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THE FISH HAWK
HERALD
Coeur
d’Alene Chapter of the National Audubon Society
February 2010 Volume
19 Issue 6
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Thank
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ARTICLES:
Great
Backyard Bird Count - Christmas Bird Count Highlights and
Statisitics - Swans and Avian Influenza -
Take a
Mid-Winter Nature Break With the Great Backyard Bird Count
February
12-15, 2010
2010 GBBC
News Release
New York, NY and Ithaca, NY—Bird watchers
coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird
Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010.
Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers of all
levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks
or wildlife refuges.
Each checklist submitted by these "citizen
scientists" helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how
the birds are doing—and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in
more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest
instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.
“Taking
part in the Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to get outside with family
and friends, have fun, and help birds—all at the same time. Anyone who can
identify even a few species can provide important information that enables
scientists to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that
affects our conservation priorities,” said Audubon Education Vice President,
Judy Braus. “Everyone who participates in the GBBC—families, teachers, and
young people—will get a chance to hone their observation skills, learn more
about birds, and make a great contribution to the future!”
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird
Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as
little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event
and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org. One 2009 participant said,
“Thank you for the opportunity to participate in citizen science. I have had my
eyes opened to a whole new interest and I love it!”
“The GBBC is a perfect first step towards the sort of
intensive monitoring needed to discover how birds are responding to
environmental change,” said Janis Dickinson, the director of Citizen Science at
the Cornell Lab. “Winter is such a vulnerable period for birds, so winter bird
distributions are likely to be very sensitive to change. There is only one
way—citizen science—to gather data on private lands where people live and GBBC
has been doing this across the continent for many years. GBBC has enormous
potential both as an early warning system and in capturing and engaging people
in more intensive sampling of birds across the landscape.”
Bird populations are always shifting and changing.
For example, 2009 GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine
Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469
Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to the previous high of 38,977
birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops farther north caused
the siskins to move south to find their favorite food.
On the www.birdcount.org
website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what
others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds
and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo
contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be
featured in the GBBC website’s photo gallery. All participants are entered in a
drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many
other great birding products.
For more information about the GBBC, visit the
website at www.birdcount.org.
Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473 or (outside the
U.S., call (607) 254-2473) or gbbc@cornell.edu, or Audubon at citizenscience@audubon.org
or (215) 355-9588, Ext 16.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in
part, by generous support from Wild Birds Unlimited.
Images by 2009 GBBC participants: Black-capped
Chickadee by Rodney Smith, WA; Bird watcher at window by Terie Rawn, NY; Pine
Siskins by Steve Gillespie, WV.
Contacts:
·
Pat Leonard, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, (607)
254-2137, pel27@cornell.edu
·
Delta Willis, Audubon, (212) 979-3197, dwillis@audubon.org
More
Information: Handouts will be available at our February
3rd CDA Audubon meeting.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit
membership institution interpreting and conserving the earth’s biological
diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds.
Visit the Cornell Lab’s website at www.birds.cornell.edu.
Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other
wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Our national network of
community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational
programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird
populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in
conservation. www.audubon.org
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT HIGHLIGHTS
AND STATISTICS
Coeur
d'Alene - December 19, 2009
Seventeen birders in eight teams covered the count circle
by walking 7.5 miles for 6.5 hours and driving
412.3 miles for 48 hours (party miles
and hours). We had 4 feeder watchers
with a total of 7 hours at their feeders.
Together we counted 69
species + 1 during count week (3 days before or after the count
day) and 5749 individual birds. From 1991-2009 our highest species count is
73 in 2003 & 2007 and our lowest is 57 in 2008. Our highest individual count is 10,119 in 2007 and our lowest is
4092 in 1993.
Two rare birds, first for the count, were added to the
count list. A Cackling Goose was found
along City Beach by Bill Gundlach and 6 Eurasian Collared-Dove were found on
Rathdrum Prairie by Theresa Potts and Shirley Sturts. The Eurasian Collared-Dove were first discovered on the prairie
by Doug Ward in the spring of 2007 (see the article in our January 2010
newsletter). Sixty-one Double Crested
Cormorant is a significant increase in
numbers. They first showed up on the count
in 2001 when 5 were counted off of the NIC Beach. The highest previous count was 38 in 2006. Missing was one of our favorites, Bohemian
Waxing. Flocks of Bohemian are winter
visitors only. The Cedar Waxwing. (52
this year) are resident. Waxwing
numbers vary with the winter berry food supply. Janet Callen and Judy Waring found our only Pine Grosbeak
(6). They are high altitude birds in
the summer time and we've only had them on the count two other years: 13 in
1992 and 2 in 1993)
Participants: Derek Antonelli, Laura Bayless, Terry
Bohanak, Ed and Kris Buchler, Janet
Callen, Janet Carroll, Roland Craft, Ken Eppler, Bill Gundlach, Lisa Hardy,
Eula Hickam, Therese Potts, Herb and Jan Severtson, Lynn Sheridan, Shirley Sturts, Judy Waring. Feeder Watchers: Jack and Zela Bloxom, Diane
Dalenburg , Mary Vanderbilt, John Weber.
See the total count on our website
http://cdaaudubon.org/Cbcount99.htm
White-breasted Nuthatch
Photo by Wayne Tree
Spirit
Lake - January 2, 2010
Seventeen birders in five teams covered the count circle by
walking 7 3/4 miles for 5 1/4 hours and
driving 325.6 miles for 36 1/4 hours
(party miles and hours).
Of the three counts that most of us participate in every
year, this is the lowest in count
numbers. It doesn't have the variety of
habitats that Coeur d'Alene and Indian
Mt. have. It also has a lot of
lodgepole pine scrub forest that doesn't support bird life. Our numbers this year were on the low side
both in species and individuals. Looking at the other years of the count
1997-2010, this year ranks 10th. We had 44 species and 1074 individual
birds. The high species count is 57 in
2002 and our lowest is 36 in 2004. The individual high count is 1686 in 1998
and the lowest is 606 in 2003.
Kris and Ed Buchler came up with the prize bird of the
count, a Long-tailed Duck (1). We've only had it on the count two other
years, 3 in 1997 and 1 in 2007. They
also found 2 Greater Scaup which have
only been counted one other year, 1997 (2).
The White-breasted Nuthatch was a nice find by Lisa Hardy's team. It has has been found on only two other
count years. Things were turned around
as far as waxwings were concerned. We
had 70 Bohemian and no Cedar.
Participants: Ed and Kris Buchler, Janet Callen, Roland
Craft, Lisa Hardy, Eula Hickam, Nancy
Mertz, Gil and Jo Moncrief, Theresa Potts,
Dan Ratzu, Shirley Sturts, Adela Sussman, Judy Waring, Gayle and Mary
Wehlacz, Linda Wright.
Go to our website for a complete list
http://cdaaudubon.org/SpiritLakeCBC.htm
Indian
Mountain January 4, 2010
Thirteen birders in 5 teams covered the count circle by
walking 6.2 miles for 8 hours and driving 165.5 miles for 20.05 hours (party
miles and hours).
We found 81 species and 7,563 individual birds, 5,150 (an
estimate) of these were Canada Geese.
The Indian Mountain CBC was started by Don Heikkila in
1967. I don’t have the high/low species and individuals for recent
counts. I think 81 species might be the
highest. We had 13,937 individual birds
(7,419 being Canada Goose) in 2001 which may be the highest individual
count.
Bill Gundlach was the first to spot 2 Bonaparte's Gull at
the Chacolet Bridge. This gull has been found on only 2 other
Indian Mt. counts. Except for the more
common Red-tailed Hawk (10), hawks were in lower than usual numbers. We only found 1 each Rough-legged, Northern Harrier and American
Kestrel. Three Great Horned Owl where
heard in the early hours, 2 by Wayne Melquist and 1 by Don Heikkila. A Bewick's Wren found by Lisa Hardy's team
was a nice addition. And finally, both waxwing species showed up in
respectable numbers on this count: Bohemian (178), Cedar (68), waxwing species (80).
Participants: Kris Buchler, Janet Callen, Roland Craft, Bill Gundlach, Lisa Hardy, Don
Heikkila, Eula Hickam, Helen Kevo,
Wayne Melquist, Jan Rehnfrow Ellen Scriven, Shirley Sturts, Linda Wright
SWANS
AND AVIAN INFLUENZA
What do swans have to do with global
pandemics? The story is interesting and complicated, and draws on multiple
scientific disciplines. Birders can contribute to this unfolding story. First,
let's talk about viral epidemics.
Sometime after the West Nile virus scare
in 1999 and the SARS outbreak of 2003, but before the H1N1 swine flu story of
2009, there was the H5N1 avian influenza scare of 2005.
As you may recall, West Nile is a
mosquito-borne flavivirus that took a high toll on avian populations following
its initial appearance in North America in 1999. By contrast, SARS is a
coronavirus that is dangerous to humans, with a recorded mortality rate of
almost 10%. Bats have been identified as the natural reservoir of SARS.
The H5N1 virus that gained worldwide
publicity in 2005, and the current H1N1 "swine flu" virus are both
Influenza A viruses. Influenza viruses (there are also Influenza "B"
and "C" viruses) affect the respiratory system where they bind to
mucous membrane cells, such as those of the throat and lungs. The "H"
and the "N" refer to types of proteins found on the coats of the
viruses - there are 16 variations of the H (hemagglutinin) and 9 variations of
the N (neuraminidase) protein, giving a total of 144 combinations possible in
theory, from H1N1 through H16N9.
The 1918 swine flu, or "Spanish
flu", virus was an Influenza A virus of subtype H1N1; the origin of the
strain is debated, but it appears to contain genetic components from avian and
human strains as well as from pigs. The 1918 flu was the worst pandemic in
human history, killing an estimated 3% of the world's population. I have a
personal interest in the pandemic: My grandmother worked as a student nurse in
Spokane during the outbreak. Both my grandmother and her future husband, my
grandfather, contracted the flu but they survived.
The 1918 strain abruptly lost its
lethality by the end of the year 1918, presumably as a result of mutation. (The
influenza viruses are RNA viruses; they incur a high rate of mutation because
they lack certain safeguarding procedures used by more complex lifeforms when
replicating their genetic material.) The descendents of the 1918 flu have been
circulating and genetically shifting within pig populations since, and within
human populations until 1957, when they were edged out by a different seasonal
flu strain.
The current pandemic frontrunner, the
2009 H1N1, traces about three-fourths of its lineage to strains that first
appeared in North American "factory farm" pig-raising operations from
combinations of avian, human and pig strains. This three-fold origin is called
"triple reassortment". The other one-fourth of the lineage appears to
have originated in European pig farms. While critics point to factory farming
as a potential breeding ground for new pandemics due to the crowding of large
numbers of animals into a small area, factory farming did not yet exist at the
time of the 1918 pandemic. But some students of the pandemic have pointed to
the crowding of soldiers in the trenches in World War I as a contributing
factor.
An avian influenza (AI) virus is simply
any influenza A virus that primarily affects birds. AI viruses are divided into
two groups depending on their virulence (as pertains to chickens): HP or
"highly pathogenic", and LP, or "low pathogenic". The HP
strains are responsible for high rates of mortality in both domestic poultry
and wild birds. The LP strains may cause mild illness or no symptoms in birds,
and do not appear to be the potential threat to humans that the HP strains are.
So far, only strains incorporating the H5 or H7 hemagglutinin subtype have
shown the ability to become HP, a designation applied to only two dozen or so
viruses over the last century.
In 2005, a HP strain of avian influenza
came to the world's attention because of a jump in the number of human cases in
Hong Kong and southeast Asia. The human fatalities were traced to a HP strain
of H5N1 acquired from handling of infected poultry. The story of the HP H5N1
actually begins in 1996, and continues to unfold, both back in time as biologists
trace its origins through genetic analysis, and forward in time as multiple
strains arise through mutation and reassortment. All of these strains became
known collectively as Asian HP H5N1, and their origins can be traced back to a
single ancestor first isolated from a sample taken from a goose in southern
China.
The parent virus, A/Goose/Guangdong/1/96
(or in its shortened(!) version, A/Gs/Gd/1/96) was itself probably derived from
a LP AI strain found in migratory waterfowl, with genetic contributions from
"H3N8 and H7N1 viruses from Nanchang (China), and H1N1 and H5N3 viruses
from Hokkaido (Japan)." In Hong Kong in 1997, the first human fatality
from Asian HP H5N1 was recorded.
AI strains primarily affect birds, as
their name implies, and so far have not acquired the capacity to be easily
transmitted to humans. The relatively small numbers of human cases resulted in
almost all cases from direct handling of infected domestic poultry. The reason
for the low transmicity to humans is because the H5N1 binds to cells deeper in
the respiratory system unlike typical seasonal human flu strains that tend to
bind to cells in the upper respiratory system. This means that H5N1 is harder
(for humans) to contract, but causes higher mortality when it is contracted.
Additional strains continued to appear
in southern China in spite of culling of domestic poultry. In 2003, HP H5N1
crossed into other southeast Asian countries, and in 2005, the number of
reported human cases doubled to almost 100, with most of the cases occurring in
China and Vietnam. Reported human cases peaked at 115 in 2006, and now stand at
429 documented human cases worldwide. The fatality rate amongst the documented
cases is 61%.
In the spring of 2005, an outbreak of
the HP H5N1 occurred at Qinghai Lake in northern China. Qinghai Lake is a
saline lake on the Tibetan plateau in central China, and like Salt Lake, is an
important migratory bird stopover. It is theorized that wild birds acquired the
virus from domestic birds before arriving at the lake; over 6000 birds died in
the outbreak, mostly Bar-headed Geese. Not all wild waterfowl are as
susceptible to the Asian HP H5N1 as chickens. In particular, some species of
duck have been found to test positive for the virus yet show no symptoms, or
only very mild symptoms, of illness. These species could act as
"carriers". By the end of the 2005, HP H5N1 was being reported from
Europe and Africa.
There is debate over whether the spread
of the virus to Europe and Africa is from the movements of wild birds, or from
transport of infected domestic poultry. The issue is somewhat sensitive, with
wildlife biologists rising to defend wild birds in the face of vague
suggestions to "cull" wild bird populations, but the science will
eventually answer the question.
Now we finally come to the swans. The
Asian HP H5N1 strains continue to circulate in Eurasia and Africa, but none
have yet been found in the Americas. The migration of waterfowl is considered a
potential pathway for HP H5N1 to reach North America from known outbreaks of
the disease in Eurasia, resulting in an increase in government funding to
monitor for any arrival of HP strains to our shores via wild birds. The threat
is first to commercial poultry operations. The second threat is that an HP
strain will develop the capacity to be readily transmissible to humans, and
spread by human-human contact. This is the deadly scenario hyped by media
coverage.
Of particular interest to the
researchers are waterfowl that cross between Alaska and Siberia while migrating
from nesting to wintering ranges. The monitoring programs seek to define the
seasonal movements of birds across the two continents, and use approaches that
range from basic - like tagging the birds with plastic collars - to the
sophisticated - like using stable isotopes to determine where the bird was when
it molted.
Tundra Swans are one of the species
selected for monitoring, though several other species, including Northern
Pintail and Steller's Eider, have higher monitoring priorities based on
biologists' best estimates of their likelihood of acting as disease vectors
between the continents. Monitoring of these three species and others in Alaska
is conducted under the auspices of the USGS's Alaska Science Center, which
maintains an excellent website on the programs.
Tundra Swans are long-range migrants,
and have the potential to carry influenza over wide areas. The American race,
or "Whistling Swan", nests in Alaska and northern Canada. The birds
from Canada and Alaska's North Slope winter on the east coast of the U.S.,
mostly in the mid-Atlantic states. The birds from western Alaska winter on
lakes from Washington to California. A small population of whistlers apparently
nest across the Bering Straits, where they presumably mingle with Bewick's and
other waterfowl that winter in Asia. These Siberian whistlers are believed to
winter in the United States as do their Alaskan brethren.
Starting in 2006, Tundra Swans have been
captured each summer in several locations in Alaska to collect oral and cloacal
swabs which are tested for avian influenza. In addition, the birds are banded,
collared with plastic neck bands, and in some cases, blood and/or feather
samples are taken. In 2008, 465 swans were captured and marked. Also in 2008,
50 birds, 10 each from 5 different sites, were fitted with satellite
transmitters.
The swans are captured during July and
August when they go through a molt that leaves them flightless. The birds are
typically captured by boat with a large dip net. "Captured swans were
temporarily restrained with electrical tape wrapped around their legs and heads
tucked under their wings...On shore, birds were further restrained using
"swan vests"." If you want to see what a "swan vest"
looks like, photos of these activities can be seen on the Alaska Science Center
website.
To date, no AI has been detected in the
tested swans, but strains of LP AI have been found in ten other species,
particularly some of the dabbling ducks and the eiders. Of particular interest
to the researchers was the occurrence of AI in Northern Pintail. Pintails
populations show a degree of crossover between Siberia and Alaska, with some
birds that nest in Alaska overwintering in Asia, and another unknown proportion
of the population nesting in Asia and overwintering in North America.
Sequencing of the genome of an AI strain collected from a pintail in Alaska
showed that the virus had originated in Asia, thus confirming that wild birds
are capable of transporting AI to North America.
In 2008, several Whooper Swans in Japan were
found to have succumbed to an HP H5N1 strain. This is of special concern
because the swans were found in wintering areas used by North American-nesting
pintails.
On March 7, 2008, I saw a swan with a
neck collar at the Schlepp Ranch near Medimont. I managed to read off the
alphanumeric code on the collar, but was at that time unaware of the banding
program, and did not know where to report it. I was curious as to who was
marking swans, and where this particular swan had come from, so I reported the sighting
to the Patuxent bird banding program. I had been unsuccessful in getting a
response from them on a previous occasion where I had seen a marked goldeneye,
so I cast about for information by posting to the Inland Northwest Birders
listserv. I was directed to the Alaska program - they informed me that my bird
had been collared on the Alaska Peninsula. The next year, being primed now to
search for neck bands, I scanned through a flock of over 2000 Tundra Swans at
nearby Lane Marsh and found two (see photo). These birds were from Kotzebue
Sound.
http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/avian_influenza/TUSW/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2749972/
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/nov1607birds.html
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/1/3/335/htm
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