Summary: This is The Feathered Desert’s final episode and Kiersten and Cheryl are talking about their recommendations for future listening.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

List of podcasts discussed:

BirdNote Daliy

Threatened

The Science of Birds

Songbirding

The American Birding Podcast

The Warblers

Bring Back Birds

Ten Things I Like About…

All of these can be found on all major podcast outlets

Further recommendations involving more animals than birds:

Just the Zoo of Us, by Ellen and Christian Weatherford

Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant

Transcript 

Kiersten: Intro: Welcome to the Feathered Desert. This is our final episode, so it’s a bittersweet moment for us both. We’re sad to go, but we’re so happy that we were able to create this podcast that brought enjoyment and education to our listeners. We won’t leave you high and dry with nothing to listen to, though. In this episode we’ll recommend a few other podcasts that we enjoy listening to and we hope you’ll enjoy, as well.

Cheryl: We’re going to start off with one of our favorites, both Kiersten and I listen to this one and we think you’ll love it too. BirdNote Daily is a three-minute podcast that posts daily episodes. This podcast is all about what’s happening in the bird world. New discoveries, how birds impact our mental health, female bird song, great bird dads. These are only some of the great topics you can hear on this show. It’s actually inspired several of our own episodes.

Kiersten: BirdNote also produces another podcast called Threatened. This series has longer episodes and talk about threatened species of birds and everything related to that species. They talk about the research being done to help their survival. They discuss why they are threatened in the first place. It’s a fascinating podcast that shows how birds and people are linked.

Cheryl: Another of my favorites is The Science of Birds. This one is hosted by a gentleman that loves his birds. He writes episodes about birds of all kinds and reveals the fascinating things that make them special.

Kiersten: I just discovered this next a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it! Songbirding takes you on birding outings with the host. He records himself hiking and birding by ear in various natural spaces. I know it sounds boring and weird but he points out the bird’s song when he hears them and tells you what species they are. It’s actually really cool and very relaxing.

Cheryl: The American Birding Podcast keeps you informed on everything that is happening in the birding world. This one focuses a bit more on the art of birding but it does have some pretty interesting interviews with prominent bird personalities and authors and scientists.

Kiersten: The Warblers is a podcast by Birds Canada, a non-profit organization that works to protect birds and their habitat in Canada. They do talk about birds that are not often found in the Southwest but it’s all fascinating information about birds. It’s a great podcast to help you expand your knowledge of bird species.

Cheryl: Bring Back Birds is another podcast from BirdNote that talks about the declining bird populations, but doesn’t leave you crying. It highlights programs of conservation that make the future of birds look hopeful.

Kiersten: I can’t end this episode without a shameless plug for my new podcast called Ten Things I Like About… For those of you that can’t get enough of me, check out this podcast. It’s a ten-minute, ten-episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood creature in nature. This one doesn’t focus specifically on birds but there are bird series included. And Cheryl joins me for some episodes and will probably join me for more in the future!

            Well, that’s all for The Feathered Desert, listeners. We are signing off for the last time. We hope you’ve enjoyed our show as much as we enjoyed making it.

Summary: Finches visit Arizona in the winter. Join Cheryl and Kiersten to find out which finches may visit us in winter.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“Arizona’s Winter Finches,” by Charles Babbitt The Cactus Wren-Dition Winter 2023

Transcript

Cheryl-Intro

         Some finch species are highly prone to irruptions-which are occasions when large numbers of birds take flight and regularly move hundreds of miles beyond their normal winter ranges in response to food scarcity especially cone and seed crop failures.  Kiersten and I did a podcast last year about irruption in the bird world so check out that podcast to get more information. 

         In the winter of 2022-2023 was such a situation when Evening Grosbeaks, Cassin’s Finches, Red Crossbills, Pine Siskins, and Lawernce Goldfinches were reported in large, unprecedented numbers at many locations around the state of Arizona.  These are the nomadic winter finches of Arizona.

Kiersten-Red Crossbills

The Red Crossbills are the oddest of the group.  When you get a close look at their bill you will see what looks like a deformed beak with the lower mandible crossing under the upper mandible.  This allows the crossbill o pry open tightly closed cones to extract the seeds, an evolutionary adaption that gives them access to a unique food source.  Red Crossbills are resident breeders in much of Arizona’s upper elevation forests.  In flight years, however, irruptions can bring roving flocks from out of the state swelling numbers in mountainous areas and sometimes bringing these boreal invaders into the lowlands such as the Phoenix Valley.

Cheryl-Pine Siskins

         Pine Siskins are one of the smaller winter finches often confused with the House finch.  These little birds are year-round residents in Arizona’s high country they are famous for their periodic irruptions.  Movements are irregular and sporadic with birds being quite common some years and entirely absent other years. 

         Pine Siskins have sharp narrow bills they use to extract seeds from the cones of a variety of conifers. In winter, flocks are often seen at feeders, with the Lesser Goldfinch and the House finch, or in weedy fields.  These birds are quite personable and a person can get quite close to them before they will take flight.    Pine Siskins are recognized by their steaky breasts and the bright yellow markings on their wings.  In flight they show a distinctive yellow wing stripe.

Kiersten-Evening Grosbeaks

         Of the winter finches, Evening Grosbeaks are the most striking.  These stocky birds have evolved massive cream-colored beaks which are unmistakable and which are used like nutcrackers to feed on a variety of large seeds, catkins and even small fruit pits.  In northern Arizona these birds might be seen feeding in winter on Russian olive fruits and juniper berries.

         Male Evening Grosbeaks are yellow and black with a distinct yellow forehead and eye brow and large white patches.  Females are mostly gray with a yellowish-green collar and black and white wing markings.

         In Arizona Evening Grosbeaks breed very locally in the high country.  In the winter they form large noisy flocks.  Like the other winter finches Evening Grosbeaks have irruptive years, and when they do these birds delight bird watchers and the bird feeding hobbyists by crowded around seed feeders to eat sunflower seeds.

Cheryl-Cassin’s Finch

         Cassin’s Finches are restricted to northern Arizona mostly the regions of the Kaibab Plateau and higher elevations of the Hopi and Navajo tribal lands.  In the summer you are most likely to see them in pine and mixed conifer forests on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Males are easily recognized by their bright raspberry red caps and rosy tinged faces and breasts.  Females are plainer with streaked breasts. 

         Cassin’s finches are migratory and irruptive with great variability in distribution and abundance.  In some winters they can be quite common and be found in the low foothills of the phoenix Valley.

When they are around, they visit finch feeders, often mixing with Pine Siskins, and other local finches.  As spring warms the foothills you can spot these hardy finches gathered in trees where they sing incessantly.

Kiersten-Lawrence’s Goldfinches

         Some years Arizona is visited by winter finches not by the north but from the west.  These are Lawrence’s goldfinches, colorful birds whose breeding range is mostly the coastal ranges and foothills of the Sierra Nevada of California.  There these birds occupy a variety of habitats including dry foothills, open woodlands and adjacent grasslands.  In sporadic and unpredictable flight years some depart their breeding range, heading eastward in the southern part of Arizona.

         Lawrence’s Goldfinches are a soft gray color with gold markings on the wings and chest.  Males have black faces with contrasting pink bills while females tend to be less colorful.

         Lawrence Goldfinches are seed eaters.  As with the other winter finches, seed crop failures due to drought or even more recently, massive wildfires are probably the principal driver of this birds’ periodic movements into Arizona. 

Cheryl-Closing

         The question has been asked if scientists will ever be able to predict winter finch irruptions.  Maybe.  East of the Mississippi River, with the data compiled and the network of observers, the bird world enthusiasts attempt predictions of which winter finch will have a flight year.  But in the west and especially the southwest with our mountainous terrain, diverse and widely separated habitats, and the lack of a network of observers, predictions are unlikely.  Truly the unpredictability of the Arizona’s winter finches is what keeps the mystery and excitement in the sightings of these birds when they appear.

Summary: Bird names are changing in 2024. Join Kiersten and Cheryl as they talk about a controversial decision made about bird names.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“American Ornithological Society Will Change the English Names of Bird Species Named After People,” AOS Leadrership, https://americanornithology.org

“These American birds and dozens more will be renamed, to remove human monikers,” by Nell Greenfield-Boyce. NPR Morning Edition, November 1, 2023.

https://www.npr.org

Transcript

Kiersten: Intro: Quoting the bard, William Shakespeare “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” I hope all you birders out there believe this quote to be true, because some changes are a’comin where common bird names are concerned. The American Ornithological Society has decided to change the English names of bird species named after people.

Cheryl: In November of 2023 the AOS announced that birds named after people would be renamed. Birds such as Anna’s Hummingbird, Bullock’s Oriole, Abert’s Towhee, Gambel’s Quail and Bewick’s Wren will all be renamed. Scientists will form a multi-disciplinary committee that will seek public input when they begin renaming the birds. They will focus on birds that are in the AOS’s jurisdiction which is the United States and Canada. Beginning in 2024, they will start with 70 to 80 species.

Kiersten: Why are they doing this? Quoting Dr. Collen Handel, president of the American Ornithological Society and a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today. We need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focusses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves.”

            For example, in 2020 McGown’s Longspur, a small prairie songbird from the Great Plains, was renamed to the thick-billed Longspur. This name focuses on the characteristics of the bird instead of using the birds to honor a human being. I like this thought process. This is what the scientists are going to do with all those names.

Cheryl: By doing this, the AOS is admitting that the previous process for naming birds comtained some bias. There are three guidelines they will be using for the renaming process and for future newly discovered bird species.

1. The AOS commits to changing all English-language names of birds within its geographic jurisdiction that are named directly after people, along with other names deemed offensive and exclusionary, focusing first on those species that occur primarily within the U.S. or Canada.

Kiersten: The second guideline:

1. The AOS commits to establishing a new committee to oversee the assignment of all English common names for species within the AOS’s jurisdiction: this committee will broaden participation by including a diverse representation of individuals with expertise in the social sciences, communications, ornithology, and taxonomy.

Within the scientific community, AOS will include a broader representation of scientists this go around, instead of just a bunch of old white guys.

Cheryl: The third guideline:

1. The AOS commits to actively involving the public in the process of selecting new English bird names.

So, instead of just involving scientists on the naming process, the AOS will reach out to the communities where these birds are found as ask for comments and suggestions.

Kiersten: Quoting Dr. Judith Scarl, AOS Executive Director and CEO, “As scientists, we work to eliminate bias in science. But there has been historic bias in how birds are named, and who might have a bird named in their honor. Exclusionary naming conventions developed in the 1800s, clouded by racism and misogyny, don’t work for us today, and the time has come for us to transform this process and redirect the focus to the birds, where it belongs.”

Cheryl: We know that there will be a lot of push back from birders who have been birding for many years, but this is a necessary step to opening up birding to everyone. Because birding is for everyone. Ken Kaufman, author of many widely used bird ID guides, weighed in on this decision in a recent NPR article. He’s been using these names for the last 60 years and was initially upset by the decision because he knows some of the people these birds are named after, but he’s come around to the idea. He was quoted as saying, “It’s an exciting opportunity to give these birds names that celebrate them, rather than some person in the past.”

Kiersten: I think Ken’s quote about sums it up. Remember that the only thing changing here is the name of the bird, they are still as beautiful and as fun to watch regardless of what call them.

Summary: Now that you know what MOTUS is and what it does, let’s talk about how is helps Arizona birds. Join Cheryl and Kiersten to find out how MOTUS is helping some Arizona birds.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“Desert Deliverance”, by Margo Rosenbaum, Audubon Magazine Fall 2023, pg 18-19

“Home Away From Home”, by Daniel Grossman, Audubon Magazine Fall 2022, pg 30-35

“The Mysterious Decline of the American Kestrel,” by Jillian Mock, Audubon Magazine Spring 2023, pg 20-27

“Keeping Up with the Grosbeaks,” by Zoe Grueskin, Audubon Magazine Winter 2023, pg 15

Transcript

Cheryl-Intro:

            Recently, we posted a podcast about MOTUS.  What it is-radio tracking system-more towers being placed in Arizona, one possibly at the Gilbert Riparian Water Ranch.  I wanted to revisit this because I found actual research studies using MOTUS that has an impact on Arizona birds.  It is exciting to see the impacts of this new technology and how it is advancing research in bird studies.

Keirsten: Purple Martins

            If you have lived on the east coast or in the mid-west of U.S. you have seen Purple Martins, and the colonial-style bird houses that they like to nest in.  A little back story about this bird, Purple Martins are insectivorous (insect eaters) which has made them vulnerable to the pesticides we use on our yards.  So, their numbers were really in decline here in the U.S. until citizen science got involved.  People who enjoyed seeing the birds and understood their importance to local insect control started placing the correct nest boxes these birds like.  These citizen scientists monitored the boxes, eliminated pesticide use on their properties, kept cats indoors etc.

 Over time the populations of Purple Martins bounced back in the Untied States.  So why are we talking about them…because their numbers are still in decline, and scientists don’t really know why.  Purple Martins have been studied extensively In North America; scientific knowledge tapers off when they fly south.  Just where do they go, Wat routes they take, and what critical habitat lies Along the way remain largely a mystery.  The marathon journeys these birds undertake every year compounds the risk to their survival.

Arizona has its own sub-species of Purple Martins that prefer to nest in Saguaro cacti in the southern part of our state.  Arizona’s Purple Martins spend the winter where?  They take a similar marathon journey as those who summer east of the Mississippi River.

Cheryl: Get to the point-Brazil.

            Just off a slice of land sitting mid-stream in Brazil’s Rio Negro, is an island locally known as Ilha do Comaru, every year this island is submerged in March and only the tree tops poke above the surface.  There in those treetops are Purple Martins.  Now, Motus helped to locate this tiny island of 12 acres (slightly larger than Yankee Stadium).  How you ask?  Back in the U.S., scientists with the help of volunteers tagged nesting Purple Martins (adults and fledglings) with radio tags that will ping a receiver, that by chance was placed near this island. 

Scientists looked at the MOTUS network tracking and thought huh?  Where is that?  It turns out that MOTUS revealed to scientists a space that is host to a concentration of roughly 250,000 birds between February and April, it’s one of the largest Purple Martin roost ever discovered.  Its significance isn’t just its size, however, but also the pivotal role the roost may play in the bird’s long-distance migration.  Comaru could be the staging ground, or launch pad, for many of the 9.3 million Purple Martins that funnel through from South to North America. 

Scientists are tagging Purple Martins on this tiny island, so they can trace birds coming and going to see where these birds’ journey to breed.  Some head to Arizona, and some head towards the east coast of the U.S. This is important to Arizona Purple Martins because our sub-species like to nest in Saguaros that are 40 ft high.  It is easier for everyone if the tagging is done on this tiny island.

Scientists are excited to trace the movements of these birds to figure out what they’re eating and analyze whether they’ve been contaminated by pesticides and other pollutants, we can learn something about how they’re doing in Brazil.

Scientists feel that by taking a closer look at the birds onto this small isle, they hope to glean insights that can help secure the future of the entire species, and any discoveries they make will help uncover what’s behind the decline of other songbirds, especially other aerial insectivores.

Keirsten: The American Kestrel

            Arizona hosts the American Kestrel all year long.  It just moves within the state.  This bird is on the decline here due to loss of habitat, pesticide use, and the increase in population of Cooper’s Hawks, to name a few challenges this small falcon must face daily.  Scientists are racing to understand why this bird is continuing to disappear from our skies.

            Let’s move to Texas where there is a project that outfits kestrels with radio trackers to glean how they move on their wintering grounds and where they breed come spring.  The exact paths kestrels take and the ultimate winter destinations for many populations are mysteries.  Their smaller scale movements are also an enigma:  researcher Maddy Kaleta stated in an article for Audubon Society “We know kestrels need open space, but we don’t know enough about where they prefer to hunt, how big their territories are, or what they do when their preferred habitat disappears. Kestrels that spend one winter hunting in a field may return to find it has disappeared under concrete and new shopping attractions the next winter.  MOTUS is helping answer these questions.

            Data from this study indicates sharpest kestrel declines are in the East.   For the birds that show up in the nest boxes placed by citizen scientists, their success rates are very high.  A single kestrel pair fledges three to four chicks on average.  The puzzling problem is that they are not showing up. 

            In the west, kestrels are showing up, but they are breeding weeks earlier than they did in the 1990’s and scientists discovered that farmers are taking advantage of significantly warmer winters by planting crops earlier to avoid the hotter summers.  The change in planting draws insects and rodents which is a bounty for the kestrels, and kestrels are taking advantage of this change. 

            All this data collected will help Arizona protect the American Kestrels that choose Arizona as their home.

Cheryl: Evening Grosbeaks

            This beautiful bird winters here in the lower part of Arizona on occasion but spends most of its time up in Arizona’s boreal forests.  But since 1970, the once common species has sharply declined in the EAST, making irruptions less frequent and grosbeak visits increasingly rare. 

            Scientists started out with a small number of tagged birds aiming to discover where these birds go in spring. Then with numbers declining they scaled up their tagging and tracking to over 200 birds so far.  Using radio and satellite tags, scientists plan to expand across more of the species U.S. Range because Evening Grosbeakshave unpredictable roving patterns and this makes it vital and challenging to understand their movements.  These birds are somewhat secretive and breed in remote areas, so trying to find where they’re nesting isn’t easy.  So once a bird is tagged in winter scientists can follow its journey.   This data collected from MOTUS will help answer questions and could reveal bottlenecks or pressure points for the species and clues about what’s driving the decline.

            Researchers have found evidence of climate change is stressing spruce and fir forests where these birds like to nest, and diseases such as conjunctivitis, West Nile virus, or salmonella infections may all play into Evening Grosbeaks and their decline.  Tagging and tracking birds has highlighted the vulnerability of birds and window strikes.

            All this data, even if it is collected on the East coast will help Arizona fast track efforts to protect our population of Evening Grosbeaks with MOTUS’ help.

Summary: What is MOTUS? It’s the next step in bird migration science. Join Cheryl and Kiersten to find out how this is putting the Phoenix Valley on the map!

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

MOTUS: https://motus.org

“What is MOTUS?” by Rebecca Stephenson. Desert Rivers Audubon Magazine, Winter 2023.

As of the recording of this podcast, we have not been able to find a link with volunteer information for MOTUS but the article on this site tells you how to reach out if you’re interested: https://sonoranjv.org/building-capacity-motus/

Transcript

Cheryl:  Intro

It has been a constant challenge for scientists to study migrating birds.  They do not stay in one place for long.  Where these birds go, stop over, and end up on their journeys? What scientists would love to have available to them s a way to fly along with these birds so they have a complete picture of how these birds live.  This complete picture is what an amazing wildlife tracking system called Motus does.

Kiersten: What exactly is Motus?

Well, it was started by the non-profit Birds Canada in 2014.  Motus is Latin for movement and the system seeks to track the precise travels of birds and other winged creatures, like bats, bees, and monarch butterflies through digital radio telemetry.  This is how it works; birds and other winged animals are carefully fitted with a small, lightweight transmitter, called a nanotag.  These nanotags are attached using minimalistic harnessing or glue.  Then the animals are released.  There is no need to recapture them to obtain the data collected, instead the transmitter on the bird sends back a unique ping out into the atmosphere on a shared radio frequency.  The pings transmit in a 12-mile radius around the bird as it goes about its life.  The motus tower stations tuned to this frequency then picks up the pings and relays the data to the database headquarters in Canada, where it is processed, analyzed, and shared with researchers.

Cheryl:

When tracking wildlife with automated radio telemetry over vast distances, the challenge of deploying enough receivers to detect the tracking information grows exponentially. To be able to share this information between researchers MOTUS remedies that so basically everyone is sharing the same data.  This greatly expands the potential to track birds with high temporal and geographic precision over great distances which put Motus so far ahead of the more commonly used tracking methods. These methods Kiersten and I have talked about in one of our migration podcasts.  There’s the GPS or geolocator tracking device, this device stores data over time or as you may have seen on TV a person following an animal with a handheld receiver.  In order for stored data to be useful it has to be recovered.  This involves recapturing the animal/bird and removing it.  A lot of variables at play, and long hours for the researchers. 

Like anything in life things don’t always go as planned even with Motus.  There are the transmitters, the large ones are solar-powered, this eliminates the need to change batteries, but the smaller ones, these fit on small songbirds, hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies must rely on battery power.  Once the battery goes dead the transmitting of data stops, there’s also nature getting in the way like a bird dies, or the transmitter falls off.

Kiersten: Then there are the tower stations.

The tower stations for Motus are just small antennae connected to a receiver and power supply.  Each station detects pings from any transmitter within a nine-mile radius of it, in optimal conditions.  As impressive as that may be, it is still limiting as far as being a wide-ranging migration tool.  To effectively track wildlife in real time requires a lot of stations.  The stations have to be installed, then diligently maintained, which can be a difficult job considering that they are often placed in remote locations, subjected to environmental havoc such as lighting strikes, or sometimes rendered in operable by an animal’s teeth. 

But it is all so worth it, because through the data collected by Motus scientists get a complete picture of a bird’s migration journey: where it goes, how fast it travels, where it stops to rest and for how long, and where it ends up.  This information can help scientists to know how birds migrate, such as what areas they rly on during stopovers, how long they stay at each spot, when and where they begin their journey, and where it ends.  This information also, expands on the nuances of migration and what specific populations do.

As of 2023, over 1,500 Motus tower stations have been deployed in a total of 31 countries, including Canada and the United States. Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Chile.

Cheryl:  Motus is growing.

Even though Motus is still in its infancy, it is growing rapidly through the international conservation communities.  Motus has shed light on the lives of endangered birds such as the Pacific Red Knot, Snowy Plover, Tricolored Blackbird, and grassland birds, and the mysterious Lewis Woodpecker.

A third of migrating bird species in North America are on the verge of extinction.  That is alarming, but with this powerful conservation tool we can learn about the potential problems birds face at both ends of their full annual range.  Motus collects the kind of data that ells biologists precisely how each and every bird survives year to year-what waterways, or other landscapes birds are using to make their survival happen.  Motus also shows us what areas birds are not using or avoiding.  This data will help researchers to know what areas need to be protected to help birds survive and thrive.

Kiersten:  Arizona on the map.

As of 2023, Arizona only had a modest handful of three Motus tower stations, including one attached to a defunct windmill-now that is changing.  There are plans to currently build more towers, with the possibility of one being placed at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve and outfitting more birds with transmitters.  Arizona had its first Motus Tag application certification training course to teach volunteers how to safely handle and tag birds in February of 2023.  There are plans to host many more in the coming months.  Running Motus takes volunteers, and experts working together.

Cheryl: Closing

So, the more volunteers, the more transmitters that are airborne, the more transmitters that get deployed, and the more towers there are to move the data the bigger, and more complete the picture of bird migration patterns will be.  As the saying goes the more the merrier… it’s true with Motus.

Summary: How often do you look for female birds? Join Kiersten and Cheryl as they talk about Female Bird Day and why it’s important.

 For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

Kenn Kaufman Article: https://www.audubon.org/news.i-became-better-birder-when-i-stopped-focusing-males

Female Bird Day Blog: https://femalebirdday.wordpress.com

Transcript

Kiersten: Intro: This episode is about Female Bird Day. In 2024 Female Bird Day will be May 25-27. We going to talk about why this is a day. Why do we need a Female Bird Day.

Cheryl: In 2018, Kenn Kaufman wrote an article for Audubon Magazine titled, “I Became a Better Birder When I Stopped Focusing on the Males.” For those of you who don’t know who Kenn Kaufman is, he is the author of some of the most well-known Bird ID guides used in North America. Quoting from his article, Kenn says “…an unconscious bias against female birds is widespread in birding.” He is correct! If you look at the names of birds that describe what sexually dimorphic birds look like, they always describe the male’s coloration not the female. For example, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird describes the red-colored gular feathers that the male possesses. The Cinnamon Teal, a species of duck, describes the male’s coloration during breeding season. Red-winged Blackbirds describes the wing bars seen on adult males during breeding season.

            Furthermore, the names of birds used to honor well-known ornithologists is always named after a man. Audubon’s Warbler, Harris’s Hawk, Abert’s Towhee, Allen’s Hummingbird. They are all named after men. You can count on one hand how many of the 10,000 identified bird species in the world are named after women. Lucy’s Warbler is just one example and this bird was named after the daughter of a well-known male ornithologist.

Kiersten: It doesn’t stop with just the names of birds. We all but ignore the fact that females also sing. For many years, most of the history of ornithology actually, male bird songs have been the only ones studied and recorded, even after we discovered that females sing. The first few scientists that discovered this wrote it off as just an anomaly and didn’t put it in any reports. In 2014, a study focusing on avian song worldwide revealed that female bird song is both common and critical in evolution. 2014! We’ve been studying birds since the written word was developed.

            A study published in 2019 recorded two female Cerulean Warblers singing a different song than the males.  Of course, this is also one of those birds that is named for the male’s blue color. The scientists that heard the females sing were surprised to say the least. But they documented their findings which is one step toward us truly understanding the purpose of bird song. Since we have based all our hypotheses and theories on only half the population, could we have misinterpreted why birds sing?

Cheryl: Female Bird Day is a challenge started by five amazing women interested in birds. Three work for various levels of Audubon: Brooke Bateman, Stephanie Beilke, and Martha Harbison. Joanna Wu is another ornithologist with UCLA and Purbita Saha is the editor of Popular Science. During the Covid lockdown days, these women issued a challenge to birders all over North America to focus on female birds. This challenge continues this year. In 2024, May 25 through May 27 is Female Bird Day. So, all you birders out there mark your calendars and focus on female bird identification and bird song on these days. To report your findings, you can go to femalebirdday.wordpress.com and fill out the google forms that will be delivered directly to The Galbatross Project.

Kiersten: And keep it up all year long. Don’t just focus on the female birds on those days only. Do it all year long. In his Audubon article Kenn Kaufman states that when he included female birds in his searching repertoire he became a better birder and, quoting directly, “…there’s a whole world of birds out there, and it just wouldn’t make sense to ignore half of them.”

Summary: Why do birds flick their tails? Join Kiersten and Cheryl as they talk about some of the reasons birds may flick their tails.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“Why Do Birds Flick Their Tails?” Bird Note, June 13, 2023

“Why Do Phoebes Pump Their Tails?” David Sibley, https://sibleyguides.com

“Tail Movements in Birds – Current Evidence and New Concepts,” by Christoph Randler. Ornithological Science 15: 1-14 (2016).

Transcript

Kiersten: Welcome to the Feathered Desert. Have you ever been bird watching and wondered why that bird is flicking its tail? I know I have, so today we’re going to discover why birds flick their tails.

Cheryl: Let’s start off by defining a tail flick. Because, believe it or not, there is an actual definition of a tail flick. Tail flicking refers to the vertical up and down movement of the tail. Tail flashing is the horizontal movement of the tail that often includes spreading of the tail feathers. These tail movements are described with several different names such as tail flick, tail wag, tail flash, tail pump, and tail up display. So, I’m not sure how much our definition REALLY matters.

Researchers believe that most intentional tail movement has to do with communication. That can mean communication to other birds of the same species, or communication to a predator, or to a prey item.

Kiersten:  There are several hypotheses about intra species communication. That is communication between the same species of bird.

            One hypothesis is communication between possible mates during breeding season. Does tail flicking help find a mate? If you’re the common Moorhen, it just might. The Common Moorhen, also known as the Waterhen and Swamp Chicken, is a member of the Rail family. They are commonly found in wetland areas all around the world. Unlike most species of birds, female moorhens are the ones that fight for the attention of a mate. Tail flicking plays a role in her acquiring a mate. Females will flick their tail to attract a mate’s attention. Researchers found that females with better body condition flicked their tails faster than those with less fat store.

Cheryl: Some birds may be using their tail flicks to coordinate flock behavior. Mallards, a duck found all over the world, but native to North and South America, increase tail flicking before anf after flight. Scientists documented increased tail movement pre-flight and post-flight in the Mallard. They may be using this to let flock members know when to leave and when to settle in.

            White-throated Dippers, a European song bird always found near water, also increases its tail movement before and after changing locations.

Kiersten: Some birds use their tail flicks to let predators know they,ve been spotted. This is called perception advertisement. A great example of this is the Eastern Phoebe. I’ve always wondered why I see this bird pumping its tail on occasion when it’s perched. I used to think it was for balance because they sit on the edges of branches to scout for insects. Turns out the tail pumping may used to tell a predator, such as a Cooper’s Hawk, “I see you!” Studies have shown the tail pumps increased in the presence of a predator. That doesn’t mean they only pump their tails when predators are present but it definitely increases when a predator is near.

            Dusky Moorhens also use this signal. But the really cool thing is that the rate of their tail flicks changed based on the distance of the predator. As the predator increases distance from the Dusky Moorhen, the tail flicking increases. It increases until the predator is at a far enough distance that the moorhen feels it is safe enough to stop flicking and flee.

Cheryl: The last use for tail flicking that we’ll talk about is movement used to flush prey out of a hiding place. Several bird species that eat insects may use their tail flicks to flush prey out into the open where they are easier to catch. The Northern Mockingbird, Painted Redstart, Slate-throated Redstart, American Redstart, Hooded Warbler, and Willie Wagtail all show behavior that are used to flush insects from their hiding spots. According to researchers, Willie Wagtails only move their tails during feeding and rarely during perching. Tail movements also increased in the shade versus bright sun.  

            There is good experimental evidence from the redstarts as well. The tail feathers of the redstarts are white. In an experiment, researchers discovered that redstarts with artificially darkened tails were significantly less successful in flush foraging.

Kiersten:  Research into tail flicking has certainly answered a lot of questions for us, but keep in mind these movements may be used for many different reasons. There are plenty of hypotheses out there about tail flicks that have yet to be proven or disproven. We have a long was to go to understand this bird behavior.

Summary: How can birds help human mental health? Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they talk about how bird song effects our mental health

Show Notes:

Audubon Magazine Winter 2019

“Why Birds and Their Songs are Good for Our Metal Health,” by Richard Sima

“How Bird Songs Improve Mental Health,” by Arthur Dobrin D.S.W.

“Birding with Benefits: How Nature Improves Our Mental Mindsets,” by Jill U. Adams

Summary: Join Cheryl and Kiersten for a true story of love and struggle in the time of the bird flu.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“Special Delivery,” by Zoe Grueskin, Audubon Magazine Fall 2023, pages 20-27

Transcript:

Cheryl Intro:

            The Arizona’s flock of southwest condors is about 115 birds. These birds roost and roam from the Grand Canyon to Zion National Park.  Each bird has a number and most have GPS or a radio tracker so that they may be found if injured or otherwise in need.  The spring of 2023 the avian influenza hit the state’s flock of condors killing 21 of these iconic, endangered species.  (We have a podcast highlighting the California Condor that was carefully researched by Kiersten, so we are not going to go into the detail descriptions or other details about this bird.) We are going to move forward with our story.

            Kiersten:

            One of the condors lost this past spring was 316.  A 20-year-old female who had succumbed to the avian influenza shortly after laying her egg on a high cliff edge.  The egg was being cared for by her mate 680, a 10-year-old male.  The odds were against this young male of successfully hatching let alone raising his offspring to young adulthood, especially since the space it inhabited was probably infected with the virus, and biologists didn’t know if the chick inside the egg had the avian flu.  So, to save the life of the young male 680, conservation biologists climbed that very high cliff and carefully collected the egg.

            Cheryl:

            Once the gg was safely transported down off the cliff’s edge it was taken Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.  The clinic staff typically treat a couple of condors a year, usually for lead poisoning.  Veterinary staff had little hope for 316’s chick at first.  It had been three weeks since 316 had perished, and 680 had been incubating the egg alone.  Usually, parents alternate egg sitting duties to maintain a consistent warm temperature for the egg, and to keep each parent healthy.  So, the veterinary staff “candled” the egg, illuminating the contents with a bright light.   They were looking for blood vessels, or an embryo-any signs of life.  What appeared in the rosy glow of the egg’s interior was an embryo that was moving.

            Kiersten:

            Now, caring for an unhatched chick is round-the-clock work, an all-hands-on deck operation. Condor’s egg is about the size of a soft ball, and was too big for the clinic’s brooder, which will mechanically mimic how adult birds shift their eggs in the nest.  Instead, staff gently rotated it four times a day and carefully monitored its development.  In May, the chick started hatching but it was pipping at the end of the egg -not the center-the avian version of a breech baby.  To survive its eggshell birth, the bird needed assistance.  So, using surgical pliers pieces of the shell were carefully, and quickly removed to free the tiny condor.  The hatchling was alive, but its fate was uncertain since it was not known if it was infected with the flu.  If infected with the flu the chick could not be transferred to the captive breeding facility, a critical step if this chick was to be released into the wild one day.  If it had the flu the baby condor would be dead within a week.

            Cheryl:

            Avian flu has been around for centuries, but in recent decades the virus has evolved to become lethal to wild birds as well as domesticated poultry.  A mild version, called low pathogenic avian influenza, is present year-around in some species, particularly in waterfowl, and typically doesn’t cause serious illness.  But the virus can travel through waste, infect farmed birds, and mutate into a more aggressive form.  The highly pathogenic avian flu, called H5N1, can pass back to wild ducks, geese, and swans, which can carry the virus across oceans and over thousands of miles as they migrate.  The last major outbreak in the US 2014-2015, causing the deaths of more than 50 million domestic chickens and turkeys along with a few dozen wild birds, mostly geese before it died out.

            Kiersten:

            The avian flu that is circulating since 2021 causes severe neurological and respiratory issues and has affected more that 400 bird species in 81 countries.  In the Untied States alone, it is responsible for a record 58 million domestic poultry deaths, and FWS has confirmed or suspected avian flu in more than 33,000 wild birds.  the virus has killed raptors and swans, ravens and egrets, hundreds of seabirds, and thousands of ducks.  This flu has called mammals too such as raccoons, black bears, other meat eaters.

            Trying to contain a virus is a formidable challenge-even more so when it is carried by organisms that can fly.  It has really impacted conservation and conservationists.  There was alarm when Arizona’s condors started getting sick.  Condors are in such imperil that they have some advantages that helped them to weather this flu.  There are five wild flocks of condors that are intentionally separated by hundreds of miles or more as a safety measure to help ensure that a single disaster or threat doesn’t knock down every group.  Each individual bird is monitored, and condors are used to being handled by humans, since the wild birds are trapped annually for health checks.  This created an opportunity where there normally would not be one.

            Cheryl:

            FWS officials briefly discussed bringing every wild condor into captivity as they did 40 years ago, but they opted not to after weighing the daunting logistics, the possible danger from concentrating the entire species during an outbreak, and the fact that the virus was so far restricted to the southwest flock.  Instead, biologists watched the birds very closely for signs of illness and tightened biosecurity measures, such s not providing food and water for wild condors.  By the time 316’s chick hatched, the tide of death had ebbed.

            FWS officials began planning to provide a more dramatic intervention: by vaccinating every single condor against the virus.  Now, all condors were vaccinated against West Nile virus in the early 2000’s.  So, officials proceeded with caution by first vaccinating a test group of 16 Black Vultures.  Black vultures are relative with strong populations, to make sure it is safe and to ensure there was a good immune response.  The trial was a success, and this past summer 16 captive condors were vaccinated.  Next, will be to vaccinate all the wild condors before the flu picks up again.

Kiersten:

What happened to our little miracle condor chick??  Well, the female chick tested negative for the avian flu.  She was transferred to Boise, Idaho, where she was placed with her adoptive parents.  Her adoptive parents will raise her to be a condor so she will thrive in the wild.  The little condor chick, who is number 1221, will stay with her adoptive family for 7 months then she will join the rest of 2023’s captive-hatched chicks for condor school.  A mentor bird will teach the youngsters to strengthen their flight muscles, to eat communally, and to navigate social hierarchy.  Then the young condors will be released into the wild in their second summer.

Cheryl: Closing

Where condors are released is determined mainly by each bird’s DNA.  Biologists carefully consider which population is the best fit to maintain genetic diversity- which is a crucial concern in a species with so few individuals.  For reasons, biologists don’t fully understand males outnumber females making our miracle chick even more important to the story. So, our heroine #1221 may be able to return to her wild roots in the southwest, and play a key role in rebuilding her battered flock.

Summary: Birds and pesticides do not mix! Join Kiersten and Cheryl as they talk about the history of birds and pesticides, the current status of birds and pesticides, and discuss what we can do in our own backyards.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“Huge decline in songbirds linked to common insecticide.” National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com

“A neonicotinoid insecticide reduces fueling and delays migration in songbirds,” by Margaret L. Eng, Bridget J. M. Stutchbury, and Christy A. Morrissey. Science, Vol 365, Issue 6458, pp. 1177-1180.

“Take Flight From Lawn Pesticides: Tips for Organic, Bird-Friendly Gardening,” by Hardy Kern, April 12, 2022. https://abcbirds.org

DIY Pesticides: Lawn Love, https://lawnlove.com

Natural Lawn Care Products: Jonathan Green, https://www.jonathangreen.com

For more information on rodenticides and birds please listen to our episode titled: Rodenticides: A Deadly Decision

Transcript:

Kiersten: Intro – Pesticides and birds do not mix. They have a long and devastating history ever since humans have begun using synthetic chemicals. In this episode we’re going to look at some of that history, current issues, and what we can do to help in our own backyard.

Cheryl: As Kiersten likes to do, we’re starting off with the definition of a pesticide.  A pesticide is anything that kills off something that humans have decided is a pest. They can be classified into insecticides that kill insects, rodenticides that kill rodents, herbicides that kill unwanted weeds, and fungicides that kill fungus. Every kind of pesticide affects birds. Usually in a detrimental way.  Since the 1940s, since the use of synthetic pesticides became more widely used, bird populations have continuously declined. Today around 1 billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed into the environment just in the United States.

Kiersten: Let’s take a look at what brought our attention to the fact that pesticides that we were using in the environment were killing off birds. Some of you may have heard of or read the book Silent Spring. Written by Rachel Carson this book brought attention to what pesticides such as organochlorines were doing to our environment. It focused on a specific pesticide known as DDT. It was used to kill off insects on crops and it was very effective. What we didn’t initially know was the long-lasting devastation that these chemicals could cause in the environment.

            All chemicals break down and when DDT breaks down it leaves behind DDE. DDE wreaked havoc on the lives of birds. Organochlorides are extremely persistent. They remain active for a long time and they are fat soluble which means they can accumulate in the fatty cells of organisms that are exposed to them and accumulate over time. I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Birds that ingested insects sprayed with DDT didn’t just poop out the chemicals, they absorbed them into their system. Then when those birds were eaten by predators, the chemical was passed on to them. This is a process called biomagnification and with each step the contaminants become more concentrated.

            All birds were greatly impacted, but raptors were affected most of all because they were consistently eating contaminated food. DDT impacted their entire lifecycle. They died from ingesting the chemical, it was also passed onto the embryos in eggs causing them to never develop, but the most heart-wrenching side effect was the leaching of calcium from eggs shells. Birds were laying eggs with shells so thin that when females sat on the eggs to incubated them, they were crushing their own young.

            Because of DDT many species of birds were pushed to the brink of extinction, and we did learn our lesson. Organochlorides have been banned from use in the United States, but other pesticides have taken their place.

Cheryl: The effects of DDT were recognized almost sixty years ago, but today birds are facing threats from another pesticide. Chemicals known as “neonics” are now causing just as many problems as DDT. Neonics are a pesticide used mainly in the farming industry. It is sprayed extensively on crops. It is also used as a coating on seeds so that when the plant grows it will incorporate the neonic throughout the entire plant. It’s great for the plant but it has presented more hurdles for our birds.

            The neonics are especially devastating to our migrating songbirds. A research paper published in 2019 has shown that migrating birds that eat seeds covered in neonics lose wait drastically and delay their migration travels. In the study, white-crowned sparrows were monitored with radio telemetry. Researchers found that birds that ate seeds covered in neonics lost 6% of their body weight in six hours and delayed their migration by 3 and ½ days. This is a significant amount of time to delay causing them to miss out on finding mates and territories which can mean they do not breed for the year.

            Neonics affect the nervous system of animals that ingest the chemicals. These chemicals are also contributing to the decline of honey bees. The bees lose their ability to navigate back to their hives and eventually starve to death. Neonics may also be harming us. These pesticides are designed to remain in the plant for the entirety of their lives which means the produce from those plants also have neonics in them. Studies are currently on going about how these pesticides affect humans.

Kiersten: Okay! What can we do to help? We can start by looking in our own backyards. If you are a gardener or you have friends or family that garden, you typically take pride in how lovely it looks. As you should! But there are a few small things we can do to help curb the reach of these chemicals.

Here are some tips from the American Bird Conservancy on how to garden responsibly:

1. Avoid using neonicotinoids, glyphosate, and carbaryl pesticides. Avoid anything that says it is a systemic pesticide.

Cheryl: Another way to help is let local, state, and federal agencies know that you are not okay with these chemicals being sprayed on our farmlands. The EPA and FDA have the power to ban the use of these neonics. Other countries have done so, and so can the United States. With all the political craziness going on around us, we often forget that we have a voice. But don’t forget we do have a voice and we can make a difference with votes and petitions.

Kiersten: Thanks everyone for listening and helping our backyard songbirds. Cheryl and I do have an announcement. This is the first episode of our last ten episodes. We will be ending The Feathered Desert. I think I can speak for both of us by saying we’ve have a wonderful time writing and producing this podcast. We’ve learned a lot and we hope you’ve learned a lot, as well.  Stick with us for our final episodes though!