Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Banded Birds

This winter I have come across a few interesting banded birds in local parks. Many of the local Canada Geese have metal leg bands. Unfortunately these are very difficult to read without a lot of patience and careful movements, but it can be done. Reporting a banded bird is a lot easier when the birds are also wearing neck collars, like the four geese above. These were first spotted by Andrew Bobe during this winter's Raritan Estuary Christmas Bird Count. These geese were banded in Quebec Province in Canada, a little north of Montreal. I had previously reported one of the geese, the one with the neck collar F4E9, during the previous year's Christmas Bird Count. It is nice to see a familiar bird come back to the same location.

On Sunday, I found another tagged bird, this time a Ring-billed Gull, on the beach in Perth Amboy. This gull was banded in Massachusetts, at a shopping center a little south of Worchester. The gull was banded last November, which means that it migrated south to New Jersey within the last three months. Perhaps one of the recent snowstorms pushed it south. I found another Ring-billed Gull with orange wing tags while I was futilely searching for a Barnacle Goose at Thompson Park in Monroe Township. I wonder if it might have been tagged by the same banding operation.

If you find a banded bird, please report it! The data collected by banders has a number of different uses, and one of them is learning about migration and dispersal patterns. The more data collected, the more complete the picture will be. You can report directly to the bander (if you know who banded it). Otherwise, the easiest way to submit data is through the Bird Banding Laboratory website.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Loose Feathers #380

Wisdom, the 62-year-old Laysan Albatross, and her mate / Photo by Pete Leary/USFWS
Birds and birding
Nature and science blogging
Environment and biodiversity
  • National parks are set to take a big hit if the federal budget sequester happens. Among other things, some visitor centers and campgrounds will close, many parks will not hire seasonal staff, and invasive species management will be curtailed.
  • According to a study done by Oceana (pdf), mislabeling is widespread in the seafood industry. In particular, seafood labeled as "snapper" or "white tuna" is likely to come from another fish species. Mislabeling has health effects since some fish, such as escolar, have high mercury levels, and many times endangered fish are sold under the names of other fish. Mislabeling is especially high in California; in southern California, a majority of fish tested were a species other than what the label indicated.
  • The production of biofuels is wiping out natural grasslands in the Midwest. Farmers are planting biofuel crops on marginal land that in the past would have been left as natural habitat. This has conservation implications for grassland specialists (especially birds) and also means that the soil will not retain carbon as well.
  • Arctic sea ice continues to disappear, with potential climate feedback effects. 
  • Death Valley National Park was named one of the world's best dark sky sites.
  • A "super-mega-pod" of Common Dolphins, with up to 100,000 individuals, was seen off the coast of California.
  • A study of specimens found 138 new species of beetles in the genus Operclipygus in the family Histeridae (also known as clown beetles).
  • Killing apex predators can intensify climate change since fewer predators means more herbivores, which eat plants and release the carbon they would otherwise store.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Loose Feathers #379

Eared Grebe / Photo by Steve Dawes (USFWS)
Birds and birding
Science and nature blogging
Environment and biodiversity

Friday, February 08, 2013

Loose Feathers #378

American Robin / my photo
Birds and birding
Science and nature blogging
Environment and biodiversity

Friday, February 01, 2013

Loose Feathers #377

California Spotted Owl (Photo by USFS Region 5)
Birds and birding
Nature and science blogging
Environment and biodiversity