IDAHO COUNTY BIG YEAR
A message from Lew Ulrey, Compiler
Hello fellow birders,
The 2007 Big Year
List is almost in its final form
now.
I would like to point
out some interesting highlights from the report. On a statewide basis 325
species were reported from the 34 participating counties. There are 44
counties in Idaho, and so there are still some counties that would be good to have included in the
list. The 325 compares with 323 in 2006 and 331 in 2005.
Only American
Kestrel was found in all 34 counties. Other species reported
by 90% or more of the 34 counties were as follows: Canada Goose 91, Red-tailed Hawk 97,
Killdeer 91, Mourning Dove 91, Northern Flicker 94, Black-billed Magpie 97,
Common Raven 91, American Robin 94, European Starling 97, Song 
Sparrow 91, Dark-eyed Junco 97,
Red-winged Blackbird 94, Western Meadowlark 91.
I think
it is interesting that American Crow, all finches and House Sparrow did
not make the = or > 90% list.
Anyone who is
not familiar with the Big Year List Project and would like to participate,
should go to www.idahobirds.net ,
click on Reports, and then Big Year Reports, then read the description of the project
that appears there. The Big Year Lists are also
viewable there. If you have found a bird that does not show as
reported for the county you birded in, look at the list of county compilers'
names and email addresses. Send an email to the appropriate compiler,
informing him or her of the name of the species and the date and place you
found it. The compiler will make arrangements to have your observation
posted on the list.
Editors Note:
Boundary,
Bonner, Kootenai,
Benewah and Shoshone
Country totals are also found on our website with the name of the observer and
the location.
Top of Page
Common Birds In Decline
What's
happening to birds we know and love?
Reprinted from the Audubon Website
Audubon's
unprecedented analysis of forty years of citizen-science
bird population data from our own Christmas Bird Count
plus the Breeding Bird Survey reveals the alarming decline of many of our most
common and beloved birds.
Since 1967, the average
population of the common birds in steepest decline has fallen by 68 percent;
some individual species nose-dived as much as 80 percent. All 20 birds on the
national Common Birds in Decline list lost at least half their populations in
just four decades.
The findings point to
serious problems with both local habitats and national environmental trends.
Only citizen action can make a difference for the birds and the state of our
future.
Which Species? Why?
The wide variety of
birds affected is reason for concern. Populations of meadowlarks and other
farmland birds are diving because of suburban sprawl, industrial development,
and the intensification of farming over the past 50 years.
Greater Scaup and
other tundra-breeding birds are succumbing to dramatic changes to their
breeding habitat as the permafrost melts earlier and more temperate predators
move north in a likely response to global warming.
Boreal forest birds
like the Boreal Chickadee face deforestation from increased insect outbreaks
and fire, as well as excessive logging, drilling, and mining.
The one distinction
these common species share is the potential to become uncommon unless we all
take action to protect them and their habitat. Browse the species
and learn what you can do to help.
List of Top 20 Common Birds in Decline
The following are the 20 common North American
birds with the greatest population declines since 1967. On the website, click on the name to view
each individual profile to learn how you can help.
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#1 Northern Bobwhite a chubby,
robin-sized bird that runs along the ground in groups and is found in
grasslands mixed with shrubs or widely spaced trees throughout much of the
Eastern United States.
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#2 Evening Grosbeak: a rotund,
robin-sized bird found in the mountains of the western United States and
Canada; the boreal forest of Canada and the northern edge of the United
States east to Nova Scotia.
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#3 Northern Pintail: a
Mallard-sized "puddle duck" with a slim body found in grassy
uplands and untilled crop fields near shallow seasonal and semi-permanent
wetlands in much of the Northern Hemisphere.
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#4 Greater Scaup: a black,
gray, and white duck, smaller than a Mallard, found along lakes and large
ponds in large open tundra complexes in Alaska and eastern Canada.
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#5 Boreal Chickadee: a small,
active, grayish bird with a black chin, brown cap, and brownish sides found
in spruce and fir forests in most of Alaska and Canada and the U.S. states
adjacent to Canada.
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#6 Eastern Meadowlark: a robin-sized bird with a light brown back and brilliant
yellow breast with a big, black "V", found in grasslands and open
savannas in eastern Canada south through the eastern United States.
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#7 Common Tern: a slender, medium-sized, black-capped, gray-and-white bird with
thin, pointed bill, and a long, deeply forked tail, found near shore in
oceans, lakes, and rivers in the Northern Hemisphere, wintering in the
Southern Hemisphere.
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#8 Loggerhead Shrike: a robin-sized gray bird with black wings, white wing-patches,
a black mask, and black tail, found in short grass with isolated trees or
shrubs, especially pastureland in most of Mexico and the southern half of the
United States.
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#9 Field Sparrow: a small
brown songbird with a light rusty cap and a bright pink bill found in
abandoned fields with scattered shrubs and trees in the United States east of
the Rocky Mountains and Canada.
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#10 Grasshopper Sparrow: a fairly nondescript, small brown bird with a short tail and a
flat head often found hiding in larger patches of grassland, usually with few
shrubs or trees, in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and
adjacent portions of southern Canada.
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#11 Snow Bunting: a small,
pale-brown-and-white bird usually found in winter by the ocean, lakes, and
rivers shores, grassy fields or roadsides in North America, Alaska and
northern Canada. Its breeding plumage is brilliant white and black.
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#12 Black-throated Sparrow: a very distinctive small, brown bird with a black throat and
mask found in open areas with scattered shrubs and trees, including deserts
and semi-desert grasslands in the intermountain region in the western United
States, northern Mexico, and Baja California.
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#13 Lark Sparrow: a brown
bird with distinctive markings on the head and tail, found in grassy habitats
with scattered trees or shrubs, including sagebrush, park-like settings, and
open deciduous savannas in interior southwestern Canada south to northern
Mexico and from Illinois west to California.
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#14 Common Grackle: a dark bird
longer than most blackbirds, slimmer than most crows, and very iridescent
with long center-creased tail, found in a variety of open habitats with
trees, including urban areas, parks, riparian areas, and a variety of woody
wetlands in the United States and Canada.
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#15 American Bittern: a two-foot
tall brown and tan striped wading bird found in freshwater wetlands with
tall, emergent vegetation in most of the Canadian provinces and the northern
half of the contiguous United States.
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#16 Rufous Hummingbird: a very small, almost all cinnamon-colored bird with a red
throat, found wherever flowers are near, from dense forests to sunny gardens
in southern Alaska to northern California and Mexico.
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#17 Whip-poor-will: a bird only
active at night with mottled brown plumage, found in dry, open woodlands with
little underbrush in most of the eastern United States, and parts of
southeastern and south-central Canada, southwestern United States, Mexico,
and into northern Central America.
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#18 Horned Lark: a small grayish
brown bird with dramatic black, yellow, and white facial and breast pattern,
and small, feathered “horns” on its head, found in open, barren habitats in Canada,
the United States (including Alaska), and northern Mexico outside of heavily
forested areas.
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#19 Little Blue Heron: a dark blue bird with a light blue bill that has a black tip
in adults, found in a wide variety of shallow waters and wetlands, including
fresh and saltwater in the southeastern United States, Bahamas, Cuba, and
most of the coast of Mexico.
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#20 Ruffed Grouse: a
round-bodied, mottled-brown, crow-sized bird found in aspen forests, but in
parts of the United States, found in young, open, mixed deciduous-coniferous
forests, also in Alaska, through most of Canada, and the northern United
States.
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Top of Page
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Coeur
d'Alene CBC - December 14
Shirley
Sturts, Compiler
We had 21 field participants divided into 8 teams, plus 7 feeder watchers. 74 species were
counted plus another 3 during count week, and 10,119 individual birds were
totaled . After our traditional CBC
breakfast, we started off in a snow/sleet storm but by afternoon, the sun
peeked out from beneath the cloud cover.
We had the feeling that bird
numbers were going to be low because a lot of areas we drove through
seemed devoid of birds. So I was surprised when I added up the totals to find we had beaten the record for both
the number of species and
individuals. The past species
record was 73 in 2003. The past individual tally was 9,544 in 1994.
New to the count, and a real surprise, was a Canyon Wren reported by Kris
Buchler and Roland Craft. This wren has
been wintering in and around a barn in Cougar Bay. It seems to have the season mixed up, as it was singing. The
Canyon Wren, true to its name, hangs out in canyons. It is rare but appears to be regular in the Post Falls Dam area;
the only location it has previously been seen.
Another new bird for our count was a Barred Owl seen during
count week in the Rimrock area by Tom Davenport. I would suggest a visit to Tom's website to see a photograph of
the Barred Owl and other superb wildlife photographs Tom has for sale. Go to www.prairiephoto.biz and visit Tom's "Nature and
Wildlife" section where there is a link to galleries with a slideshow.
The following species had the highest number seen in the
past 17 years: Canada Goose 2,906 (1930
in '03), Canvasback 16 (2 in '94 '00'
'05), Ring-necked Duck 319 (165 in '02), Northern Flicker 61 (54 in
'03),
European Starling 1805 (1628 in '04).
Good finds included two Red-breasted Merganser and a Thayer's Gull (Doug Ward), a Cooper's Hawk (feeder watchers Del and
Corinne Cameron), a Varied Thrush (Eula Hickam and Mary Ann and Dave
Scoggins), a White-breasted Nuthatch (Laura Bayless and Roy Bell), and Horned
Lark (Lynn Sheridan, Nancy Mertz).
In the past 16
years of this CBC, Pine Siskin numbers have varied from as low as 2 in '05 to
as high as 346 in '99, but this is the first year they have been absent
altogether. Another bird that has been
present in every count for the past 16 years,
ranging from 2 in '97 and '06 to 16 in '93, was the Hairy
Woodpecker. This year it was not seen
on count day, but was reported during count week.
Species seen by all teams:
Canada Goose, Northern Flicker, Black-billed Magpie, Common Raven, Song
Sparrow and House Finch.
Species seen by one team only: Gadwall, American Wigeon,
Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Barrow's Goldeneye,
Red-breasted Merganser, Gray Partridge,
Ruffed Grouse, Western Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Killdeer, California
Gull, Herring and Thayer's Gull, Great Horned Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Horned
Lark, White-breasted Nuthatch, Canyon
Wren, Varied Thrush, Cassin's Finch, and Red Crossbill.
Total party hours (8 teams added together) of birding: 15.5
hours on foot, 46.5 hours by car and 11 feeder hours. Total party miles: 8
miles on foot and 495.5 miles by car.
We birded from 7:15 a.m. to the last team quitting at 4:45 p.m..
Field
Participants were: Laura Bayless, Roy Bell, Jonathan Brenneke, Kris and Ed
Buchler, Roland Craft, Dick Cripe, Gary Frensdorf, Bill Gundlach, Lisa Hardy, Eula Hickam, Wayne Logan, Nancy Mertz,
Theresa Potts, Don and Mary Ann Scoggin,
Ellen Scriven, Lynn Sheridan,
Shirley Sturts, Jenny Taylor, Doug Ward.
Feeder Watchers were: Jack and Zella Bloxom, Ed Buchler, Marian
Bruno, Del and Corinne Cameron, Ken and
Kathryn Green, Cindy Langlitz, Steve Lindsay,
Mary Vanderbilt
Spirit Lake CBC - January 3
Shirley Sturts, Compiler
Our number of participants was small but
our enthusiasm was great as we set off for a day of counting birds. Four teams of 2 each covered the same size CBC circle as the
Coeur d'Alene CBC where we had 8 teams and 21 participants. Less varied habitat and fewer pairs of eyes
give us fewer numbers but we always enjoy this smaller count.
Almost every year we add a new bird or two to the
list. This year we added the Cassin's
Finch. Theresa Potts and I found 5 of
them in with a large flock of Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch visiting a
feeder in the Hoo Doo
Valley.
We were excited
that two teams found a total of 62 Pine
Siskin, a species missing for the first time on the Coeur d'Alene CBC. Three teams found a Hairy Woodpecker,
another almost missed regular on the Coeur d'Alene CBC; only 1 was seen and
that was during count week. We tallied
48 species; 57 in '02 is the record
high. Our individual number count was
1,408; 1,686 in '98 is our record high.
Noteworthy were 5 Gray Jay (Janet and Jan), 8 Clark's Nutcracker
(Theresa and Shirley), White-breasted Nuthatch (Kris and Roland), and Ruffed
Grouse (Lisa and Bill) . Wild Turkey
are increasing each year, This year we
tallied 244 compared with last year's high count of 159. Other record high counts were 49 American
Coot (40 '07) and 40 American Goldfinch (31 '98). The 10 Pygmy Nuthatch tied the count in '01. The Pygmy Nuthatch has only been found 6 of
the 11 counts - none were found in '06 or '07.
Participants: Kris
Buchler, Janet Callen, Roland Craft,
Bill Gundlach, Lisa Hardy,
Theresa Potts, Jan Severtson, Shirley Sturts. Feeder Watchers were
Ken Eppler, Robert Costigan and Sue Williams
Click here to see CDA CBC Results or chart of all
counts
Click here to see Spirit Lake CBC Results or chart of
all counts
Top of Page
BIRD QUOTES
Few forms
of life are so engaging as birds.
-- Ellen Glasgow - Letters of Ellen Glasgow --
Bird!
birds! ye are beautiful things,
With your
earth-treading feet and your cloud cleaving wings!
-- Eliza Cook "Birds" --
Top of Page
TOO MANY CATS
Judy Waring
Humans are not
the only species on the globe experiencing a population explosion. Our canine
and feline friends are re-producing at an alarming rate, resulting in
abandonment and suffering. The number of feral cats in the U.S is estimated to
be over forty million and that figure is growing exponentially. A single pair
of breeding cats and their offspring can produce over 400,000 cats in a seven
year period and the number of song birds that they kill is staggering. To me,
the saddest part of this whole situation is the fate of these animals.
Approximately 1.5 million cats and dogs are euthanized in this country
annually.
My husband and I have had to deal with the problem on a first hand basis in our
yard. Stray cats and their kittens show up on a regular basis looking for food.
In trying to find homes for them, we have investigated the city and county
facilities that are presently in place and have found them wanting, mainly due
to lack of funding. The Kootenai Humane Society has adopted a no-kill policy
with resultant limited capacity for accepting animals. Under this policy, KHS
will accept pets from kill shelters or from owners who must relinquish them.
They do not accept strays. “We are an adoption agency, not a dog pound”, said
shelter director Phil Morgan. I was told that that one must get on a waiting
list for a vacancy to open up, with a two to three month expected wait. I found
no other agency that takes in unwanted animals.
Controlling reproduction is the first critical step in getting a handle on the
problem. KHS has a program called SPOT (stop pet overpopulation today) that
provides neuter and spay services geared for low income families. A sliding
scale is applied based on income, with a small co-pay asked.
