Division of Bird Habitat Conservation
Birdscapes: News from International Habitat Conservation Partnerships
In an Eggshell
Birding Trails Web Site
That birding is good for local economies is evidenced by the number of formal birding trails being established in the United States and Canada. The American Birding Associations (ABA) “Birding Trails in North America” Web site at www.americanbirding.org/programs/constrails.htm lets you know where they are located.
The trails—some completed, some in development, some in the idea phase—are essentially driving routes linking prime birding locations. The ABA’s site lists trails in 28 states and 1 Canadian province. Brief descriptions of the trails give the best season to visit, some of the birds to be found, contact information, and when available, a link to the trail’s Web site. Start planning your birding vacation now.
Targeting Restoration Hot Spots in Chesapeake Bay’s Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay watershed provides vital habitat to more than 2,800 species of wildlife, including many that are threatened or endangered. Human influence on the watershed has dramatically affected the role the bay plays in the annual life cycles of waterfowl, anadromous fish, and shellfish. High rates of point and nonpoint source pollution have caused water quality to deteriorate to the point that the bay is experiencing all-time lows in submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)—the foundation of the bay’s food chain—and waterfowl, oyster, and fish populations.
Throughout the 64,000-square-mile bay watershed, habitat conservation efforts have focused on restoring stream buffers, upland habitat, and wetlands to improve water quality and increase the availability of wildlife habitats. Improved water quality should help with the recovery of SAV and thereby aid in the recovery of fish and wildlife populations using the bay.
Ducks Unlimited, Inc., has developed a targeting system to identify focus areas for restoration activities in the bay’s watershed. At a landscape scale, its Watershed Targeting System ranks the 450 subwatersheds of the bay based on water quality from agricultural land use, potential for wetland restorations, and potential for riparian restorations. When funding becomes available, geographic information system technology will be used in a microanalysis to target specific wetland and riparian conservation projects within the watersheds. Conservation planners and field biologists can use the Watershed Targeting System to concentrate their activities in the highest priority areas to help reduce the nonpoint source pollution reaching the bay and to improve their project-cost efficiency.
For more information, visit http://gis.ducks.org and click on “Chesapeake Bay Conservation Planning Network.”
Robb Macleod, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
(734) 623-2000, rmacleod@ducks.org
Texas World Birding Center
A World Birding Center. What a concept. Originally envisioned by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, others soon bought into the idea including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and nine municipalities. Opening in 2004, the center will be a network of nine sites along a 120-mile stretch of the Rio Grande, from the Gulf of Mexico to Starr County, Texas, where you can engage with some of the world’s most colorful birds.
The goals of this new center are to restore and protect native habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, boost the regional economy by promoting nature tourism, provide public access to great birding locales, and conduct public tours and educational programs to advance the conservation of birds that migrate between the Americas.
The network’s nine sites are located at Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen, Hidalgo, McAllen, Mission, Roma, South Padre Island, and Weslaco. Although not all sites have been completed (walkways and visitor centers yet to be built), most offer beginner-birder tours that last only a few hours and birding treks that can take all day. Birders can tag along with expert guides and specialists, experience 8,000 acres of previously inaccessible habitats, and increase their knowledge of the 498 bird species that make South Texas a magnet for birders from around the world. Courses for the expert naturalist are also being provided at some sites.
For more information about the center, rare bird alerts, upcoming events,
and more, visit www.worldbirdingcenter.org.
Colleen Hook, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
(956) 584-9156, marketing_wbc@swbell.net
Just the Facts: White Spruce
Also known as Canadian spruce, skunk spruce, cat spruce, and Black Hills spruce, white spruce (Picea glauca) is an important resource for wildlife and humans.
Growth Rate White spruce is a medium-sized tree with typical heights of 50 to 70 feet, diameters up to 2 feet, and branch spreads up to 20 feet. Size depends on location—it can grow to 100 feet on the right site. Annual vertical growth is 12 to 18 inches.
Sites White spruce is adapted to a great variety of sites, permitting growth across a wide range of soils, climates, and moisture levels. It has intermediate shade tolerance and is usually found in mixed stands with aspen and birch.
Range It is transcontinental, covering Newfoundland and Labrador along the tree line to Alaska, south to British Columbia and northwest Montana, and east to Michigan, New York, and Maine. There is also an isolated population in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
Human Uses With wood that is light, straight-grained, and resilient, white spruce is an important commercial tree used for construction lumber. It is among the premier pulpwood species. Native Americans used decayed spruce wood to tan hides and used the bark for baskets, cooking pots, and trays. The resin served severed as glue to secure arrowheads onto shafts.
Animal Uses Moose and deer live in spruce forests but seldom eat the tree. Spruce grouse survive on its needles in the winter, and red squirrels eat the seeds. Crossbills pry open the cones to get seeds. Snowshoe hares eat saplings and seedlings. Wolves, wolverines, and lynx are among the other wildlife using spruce-forest habitat.
Heather Lowe, MeadWestvaco
(843) 871-5000, HSL1@meadwestvaco.com
Sacramento Valley’s Shorebirds and Ricefields
by Paul Buttner, California Rice Commission
California’s Sacramento Valley is known for a number of things: its agricultural industry, its Sacramento Kings basketball team, and its rivers that can lure even the most dedicated workaholic to an afternoon of lazy downstream tubing. And now, the valley has another claim to fame. Based upon endorsements from scientific reviewers, the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences (Manomet) has designated the ricelands and natural wetlands of the Sacramento Valley a “Shorebird Site of International Significance.”
With this action, the valley’s rice fields, which comprise nearly 90 percent of the designated area, are included within Manomet’s Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. In North America, the valley is second only to Alaska in having the largest site designated within the network. At least 14 shorebird species, many of which are imperiled, use the valley’s ricefields and natural wetlands. Counts for dunlins have been recorded at over 78,200, western sandpipers, 50,380, and dowitchers (mostly long-billed), 51,700. The total number of shorebirds submitted with the site nomination in May 2002 was 203,425.
Manomet’s designation may be the single most important recognition of the contribution that rice growers make to conserving California’s natural resources. While producing one of the highest-quality crops in the world, rice farmers simultaneously provide a virtual bed-and-breakfast for millions of local and migrating waterbirds. On over 500,000 acres of fields, plenty of rice remains after harvest, not to mention the insects and crustaceans found in flooded fields, to feed millions of birds. It’s a kind of environmental multitasking that benefits both wildlife and people.
So, if you want to see for yourself the latest and perhaps greatest attribute of the Sacramento Valley, visit its rice fields and you’ll get a bird’s-eye view.
Paul Buttner, California Rice Commission
(916) 641-5095, pbuttner@calrice.org
Name That Egg
Images that accompanied this article are copyrighted and released to Birdscapes for one-time use only. They are not available for use on this Web site.
Flying WILD
Teachers, here’s a heads up. Flying WILD, a new program under development by the Council for Environmental Education (Council), a nonprofit organization, will facilitate efforts among educators and community organizations to bring migratory bird conservation education to schools. A 3-year grant provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with matching funds from ConocoPhillips, enabled the Council to begin work on this national initiative. Student-directed school bird festivals will be a primary vehicle used to promote bird education and conservation.
A Flying WILD program manual, scheduled for publication in March 2004, will serve as a how-to guide for planning and producing a school bird festival. The manual contains pre-festival classroom activities and instructional materials needed to make the event a success.
It is expected that Flying WILD school bird festivals will provide an opportunity for schools to reach out to community groups, conservation organizations, and businesses for support and assistance. Teachers will be able to adapt the program for use in urban schools where students have fewer opportunities to participate in environmental education initiatives. This program will give all teachers a means to introduce the world of birds to their students in a productive, academically enriching, and fun way.
Marc Lefebre, Council for Environmental Education
(713) 520-1936, marclcee@aol.com
February Is Wild Bird Feeding Month
Birds bring a welcome dash of color, flash of motion, and splash of sound into our lives, particularly in the gloom of winter. But this also is one of the most difficult seasons for birds to survive in the wild in much of North America.
It often gets worse in February. Natural food supplies have been depleted, and ponds are thick with ice, making it difficult to forage in the wild. That’s why the National Bird-Feeding Society (Society) has designated February “Wild Bird Feeding Month,” to call attention to the birds’ need for food and water.
Consider the following:
- A typical backyard bird weighs less than two nickels,
- Birds spend most of their waking hours searching for food,
- In below-freezing temperatures, snow is the only “water” birds may find, and
- Birds can use up to 15 percent of their body weight overnight just keeping warm.
The Society asks you to help birds this winter by keeping fresh seed in your feeders, offering suet as an extra energy entree, and replenishing the water in your birdbath. Download the free Basics of Bird Feeding brochure from www.birdfeeding.org to learn more about backyard bird feeding. And, please, don’t forget to celebrate Wild Bird Feeding Month in February—all it takes is putting out another feeder or block of suet.
Sue Wells, National Bird-Feeding Society
(941) 962-4584, media@birdfeeding.org