Grassland Birds Responding to Change.

In mid-Ohio we have seen a whole suite of birds responding to the forces of change: grassland birds.   These birds have been scattered by the relentless forward march of progress.  Their numbers have been reduced by loss of habitat, change of farming practices, global pressures, and now even a changing climate is getting in on the act. 

What's a baby Bobolink to do?

 If a love-struck pair of Bobolinks survive long enough to make it out of Argentina and fly nearly 5,000 miles to mid-Ohio in the spring, what are the chances they will find an appropriate grassland?

Ohio has lost 99.9 percent of its native prairies.

Nearly all of Ohio's grasslands have been converted to farmland, or urbanized.  Of that farmland, what percentage is suitable for grassland birds?  They can't make it in a mono-culture like corn or beans.  A hay field would work, as long as it isn't  harvested or mowed before the fledglings leave the nest in July.

Ohio farmlands in early July.

And if all that wasn't enough, grassland birds are now getting a sucker punch from climate change.  Have you noticed extreme weather being reported in the news?  How are grassland birds responding to the massive droughts in the west?  We know someone who has been pondering all those questions...

Michael Godfrey, bird videographer and his best friend Benson.

 Michael Godfrey is a fellow who has been seriously engaged in watching birds (and farms) for a long time.  When you meet him, he might tell you he is a "cattleman," but that's just the short story.  He recently created a program for the Smithsonian Conservation  Biology Institute on the particular subject at hand: grassland birds. Now he has agreed to travel to Ohio to share that program with the friends of Greater Mohican Audubon Society.

This "old boy" from Virginia can turn a phrase until it squeals for "Uncle!" He is an entertaining story-teller and a darn good author as well, with several published books to his credit.   His blog is called Birding on the Farm. You'll want to see his most recent entry, which includes excellent footage of a Mourning Warbler in full song.

Godfrey* is a deep thinker and an inquisitive guy.  He's full of questions and just has to know "why".  What birds are doing and eating should be just as important to us as their color, shape or plumage.  Behavior is key to truly learning about birds and Michael likes to look at the big picture, so to speak.

*He has also been known to carve out a tune on a  Dobro; he claims to have several outstanding warrants for that particular musical offense.

Audubon VideoGuide filmed by Michael Godfrey

Many a birder honed their knowledge with Michael's video guides. Recently, I noticed they were for sale at Maumee Bay State Park gift shop, right next to the Kaufman Field Guides.  How fitting, as these two have known each other for many years and collaborated on several projects.

I'd love to introduce you to my friend Michael. He is going to give his program on grassland birds and climate change the night before the Bobolinks at Byers Woods event. If you would like to join us for the whole weekend, drop me a line at gmasohio@gmail.com and I will send along the form for you to sign up.

Hope to see you there!

The Disappearing Thrush

My recent travels to the Adirondack Mountains of New York was much inspired by one little bird.  The Bicknell's Thrush is an endemic to the mountain tops above 3,000. feet, or "sky islands".  The land often tops out above the clouds and these high elevation mountains are much colder than the valleys below where Swainson's Thrush were historically found. 

The view from the road on Whiteface Mountain.

 The effort to see this rare thrush encompassed a natural history lesson on the Adirondacks and climate change. Our trip, originally planned for Blue Mountain, was rerouted to the much higher elevations of Whiteface Mountain and a full hour to the north.

We were sorry to learn, the  Bicknell's Thrush population is rapidly dwindling from locations once known for them. Jan Auburn and I spent the day discussing the plight of the Bicknell's with the local expert and bird census pro, Joan Collins. Fortunately, Joan warned me that the Blue Mountain population was nearly non-existent- before we made a senseless pre-dawn trip to climb the mountain.

Bicknell's sing very early in the morning, so folks historically trudged up Blue Mountain at 3:30 or 4:00 AM to hear the elusive songsters.  This is a bird more frequently heard rather than seen.  However, in the last two years, due to overly warm spring temperatures, the Swainson's Thrushes are moving their territory up Blue Mountain.  Where once there were fifteen pairs of Bicknell's, now there were but a handful of calling birds during the survey.

Bicknell's Thrush, Catharus bicknelli   photo- Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network

It is important to hear this thrush call, as visually it is pretty much a dead-ringer for the gray Checked Thrush from whom it was "split out" in recent genetic studies.  Joan said, it is much more closely related to the Veery, which has similar voice qualities in their calls.

The warming  mountain tops are not the Bicknell's only problems.  As you can see from the map I photographed at the display at Whiteface mountain, their wintering range is mostly on Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  These are not eco- friendly places for bird populations.  We fear there are also tremendous pressures on the winter population as well as diminishing breeding grounds in New York.

You can read a complete history on Wikipedia or at U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

The alpine habitat on the top of Whiteface Mountain.

If you want to see this thrush, look to the higher mountains.  Embrace the opportunity for a mountain top experience, and I don't mean just the birding.  Experience it all. Whiteface Mountain offers some unique alpine habitat, with a host of plants adapted to the harsh life in bitter cold and winds. I am still sorting out all the fascinating botany I saw on this trip, and I hope to post that later.

Even more important, if you go to see (hear) the Bicknell's Thrush, don't miss the big picture.  In conservation, not unlike real estate, is it all about location, location location.  In other words: habitat, habitat habitat. As temperatures continue to rise, these birds have limited options for breeding success.  They must go higher, or farther north.  Eventually they will run out of both. 


 Too often we Ohioans are complacent about climate change, but the folks to our north have already seen the change at a much faster rate. You don't have to convince an native Inuit that change has occurred. With entire villages being relocated from melting perma-frost, they already have much in common with the disappearing thrush.


  

Walking Fern: Poster Child for Climate Change?

Climate Change. Global Warming... yeah, yeah, you have heard it all by now. It is here, it is real and we need to get very serious about dealing with it.


One of the most hopeful programs I have seen for a while, Birds and Climate Change: On the Move was presented by National Audubon Society’s Director of Bird Conservation, Gregory S. Butcher, PhD. It was a pleasure to attend last night, as it was held at the beautiful new Grange Audubon Center in Columbus.




Greg Butcher spoke on bird populations and climate change.


Greg had all the facts, climate and bird wise, but he didn't stop there. He also had an understanding of the plants and ecosystems in the big picture. The grand-champion of northward movement is the House Finch- logging 433 miles of north-expanding territory in the last 40 years. But it is the American Robin's statistics that are a real eye-opener. These rufous-breasted ground thrushes are wintering in places like Minnesota and Nebraska, and creating the need for the constant update in field guide's range maps.


But what about the the botany?



Walking Fern, Asplenium rhizophyllum.. moving slower than climate change.


Even if our trees developed the ability to move like a walking fern, creeping ahead by planting sprouts wherever the tips of the parent plant’s leaves touch the ground, it would be too slow to keep up with the current climate change. Greg suggested man may have to do some interventive planting, since trees can't change ranges as rapidly as the birds and butterflies that need them. Man's past meddlings with nature leads me to skepticism on this point, but the Paw-paw trees planted in my yard suggests he may already have me on-board.


Greg believes we can make a difference. Just as we banned DDT, cleaned up polluted waters and addressed air-pollution, science has offered some success stories. It is our job to make good environmental decisions. Today our buildings are "greener" and more economical to operate than ever. Our cars are getting better gas mileage, and we have started to turn the political tide.



The Grange Audubon Center, photo by Tom Arbour - The Ohio Nature Blog

Visit the Grange Audubon Center in Columbus to learn more (watch for the upcoming OOS event to be held there in Spring 2010) and support efforts to stop Climate Change at http://www.audubonaction.org/