Jamaica Bay Osprey Being Tracked

One of the male Ospreys that nest at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, New York, is now wearing a satellite transmitter that will report its movements around the refuge and during migration.

On Tuesday morning, the banding team first startled a pair of ospreys off their nest, leaving behind four speckled eggs. The team then put a large mesh net over the eggs. The female bird flew back and became entangled in the net, and the team removed her and held her out of her mate’s view. When the male returned to the nest, he was captured and taken to the visitors’ center. The female, meanwhile, was released and returned to the nest within a minute.

There, Don Riepe of the American Littoral Society, who serves as the Jamaica Bay guardian, held the osprey still while Bob Kennedy, a prominent ornithologist enlisted by the conservancy, carefully sewed the harness — a kind of raptor backpack — that held the solar-powered transmitter, about the size of a pack of gum, on the bird’s back.

“He’s been a very good sport,” Mr. Kennedy said after the job was done, carrying the male bird back to the bay, where he was released.

Relatively few ospreys have been banded with satellite transmitters across the country, partly because the tags are expensive. The equipment alone can cost $4,000, Mr. Kennedy said, and there is a $50 monthly fee for the data downloads. Coleman P. Burke, a board director of the harbor conservancy, provided a grant to cover the expense of the Jamaica Bay operation. He had followed two other ospreys that Mr. Kennedy had helped band using GPS on Nantucket in the past few years. 

Birders will be able to follow this Osprey's movements via a website, jamaicabayosprey.org. Unfortunately the site will not be online until June

FOY Birds at the Phillips Preserve

Yesterday morning I returned to the John A. Phillips Open Space Preserve for the third time this year to walk the trails and see if any new migrants had moved in. As I mentioned in previous posts on this site, it is part of the Spotswood Outlier, a portion of Pine Barrens forest that lies 20 miles north of the main body of New Jersey's Pine Barrens. The preserve is heavily forested, mostly with Pitch Pines, though there is a substantial section of oak-beech forest. As one would expect in this sort of habitat, there were many singing Pine Warblers. I also heard a surprisingly high number of Ovenbirds (my first for the year), many Yellow-rumped Warblers, and several Black-and-white Warblers (another year first). One Common Yellowthroat was singing in a swampy area. What the warblers lacked in diversity, they made up for in sheer numbers. I heard Ovenbirds singing during my entire walk.

I had one other year first in the form of a Wood Thrush. This bird did not sing, but it did perch nicely on a branch while I took some pictures of it. Other birds present at the site included Chipping Sparrows, two of whom I saw fighting at the edge of the woods. They chased each other while scolding and then confronted each other in mid-air. Eastern Towhees were also very vocal, though I only heard one or two sing. A few large roaming flocks of Carolina Chickadees did not seem to travel in the company of other species.

Wild Ginger

This brownish-purple flower is wild ginger, which is in bloom right now. There are several species commonly called "wild ginger," but the one native to the eastern United States is Asarum canadense, also known as Canadian snakeroot. The common name refers to the rhizomes, which have a ginger-like scent and were used by early Americans as a substitute for ginger in cooking.

Wild ginger is easy to miss unless you know what to look for. The leaves are large and heart-shaped and grow on hairy stems. The flowers are hidden at the bases of the stems underneath those large leaves. Some flowers rest on the ground or on leaf litter. Wild ginger grows in dense, spreading clumps, so the only way to see the flowers is to push the leaves aside. Here is a line drawing of the principal parts.

The position and color of the flower seem designed to attract the attention of flies that feed on carrion. To a newly-emerged fly, the purplish lump lying on the ground may look like meat. (I did not detect any carrion-like odor, though.) The flies then pollinate the plant as they feed on its pollen. The position also serves to attract ants, which carry off the seeds and thus propagate the plant. Since wild ginger is in the pipevine family, Aristolochiaceae, it serves as an alternative host plant for Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) if pipevine (Aristolochia sp.) is not available.

As you might expect from a member of the pipevine family, wild ginger contains a toxin, in this case aristolochic acid. Whether it is present in sufficient quantity to avoid consumption of this plant seems to be a matter of disagreement. However, it is probably best to use caution, especially since the leaves may cause dermatitis in people who are allergic to them.

Loose Feathers #340

Osprey / USFWS Photo

News about birds and birding

• A new study estimates that 6.8 million birds die every year by colliding with communications towers during migration.
• Great Tits are more likely to mob predators if they hear alarm calls from other tits they know well.
• Some bowerbirds cultivate fruit to decorate their bowers.
• Birds with red, orange, or chestnut feathers are more likely to suffer from cataracts, which could affect their ability to hunt or forage.
• EBird New Jersey has an article on finding and identifying Barn Owls in the state.
• Scientists found that Great Tits respond to longer days at the genetic level to prepare for breeding.
• The Red-tailed Hawk nest on a ledge at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia has three hatchlings this spring.

Nature blogging

• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Neurons in a pigeon’s brain respond to magnetic fields
• The Drinking Bird: Appreciating Subtle Sparrows 
• Bird Ecology Study Group: A white-eye entangled in a spider’s web 
• BugBlog: On the odd life cycle of bumblebees 
• Compound Eye: Experimenting with off-camera light (sawfly edition) 
• Extinction Countdown: Critically Endangered Colombian Parrot Doubles Its Protected Habitat
• Bug Girl's Blog: Cochineal Taxonomy Fails

Environment and biodiversity

• This month 61% of the lower 48 states (including New Jersey) had drought conditions; the situation is especially bad in the West because the Rocky Mountains received 70% less snowfall than usual this winter.
• Speaking of western states, The Seattle Times has photos of the land behind the former Elwha Dam, which was destroyed recently as part of an ecological restoration project.
• Mexico became only the second country to pass a comprehensive climate change bill.
• Scientists in Russia found an all-white orca living in the wild.
• A research program discovered bright purple crabs near the island of Palawan in the Philippines. The crabs are believed to be endemic to the island.
• Here is a gallery of rare British butterflies and a gallery of rare British wildflowers.

Supporting National Moth Week

As some of you may know, this July 23-29 will be the first National Moth Week in North America. Hopefully this will become an annual event, with participation from around the continent. There are over 10,0o0 species in North America. Many are not well documented, either in their life histories or for their range, and more may remain to be discovered. Some moths are true pests, of clothing, of stored food, or of agriculture, but most are benign, or even beneficial. Moths, and particularly their caterpillars, are an important food source for birds as they migrate and raise their young. Caterpillars may keep plants from proliferating too quickly, and some species help break down leaf litter. Some adult moths, particularly sphinx moths, pollinate plants. Within those 10,000 species there is a tremendous diversity of size, shape, and pattern. Moths range in size from tiny micromoths to large silk moths that could almost fill an adult's hand. Many moths are drab shades of gray and brown, but some are quite colorful, and even the drab ones may show intricate patterns when viewed up close.

I have signed on as a supporter of National Moth Week, which means that I will posting occasional notices and reminders about upcoming events in the next few months. Plus there will be a linked logo over in the right-hand column.

On a related topic, yesterday evening I received a copy of the brand new Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. This is the long-awaited replacement for the venerable guide by Charles Covell, which has been out-of-print for years. I will try to post a review as soon as possible. If you are in central New Jersey, there will be an opportunity to meet one of the authors, Seabrooke Leckie, at a moth night in East Brunswick on May 10. If you live too far away for that event, you can see her other book tour stops here.