Birds Coming and Going

Migration
Nashville warbler, Frick Park, 20 Oct 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

23 October 2024

During fall migration birds are coming and going all the time. Some shorebirds pass through in August, September is warbler season, October is sparrow season, and November should be ducks. When we saw a Nashville warbler in Frick Park last Sunday, eBird squawked “That species has left already. Your bird is Rare! You have to justify it.”

In autumn Nashville warblers arrive in southwestern PA during the first week of September and are completely gone by 18 October. Charity Kheshgi’s photo on 20 October is proof that one still lingered.

Swainson’s thrushes have already come and gone, 13 September to 11 October

Remember when we saw a lot of Swainson’s thrushes a couple of weeks ago? Well, they breed in Canada and only visit the Pittsburgh area briefly on migration, approximately 13 September to 11 October (see the map animation).

Swainson’s Thrush (photo by Chuck Tague)
Swainson’s thrush weekly abundance throughout its range (animation from eBird)
Leaving soon: ruby-crowns, chipping and yellow-rumps will be (mostly) gone by 8 November.

This month we’re enjoying ruby-crowned kinglets, chipping sparrows and yellow-rumped warblers but eBird’s weekly abundance maps show that, except for stragglers, these three will leave southwestern Pennsylvania by 8 November. That’s why I was amazed the first time I saw ruby-crowned kinglets overwintering in eastern PA.

Ruby-crowned kinglet, Frick Park, 20 Oct 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Chipping sparrow, Oct 2012 (photo by Steve Gosser)
Yellow-rumped warbler eating poison ivy berries in 2013 (photo by Cris Hamilton)
Here until 29 November:

Except for a few stragglers, most red-winged blackbirds will leave southwestern PA by the end of November. If you’re desperate to see one in the winter, visit northeastern Ohio near Akron.

Red-winged blackbirds foraging on the surface of a pond (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Golden-crowned kinglets, white-throated sparrows and dark-eyed juncos are winter birds.

According to eBird’s weekly abundance maps:

  • Golden-crowned kinglets arrive by 4 October and leave by 26 April.
  • White-throated sparrows arrive around 1 October and leave in the first two weeks of May.
  • Dark-eyed juncos get here 25 October and leave by 26 April. (I’ve seen a few already.)
Golden-crowned kinglet, Frick Park, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
White-throated sparrow, white-striped color morph (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Dark-eyed junco (photo by Cris Hamilton)

Watch dark-eyed juncos come and go in this eBird weekly animation.

Dark-eyed junco weekly abundance map (animation by eBird)

Duck Hollow Outing, Oct 27 8:30a

Books & Events
The Monongahela River at Duck Hollow, 19 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

22 October 2024

Last month’s outing was rained out by the remnants of Hurricane Helene so I’m going to try again …

Join me at Duck Hollow on Sunday 27 October 2024, 8:30am to 10:30am for a bird and nature walk.

Meet at the Duck Hollow parking lot at the end of Old Browns Hill Road. Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars, field guides and a birding scope if you have them.

When I stopped by there yesterday I saw only two mallards(!) but there were three golden-crowned kinglets similar to this one, photographed by Charity Kheshgi last year.

Golden-crowned kinglet, Frick Park, 26 Oct 2023 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

As always, remember to check the Events page before you come in case of changes or cancellations!

What Best Bird will show up next Sunday? Come to Duck Hollow and see.

A Thornless Rose? There’s a Gene For It

Plants & Fungi
Thorns (actually prickles) on a rose (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

21 October 2024

Thornless roses are the rose fancier’s dream but are difficult to breed, are usually infertile, and require a genetic mutation to block the prickles from emerging on the skin. Because the underlying trigger is still present, new growth on a “thornless” rose can produce prickles at the drop of a hat — injury, root suckers, etc.

What we call “thorns” on roses are technically prickles because they grow out of the skin. Roses, wineberry and devil’s walking stick have the same gene coding for prickles.

Wineberry prickles, Schenley Park, Nov 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Devil’s walking stick (or maybe Japanese angelica), Jan 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

What are the genes underlying prickle development? Two studies published in August 2024 investigated Solanum prickle plants (eggplants, tomatoes) and found that they share the same LOG family genes. When scientists disrupted those genes it resulted in prickle loss in multiple species and did not adversely affect other parts of the plant.

Because roses have prickles and may share the same gene coding, there is new hope for creating a truly smooth stemmed rose.

See a summary of the studies in Smithsonian magazine. The two scientific studies are here and here.

p.s. Why are rose thorns actually prickles? Find out at Ohio State University: Armed by Nature: Thorns, Spines, and Prickles

Fungi Remember and They Have a Plan

Plants & Fungi
Fruiting body of split gill mushroom, College Station, TX (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

20 October 2024

This week the Good News Network reported on a study published in ScienceDirect that shows fungi perceive shapes in the world around them, have memories, make decisions and solve problems. All without a brain!

A Japanese study of fungal networks set up an experiment with wood cubes pre-colonized with a wood decaying fungus, Phanerochaete velutina. The fruiting body and mycelia are shown below.

Fruiting bodies and mycelia of wood decay fungus, Phanerochaete velutina (photo by Gerald Holmes, Strawberry Center, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, via Bugwood.org)

The scientists laid the cubes on a bed of clean soil in two patterns, a circle and an X, then observed and photographed what happened over a period of months.

  • By Day 13 the fungi had grown filaments (hypha) that made the cubes look fuzzy, particularly in the X shape. (hypha are collectively called mycelia)
  • By Day 34 some filaments from each cube had joined with the mycelia of neighboring cubes, but the rest of the hyphae were still seeking so the shapes were super fuzzy.
  • By Day 116, almost four months later, the “chatter” had subsided and the fuzzies were mostly gone in favor of strong, efficient networks.

Over time it became obvious that the fungi were not acting randomly. They remembered shapes and were making decisions.

If the fungi didn’t display decision-making skills, they would simply spread out from a central point without consideration for the position of the blocks.

For the X arrangement, the degree of mycelial colonization was greater in the outermost four blocks. It was hypothesized that this was because the outermost blocks can serve as “outposts” for the mycelial network to embark on foraging expeditions, therefore more dense connections were required compared to the five blocks inside the X.

In the circle arrangement, the degree of mycelial colonization was the same at any given block. However, all the empty space inside the circle remained clear. It was proposed that the mycelial network did not see a benefit in overextending itself in an already well-populated area.

— Good News Network: Scientist Shows Fungi Are ‘Mind-blowing’: They Have Memories, Learn Shapes, Can Make Decisions and Solve Problems

In order to optimize their patterns the fungi must be communicating through the network. That’s where the beautiful split gill mushroom (Schizophyllum commune), shown at top, comes in.

Two years ago a study of electrical signals in the filaments (hypha) of enoki, split gill, ghost and caterpillar fungi discovered that their signals pulse when there’s something important to say such as “Found a new source of food.” Sometimes the pulses were similar to words and it appeared that the fungi knew 50 “words.”(*)

Read more about the “word” study at Good News Network: Research Suggests Mushrooms Talk to Each Other With a Vocabulary of 50 ‘Words’(*) See the source publication at Royal Society of Open Science: Language of fungi derived from their electrical spiking activity.

(*)NOTE: Some skepticism was reported at the end of the Good News Network “words” article:

Some scientists are skeptical that the research was done looking for ‘language’, suggesting that this puts a shroud of exaggeration and overexcitement about the findings.

To his credit, Adamatzky explained to the Guardian that it could be simply that the electrically-charged tips of hyphae were just creating electromagnetic reactions as they explore the forest underground.

— Research Suggests Mushrooms Talk to Each Other With a Vocabulary of 50 ‘Words’

Seen This Week: Late Flowers, Acorns, Crows

Crows & Ravens, Phenology, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park, Trees
Insect on New York aster, Toms Run, 16 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

19 October 2024

This week brought:

  • Fall colors and the first piles of fallen leaves
  • Late flowers and insects
  • “See Your Breath” cold mornings
  • The first juncos … and …
  • Several thousand crows in Oakland.

In photos, late asters attracted an insect at Toms Run and morning sun slanted through the trees in Schenley Park.

Fall colors and fallen leaves, Schenley Park, 18 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Many trees are changing color. The oaks aren’t there yet but they have dropped their acorns leaving empty acorn cups on the branches. It’s a big mast year for red oaks in Pittsburgh.

Red oak leaves and acorn cups, 13 October 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

A rhododendron in Shadyside is confused. Is it spring?

Confused rhododendron blooming in Pittsburgh, 13 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

This week crows were absent from Oakland during the day but arrived in huge flocks at dusk, staging on rooftops before flying to the roost. I fumbled to photograph them on the RAND Building last Sunday. This is only a fraction of the flock that flew away.

Crows make a stop on the RAND building before sunset, 13 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Obviously they’ve been roosting on Pitt’s campus. I found evidence below trees at the Pitt Panther statue. The Crows Slept Here Last Night.

Evidence at Pitt that The Crows Slept Here Last Night, 17 October 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Mangroves Protecting The Coast

Climate Change, Plants & Fungi, Water and Shore
Great egret among mangroves in Gambia (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

18 October 2024

I have heard that mangroves protect coastlines during hurricanes and tsunamis but I could not imagine how they did it until I saw this video from Licypriya Kangujam (@LicypriyaK), Special Envoy for the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste and 13 year old climate activist.

Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, is the eastern half of Timor island, located north of Australia. The other half of the island is part of Indonesia.

Map of Timor Leste from Wikimedia Commons

Timor was created by volcanoes so its mountains are steep and nearly everyone lives on the coast. It is good to live by the sea, but they need mangroves to protect them.

Scene from East Timor (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Timor island is located in the region with the highest diversity of mangroves in the world — 26-47 species in one place. Compare this to just one or two species in Louisiana.

Map of mangrove species distribution worldwide (from ResearchGate: Oil Spills in Mangroves: Planning and Response)

When a hurricane hits Louisiana we often hear that the damage would not have been so great if they had more mangroves. Louisiana is now trying to restore their mangrove forest but it is slow going.

Learn more about mangroves in this award-winning video from The Marine Diaries.

video embedded from The Marine Diaries on YouTube

They’re Back!

Crows & Ravens
Crows bursting off a tree along Forbes Avenue (photo by Kate St. John)

17 October 2024

The crows are back in town!

On 1 October I counted 1,800 crows staging in Shadyside before they flew west to a roost. Last night I counted twice as many heading toward the Cathedral of Learning. 3,600 is only a fraction of the flock that will be in Pittsburgh by the end of December. As their numbers grow they quickly wear out their welcome. That’s when they move the roost.

In transit a flock this large is kind of mesmerizing (video from Dec 2023).

Crows flying toward the roost, December 2023 (video by Kate St. John)

But if they sleep in your trees they are really messy.

Evidence that crows roosted in the trees above this sidewalk, 7 Nov 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Monday I saw Pitt’s maintenance staff spray-washing the sidewalk on Bigelow Blvd and I found “poot” evidence across the street as well. I’m sure Pitt is on the verge of moving them along, if they haven’t already done so.

Last year Pitt used flashing lights to convince the crows to leave the Bigelow Blvd trees. Crows really hate strobe lights.

Pitt works to move the crows, 13 Nov 2023 (video by Phillip Rogers)

I suspect there were strobe lights last night because … When the crows sleep near the Cathedral of Learning I live in their flyway. Last night thousands flew past my window but this morning none of them made the return journey. So did the crows sleep at Pitt? I wonder.

This tug of war with winter crows happens every year. They might end up roosting where the whole flock can sleep without bothering anyone, or they might split the roost to reduce their impact. One thing I know for sure. The crows will be hard to find for the Christmas Bird Count. 😉

UPDATE 17 Oct, 1:30pm: The crows *did* sleep in the trees at Pitt. I saw the evidence this morning.

Ravens Can Imagine Thieves

Crows & Ravens
Common raven (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

16 October 2024

Did you know that ravens have paranoid, abstract thoughts about other minds?

A new(*) study has found that ravens are able to imagine being spied upon — a level of abstraction that was previously thought to be unique to humans.

— WIRED, 3 Feb 2016(*)

Ravens are well known to cache food but who owns the stash operates on the principle: “Unless another raven is actively guarding it, whatever food I see is mine.” The finder eats or re-hides the cache. We would call this thievery.

To prevent thieves, a raven with lots of food waits until all the other ravens leave before caching his treasure. He’ll even go to a place where no one can see him hiding it.

Scientists thought that a raven had to see another raven before he went to all this trouble. Then a study in 2016 tested whether ravens can imagine potential thieves they cannot see.

The study, published in Nature Communications, found that if a nearby peephole was open, ravens guarded pockets of food against discovery in response to the sound of other birds — even if they didn’t see another bird. This was not replicated when the peephole was closed, despite hearing the same auditory clues.

Ravens are so smart that they can imagine thieves, just like we can. Is it a blessing or a curse to be this intelligent?

Watch how ravens imagine what another raven is thinking in this video from BBC Earth.

video embedded from BBC Earth

A Tomato That Thrives in Salty Soil

Climate Change, Plants & Fungi
Currant Tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium) at Pantanos de Villa, Chorrillos, Peru (photo by ruthgo via iNaturalist)

15 October 2024

Many crops around the world are irrigated but this inevitably leads to salty soil. Eventually the land becomes useless for agriculture.

Irrigation eventually makes the soil salty: Irrigation rig in Yuma County, AZ, 1987 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

USDA explains:

What happens when you irrigate?
Irrigation inevitably leads to the salinization of soils and waters. In the United States yield reductions due to salinity occur on an estimated 30% of all irrigated land. World wide, crop production is limited by the effects of salinity on about 50% of the irrigated land area. … Concern is mounting about the sustainability of irrigated agriculture.

Where does all the salt come from?
Application of irrigation water results in the addition of soluble salts such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfate, and chloride dissolved from geologic materials with which the waters have been in contact. Evaporation and transpiration (plant uptake) of irrigation water eventually cause excessive amounts of salts to accumulate in soils unless adequate leaching and drainage are provided.

— USDA Agricultural Water Efficiency and Salinity Research Unit: Riverside, CA: Frequently Asked Questions About Salinity

Salt residue makes the soil hostile for everything, even weeds.

Salty residue after irrigation water percolated up and evaporated, 2011 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

This worldwide problem will get only worse as climate change increases drought, so a team of researchers looked for salt tolerant crops.

Focusing on the tomato’s closest wild relative, the tiny currant tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium), they selected “over 2,700 cultivars, raising the seedlings in two environments: a greenhouse, and an open field.”

The best results came from five cultivars from Peru.

Currant tomato flowers in Lambayeque, Peru(photo by jackychj via iNaturalist)
Currant Tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium) at Los Pantanos de Villa near Lima, Peru

What genes do these plants have that make them thrive? That’s a question for the next study.

Read more in Anthropocene Magazine: A tiny tomato may harbor the secret to salt-tolerance in a climate-changed world. “The closest living wild relative of the common tomato holds untapped genetic secrets thanks to its large diversity.”

Which Birds Will Visit This Winter?

Migration
Two evening grosbeaks in flight, western Washington State (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

14 October 2024

When North Americans go south for the winter they do it to escape the cold. When boreal finches leave Canada in autumn it’s not about cold, it’s about food.

Winter finches are cold hardy and could stay up north all year but when seed cones and fruit are in short supply they fly south to find food. Every year the Finch Network examines finch food crops across Canada and predicts southward movement by species. Their 2024-25 Winter Finch Forecast came out in late September, summarized below.

This winter we will NOT see these species.

  • Pine grosbeaks (Never come to southwestern PA anyway.)
  • Redpolls
  • White-winged crossbills
  • Red crossbills
  • Redpolls (It feels like a very long time since redpolls came to PA.)
  • Bohemian waxwings (Never come to southwestern PA anyway.)

But we may see …

Purple finch (Haemorhous purpureus)

Purple finch (photo by Chuck Tague)

This year, the majority should leave Canada with a likely moderate flight to the Great Plains and southern United States. … At feeders, they prefer black oil sunflower seeds.

— 2024-25 Winter Finch Forecast

Pine siskin (Spinus pinus)

Pine siskin in Quebec province (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Areas from Manitoba eastward affected by Spruce Budworm infestations have a poor cone crop. Siskins that bred in these areas will be on the move. While band recoveries show siskins will move straight across North America from coast to coast, there should be some small movement south in the eastern half of the United States this fall in search of food. 

— 2024-25 Winter Finch Forecast

Evening grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus)

Evening grosbeak, January 2013 (photo by Steve Gosser)

Spruce budworms caused problems with the cone crop this summer but there were lots of berries. However, the berries gone now so…

Evening Grosbeaks should visit areas from the Maritime provinces south towards Pennsylvania. Areas even further south to the mid-Atlantic states may see grosbeaks this winter.

— 2024-25 Winter Finch Forecast

These species are not finches, but are part of the prediction.

Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

Red-breasted nuthatch (photo by Chuck Tague)

Because of patchy balsam fir cones, there should be a moderate to strong flight of red-breasted nuthatches into the U.S.

Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Blue jay at Frick Park (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

In eastern North America westward to Manitoba the deciduous tree crop (they love acorns on oaks) appears below average with scattered areas of average crops, so expect a moderate to strong flight this fall. 

— 2024-25 Winter Finch Forecast

I’ve already seen lots of blue jays passing through!