If you read PABIRDS you’ve seen this discussion and perhaps the video, but it’s well worth passing along.

This winter has quickly shaped up to be an “invasion” year for snowy owls. These big, beautiful birds are popping up in open spaces, on buildings and at shorelines across the northern United States.  On the PABIRDS listserv alone, at least 33 snowies have been reported in Pennsylvania since December 1 — about half of them at Presque Isle State Park.

Snowy owls “invade” in the winter when they’ve had a hugely successful breeding season up north because of super-abundant lemmings last summer.  Most of the visiting birds are young owls on their first trip away from home. They’ve come south to eat our abundant food and rest between meals.  Studies have shown this is a good move on their part.  Scott Wiedensaul points out that the vast majority eat well and return to the Arctic in spring.  Of those that die, the leading cause of death is trauma, not starvation.

But they shouldn’t be harassed. Last Saturday there were seven snowy owls at Presque Isle as well as birders, photographers and owl enthusiasts.  Most people kept a respectful distance but two photographers approached the owls and flushed them repeatedly even though observers warned them not to. This prompted Jerry McWilliams to write:

“Just a reminder to birders and photographers who are interested in observing or photographing the Snowy Owls. You should resist the urge, as we have all experienced, to try and approach too closely. The owl that visited my waterbird count this morning was very alert and did not remain in one spot for long. Between the Coyotes and enthusiastic humans, it is a challenge for these northern invaders to have a chance to rest and find a meal. Please come and enjoy them, but keep your distance and respect their needs.”

The disrespect is not limited to Pennsylvania.  A similar discussion occurred on NJBIRDS about incidents in New Jersey.

Presque Isle Audubon and the state park are doing something about it.   Presque Isle Audubon is organizing volunteers to alert visiting photographers and birders about owl etiquette as they enter the Gull Point Trail.  State Park rangers (DCNR) will also be monitoring the situation.

If you see people harassing wildlife, speak up or report them to park rangers.  If you would like to volunteer at the Gull Point Trail, click here for Presque Isle Audubon contact information.

A gentle reminder to respect the owls will go a long way.

(video by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, first published in 2010)

p.s. Click here to read an excellent explanation of wild bird reactions to humans — with a special emphasis on raptors and owls — by Julia Ecklar of the National Aviary.

During this turkey weekend I found a bird called Pharoah’s Chicken, though he isn’t a chicken at all.

This large bird of prey is an Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) whose nickname refers to his use as a symbol of Egyptian royalty.

He lives in Europe, Asia and Africa but he no longer lives well.  Sadly he’s endangered, having declined by 50% in Europe in only 20 years (1980-2001) and drastically in India where there’s a vulture crisis caused by livestock antibiotics that are poisonous to the vultures.

This bird posed nicely for a photograph in a zoo in Spain.

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

Snakes seem to be a subtext on my blog lately.  Snakes caused the extirpation of the Guam rail, they’re one of many foods eaten by secretary birds, and now I’ve learned there’s a falcon in Central and South America that eats poisonous snakes and laughs.

The laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) is named for his two most obvious traits.  Herpetotheres roughly means to “mow down snakes,” cachinnans means to “laugh immoderately.”

He captures snakes by watching from a perch, then pouncing to break their necks or behead them.  And he really does laugh.  Listen to this recording of a pair “singing” a duet.

Laughing falcons are about the size of peregrines and are often pictured with their head feathers raised, a pose that makes them resemble ospreys not falcons.  When they lower their head feathers, as in this photo on Wikimedia Commons, you can see their falcon family resemblance.

I first heard of this species when Charlie Hickey posted photos from his trip this month to Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  (Click here for Charlie’s photos.)  I wonder if it was hard to find this bird in Costa Rica.  According to BirdLife International the laughing falcon has declined drastically in some locations but has such a wide range that it has not yet been listed as “vulnerable.”

(photo by Charlie Hickey)

19 November 2013

In Africa there’s a bird of prey with legs so long he looks like a crane.

Though the secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) can fly he prefers to walk as he browses for food in the underbrush.  His legs are so long he has to crouch to get his beak to the ground.

A scorpion is a snack, a mongoose is a meal.  Secretary birds even eat poisonous snakes, adders and cobras, which they stun and kill by stomping with their feet.

Perhaps that’s why these birds are so tall.  Their bodies are out of reach of their dangerous prey.

I love to watch them walk. Graceful crane-like predators wearing short black pants.

Birds love to perch on wires and power poles, the bigger the bird the bigger the wire.  Unfortunately this affinity poses a threat to very large birds because their long wings can touch two wires at the same time and electrocute them.  Vultures are especially vulnerable because they roost in large gregarious groups.  If they jostle their buddies too much … ooops!

Cape vultures (Gyps coprotheres) of southern Africa, like most Gyps species, are declining.  They are listed as threatened because of decreased carrion for their chicks, poisoning from medication in livestock carcasses, electrocution and collision with wires, and exploitation for traditional medicine/religion.

Cape vultures live a long time and reproduce slowly so significant losses of any kind pose a problem.  There are protected areas in southern Africa where the vultures aren’t exposed to so many threats but there is also a growing power grid.

W. Louis Phipps and his team decided to find out how cape vultures used the power grid so they affixed GPS trackers on nine cape vultures — five adults and four immatures — to see where they would go.  The results were somewhat surprising.

The cape vultures’ home range is larger than expected; some traveled more than 600 miles one way.  Given the opportunity to travel the power corridors, that’s what they did.  Cape vultures are cliff birds so the power towers gave them high perches and clear sight lines in formerly useless habitat.  The study also found that the vultures fed more often on private farmland than in protected areas.  (The vultures would say, “Well, that’s where the food was.”)

It’s the classic Catch-22.  The power corridors have expanded the cape vultures’ range but the wires sometimes kill them.  In a declining population it makes a difference.

For more information read the full study here at PLOS One.

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