FaceBook

Search

Learn about the most promiscuous bird

Details
Category: News

Saltmarsh Sparrow (Image: Wolfgang Wander)

Recent studies have revealed a special survival mechanism for a bird living on the east coast of the US. Now it's called the world's most promiscuous bird. The saltmarsh sparrow, that lives in the marshes of Connecticut, was found to have high levels of multiple mating. The scientists found that 95% of females mated with more than one male during each nesting period. They assume that this unusual behaviour could be a survival mechanism due to coastal flooding. Using DNA analysis and studying the birds mating behaviour in the marsh habitat, the researchers revealed the highly promiscuous activities of the bird. The results were published in the journal The Auk.

Check out this BBC website for more information.

2009 Christmas Bird Count Results from Wahkiakum County

Details
Category: Bird Counts

On December 29, 2009, 21 volunteers participated in the twelfth annual Wahkiakum Christmas Bird Count.

Though the temperature rose into the low 40's from the morning's freezing temperatures, a cold east wind blowing over 20 mph in many parts of the circle made it hard to find birds. Some afternoon rain and snow didn't help either.

The count of 104 species is three below our average. Two species were new to the Wahkiakum CBC. Eurasian Collared-Doves are now well- established on Puget Island, where 10 were found on count day. An Empidonax sp. flycatcher was found near the east end of East Birnie Slough Road, Puget Island. I attempted to relocate it, but did not succeed.

Other uncommon finds for our circle included an Eared Grebe,

Read more: 2009 Christmas Bird Count Results from Wahkiakum County

Christmas Bird Count discussed on NPR's Science Friday

Details
Category: Bird Counts

Listen to an interview with the Christmas Bird Count and Feeder Watch coordinators on NPR's Science Friday from 2009 here and from 2008 here and continuing here with a discussion of the benefits of shade grown coffee.  The 2009 interview in particular talks about the northward movement of birds as documented by the counts.

January - February 2010 Whistler is online

Details
Category: Whistler

2010-01 WhistlerThe January - February 2010 Whistler is available now.
Some of its content:

- Amphibian Survey and Program
- Presidents Message
- Member Form and WHAS News
- Birding Bits; Poem: Wounded Bird…
- How to Save Energy – a Conversation with B. Fisher
- Nelson Creek / Recent Fieldtrip report
- Lake Sacajawea Signs are up / Local Events
- Book Review, Officer Nomination Form
- WHAS Programs and Field Trips

New 'Palouse to Pines' Birding Trail Map

Details
Category: News

Image of the new map

State Sen. Lisa Brown and Audubon Washington cordially invite you to the unveiling of the newest map of the Great Washington State Birding Trail, the Palouse to Pines Loop, and featuring LIVE BIRDS like those seen on this route:

- a Great Horned Owl and a
- Red-tailed Hawk.

Time and Location:

Jan. 26, 2010  --  12:45-1:00p.m

Rooms ABC Cherberg Building

State Capitol Campus, Olympia, WA

Please join us in the presentation of the latest area of the state to offer the Birding Trail’s successful combination of outdoor recreation, conservation and rural economic development.

Please click This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

 

Environmental Lobby Day 2010

Details
Category: Other Issues

Join the state’s leading conservation groups and hundreds of citizen lobbyists to push for the passage of the Environmental Priorities Coalition’s 2010 legislative priorities.

1. The Working for Clean Water bill is about creating jobs, rebuilding our local economies, and cleaning up polluted waterways like Puget Sound and Spokane River.

2. Safe Baby Bottles to protect children’s health and the environment by phasing out the harmful chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from baby bottles, food and beverage cans, and other consumer products.

3. Budget for our Environment to ensure adequate funding for the core environmental protections that make Washington State a healthy place to live.

During Environmental Lobby Day you will hear from legislators that are championing the Environmental Priorities legislation, receive a training on how to lobby from top environmental lobbyists, and meet face-to-face with your elected officials. And don’t forget the party in the evening!

When: Tuesday January 26th, 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM

Where: United Churches of Olympia, 110th East 11th Ave

Additionally: Unveiling of the

Read more: Environmental Lobby Day 2010

Book Review: Mind of the Raven

Details
Category: Book Review

By Carolyn Norred

Hiking Portland’s Forest Park Wildwood Trail with a couple of friends recently, we stopped off at the Portland Audubon center.  There we met Aristophanes, an eighteen-month-old raven who had been raised in captivity and now lived under the care of the Audubon volunteers.  Big, beautiful, and bold, he sat on his keeper’s gloved arm and pulled at the folds of her sleeve as we talked.  Each time he lightly tugged at her shirtsleeve, she used her bare finger to tap the underside of his most impressive beak, and he would quit for a moment, and then begin again.  She explained that he knew he wasn’t supposed to be doing what he was doing, but he wanted her full attention.

I had just finished enjoying Bernd Heinrich’s Mind of the Raven, (Harper, 1999) and I couldn’t help notice how delicate and vulnerable that bare finger looked beside the powerful beak. Heinrich lists some of the uses of the raven’s bill:  offense, defense, shoveling, picking, cutting, gripping, ripping, prying, crushing, holding, caressing, combing, and breaking limbs.…

Read more: Book Review: Mind of the Raven