Flocking Flames

The most abundant native North American bird is the enigmatic Agelaius phoeniceus: the Red-winged Blackbird. Often overlooked by birders, this successful icterid (passerine of the Icteridae family which includes blackbirds, meadowlarks, and New World orioles) utilizes both marshy and grassland habitats for nesting and foraging. Their range extends from coast to coast, and the males' incredibly loud, mechanical "konk-la-reee" songs ring from spring to summer each year, recognized by birders and nonbirders alike.

In their binomial nomenclature,  genus "Agelaius" is derived from Greek 'agelaios', or 'belonging to a flock'. During migration, these blackbirds group in breathtaking flocks of millions of birds.
Their species Latin refers to their red colouration.  Red pigment (carotenoids) cannot be synthesized by the birds themselves, but must be ingested through the foods they eat. On males, this red pigment is obvious during their mating displays, when the red and yellow section of upper secondary covert feathers are clearly visible. This bright patch is called an 'epaulet'.

This male was being banded at Navarre Marsh by Black Swamp Bird Observatory.

Seen in Florida in springtime, the yellow part of the epaulet is visible on this male.

This particular male has a more orange tint to his epaulet, and a neat yellow edging to his tertial feathers and a few coverts.

A layer of black scapular feathers cover the epaulet until the male wants to display. This ability to cover the red patch is very important in the blackbird's life, as, when visible, the red triggers aggression and territoriality in other males. When the male wants to appear friendly or nonterritorial, he covers up his epaulets and thus exhibits no aggression. If he couldn't cover the red, he would be perpetually angry and would be chased around all his life!

Black scapular feathers overlay the bright epaulets. 

In flight, you can clearly see the entire epaulet.

When it comes to females, however, it is not so clear. The girls are a complex streaky brown filled with many shades of cream and peach. The intensity of their colour is highly variable between individuals.

The back and wings are darker than their bellies.

Their bellies are streaked and their head is marked with stripes.

As a female ages, she can develop deeper tones to her face and also her own secondary feathers. Too often the beautiful colouration of the female Red-winged Blackbird is passed by in favour of more striking birds, but when one takes the time to notice the plumage of a seasoned Redwing lady, it is wonderfully rewarding. They are brighter than you would think!

The following photographs are of a breeding female in Ohio, seen on her search for food for her fledgling chicks, on June 14 2013. 

Notice the scarlet secondary feathers-- a deeper shade than many expect!

Here you can see her brood patch-- the bald patch of fluid-filled skin that develops on nesting birds to help incubate their eggs and keep babies warm. The fluid helps conduct more heat to the skin and, because it is bare, the skin can pass heat directly to the eggs/ babies.

These incredible birds are all around us, all the time, but rarely do we ever stop to appreciate their complex plumages. The next time you are out birding, please take a moment to watch the Red-winged Blackbirds as they forage and fly! You'd be surprised at how beautiful they become once you take the time to get to know them!

~Peace always,

Kristina~

The Biggest Lesson in Birding

Two years ago, I was sulking like a Mourning Warbler, hiding behind the crowds and not saying much. Skirting the shadows, too shy to show myself. Who could have imagined that, two years later, I would be standing in front of the very people I once was too nervous to speak to and be giving a keynote presentation at the very festival that made the first crack in my shell, allowing me to see how beautiful the world could be.

I certainly could not have predicted as much, but there I was. Maumee Bay State Lodge, opening night of the Biggest Week in American Birding, speaking without a script or any notes about the birds and people I have met and loved since those earlier days. I wasn’t a Mourning Warbler anymore—I was a bright Blackburnian, flashing my colours and not afraid to hop about the branches, visible to all.

It was all thanks to one Grey Catbird.

I’ve told the story now tens of times, but it never gets old. That day, two years ago by the boardwalk at Magee, when I looked into that bird’s eyes and saw someone I wanted to protect. That flurry of wings, that shock of quiet power, that leap of energy from tiny clawed feet to my outstretched hand. The bird that opened the door to my adventure.
The bird that has now allowed me to open the doors for so many others.

‘Every journey begins with a single step’, and in my case, a single flight. The flight of a catbird that led me to spread my own wings and, for the first time, not have to beat through upstrokes and downstrokes, but to soar on a warm thermal of air that carried me farther than I ever thought possible. Allowed me to see things, meet people, I would have never imagined.

And so, as I stepped onto the boardwalk for the first time this year, I was met with the familiar sights and sounds of the Biggest Week in American Birding and found comfort in the hustle and bustle of the festival.

 My first life bird of the day took just minutes to find—a male Cerulean Warbler, foraging at the top of a tree at the beginning of the boardwalk! It was sort of surreal to see this bird, for I have long heard of them but never seen them.

Soon after, a second lifer appeared, even rarer than the first—a male Golden Winged Warbler! I ended up seeing one more, and that second one was in a tree with a Cerulean! Not a bad day for rare warblers, I might say.

Then, in the same area: a Mourning Warbler! These are incredibly elusive birds, sticking to the shadows and low shrubs. You must have a lot of patience to see them when they appear, and so I sat, staring into the brush, along with a crowd of other birders waiting for the male Mourning Warbler to break cover.
Eventually, he did, and long enough for me to get some photographs! The clearest I’ve ever seen a MOWA and certainly the best photos I’ve ever gotten of one! What a beautiful little bird.

Nearby was a strikingly richly coloured Wood Thrush. Thrushes as a group are my favourites, for their ethereal songs and perfectly balanced forms.

The warblers at Magee often get so close that you don’t even need binoculars, and sometimes even too close for telephoto lenses! This happened with a stunning Blackburnian warbler (my favourite of all the warblers). I did manage to snap a few good photos, as he stayed low and close for quite a while. Usually these birds are high above, foraging in the top of trees, so this was an exceptionally incredible encounter.

Later down the boardwalk, I found some more wonderful warblers like Bay-breasteds, Magnolias, and Yellow-rumpeds.

A male Black-throated Blue Warbler came close as well, singing right in front of us!

This Common Grackle was preening in the sun, his iridescent feathers illuminated into golds, purples, and blues. Their yellow eyes and large bills make it easier to see how the birds evolved from dinosaur origins—Grackles look positively reptilian!
 

Also, the third life bird of the day was a Whip-poor-will, who was pointed out to me by a fellow birder. He certainly camouflaged in with his surroundings!
 

Later in the afternoon I came across a large group of people, and that could only mean one thing—a bird of interest had been sighted! It turned out to be a rare bird even for Magee standards—a Worm eating Warbler! These are an ‘overflight’ species, which means they breed in southerly states but some individuals overshoot their destination and eventually turn back around to fly down to their breeding grounds. So, it’s hard to find them up here! He was incredibly difficult to see and I was staring at the same clump of tangled branches for about half an hour, and saw him for maybe 20 seconds in total. Not long enough for a photo, but I’m still glad I got to see him. He was my fourth life bird of that day!

Another unusual sighting was not a bird, but a reptile—a Blanding’s Turtle. I saw two of these endangered turtles, and this one’s throat was so yellow it reminded me of a Prothonotary warbler!

On the way out of the boardwalk, I took the stairs up to the observation deck to find a really neat Tree Swallow and a foraging Eastern Phoebe. Within the coming weeks, I am sure that the male Prothonotary Warbler from last year will be back again to claim his territory under the deck!

The next day, at Maumee Bay State Lodge, I found a pair of gigantic Trumpeter Swans, their heads and necks stained from lives of foraging in iron-rich waters. I even heard one of the swans make little trumpet-notes as they swam.
 

The next Saturday (May 11) was International Migratory Bird Day 2013. It marked two years since my first catbird encounter, and so it was only fitting that I found many catbirds all throughout the day!

I also was super excited over seeing a female Black throated Blue warbler—I think they’re so beautiful, with their ‘mascara’, white ‘handerchief’, and subtle blue hue to their feathers. What a stunning little lady! I hardly see females of this species, so this was a special treat. She stuck around for a while, and allowed many good looks!

Earlier in the day I helped out with the bird banding demonstration at Black Swamp Bird Observatory, telling the visitors about my experience with the Catbird and how they have given me the ticket to the adventure of a lifetime. It was a full-circle moment: two years ago, I was nervous just to attend the banding demo. Now, here I was, in front of all the visitors, teaching them about the birds and sharing the importance of appreciating and conserving these feathered wonders.
 

I wouldn’t have guessed that the power of birds was that strong, but I am so happy, grateful, and humbled by how inspiring they have been to me. I would not be where I am today if not for birds, or the people they have brought into my life. I hope that, in years to come, I can continue to tell my story at Biggest Weeks and show others that, with a little gust of wind a flock to guide you, flight doesn’t seem as hard after all.

~Peace always,
Kristina Polk~

In Need of a Spoonful of Sugar

‘Eurynorhynchus pygmeus’— the small broad nose. The Spoon-billed Sandpiper’s scientific name is accurate in portraying its namesake physical characteristic, their unique spatulate bill, yet says nothing about the heartbreaking decline that this tiny shorebird is suffering. Listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, the last possible listing before ‘Extinct’, the global population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers tentatively rests at a dangerous level— a meager 100 breeding pairs remain. Breeding in Russia and flying thousands of miles to wintering grounds in Southeast Asia, they are dependent on the health of ecosystems worldwide. Their shockingly small numbers, combined with a high mortality in young birds, puts them at risk for disappearing in the next ten years…and perhaps even within the next five. For a bird whose population was in the thousands just a few decades ago, this is a terribly depressing realization. Their buzzy trills once so common in Russia might soon be silenced forever.

         Spoon-billed Sandpipers find their most immediate concern in the trapping practices of hunters at the birds’ winter homes. Since pockets of breeding birds are so scarce, this species has no room for even a single loss, and the subsistence hunting of shorebirds in Asia poses a dire threat. Additionally, their stopover sites on their migratory paths, critical “refueling” points on a very long and demanding journey, are rapidly disappearing. Due to human development of intertidal habitat, the places which these birds, along with a wide array of other migratory shorebirds, utilize during migration are being converted into agricultural areas. With nowhere to rest and feed after days of nonstop flight, birds simply die of exhaustion. Each migration could be the Spoon-billed Sandpiper’s last. In a few short years, spring on Russia’s coastal tundra could arrive without the rolling voices of its rarest shorebird.

         Clearly, immediate and effective conservation action is desperately needed to save the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Concerned scientists from around the globe have collectively begun a movement to boost the recovery of this special bird, beginning with addressing the issue of hunting in Asia. Poor families in countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar collect hundreds of shorebirds, hoping to make enough money to sustain their struggling families. While these people are as desperate to survive as the sandpipers themselves, it is vital to the existence of the birds that this hunting be ended immediately. How to help the people, though? It is a relatively simple solution: replace the birds with another way of life. In the case of Myanmar, the locals receive funding and training for fishing in return for their cessation of hunting sandpipers. According to the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force, up to 90% of hunters in critical Spoon-billed Sandpiper habitats have agreed to stop trapping the birds.

         This is a tremendous achievement for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, but their numbers are so low that stopping hunting alone cannot ensure the survival of the species. Further action must be taken, and a multitude of international bird organizations, including BirdLife International, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and the Moscow Zoo have partnered up in order to create a captive-breeding program. Birds will be hand-raised until they are fit for release into the wild; this practice will build a captive population of the birds to have as “back-up” in the event that the Spoon-billed Sandpiper vanishes from the wild entirely. Captivity in itself is a sensitive subject, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and in the case of Eurynorhyncus pygmeus, there is no time to debate. Action must be swiftly taken if these precious birds are to survive. Captive breeding has shown success in other species, and so is a grand hope for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper’s future.

         What, though, makes the Spoon-billed Sandpiper so worthy of saving? Why not ignore its plight, for such few birds remain. The species is on a fast track to extinction, and in a very short window of time. Why spend thousands of international dollars to help such a small and scarce shorebird?

         The question we should be asking, however, is “Why not?”

Every single living organism on Planet Earth has its biological niche to fill, and every species is a thread in the web of life and energy in our biosphere. One loss has global consequences. The disappearance of one species can directly cause the death of another. From phytoplankton to fin whales, Earth’s beings and the ecosystems in which they live are constantly balancing on a thin rope, ready to topple over at any moment.

         Beyond these biological facts, however, lies a deeper reason to preserve even the rarest creatures: they are, like us, individuals. They are living, breathing, thinking, feeling beings who deserve the most basic of pleasures—the freedom to live. No matter their outward appearance, no matter their place in the ecosystem, no matter how uncommon or how abundant they are. They are alive, and it is only just to ensure that they are able to run the course of their brilliant and beautiful lives and pass the secrets of this life to future generations. Every life matters, and the 200 Spoon-billed Sandpiper lives still flying through our skies deserve our time and effort as good as anyone. This sparrow-sized shorebird may be rare, but compassion is not. The efforts of caring individuals can, and will, restore the symphony of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper’s song for many seasons to come. 

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•• Learn more about the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, and the efforts to protect them! ••

• "Last of Their Kind" Cornell Lab Living Bird Article 2013

• BirdLife International: Spoon Billed Sandpiper Factsheet

• Saving the Spoon Billed Sandpiper

• IUCN Redlist: Spoon Billed Sandpiper 

• Courtship Display of Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Video)