Category Archives: Musings & News

The Biggest Die First

September 20, 2016Insects, Musings & NewsKate St. John

Large swordfish on deck during long-lining operations (photo by Derke Snodgrass via NOAA Photo Library) — Large swordfish on deck during long-lining operations (photo by Derke Snodgrass from NOAA Photo Library)

It happened to land animals. Now it’s happening in the ocean. The biggest die first.

Based on Earth’s current extinction rate of 1,000 times the normal background rate (predicted to become 10 times worse) scientists believe we’re at the start of the sixth mass extinction.

Stanford geoscientist Jonathan Payne wondered if the traits of extinct marine animals could predict the likelihood of extinction in today’s ocean organisms. For mollusks and vertebrates Payne and his colleagues compared ecological traits such as habitat preference and body size in past extinct and present threatened genera (genus: one level above species). The results were surprising.

In past extinctions habitat preference was a good predictor that an animal would disappear. That’s not the case now. In this era, the best predictor of future extinction is large body size.

The difference is us. Human hunting pressure is driving ocean extinction. Our demand for seafood is high (there are billions of us to feed) and we’ve become very efficient at capturing the largest fish. Highly migratory predators like the Pacific bluefin tuna have declined precipitously.

We’ve seen this before. At the end of the Ice Age, as human population expanded across the globe, the megafauna simultaneously went extinct. It’s now known that sabretooth tigers, giant armadillos and woolly mammoths disappeared due to human hunting.

Woolly mammoth statue in the Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC, Canada (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

We humans are successful because we make tools and hunt cooperatively. Of course we kill the largest prey first. One large animal feeds more people.

Unfortunately we don’t know when to stop.

Read more about Payne’s study here at Science Daily.

(photo of swordfish from NOAA Photo Library. photo of woolly mammoth statue in Royal BC Museum, Victoria, Canada via Wikimedia Commons. Click on the images to see the originals)

p.s. A word about the swordfish pictured above: Swordfish are highly migratory predators whose population is in danger in many oceans around the world. In 1998 the North Atlantic population dropped so low that fishing was suspended. A 2009 international assessment of North Atlantic swordfish showed they had recovered in U.S. fishing areas, so fishing resumed. Note: The fishermen who lost their lives aboard the Andrea Gail in The Perfect Storm were longline fishing for swordfish.

Hey, People! Work With Me

September 7, 2016Bird Behavior, Musings & NewsKate St. John

Greater honeyguide (photo by Wilferd Duckitt via Wikimedia Commons)

Domestic birds work for us but here’s a wild bird who chooses to work with us.

Greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) are wild birds in Africa known for leading humans to honey. They eat bee eggs, larvae and beeswax but often can’t get at them because the bees fight them off. So the birds enlist our help, “Hey, humans! Work with me.”

Chattering and fluttering in front of us, honeyguides lead us to the hives where we use smoke to subdue the bees and axes to open the tree trunks where the hives are hidden. We get the honey. The honeyguides get the insects and wax.

This active solicitation has gone on for thousands of years. In July we learned a new twist in the story.

Claire Spottiswoode studied greater honeyguides in Mozambique and found that the solicitation works both ways. People have a special call that means, “Come, honeyguide! Let’s go look for honey together.” The birds arrive and lead the way.

The calls vary by region. For instance, there’s one sound in Mozambique, another in Tanzania. Listen to the story on NPR to hear them.

“Hey honeyguide! Come work with me.”

How the birds learned our calls is still unknown.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)

A Tip on Confusing Fall Warblers

September 1, 2016Migration, Musings & News, SongbirdsKate St. John

Female yellow warbler (photo by Chuck Tague)

On Throw Back Thursday:

It’s warbler time again as these tiny birds migrate south through western Pennsylvania. They’re not as much fun as they were in the spring.

In May they were dressed in their colorful best. This month a lot of them are wearing camouflage. Who are these confusing fall warblers?

Back in 2009 it dawned on me that I could identify immature fall warblers because I had looked hard at their parents in the spring. Read how it works here:

Confusing Fall Warblers

(photo by Chuck Tague)

Shorebird Practice

August 12, 2016Musings & News, Water and ShoreKate St. John

A photographer and shorebirds at the Mingan Archipelago, Quebec (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

It’s shorebird time and many of us are confused. In southwestern Pennsylvania we only see these birds on migration and a lot of them look alike.

I’m not good at shorebirds but I want to be better. What to do? Practice! Here are some tips I’m using this month, written down so I don’t forget. Maybe they’ll help you, too.

Here’s a quick summary:

Prepare in advance.
Take your time.
For some brown/gray shorebirds, 3 field marks are all you need:
1. Size compared to other birds,
2. Beak shape, size and color,
3. Leg length (relative to body) and color.

Still stumped? You’ll have to read …

THE WHOLE LIST:

Prepare in advance:

Choose a birding location with lots of shorebirds so you can compare sizes, shapes and behavior.
Before you go, narrow your choices to what’s possible at that location at that time of year. Make a list. Highlight the common ones. Bookmarks help.
Take field guides(*), a scope(+), a sun hat, and maybe a chair. These birds stay put. So will you.

Methods in the field:

Take your time! Study their behavior. Quick impressions don’t work.
Pick one bird to identify. Learn it well then move on.
Don’t focus on plumage yet unless the bird has really striking colors or patterns. (Plumage is the least useful field mark on difficult shorebirds.)
Size: Compare to other shorebirds. (ex: smaller than a killdeer?)
Silhouette:
- Beak shape: Long or short? Straight or Curved up or down? Convex (bulged) or thin? Sharp tip or blunt?
- Legs: Long or short relative to the body?
- Neck: Long? Short? “No-neck”?
- Head: Big or little? Round or long?
- Body: Chunky? Thin? Stubby? Long?
Color of beak and legs. (Sometimes size, beak and legs are all you need)
Behavior:
- Stands tall or always crouched?
- In a tight flock or solo?
- Does it stand in water? Or does it stay at the edge, hating to get its feet wet?
- Does it peck daintily? Grab and go? Move its bill like a sewing machine needle?
- Does it chase waves? (field mark of a sanderling)
Now look at plumage (adults + juveniles this month). Does it match your guess?
Can’t make up your mind? Repeat the process.

If all else fails, hope for a peregrine or merlin to stir them up. Some species are impossible until they open their wings (willets, black-bellied plovers). And it’s always nice to see a falcon.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original.)

p.s. Did I miss anything? Do you have a tip for shorebird practice? Please post it in a comment.

Footnotes: Here are some great guides to use at home or while sitting in the field. These books are big and heavy.
(*) For plumage and field marks: The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd Edition.
(*) For detailed behavior of each species (No pictures): Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion

(+) Scope: If you have a really good camera it can out-perform a scope. Photos show the details frozen in time.

Urban Birds Have It All

July 29, 2016Bird Behavior, Musings & News, PeregrinesKate St. John

Peregrine falcon, Dorothy, at the Cathedral of Learning, Feb 2011 (photo by Patricia Szczepanski) — Peregrine falcon, Dorothy, at the Cathedral of Learning in February 2011 (photo by Patricia Szczepanski)

Twenty-five years ago peregrine falcons moved into the City of Pittsburgh. Since then lots of cool raptors have come here, too, including red-tailed hawks, Coopers hawks, turkey vultures and, most recently, bald eagles.

City living provides food and protection from predators but birds face new challenges by living near humans. Jean-Nicolas Audet of McGill University wondered if these challenges put city birds at a disadvantage compared to their country cousins so he designed some tests to answer these questions: Which group is better at problem solving? Which group is more immune to disease? And since both traits require lots of energy, is there a trade-off such that smarter birds have lower immunity?

The Caribbean island of Barbados has both city and country habitats and an endemic species that lives in both places, the Barbados bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis). Audet tested the bullfinches and the results were surprising.

“We found that not only were birds from urbanized areas better at innovative problem-solving tasks than bullfinches from rural environments, but that surprisingly urban birds also had a better immunity than rural birds,” says Jean-Nicolas Audet, a Ph.D student in the Department of Biology and first author of the study published in the journal Behavioral Ecology in 2016.

As earth’s human population grows and more habitat is converted to cities, more birds may have to choose the urban environment. If they can adapt, it will be a smart move. As Audet says, “Urban birds have it all.”

Read more about the 2016 study and find links here to “The town bird and the country bird: problem solving and immunocompetence vary with urbanization“.

(photo of Dorothy in 2011 by Patricia Szczepanski. video from McGill University on YouTube)

The Largest Crop in America

July 26, 2016Musings & News, Plants & FungiKate St. John

26 July 2016

If you think about it, a lot of us are farmers. We devote our small acreage to a crop that we fertilize, water and harvest. Then we throw away the harvest or grind it up to re-fertilize the crop. We never eat it and we don’t feed it to our animals.

Grass. In Pennsylvania we devote 2 million acres to lawns. Our next largest crop uses 1.6 million acres. (*See table below.)

The amazing dominance of the lawn is true everywhere in the continental the U.S. except in the Central West — Montana to Nevada to Kansas — where hay, corn and soybeans take up more space. Click here and scroll down for the map.

This isn’t really news. A 2005 study by Cristina Melisi used satellite data to show that lawns are the largest crop in America and the most irrigated by acreage. This is no surprise in Florida and the West where lawns have built-in irrigation systems, but do we irrigate in the Northeast? You bet! The sprinklers are running this month.

Some homeowners break the mold by making meadows or growing vegetables but they often have to explain it to their neighbors. The two-year-old Beacon-Bartlett meadow in Schenley Park has educational signs explaining “This is intentional.”

If I was a gardener I’d convert my tiny backyard lawn but I’m not even a participant. I am, at best, an observer using my Newcomb’s Guide to identify what comes up. I never water, weed or seed it. When it grows, it gets cut. It’s not growing right now.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)

(*) UPDATED 22 June 2023: Thank you Mary Ann Pike for providing this link at USDA with which I populated this table with Pennsylvania crop statistics.

Cultivation/ Crop	Acreage in PA
Lawns	2.0 million
Hay and Haylage	1.5 million
Corn	1.2 million
Soybeans	0.6 million
Wheat	0.3 million

This means that lawns are about 30% of Pennsylvania’s cultivated lands.

Remembering Chuck Tague

June 19, 2016Musings & NewsKate St. John

Chuck Tague, 2008 (photo by Bill Parker) — Chuck Tague (photo by Bill Parker, 2008)

June 19, 2016

Yesterday morning on The Allegheny Front Chuck Tague taught us about bluets in a rebroadcast of his article Field of Innocence, recorded in September 2001. Hours later I learned that Chuck had died the night before from complications of a heart attack he suffered on May 11. He was 71.

Chuck was an avid nature observer, writer, photographer and inspiring teacher. He touched thousands of lives with his love of nature and sense of wonder. His enthusiasm for the outdoors was infectious.

I first met Chuck Tague more than 20 years ago when I attended his birding classes at the Rachel Carson Institute. His welcoming spirit changed my life. I spent more time birding, attended outings, joined the Wissahickon Nature Club and assisted him on the Raccoon Christmas Bird Count. We became friends and I traveled with Chuck and his wife Joan to Presque Isle and Magee Marsh for spring migration and visited them in Florida where they made their home in 2010.

Chuck’s website and Facebook page are always educational and his outings were pure fun. He never limited our curiosity as we examined birds, plants, insects, everything! We always learned something new.

Chuck was an excellent photographer and generous with his time and knowledge. When I began writing this blog he graciously offered his photos. He was always available to answer questions and we collaborated on projects like the Phenology series which we mirrored on his website and mine. This blog would not have been possible without him.

Many of my friends today are people I met on Chuck’s outings. All of us are grieving. It’s hard to believe he’s gone, though he lives on in all of us. His own words in yesterday’s broadcast inspire us as we remember him:

“I picked up the dried bluet stem and examined the tear-shaped seed capsule. There was the life affirming assurance I was seeking. Life will continue. Bluets will return to the field.”

I need to go find some bluets.

Click here to listen to Field of Innocence. Read Chuck’s biography here.

(photo of Chuck Tague in 2008 by Bill Parker. Sadly, both Chuck and Bill are gone.)

She’s a Healthy Girl!

May 27, 2016Musings & News, PeregrinesKate St. John

A closeup of female peregrine chick C1 from the Cathedral of Learning nest (photo by Peter Bell) — A closeup of female peregrine chick C1 from the Cathedral of Learning nest 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)

It’s taken me a while to publish this because I couldn’t take any photos at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine banding this morning. Thanks to Peter Bell, Kim Getz and John English for lending theirs.

At today’s banding we learned, first and foremost, that C1 is a healthy female and Hope and Terzo are devoted parents.

Even before the PA Game Commission‘s Dan Brauning retrieved the chick, Hope guarded her baby and didn’t give up until C1 was indoors. Then she stayed at the nest kakking while Terzo provided backup support.

Here’s why I didn’t take any pictures: Dan Brauning asked me to hold C1 while he applied the bands. (You can see I was concentrating very hard!)

Dan Brauning explains the banding procedure while Kate St. John holds the chick, C1 (photo by John English) — Dan Brauning explains the banding procedure while Kate St. John holds peregrine chick, C1 (photo by John English)

Dan weighed C1 (900 grams), checked for trichomoniasis (none!) and feather pests (almost none). He dusted under her wings with anti-parasite powder and applied her bands. Here she is with her new jewelry.

Peregrine chick, C1, with her new color bands, Black/green, 06/BR (photo by Peter Bell) — Peregrine chick, C1, with her new bands, Black/green, 06/BR (photo by Peter Bell)

Then Dan braved Hope’s wrath to return C1 to the nest.

Hope attacks the banders on Banding Day at the Cathedral of Learning, 2016 (photo by Peter Bell) — Female peregrine, Hope, attacks the banders on Banding Day 2016, Cathedral of Learning (photo by Peter Bell)

Female peregrine falcon, Hope shouts at the banders! Banding Day 2016, Cathedral of Learning (photo by Peter Bell) — Hope shouts at the banders, Banding Day 2016, Cathedral of Learning (photo by Peter Bell)

What a privilege to hold the chick and see her parents protecting her!

It’s a shame this will be the only peregrine banding in western Pennsylvania this year. Here’s why:

Why weren’t more peregrines banded in Pennsylvania this year?

Peregrines are endangered in Pennsylvania so the PA Game Commission (PGC) normally visits every known nest site and attempts to band the chicks — that’s 9 locations in western Pennsylvania. But this year severe budget cuts and layoffs forced PGC to band at only one site in the western half of the state — the Cathedral of Learning.

Why does PGC have a budget crisis? They don’t rely on state tax dollars. They’re self-supporting through hunting license fees, timber sales, mineral extraction, and a federal excise tax on ammunition. But state law forbids them to raise the license fees that comprise 40% of their revenue. There hasn’t been an increase since the 1990’s.

If you live in Pennsylvania, you can help.

The Pennsylvania State House and Senate must pass a law — SB 1166 — to allow the Game Commission to raise the license fees. Contact your State Senator and State Representative (find them here) and urge them to support “SB 1166.”

Click here for a letter about the budget crisis and information on what you can do.

(photos by Kate St. John)

TBT: A Lesson Learned

May 26, 2016Musings & NewsKate St. John

Budgie in the budgie trap before I let her go (photo by Kate St. John) — Budgie in the “budgie trap” before I let her go (photo by Kate St. John)

On Throw Back Thursday (TBT):

Seven years ago a budgerigar frequented my backyard bird feeder with a flock of juvenile house sparrows. I could tell she wouldn’t last long in the wild because she was not wise about predators. One of my blog readers offered to adopt the budgie if I could catch her, so I put a bird cage in the backyard and waited to see if she would go inside.

She did. And I learned a valuable lesson about freedom which is with me to this day. Click here for A Lesson Learned.

(photo by Kate St. John)

Tired of Tires in the Woods

May 2, 2016Books & Events, Musings & NewsKate St. John

Tires in the woods, western PA (photos by Kate St. John)

There are tires in the woods nearly everywhere in western Pennsylvania. Singles, pairs and piles of tires. Tires rolled down the hillsides into the hollows. Tires dumped on top of trash. Tires too heavy to lift, left by the side of the road.

I’d say this is a uniquely Appalachian problem but it happens across the U.S. Dumping tires is illegal but people do it because they think it’s expensive to dispose of them properly. In fact it’s cheap — about $2 per passenger tire in PA — and it’s easy to find a disposal place that’s probably closer than the illegal dump site. Just type in your zip code at the Earth911 website.

Waste tires are ugly breeding grounds for mosquitoes. They leach toxins into soil and water and when they start to burn they’re hard to stop.

Now that the woods are greening up the tires will be harder to see, but they’re still there.

You can do something about it. Join a local cleanup. See the links on this Pennsylvania map.

In Pittsburgh this Friday May 6, come down to Duck Hollow for the Tireless Cleanup, 5:00-7:30pm. Here’s what NMRWA removed during the 2014 cleanup:

Nine Mile Run Tireless Cleanup at Duck Hollow, August 2014 (photo from Nine Mile Run Watershed)

http://ninemilerun.org/events/tireless-cleanup-at-duck-hollow/

(photos at top by Kate St. John, photo of a tile pile at Duck Hollow by Nine Mile Run Watershed Association)

Outside My Window

A Blog of Birds & Nature with Kate St. John