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BirdingBirding researchPhotography

From its love life to its ancient origins, the Frigatebird is one magnificent species

by Anders Gyllenhaal April 3, 2019
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

The scene comes out of a primordial past: Five thousand Magnificent Frigatebirds — one of the most ancient and acrobatic species on Earth — circle in sync above a remote island off the coast of Mexico. Unlike most of the breeding grounds for the Frigatebird, the small island of Isla Contoy is open to visitors.

Swarming Magnificent Frigatebirds fill the sky above Isla Contoy.

One year ago this month, we got a chance to witness this colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds in the midst of the birds’ unusual mating rituals. With the breeding season starting once again, we wanted to delve into a love story that’s remained relatively unchanged for millions of years.  It attracted the attention of Charles Darwin when he was studying on the Galapagos Islands to get a glimpse of the origins of life.

The Magnificent Frigategbird is the only bird that has a superlative built into its official name. And with good reason, says veteran researcher Betty Anne Schreiber, who began studying them on isolated Pacific Islands in late 1970s.

“Nobody really knows how they got the name, but I suspect it has to do with how amazing they really are,” she said.

There’s much about the Magnificent Frigate bird that stands out: With an enormous wingspan of up to seven feet and a forked tail they use in flight, Frigatebirds are true acrobats. They can fly over the ocean for days without touching down. A slightly demonic look — along with a talent for wresting food from other birds — has earned them the nickname “Pirate Bird.” Darwin dubbed them the “condor of the oceans” for their endurance.

Dr. Betty Anne Schreiber

But what is most fascinating, says Dr. Schreiber, is how long the Frigatebird has been on Earth — relatively unchanged for millions of years. That’s the feeling you get when you venture onto Isla Contoy and the domain of the male Frigatebird in the midst of attracting a mate.

First he inflates a gland sac in his throat so that it looks like a red, nearly heart-shaped balloon. Then he waves his head around to show off the balloon while clattering his beak. The females fly in circles overhead, reviewing their options.

Dr. Schreiber pointed out that many species of birds have distinct rituals meant to attract one another. “They all have something they do where birds interact and they decide whether they like each other,” she said. “But we have no idea how this one came about.”

Mystery surrounds many practices of  the Frigatebird — as well as most seabirds that spend their lives far from human eyes. Research is cumbersome and expensive. That’s true for all five species of Frigatebirds — Lesser, Greater,  Magnificent, Ascension and Christmas Island. 

Dr. Schreiber with a Frigatebird

Dr. Schreiber and her late husband Ralph, together a renown research team, helped to change that when they headed out into the Pacific islands decades ago. At that time, most of what was thought to be true about Frigatebirds was based on guesses — and much of it was off base. A large group of seabirds in the region had been banded, then forgotten. The Schreibers picked up the research and slowly pieced together much about their story. 

They discovered that these birds developed sea-going routines that made them adaptable and versatile enough to survive three ice ages. The Frigatebirds know how to find the ocean currents that bubble up to produce fish, and they return to the same breeding grounds each year as long as conditions are good. They are talented at rearing and protecting their young, which has helped to keep their numbers strong.

“They’re very successful at raising chicks,” said Dr. Schreiber.

And they are tough old birds, literally. Frigatebirds can live 50 and 60 years — a long time for any creature. 

The Magnificent Frigatebird is mostly a tropical bird, found in the ocean, islands and coasts of the Caribbean and Central and South America. But they will venture into Florida and California and have been spotted farther north as well.

Dr. Schreiber’s research has helped determine much of what we know about the species. She co-wrote the Frigatebird segment of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of North America website. There’s still much work to be done on Frigatebirds, she said, including what to make of their longevity. 

That’s why island projects like the one in Mexico are so important. Here is a gallery from Isla Contoy that gives you a sense of the scene during mating season:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 3, 2019 2 comments
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BirdingBreeding and NestingFeaturedPhotography

The first chicks have arrived: beautiful, gawky, hungry and often noisy

by Anders Gyllenhaal March 28, 2019
written by Anders Gyllenhaal
Wood Stork chick
Great Egret chick
Sandhill Crane
Anhinga chick

 

You can sometimes hear them before you see them: Sweet but incessant cries of early life, calling for food, warmth, attention. If you’re lucky — and in the right place — you get a look at the first chicks of the season, which can be found all across Florida this month where the warm temperatures get the breeding season off to an early start.

The photos above, (from left to right), include a weeks-old Wood Stork, a Great Egret so new its feathers are nothing but fuzz, a Sandhill Crane already up and walking and a very young Anhinga, calling for food.

A Great Egret carries a branch to its nest

We spent the past six weeks roaming Florida on a spring-time birding trip. The nesting and breeding season is still many weeks away farther north, but here it’s in full swing for large coastal birds. You can see Egrets and Herons hauling sticks and branches across the marshes, and Wood Storks in the midst of their mating rituals. We witnessed the first generation of Anhingas, Cormorants and other new hatchlings in the nest, then perking up, and finally standing, walking and attempting to fly.

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March 28, 2019 0 comment
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Bird of the WeekBirdingMigration

Sandhill Crane Stories: Bold city birds vs. their shy cousins

by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal March 19, 2019
written by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal

Audubon’s annual Nebraska Crane Festival starts today, where 80 percent of the world’s cranes are converging on one 80-mile stretch of land. More than half a million Sandhill Cranes will touch down in central Nebraska this spring to fatten up before migrating north to their breeding grounds.

Meanwhile, in central Florida, some 5,000 very unusual Sandhill Cranes aren’t going anywhere.

Florida is home to a sub-species of Sandhill Crane that never migrates. While their cousins in other parts of the U.S. are so skittish they’d never stay still for a photo, Florida’s cranes are urban birds unafraid of people.

There may be tens of thousands of Sandhill Cranes near Kearney, Nebraska, for the festival this week, but to see one up close you’d have to hide behind a bird blind. If you’re in Florida, like Anders and I are for a winter birding trip, the crazy cranes are grazing on golf courses, standing in people’s front yards and walking alongside major roadways without showing a care in the world.

Because Florida’s suitable crane habitat has been shrinking for years, these native birds have grown accustomed to sharing space with humans. (Sandhill Cranes can live up to 35 years and mate for life.) State law forbids feeding cranes, but it’s not unusual for them to walk right up to your car hoping for a handout.

You’re not likely to forget a close encounter with a Sandhill Crane. Statuesque at 4 feet tall, with leathery crimson skin on their faces and gray-and-brown feathers that fan out at the hips like a skirt, these birds are astonishing. Cranes are among the world’s oldest living birds and one of the planet’s most successful life forms, having outlasted millions of species. The Sandhill Cranes of North America have not changed appreciably in ten million years.

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March 19, 2019 1 comment
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BirdingPhotographySpecies

“Where’d he go?” A birds-eye view of life in the nest

by Anders Gyllenhaal March 18, 2019
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

 

She pokes her head from the hole and glances first right, then left, then right again, clearly looking for a mate who’s been gone too long.

It’s feeding time at this tiny home on the edge of Florida’s Lake Kissimmee, judging from the relay race these Red-bellied Woodpeckers are running. Every few minutes, one returns from foraging to take over nest duties while the other races out the door and flies off.

All over Florida, the first of the breeding species are raising a new generation of chicks. This is one tale best told in pictures, as the birds run a hectic routine familiar to any parent, feathered and otherwise. Here’s the story, and you’ll get the details if you run your cursor over the photos as you go.

DSC_9253

This female Red-Bellied...

DSC_9277

...is more than ready for her turn out of the house.

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"Where is he?!" she seems to be saying.

DSC_9391

Her mate finally shows up, and in a practiced move, lands on the dock piling where they've built their nest.

DSC_9392

...she's already halfway out the front door...

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...and on her way....

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...in a flash.

DSC_9310

The male Red-bellied checks out the house...

DSC_9404

...and crawls inside where we assume hungry chicks are waiting.

DSC_9320

Then it's his turn to wait. (The red feathers fall just above the eyes, signaling he's the male.)

DSC_9471

He's gone as soon as she appears...

DSC_9472

...and off he flies to gather more food.

DSC_9365-2

She disappears for a time, most likely tending to her chicks. And then she peeks out again. Now where did he go?

 

 

March 18, 2019 2 comments
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BirdingBirding and the AirstreamFeatured

Birding from the Flying Cloud: Aboard an Airstream, you’re already there.

by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal March 15, 2019
written by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal

Our birding base is an Airstream Flying Cloud. It’s what makes it possible to pursue this passion on our own terms. Forget waking up and driving to the woods to catch the dawn’s birdsong. We’re already there.

A campsite just outside Asheville, N.C.

On move day, here’s the routine: Pour coffee into a Stanley thermos, pull up stakes, crank up the truck and hit the road in search of the next scenic campground. The Flying Cloud follows along like a satisfied puppy on a leash.

We’ve situated ourselves beside a brook in the Virginia mountains where Louisiana Water Thrushes hopped from rock to rock. Goldfinches bathed farther upstream.

The scene on Ocracoke camping amid the sand dunes

One August afternoon we parked 10 yards from a lake on a rocky peninsula in New Hampshire. Before we could unload the chairs, we’d already noticed Brown Creepers scaling the surrounding pine trunks. (Another new bird for my Life List!)

Just beyond a primal sand dune on Ocracoke Island in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Anders got photos of a Great Egret walking through a puddle near the bathhouse. (Cold showers only at Ocracoke, so hooray for the Airstream’s propane water heater.)

All of this splendor can be had for an average of $30 a night. You don’t get room service, but the camping life offers other perks. Anders wakes me up with a cup of coffee, and he often builds a campfire before a breakfast outdoors. No overpriced buffet, but even oatmeal tastes terrific with a touch of wafting wood smoke.

Camping beside a rushing stream in Southern New Hampshire

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March 15, 2019 0 comment
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BirdingBirding researchFeaturedPhotography

Who delivers the Stork? Here’s a nursery like no other

by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal March 8, 2019
written by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal

There’s a rare birding phenomenon that happens every spring at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach, Florida. The 50-acre preserve turns into a full-fledged nursery, chock full of nests, eggs and chicks anxious for their next meal.

Baby Wood Stork

The unique thing about the Wakodahatchee Wetlands is access and diversity. You don’t even need binoculars or a telephoto lens to see the nesting Wood Storks, Great Blue Herons, Anhingas, Great Egrets, Green Herons and more.

You can stand under a shaded gazebo on a boardwalk 12 feet from the action. This is not a zoo, but it sure feels like one.

On two visits to Wakodahatchee in the past week, Anhinga chicks wrapped their necks around their moms’ so tightly it was hard to tell one from the other. Great Blue Heron babies are simply comical with oversized eyes and feathers like dandelion fluff. But it was the dozens of newly hatched Wood Storks who stole the show.

Storks feed their young by squirting “pre-digested” fish directly into their mouths. And when these downy chicks are hungry, everybody hears about it. Disproportionately large yellow beaks fling wide open, and you can even see their tiny tongues as they cry.

Great Blue Heron chick

Bawling Wood Stork chicks sound oddly like distressed human infants. When one starts up, they all join in. It’s loud, and just as things start to get obnoxious, the mother Stork reaches over with a long pink toe and strokes the baby. Ornithologists call this “comforting behavior” — pretty much what any good Mom would do.

Wood Storks breed for life, and at least one parent stands guard at all times to shade the chicks and sprinkle water over them if they need cooling off. They’ll also intervene if a Great Egret from a nearby nest happens to get too close.

Here’s a video that puts you in the middle of the action:

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March 8, 2019 0 comment
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BirdingBirds storiesPhotography

Will he ever take off? Learning patience the hawk way

by Anders Gyllenhaal March 1, 2019
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

I spotted the hawk from about 50 feet away, perched on a dead tree where he could watch over the Central Florida marsh as if he ruled the place.

I stopped about 30 feet back, and stood as still as I could, hoping for a chance at a photo if this elegant Red-shouldered Hawk decided to take off.

And then I waited. First through an easy 10 minutes, then another 15 not-so-easy minutes, then at least 10 more interminable minutes. I watched as he swiveled his head, glanced up and down and fluffed his feathers without giving a clue to his intentions. As the sweat dripped down my back, I started thinking about giving up.

Birding is a lesson in patience on so many fronts. There are days when all you hear are calls from distant branches. There are mornings when the birds are always backlit or camouflaged. There are whole afternoons when not one bird makes a sound.

I like to think it’s all part of the curriculum that comes with the birds. At a time when we’re so attention deprived, birding is a graduate course in alternative time.

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March 1, 2019 2 comments
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BirdingFeaturedPhotographySpecies

Birds For Beginners: They gotta stay still and be big enough to shoot

by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal February 22, 2019
written by Beverly Mills Gyllenhaal

The Great Blue is the largest heron in North America.

We loved this comment and question from Candy Krewer of Montana:

“I am a beginner birder and love to try to photograph birds. The Great Blue Heron is a current favorite since it’s a large target, often standing still! I also have a LBB (little brown bird) as a regular on my list. Please tell me more about what birds you are following.”

If you’re learning to take pictures of birds, you can’t go wrong with a Great Blue Heron. Big shorebirds were also among our favorites when Anders and I  got hooked on birding five years ago, and we love them still. The herons and egrets often fish in the same spot for long stretches, and when they take to the sky, it’s a sight to behold.

A nesting pair of Roseate Spoonbills.

We’re currently in Florida for a few weeks, and so we’re surrounded by shorebirds. As to Candy’s query about what we’re following right now, the Roseate Spoonbill is my hands-down favorite. It’s pink and fluffy, funny and frilly — and it just makes me gasp every time we see one.

Spoonbill or a photographer’s sitting duck?

Did I mention photogenic? Anders heard about the Stick Marsh Critical Wildlife Area near Melbourne, Fla., where there are two protected islands stuffed with nesting Spoonbills. So last week we set out to find them. Even shooting in the “wrong” afternoon light, I think the photos Anders got were stunning. We’ll definitely go back at dawn. (The Stick Marsh site is adjacent to the T.M. Goodwin Waterfowl Management Area. Click here for more information.)

As for other “Beginner Birds” that keep still and are big enough to shoot, woodpeckers are tough to beat. It’s hard to know if we’re following them or they’re following us. Woodpeckers make a lot of noise (so you can find them), and some species, like the Red-bellied, are common. Once alight on a suitable tree, they tend to stay put and peck away.

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February 22, 2019 0 comment
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BirdingBirds storiesFlightPhotography

The White Ibis — graceful and awkward at once — is a sight to see

by Anders Gyllenhaal February 19, 2019
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

When the White Ibis is soaring, it’s a magnificent and graceful bird, from its black-tipped wings to its long, curved, signature beak.

When an Ibis comes in for a landing, on the other hand, it turns into a gawky and awkward comic. It’s hard to tell its wings from its tail feathers.

Those are just two of the varied performances the Ibis delivers as it patrols the wetlands of the southeastern United States. While it mixes with the Egrets, Herons and Anhingas with which it shares the marshes, the Ibis stands out for its distinctive profile and personality.

All this helps make it a symbol of the marshes – and a bird to watch for both its beauty and its health as one of the coastal species under pressure. Particularly in Florida, where the Ibis is most plentiful, researchers say its numbers are nonetheless diminishing with the steady loss of habitat.

As the climate has changed, the Ibis has slowly expanded its reach. You can find them as far north as the Carolinas, depending on the season, as this map from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology shows.

They’re not hard to spot; that’s partly because of their long, pink beaks they use to sift for crustaceans, fish and insects, and partly because they’re rarely alone. They fly, feed – and just hang out – in groups of dozens of birds.

The other day, we encountered a full community of White Ibis gathered on the northern tip of Jekyll Island, Georgia, one of the sea islands where limits on development make room for wildlife. When we approached a small bridge over the marshes, a dozen Ibis were jostling for position on two narrow railings. 

It made for a comedy routine you couldn’t stop watching. They all wanted to be on first one railing, then on the other. They jumped off and traded places, pointing their distinctive beaks every which way. Then they lined up in near perfect profile as if ready for inspection.

                    

At times, the Ibis will be bashful and flee when they see you. Other times, they’ll put up with visitors and allow a good look. That day on Jekyll Island, they didn’t seem to mind our presence and stood posing for all the pictures we could take.

Here’s a gallery from that day, as well as encounters with Ibis all across the Southeast the past few years:

An Ibis on North Carolina's National Seashore balances precariously for a good view.
Coming in for a landing on Jekyll Island
Flying in formation above Carolina's Mattamuskeet Refuge.
Two Ibises tangle in the air on Jekyll's bridge.
A Glossy Ibis, a cousin to the White Ibis, forages in central Florida near Stick Marsh.
A juvenile, with its brown feathers, feeds on Hatteras Island, N.C.
A juvenile Ibis in flight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 19, 2019 1 comment
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Here are links to some of the deeper stories we’ve written for publications from the Washington Post to The Miami Herald exploring the frontiers of birding and avian research. This story for the Post was about the role of every-day birders in creating the largest citizen science project in the world. This piece for The Herald looked at the surprising strength of the Roseate Spoonbill in the midst of climate change. And this article and video for The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer is about how some adventurous hummingbirds are abandoning their migration and staying the winter in the U.S. Our latest story in the Washington Post is about a rescue mission for the imperiled Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. 

Miami Herald’s Spoonbill package

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Barred Owl Orlando, Florida
Copyright by Anders and Beverly Gyllehhaal
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“There are a hundred times more turkeys than when I was a kid. Fake BS to shake down donations and public funding.” -Vance Shearer

 

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About us

We’re two journalists who’ve traded in our work in publishing and syndicated writing for following and photographing the birds. We live in Raleigh, NC, but are traveling the country every chance we get -- and are sharing the lessons birds are teaching us and the photos we take along the way.

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This website is about what we can learn from the birds around us. Some of the lessons are obvious, such as the way birds can be a barometer of environmental changes. Others are subtle, like the way you, as an observer, have to adapt to navigate the world in which birds operate. We ourselves still have much to learn about birding, a late-in-life pursuit that has captivated us in retirement. But we decided to start writing about the lessons and teachings as we’re finding our way, in hopes that our storytelling and photography will help to celebrate a captivating element of nature.

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