February 2016

Christmas Bird Count Summaries – 2015 – I

By in Christmas Count Summaries

This column is the first of two summarizing the results of some of the recent Christmas Bird Counts in Maine. The count period began on December 14, continuing through January 5. We’ll travel widely across the state today.

As you know, the weather in November and December was unusually mild. Most freshwater bodies of water were still open. We therefore expected the Christmas Counts to have some lingering species that normally would be further south. The open water could provide habitat for waterbirds that are usually forced south by ice on ponds and lakes.

The Augusta Christmas Bird Count (hereafter, CBC) took place on December 19 and produced 53 species. Common Loons have usually departed from this area by December but seven were found this year. Two Great Blue Herons were present as well. The count of 33 Bald Eagles was not too shabby. Four Iceland Gulls and a Glaucous Gull were found among Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls.

Lingering landbirds included a Carolina Wren, three Eastern Bluebirds and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Not as many lingerers as expected.

This winter is shaping up as a poor one for irruptive species, those species that occasionally move south into Maine from areas to our north. The only irruptive species were a single Northern Shrike and six Pine Siskins.

The Lewiston/Auburn CBC was held on the same day. Counters there found 51 species.

Ten species of waterfowl were detected. The more unusual sightings were 20 Greater Scaup, 35 Lesser Scaup, 20 Buffleheads and one Barrow’s Goldeneye among the 39 Common Goldeneyes. The extensive open water accounted for the five Common Loons and a Belted Kingfisher.

Lingering species included a Hermit Thrush, eight Northern Mockingbirds and a Pine Warbler. I’m sure the counters were hoping for a better showing of late-departing birds.

Like Augusta, Lewiston/Auburn hosted few irruptive birds. Three Pine Siskins were the only winter invaders found.

We’ll head to the coast now, starting with the York County CBC. This count was held on December 14. A total of 81 species were counted.

Waterfowl diversity is always high on this count; 15 species were tallied this year. The highlights included 1,083 Common Eiders and 66 Harlequin Ducks. Two loon species were present: 86 Common Loons and 13 Red-throated Loons.

We expect Great Cormorants in the winter and Double-crested Cormorants during the summer in Maine. This year, one Double-crested was found among the 39 Greats.

This count produced an excellent diversity of lingering birds. These hardy birds included nine Great Blue Herons, a Northern Harrier, four Belted Kingfishers, two Northern Flickers, two Carolina Wrens, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 59 Eastern Bluebirds, one Hermit Thrush, six Northern Mockingbirds, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Baltimore Oriole.

Two rarities were found: a Dickcissel and a Clay-colored Sparrow. A dozen Pine Siskins were the only irruptive birds.

On downeast to the Schoodic Peninsula. The Schoodic Count was held on January 1. A total of 58 species were found, including an eye-popping rarity.

Thirteen species of waterfowl were present. A single Red-throated Loon was found along with 65 Common Loons. Fifty Horned Grebes and 95 Red-necked Grebes were nice counts. A single Razorbill was found ; 21 Purple Sandpipers were seen foraging on the rocky shore.

Lingering birds included a Northern Harrier, a Belted Kingfisher, two Northern Flicker, five Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Fox Sparrow and a White-crowned Sparrow.

One Northern Shrike was the only winter invader on the count.

The highlight of the count was a Black-throated Sparrow found by Ed and Debby Hawkes and Chuck Whitney. This species is normally found in the deserts of the southwestern states and Mexico. The sighting is the first confirmed record for Maine (a 1983 record provides only sketchy details) and only the fourth confirmed record for New England. Fantastic!

The History of Bird Feeding – II

By in Uncategorized Tags:

This column is the second of two on the history of bird feeding in North America. A major resource for this column is a recent book, Feeding Wild Birds in America by Paul Baicich and co-authors.

We pick up the story in the 1941 when the Audubon Guide to Attracting Birds was published, just a week before Pearl Harbor was bombed. Roger Tory Peterson wrote several of the chapters.

Of course, the war effort prevented bird enthusiasts from spending freely on birdseed. Many found that oatmeal, bread crumbs and peanut butter served to attract birds.  By the late 1940s, several companies were formed specializing in the retail sale of birdseed.

The 50s decade was a prosperous one. Suburbs proliferated everywhere and suburbanites engaged in various home-based leisure activities, including bird feeding. John Dennis was a particularly influential person through his column “Guide to Bird Attracting” in Audubon magazine. John Terres wrote the 1953 book, Songbirds in Your Garden that further stoked the popularity of bird feeding.

Two men, Simon Wagner and Bill Engler, from competing companies joined forces to develop birdseed packaging suitable to grocery shoppers. The plastic bags allowed the buyer to seed the product before purchase. A shopper could buy food for the family and for the birds at the same time.

John Barzen was one of the first to realize that most birdseed mixes sold in the 50s were actually cheap seeds (cracked corn, millet, milo) that attracted undesirable birds like House Sparrows. European Starlings and Brown-headed Cowbirds.  Barzen found that sunflower seeds, safflower seeds and peanuts were better at attracting birds like Northern Cardinals, chickadees and jays.  The first commercial suet cakes appeared in 1958.

Bird feeding continued in popularity in the 1960s. Nyjer seed (sometimes called niger seed or thistle) was introduced as a popular attractant for finches. Most of the nyger we use is imported from Ethiopia or India.

The importation of nyger has sometimes been halted because seeds of noxious weeds are often unintentionally mixed in with the nyger. Most of the nyger seeds are now heat-treated before sale; nyger seeds are more resistant to high temperatures than the weed seeds.

In 1969, Droll Yankee introduced the tubular feeder with a number of feeding ports, perfect for feeding sunflower seeds to hungry birds.  A tubular nyger feeder was first produced in 1972.

The first Earth Day in 1970 accelerated the environmental movement, given a strong push earlier by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, her 1962 expose of the impacts of DDT on birds. Bird feeding took on added importance as a way to protect birds.

Birdseed was sold in bulk for the first time, often by yearly sales conducted by bird clubs or environmental groups.  Stick-on window feeders made it possible to put up a feeder just about anywhere.

Although people had been feeding hummingbirds for decades, better hummer feeders appeared in this decade.

People became more sophisticated with their bird feeding in the 1980s, often targeting particular species. This practice was made possible by a landmark study by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, Aelred Geis.  He conducted extensive choice experiments, determining the preferred foods of many feeder birds.

Specialty birding chains appeared in the 80s.  These included Wild Birds Unlimited, Wild Bird Centers of American and Wild Bird Marketplace.

In 1987, Project FeederWatch (PFW) was hatched.  This program was actually an expansion of the Ontario Bird Feeder Survey.  Homeowners maintain feeding stations and record feeder visits at specified times.  PFW participants are generally diligent about keeping their feeders stocked continuously.

By the 1990s, one-third of all U.S. citizens over the age of 16 fed the birds. In this decade, scientists first started to look at the impacts of feeding (increased survivorship and nutritional status, range expansions of species like Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, House Finches and recently arrived Eurasian Collared-Doves).