Birding News 2

Audubon Southwest and the city of Phoenix are bringing the community together around a shared vision: Making Phoenix a place where birds can thrive. The new initiative – Bird-Friendly PHX – invites residents to take simple actions at home and across the community to help birds, whether they are migrating through the city or if they are resident species – because a healthy city for birds is a healthy city for people. Every fall and spring, millions of birds migrate through the greater Phoenix area, with some stopping over along their migration route. Using simple actions, residents and seasonal visitors can help benefit birds in Phoenix. 

Photography Awards that celebrate the beauty and variety of birds from north to south. In addition to awarding photograph from the United States and Canada, for the second year of this 17-year contest, the judges awarded prizes to residents of Colombia and Chile to highlight how birds connect people across geographies and ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere. Overall, these images of birds are spectacular and inspiring! 

You are invited to the annual Fort Morgan bird banding event at the southern tip of Alabama, the largest banding activity for the Banding Coalition of the Americas each year. This fall the banding event will take place October 3rd to October 10th from 8am to 3pm, although banding will finish at noon October 10th. Each year about 600 people from the local area and from across North America visit the banding station to learn about bird banding, observe the process, and experience the fall bird migration spectacle at Fort Morgan State Historic Site in Gulf Shores, Alabama. 

With prime bird migration progressing across the continent during October, birders can take advantage of the organized activities provided during Birding Festivals. When you attend a Birding Festival, you quickly realize they are truly celebrations of birds and birding that are shared among participants that range from every age to every level of interest in birds. With many birding festivals providing guided hikes and field trips with accomplished birders, they also offer a variety of presentations and workshops. There are children's activities and family fun too, and best of all, you have the chance to meet and enjoy spending time with others who share your enthusiasm for birds and birding! 

Birders from across the continent, including people of all ages and experience levels, are choosing the day of their choice between September 15 and October 15 to identify as many bird species as you can. In this way, birders will be helping to raise funds to support the work of Point Blue Conservation Science's work to advance the conservation of birds, wildlife, and ecosystems through science, partnerships, and outreach. Formerly the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, you can join Point Blue's month of Bird-A-Thon events in-person or on-line to learn about planned activities and to connect with fellow birders. 

Timed so you can be ready for hawk and falcon observations during fall migration, you can participate in a live raptor flight ID presentation next Wednesday, September 9th at Noon EDT. Join hawk counter Josh Haas as he shares an overview about how to identify raptors in flight, and especially how Josh's video clips can help you learn to identify raptors in flight. Josh will show clips from his movie Hawks on the Wing to illustrate his innovative way to learn how to identify raptors in flight. The program features side-by-side videos of raptors in flight, which makes mastering the technique faster and easier.

The early signs of raptor migration across North America and funneling into Mexico began showing loud and clear last week as northern hawkwatch sites from New York to Minnesota began seeing ever-larger numbers of Broad-winged Hawks, Bald Eagles, and Red-tailed Hawks. At the same time, Texas count sites featured impressive migration flights of Mississippi Kites and Broad-winged Hawks. It all becomes very clear when you refer to the Hawk Migration Association's exceptional resource – HawkCount – where you can see daily totals of each species at 29 count sites to date, with more checking in as migration progresses. 

We all pay attention to weather reports and forecasts, sometimes daily. Now there is a seasonal excitement about bird migration generated by BirdCast, in which weather radar is used to monitor the volumes of birds migrating during spring and fall migration seasons across the continental United States. Will birders soon be watching television broadcasts or YouTube presentations of migration forecasts similar to weather forecasts? The first such broadcast has already been created as a precursor to what may soon be one of our newest resources! 

To expand on the information provided daily via radar, BirdCast also provides a number of information sources that describe more insights into the process of monitoring bird migration while increasing our understanding of how birds migrate. The BirdCast Science Center provides a wealth of background information about Bird Migration, as well as Applications of Radar Technology, such as how radar data is turned into information that describes migrating bird numbers, flight directions, flight speeds, and migration altitudes to expand our understanding of migratory bird movements, especially at night.

In woodlands, forests, and even in our yards, trees continue to provide life after death; snags provide nesting sites, food, and cover for owls and a variety of cavity nesting birds. The life of a tree doesn't end when it dies, it simply transforms. Owls are a special family of birds that depend on dead trees – snags – owls that range in size from Great Gray Owls to Screech Owls benefit from snags across the United States and Canada. And by protecting a snag or a number of them, we provide an area of habitat for an interacting web of life that extends from forests to open woodlands, and even our backyards. 

On their multi-generational cattle farm near Newbern, Alabama, the Joe family was hosting an excited group of birders who watched as father Cornelius Joe drove his tractor through his hayfield, cutting alfalfa and grass to harvest, and stirring up insects in the process. This activity usually attracts the attention of Swallow-tailed Kites and even Mississippi Kites that arrive and dive after airborne insects – sometimes at eye level right in front of the visiting group of birders! This is an interesting insight into how the Joe family is leading the way in showing how ecotourism can benefit the Black Belt of Alabama and birds in the region. 

Join Liz Clayton Fuller for her free live bird sketching event that's sure to be a blast! Sketch moving birds along with Liz as we watch the stars of the Cornell Lab FeederWatch Cam – or just sit back and enjoy watching Liz create bird art live online. Liz will talk about her work, answer audience questions, and explain her techniques for sketching birds from live encounters. Whether you are interested in becoming a better sketcher, curious about the artistic process, or an artist yourself, you are sure to have a lot of fun if you participate next Monday, July 20, at 2:00pm Eastern Daylight Time, 11:00am Pacific. 

During the past 40 years, a steady range expansion at the northern limits of the nesting range of Orchard Orioles has been studied in Ontario using the annual Breeding Bird Atlas surveys as the basis to monitor this colorful species' expanding nesting range in southeast Ontario. Information reported by Birds Canada indicates that Orchard Orioles have a remarkable ability to adapt to the fragmented landscapes that are increasingly present across southern Ontario, such as scattered groves of trees and city parks. These spaces mimic the open woods and woodland edges that Orchard Orioles select for nesting, highlighting the value of prioritizing high-quality greenspaces in towns and wooded areas.

Visit Alabama's storied and historic Black Belt region to attend the Black Belt Birding Festival, scheduled for July 31 to August 2nd. Organized and conducted by Alabama Audubon, this region is a premier destination for birding in the Southeast that features open prairie grasslands adjacent to forests and bottomland swamps. These varied habitats provide festival attendees a variety of opportunities to observe many exciting species of birds in pristine settings. As the Southeast's largest prairie ecosystem, it is the only place you can find Wood Storks and Swallow-tailed Kites along with Painted Buntings, Dickcissels, and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers.

Drumming is an important form of communication for woodpeckers, and hearing a rapid rat-a-tat-tat-tat can help you identify which species is drumming. Similar to learning to identify songbird calls, with a little practice you can identify some woodpeckers by the speed, cadence, and rhythm of their drumming. Woodpecker drumming may not be as immediately distinctive as bird songs, but by carefully listening to duration and rhythm of the drumming – even the perceived loudness of the woodpecker with reference to its location – you can still tell many species apart.

A birder recently pointed out that "Birding has changed my life. Not only has birding made me more observant and patient, but it's given me a sense of belonging to the Earth. Birds remind me that I am part of nature – not separate from it. The beauty of birding is that there is no 'right way' to do it. Birding is a personal activity, and the way you enjoy birding can vary any time you plan an outing."

Most Birding Festivals held across the United States and Canada have a long and successful track record, with some continuing for more than 2 decades and a few prospering more than 4 decades! Each year, new communities and interested groups continue to start their own Birding Festivals to serve local and state birders, while also engaging the community. It seems that birding fests are destined to grow year after year with local citizens, businesses, and wildlife groups finding a sense of community in the events, while visiting birders generate impressive economic benefits. 

Celebrate the arrival of your favorite birds this spring and learn answers to common questions about how they make the migration from wintering areas to your neighborhood tomorrow, May 14th, presented by ornithologists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This is a reminder to register for this informative presentation that emphasizes that bird migration isn't just a continental phenomenon, it is also super-local, and it is happening all around you now. Mid-May is prime time to enjoy the spring migration spectacle! Some of the new birds you see are just passing through during a short migration stopover, while others will be with you through the summer.

As we enter the most active period of bird migration, you can check live migration maps and other valuable information provided by BirdCast across the contiguous United States. This daily information is filed to be available to refer to anytime for any given night or day – and it's all free and available online 24-7. Using weather radar to detect the numbers and flight directions of migrating birds, BirdCast provides information to birders in a number of different ways, most notably on their Live Migration Map and Local Migration Dashboard. There are also 2 migration forecasting programs: Migration Forecasts and Migration Alerts, both of which look 3 days into the future. 

Just as the spring migration of warblers is beginning, you can download and print a free full-color Warbler Identification Guide from the Bird Academy. Warblers can be among the most challenging birds to identify due to varied plumage colors and patterns between species, sexes, age groups, and the seasons, so this timely guide provides a source of information that will improve your warbler ID IQ. There are actually 3 pages of warbles included in this excellent Warbler ID Guide, divided into Eastern, Western, and Widespread Warblers found in the United States and Canada. Print the .pdf pages and study them at home and take them with you in the field.