2011 State of the Birds Report released

The Department of the Interior recently released the 2011 State of the Birds Report – Birds on Public Lands. Public lands support at least half of the entire U.S. distributions of more than 300 bird species. The new report provides the first assessment of the distribution of birds on public lands, and identifies conservation challenges and opportunities in the different habitats on which they depend.

David Yarnold issued the statement below on the report:

“This report is telling us that we must take action to protect the public lands our nation’s birds depend on. That means environmentally-sound siting for green energy­­—and the discipline to wean ourselves off fossil fuel. That means adequate funding for the public agencies that preserve, restore and manage these lands for wildlife and the millions of Americans that visit them. And that means investing in the kind of public-private partnerships that have shaped conservation since Teddy Roosevelt established Florida’s Pelican Island as the first federal bird reservation in 1903, with support from the Florida Audubon Society.”

Like previous USFWS State of the Birds reports, this one reflects the combined effort of multiple public and private (NGO) partners. Audubon’s Greg Butcher, Director of Bird Conservation, played a key role as a member of the Report’s science team; Glenn Olson, Donal O’Brien Chair in Bird Conservation
and Public Policy, provided broad leadership, as he does for multiple federal bird conservation initiatives; Audubon also participated in communications planning.

Glenn Olson garnered an exclusive interview with Secretary of the Interior Salazar for Audubon magazine editor David Seideman at Wednesday’s roll-out event at Kenilworth Park in Washington, DC. Other Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture staff joined Secretary Salazar in offering brief remarks. Prior to the event, Mike Mangiaracina, a Brent Elementary School teacher and summer volunteer for Audubon’s Project Puffin, led Secretary Salazar and a group of students on a bird walk.

You can learn more and download a pdf of the report at http://birds.audubon.org/state-birds. Print copies of the report are in progress; we will contact Chapters when they are available.

Great Backyard Bird Count Produced a “Gold Mine” of Information
Annual event collected massive amounts of data about birds

Dark-eyed Junco by GBBC participant Jerry Acton, New York

April 4, 2011—When tens of thousands of people watch birds and report what they see online, they create a snapshot showing the whereabouts of many hundreds of bird species across the United States and Canada. This annual gold mine of information about birds comes from participants in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), a joint project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.

This year, an estimated 60,000 bird watchers of all ages took part in the free, four-day event held February 18-21. Participants identified 596 species and filed 11.4 million individual bird observations. Their reports provide useful information to scientists tracking changes in the numbers and movements of birds from year to year, just as winter is about to melt into spring.

Two new species never reported to the count before included a Brown Shrike in McKinleyville, California, and a Common Chaffinch recorded in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador—both species well out of their normal ranges. In Alaska, a GBBC participant observed a Brambling visiting her feeder—the only one reported for all of North America.

Female Evening Grosbeak by GBBC participant Carrie, Maine.

GBBC participants also reported a surprising increase in the number of Evening Grosbeaks this year—the highest number of observations ever for this species during the count and an increase that isn’t simply attributable to greater GBBC participation. A closer look finds this upturn especially marked in the northwestern U.S. and in Canada. This uptick is also supported by data entered so far this season from Project FeederWatch, a winter-long citizen-science project from the Cornell Lab and Bird Studies Canada. FeederWatch data have shown sharp declines in Evening Grosbeaks over the past two decades for unknown reasons. Future counts may reveal if this year’s increase in GBBC grosbeak reports is a one-time fluctuation or part of a long-term trend.

For the third year in a row, checklists submitted to the Great Backyard Bird Count topped 92,000. Participants set new bird checklist records in 11 states and in 7 out of 13 Canadian provinces and territories, resulting in a new overall checklist record for Canada.

To find out more about these and other trends from the 2011 count, visit www.birdcount.org and click on “Highlights of 2011 GBBC.”

The Great Backyard Bird Count is sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited.

The next GBBC is February 17-20, 2012.

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Top 10 birds reported on the most checklists in the 2011 GBBC:

1)   Northern Cardinal
2)   Mourning Dove
3)   Dark-eyed Junco
4)   Downy Woodpecker
5)   American Goldfinch
6)   Blue Jay
7)   American Crow
8)   Black-capped Chickadee
9)   House Finch
10) Tufted Titmouse

Ithaca, NY—The Celebrate Urban Birds project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology invites you to submit photos, artwork, video, and other types of entries showcasing flying birds for its “Flights of Fancy” contest.

“Go outside and capture the wonder of flight,” said Karen Purcell, Celebrate Urban Birds project leader. “Notice the way birds take off from a branch, fly in flocks, hover, dive, frolic, and land.”

One of the classic sights of winter is an undulating flock of starlings dancing in the sky. The Mourning Dove’s feathers make a twittering noise as it flies. How about that Canada Goose making a smooth landing on the water? Just like us, some birds are more graceful than others.

Share your observations of bird flight by submitting a photo, create a dance, do some artwork, shoot video, write a story or a poem, or create a sculpture. Entries will be featured on the Celebrate Urban Birds website.

Winners will receive prizes that include bird feeders, nest boxes, sound CDs, guides, posters, and a copy of the fantastic new Bird Songs Bible, featuring a built-in audio player with recordings of more than 700 species. We’ll send the first 50 entrants a copy of our “Corvid Behaviors” poster.

Deadine for entries: February 1, 2011

Email your entry to urbanbirds@cornell.edu

1. In the subject line write Flight-Your First and Last Name-Your City and State in the subject line.
2. In the email, you MUST include your name, mailing address, and location where photos were taken.
3. Tell us why you submitted your entry to the contest.
4. Choose your best/favorite entry and send just that one, please!
5. Read the terms of agreement.
6. If you agree to the terms above, send us your entry before February 1, 2011.

Visit the Celebrate Urban Birds website for more information.

After years of delay, petitions and lawsuits, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is finally moving forward on steps to reduce songbird deaths from communication towers.

But the FCC needs to go further to get to the bottom of all the factors causing needless mortality of our migrating songbirds.

Ask the FCC to conduct a full environmental impact statement to accurately document all impacts to migratory birds from communications towers.

Needless Deaths
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that millions of birds are killed each year because of communications towers. Scientists have shown that—especially during bad weather conditions—migrating birds become disoriented and trapped by the halo of light surrounding towers using steady-burning illumination, circling endlessly until they either collide with the structure, collide with each other, or simply fall dead from sheer exhaustion.

In one instance, an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 dead birds were documented at three nearby towers in one night!

Common Sense Solutions
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has issued science-based guidelines on the siting and operation of these towers to minimize bird deaths. Now the FCC, after dragging its feet for years, is proceeding with an environmental assessment to identify impacts on birds. But this is only half the job — a full environmental impact statement is needed to identify all of the impacts, including the cumulative impacts of thousands of towers scattered across the country, as well as common sense alternatives that will help reduce this needless mortality.

Please email the FCC and urge them to conduct a full environmental impact statement so that measures can be put in place to prevent future migratory bird deaths at towers.

Golden-winged Warbler and other birds killed at a communications tower. Photo: Andrew Paulios/WBCI

Send your comments to the Federal Communications Commission and ask for a full environmental impact statement to assess all the impacts of cell towers on migratory birds. Comments due January 14.

With Congress returning to Washington in less than a week, Audubon’s policy and grassroots teams are devoting their efforts to urging the Senate to pass oil spill recovery legislation before the end of the calendar year. In July the House of Representatives passed a measure sponsored by Representatives Charlie Melancon (D-LA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) to direct money to Gulf Coast Restoration; it’s up to the Senate to follow their lead. The Deepwater Horizon disaster inflicted the most damage on coastal Louisiana, an area already ravaged by federal and state mismanagement and an important focal point of Audubon policy efforts over the past several years. Under the Clean Water Act, BP is liable for billions in civil penalties, but without Congressional action that money is destined for the coffers of the Federal Treasury. It is unacceptable for the federal government to receive a windfall from the most severe environmental disaster in our nation’s history, especially when Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf region still require so much assistance to recover from it.

On the policy side, representatives of Audubon are in constant communication with key Capitol Hill staffers, Obama administration officials, and Gulf state governors’ offices to negotiate and garner support for legislation that would direct Clean Water Act penalties to environmental recovery and restoration efforts in the Gulf States. The grassroots team is busy encouraging Audubon members and volunteers to communicate with their representatives in Congress as well as local and state governments to show their support for such legislation — look for an action alert next week. Finally, Audubon is calling members in key states, asking them to contact their Senators in Washington DC to express their support for swift Congressional action on this vitally important issue. Please respond if you get a call next week!