie and Shannon Badzinski recently initiated a satellite tracking study of female Lesser Scaup to determine migratory pathways and timing, spring and fall stopover sites, and eventual breeding areas of females staging at Long Point, Lake Erie, during spring. The project will complement LPWWRF's ongoing Scaup Contaminant Research Program by providing data on the amount of time it takes females to arrive on breeding grounds after leaving the Great Lakes. This information will help the researchers gain an increased understanding of how elevated selenium levels in scaup might affect female reproduction, and thus may be contributing to the long-term scaup population decline in North America.
  Six female Lesser Scaup were captured from 29 March to 5 April 2005 from Inner Long Point Bay and surgically implanted with small satellite transmitters by wildlife veterinarian Dr. Glenn Olsen (USGS-Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland). After recovering from surgery, each female was released back to Inner Long Point Bay where they joined other scaup and diving ducks in large rafts off-shore. Two of the six birds have departed Long Pont Bay and have resumed their migration. One female is now in southwestern South Dakota about 40 km northwest of Sioux Falls. The other female is now at eastern Lake Ontario on Muscote Bay of the Bay of Quinte, which is about 10 km south of Belleville, Ontario. The four remaining females are soon expected to begin their spring migration. You can follow the migration of these birds by clicking on the "Scaup Tracker" button on the LPWWRF main page.

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Landscape Disturbance Data Correlate with Wetland Health

26 April 2005 - Since 2002, the Marsh Monitoring Program (MMP) has been working with the Great Lakes Commission on the Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium (GLCWC) to test whether volunteer-gathered marsh bird and amphibian population data can be used to indicate the biological condition of coastal wetlands throughout the Great Lakes basin. Results from this study suggest that marsh bird and amphibian data gathered by MMP volunteers do correlate with the amount of landscape disturbance surrounding a wetland (i.e., urban development, agriculture), and therefore can be used as an indicator of coastal wetland condition. Recommendations to improve the resolution to detect differences in biological condition between wetlands are included within the final report, which is now available online by clicking here.

Assistant Coordinator Needed for Ontario Atlas

26 April 2005 - The Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas project is a volunteer-based project to map the distribution and abundance of birds in Ontario. Data collection runs from 2001-2005, and the book summarizing the results of the project is scheduled for publication in September 2007. The Atlas will be an essential conservation tool, providing information on the distribution and relative abundance of birds, and identifying changes that have occurred since the first Atlas (1981-1985). Bird Studies Canada is a key partner in the Atlas, along with Ontario Nature, Ontario Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service.
  The project organizers have an immediate need to fill a job placement for an Assistant Coordinator. For more information about this exciting position, please click here.

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Loon Education Offered to Nova Scotia Schools

26 April 2005 - Bird Studies Canada (BSC) contract biologist Sue Bowes provided interactive presentations this week to six Grade 4 and 5 classrooms in Amherst and Springhill, Nova Scotia focusing on loon biology and conservation. Sue left copies of BSC's new Teacher's Guide, A Loonie For Your Thoughts: Learning about Nova Scotia's Lakes and Loons, with the teachers. BSC will be distributing this education guide to middle schools throughout Nova Scotia in May. The guide will be available on the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey website soon. A Loonie For Your Thoughts is sponsored by the Nova Scotia Habitat Conservation Fund and the Esso Imperial Oil Foundation. If you're a teacher of Grades 4-7 in Nova Scotia, and would be interested in having a presentation made to your classroom, contact Becky Whittam (becky.whittam@ec.gc.ca).

Earth Day Includes Prowl for Fundy Owls

25 April 2005 - Atlantic Canada Program Manager, Becky Whittam, made an owl presentation to over 40 adults and children at Fundy National Park on Earth Day, Friday, 22 April, then led the group outdoors to listen for owls. Participants were pleased to detect a Northern Saw-whet Owl on stop 1, and the hardy bunch who made it to the last stop were treated to an entertaining duet by a pair of Barred Owls. For more information on Nocturnal Owl Surveys, click here.

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