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Catching up with the California Condor: A comeback story in the making

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

One of the birds we most hoped to see in our travels in the West was the California Condor, the continent’s largest bird with an inspiring comeback story.

The condor is majestic and also kind of odd, with a wingspan of almost 10 feet and a huge body covered with black feathers resembling an overcoat. When the condor flies you can see patches of white feathers that look like racing stripes.

A mature condor is placed with the young birds at the breeding center to show them how to behave like condors. Photos by Anders Gyllenhaal

But it’s not easy to catch up with the condor. There are now about 300 of the raptor in the wild, sprinkled across California, Arizona, Utah and Baja California. It’s an impressive number considering the species was down to just 22 birds when wildlife managers realized the species was about to go extinct three decades ago. They caught the remaining birds, brought them into captivity and launched a breeding program that has slowly returned the birds to a portion of their range in the West.

A young condor that has yet to come into its adult plumage and coloring

Today, it takes some luck to see them in the wild.

We are winding up six months of travels to research a book on bird conservation . We hadn’t seen the condor, though. So as we headed east across the northern half of the U.S., we stopped in Boise, Idaho, which is home to the Peregrine Fund. The organization hosts the largest of the four condor breeding centers and has an ambitious program to revive the health of the species that had been one of the symbols of the West.

Two adult condors perched in the center’s aviary

As soon as you drive up to the bluff where the Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey overlooks the Boise valley, you see the condors on a perch high in the aviary. 

Condors have a regal stance and a thousand-mile stare. They also have a bald head that turns pink and scaly in adults. It’s a striking combination that helps them stand out, even while flying at remarkable heights of up to 15,000 feet.

Erin Katzner,  director of Global Engagement for the Peregrine Fund, has spent the last six years making the argument for saving condors. Although the center works on behalf of raptors all around the world,  the condor is now its primary focus. Started 51 years ago when the Peregrine Falcon was in danger of extinction, the Peregrine Fund engineered the falcon’s comeback. “There are so many falcons today that we can’t even keep up with them,’’ she said.

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Birding researchPhotographySpecies

“He’s close.” On the trail of a rare Hawaiian Honeycreeper

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

We heard the sweet, staccato song of Hawaiian Palila on and off all day as we roamed the range of this golden-yellow bird, one of the most endangered and treasured species on the islands. 

But the Palila always seemed to stay just out of sight, living up to its status as one of the rarest of the islands’ birds, found only on the upper reaches of the Big Island’s highest mountain.

Our Palila stops for just a moment on the branch of a mamane tree. Photos by Anders Gyllenhaal

We were visiting with Chris Farmer, the Hawaii program director for the American Bird Conservancy. Chris has spent so much time working with this and other native birds that he’s kind of a Palila whisperer. Sometimes he alone would hear the unique song, usually coming from the other side of the stands of mamane trees that dominate the dry forest.

Hawaii is a magical and complicated place for birds, particularly forest birds like the critically endangered Palila. The native birds face unrelenting pressure from habitat loss, invasive species, diseases and changing climate. They evolved in an era of few predators but now face them at every turn.

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Birds storiesPhotographySpecies

Going fishing: The Reddish Egret shows off its dancing moves

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

If you see a Reddish Egret in the shallows of a marsh, just pause for a bit because you’re about to witness an exotic performance. With wings arched over its head, the bird leaps into the air then rushes sideways through the water. The choreography of crisscrossing feet is worthy of Fred Astaire.

We came across this spectacle on the edge of Galveston Island State Park in coastal Texas one recent rainy afternoon. The scene was transfixing: the egret leaps from the water one moment, tilts its heads far over to the side in the next and then appears to tiptoe.

Made all the more compelling by its willowy springtime breeding plumage, this bird isn’t dancing for our benefit. He’s busy working, and the grand finale is a beak full of fish.

In researching what may be the most beautiful of the egret species, we learned that every part of this comical ritual has purpose. When the bird dances through the shallows, he’s stirring up the fish. By raising his wings overhead, he’s creating a shadow that draws prey to within easy striking distance. A strange and gawky lurch forward is actually an attempt to catch the next fish unawares.

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FeaturedSpeciesVideo

It’s springtime — and these Pileated Woodpeckers get down to business

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

We’ve always been drawn to Pileated Woodpeckers. Who can resist these magnificent birds, with their striking yodel, two-foot wingspan and bright red crests set against more than a foot of jet-black plumage?

The male Pileated outside its nest. Photos by Anders Gyllenhaal.

So when two of these woodpeckers showed up for several days running in a dead tree right next-door to our campsite, we were captivated. It was hard to get anything done; they’d sound off a dozen times a day, and I’d have to drop everything and see what was going on.

The female outside their nest cavity

 

Something was up indeed: It’s springtime – and we had a romance brewing before our prying eyes.

We’ve always had to catch Pileated Woodpeckers in brief glimpses when they’d appear on a birding walk, or zip by overhead on their way to somewhere else. This encounter turned out to be different. The pair decided to build their nesting cavity 30 steps from our spot on the edge of the busy Land Yacht Harbor Airstream park in Central Florida where we’re spending a few weeks. They seemed used to people and didn’t mind my keeping up with their progress.

They chose a tall dead pine and started chopping out their cavity 25 feet up the trunk. The male did most of the work in the beginning, then the female took over. She was tireless, working away for hours at a time, then picking up mouthfuls of chips and tossing them out the front door as if spitting tobacco juice.

Here’s a video of the two working on their nest, to the Beatle’s love song, “I will:” 

 

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BirdingPhotographySpecies

A visit to this exotic bird park is the perfect medicine for the winter blues

by Beverly and Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Beverly and Anders Gyllenhaal

Blue-crowned Pigeon

SCOTLAND NECK, N.C. — It was well into winter, and after weeks of grim headlines and overcast skies, I decided the only cure for a badly bruised equilibrium was a flock of flying things with amazing feathers.

The drab sparrows and robins outside our windows just weren’t doing the trick. A situation this dire required a shot of spring’s iridescent blue, startling orange and lemon yellow. With a nod of apology to my birding binoculars, my husband Anders and I grabbed our coats and drove to the zoo.

But not just any zoo. The 18-acre Sylvan Heights Bird Park in Eastern North Carolina is home to nearly 300 species, mostly rare, spanning five continents.

Caribbean Flamingo

Right at the entrance, a herd of lanky Caribbean Flamingos, each one attired in a ballet-skirt flounce of pinkish-orange feathers, stood perfectly still for as long as we wanted to watch.

The flamingos turned out to be a mere appetizer in this colorful feast. In a nearby enclosure was the Scarlet Ibis, decked out in a deeply hued combo of peach and coral.

These birds were more than enough to overhaul my mood, but the tour would go on in similar fashion over the next couple of hours. Anders needed to be prodded loose from one display area to the next. For a photographer used to wild birds, these tasty morsels were sitting ducks. “I feel like I’m cheating,” he said.

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ConservationResearchSpecies

Help is on the way for the nation’s most endangered bird

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, the nation’s most endangered species, is suddenly getting the kind of support that could turn things around for a bird that a year ago seemed destined for extinction.

A newly released Florida Grasshopper Sparrow steps from its cage. Top photo of sparrow singing by Tory Hartley-Cox. Others by Anders Gyllenhaal.

An unusual consortium of players today announced that a huge stretch of the rare grasslands that the sparrows rely on will be set aside permanently for wildlife. The tract is home to nearly half the remaining population of a species that had dwindled down to just a few dozen birds.

The announcement comes not long after the completion of a breeding season that boosted the population by adding hundreds of sparrows born in captivity. As researchers analyze the results, they’re learning how to fine tune the captive breeding project and possibly expand it for this coming year.

“These are preliminary results, but they have been very encouraging,’’ said Juan Oteyza, the research biologist with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Research Institute that oversees the campaign to save the sparrow.

The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow is a symbol of the state’s unique inland prairie that has all but disappeared as rapid growth reshaped the landscape. Over the past decade, the sparrow population dropped to perilously low numbers that gave it the distinction of being the most likely bird in the U.S. to go extinct. Researchers aren’t sure what all is contributing to the bird’s sharp decline, but the loss of habitat is the biggest factor — and the toughest to address.

That’s the reason today’s announcement by the University of Florida, Ducks Unlimited and the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida is a significant step. The 27,000-acre tract of wetlands and grasslands south of Orlando was donated by the family of the founder of the Subway chain, led by Elisabeth DeLuca, who heads the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation.

The sprawling tract will serve a long list of conversation purposes.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

The land will be managed not just for the sparrow but for the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker and many species of waterfowl. The University of Florida will use the land to help train future researchers, and the tract will be open for duck hunting, which helps pay for conservation measures.

The donation of land also shows that the push to gather public support for a small brown bird hardly anyone ever sees is gaining momentum.

The captive-breeding project costs about $1.2 million a year, half of which comes from non-profit organizations and donations and half from state and federal funds. Much of the private fundraising falls to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida  an independent non-profit that has raised or arranged donations worth more than half a million dollars in the past seven years.

Michelle Ashton, who directs communications for the foundation, said that while the sparrow doesn’t have the appeal of eagles or ospreys, the bird is developing a following all over the country.

“We have a core group of contributors who are personally connected to the cause,’’ she said. “It’s not a group number in the thousands, but it’s the most committed group of repeat donors.’’

Contributors range from several big companies, such Bass Pros Shop and outdoor retailer Cabela’s that helped cover set-up costs of 27,000-acre land donation, to individual donors. The sparrow has also drawn support from nearly 150 smaller donors over the past three years.

Ashton loves the story of a couple from Nebraska, Bill and Michelle Cita, who were struck by the sparrow’s plight and began donating every year. Bill, a welder, and Michelle, who does the housekeeping and laundry at a nursing home, say they plan to contribute every year.

Bill Cita. Photo by Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida

“I started reading a little bit about it. My wife and I started talking about,” said Cita, who lives in the small eastern Nebraska town of Waverly and say it doesn’t matter that he’s not likely to see this bird. “I’ve always rooted for the underdog and he’s kind of an underdog.’’

Since the first contributions to the foundation, the Citas have followed the sparrow’s progress and encouraging news from the past year. “It’s nice to feel to be part of something,’’ he said. “People working to save the grasshopper sparrow.”

The presence of a sparrow population on the land that’s being donated is a boost to the consortium of state and federal agencies, non-profits and university researchers who’ve been working for decades to rebuild the species. The project has focused its captive-bred sparrow release on a site not far from the donated tract. They’ll now work on rebuilding two segments of sparrows and will decide in the coming months how to support both of them.

Breeding the birds in captivity is a tricky endeavor. If the birds are released too soon, many succumb to the elements. If they wait too long, the birds will struggle to adapt to life as a wild sparrow.

The project is developing the data to get that timing right. This past year, the younger the released sparrows, the more success they had mating up with wild sparrows, building nests and raising chicks.

Juan Oteyza checks over a captive-bred sparrow before release earlier this year.

The younger sparrows seemed to do a better job of blending in with wild sparrows and learning from them. “They move around together. They’re not too territorial yet,’’ said Oteyza. “We think this has important value for the (captive-bred) sparrows to learn to be sparrows.’’

Over the past year or so, the project had released about 250 captive-bred sparrows into the grasslands, many of which don’t survive. By the end of this breeding season, researchers said the total population was pushed up to 112 sparrows, with 34 breeding pairs and about 85 fledglings produced in the wild.

The project will release another 45 sparrows in February and March of the coming year. When the next breeding season starts that spring, Oteyza said they hope to see even higher birth rates in the wild between the newly arrived and the higher overall population.

One of the young captive-bred grasshopper sparrows that helped boost the Central Florida population.

   

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Birding researchConservationPhotographySpecies

Can we save this globe-trotting sandpiper? Only if we can unravel its secrets

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

It’s tempting to take the Sanderling for granted: The tiny, speed-walking shorebirds are fixtures on beaches all over the world, easily recognized by how they run along, forever one step ahead of the waves.

The Sanderling is among the smallest and most energetic of the dozens of species of sandpipers. At just two ounces, it’s about the weight of a golf ball. Photos by Anders Gyllenhaal unless otherwise credited.

For years, this hyperactive sandpiper moved too fast for researchers to even be sure of its migration routes that stretch from the Arctic Circle to South America. Weighing in at just two ounces, Sanderlings were too small to carry the transmitters used to study other birds.

That’s finally changing. New research tools, such as ultra-light transmitters and techniques that analyze where birds have been by the carbon residue in their feathers, are uncovering the Sanderling’s secrets.

The research tells two stories: One is about the miraculous flying prowess of this globe-trotting species. The other is about how those unique abilities aren’t enough to overcome the changing coastal environment that has cut their population of about 300,000 in North America by more than a third since the 1970s.

Both study topics could end up helping other shorebirds as well.

“So many people think of these birds as doing fine, since they’re on every beach from California to the Gulf Coast,’’ said Jess Cosentino, a researcher working on a comprehensive study of Sanderlings in North America. “But the data is showing us they’re in precipitous decline.’’

Hundreds of Sanderling rise above Chaplin Lake on a preliminary flight before their next migration leg. Photo by Jess Cosentino, University of Saskatchewan

We spent a good part of our fall wandering the Atlantic coast, following warblers, raptors and shorebirds on the move. On the National Seashore along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, we found ourselves surrounded by crowds of Sanderlings on the near-empty beaches. The protected stretch of shoreline is one of the primary stopover spots for the birds on their migrations down the Atlantic coast.

Here’s a video that gives you a sense of how Sanderlings work together on the beaches:

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BirdingConservationPhotographySpecies

Petrels and Shearwaters: The coolest birds you never see

by Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal
written by Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal

A Black-capped Petrel shoots along the surface. The bird above is a Great Shearwater. Photos by Anders Gyllenhaal

The first Black-capped Petrel appeared nearly two hours into the trip, well off the bow of the boat, zipping along the ocean’s surface like a missile. It was mostly a blur, but it gave us a taste of what was to come.

Petrels are in the seabird family, which includes some of the most impressive and endangered species on Earth. They live their lives on the open sea, weathering the harshest elements, flying hundreds of miles at a time, feeding on fish and coming to shore only to breed.

Seabirds won’t come to you. If you want to see petrels, shearwaters, skuas and jaegers, you have to go to them.

The best place to do that is off the coast of North Carolina, where the islands that make up the Outer Banks jut far out into the ocean. Here, the warm Gulf Stream that attracts seabirds comes close enough to reach in a long day’s boat trip.

Leaving Hatteras before dawn

We set off before dawn on this clear Saturday in mid-October aboard the Stormy Petrel II, a 61-foot fishing boat piloted by Brian Patteson. The bird-obsessed captain has done as much good for seabirds along the Atlantic Coast as anyone. Every year, he makes 40 to 50 trips to the Gulf Stream, ferrying hundreds of birders out to sea for a precious look at the birds collectively called “pelagics.”

Great Shearwater

On every trip, Patteson and his crew count the birds and submit their data to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird list, which helps scientists track the health of the species. Patteson and his assistant, Kate Sutherland, also compile their own data over time to help them analyze how the pelagic populations are faring in the long run.

Passengers watch birds from the stern.

You’ll find all the details on lining up a trip at the end of this post.
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Birding researchConservationMigrationSpecies

Here’s a springtime gift: Powerful new birding tools arrive just in time for the migration

by Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal
written by Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal

For years, the twice-a-year migration of billions of birds was one of nature’s most spectacular events that we never really got to see. That’s because most of the action takes place out of sight, far above us and often at night.

That began to change in the last decade with new technologies for tracking birds, and last week brought a milestone: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology completed a massive project that creates maps and animations for nearly all North American species.

The result is an unprecedented view of how birds move, arriving just in time for the spring migration.

This is big news for anyone interested in birds. The data in this project, all of which is free, will strengthen everything from scientific research and conservation to the power and precision of the tools you use on the birding trail.

The impacts are so far-reaching that Beverly and I couldn’t agree on what’s most important here. So we thought we’d each make our case and let you come to your own conclusions.

Canada Warbler / Photo by James Hully, Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Beverly: The best way to appreciate this work is to start by looking at one of these animations. They’re beautiful, with patches of bright colors flowing back and forth across a map of the hemisphere that represent migrating birds week by week throughout the year.  I think these are the most compelling — and entertaining — of all the maps and illustrations that come under Cornell’s eBird umbrella. You can find a complete list of the maps by species here on the Cornell website.

For example, here’s an animation of how the tiny Canada Warbler travels the length of the hemisphere twice a year. 

Not only can you watch the warblers’ weekly progress from far north Canada to Latin America and back, but you can use these maps to help figure out when they’re like to pass by you. And when you’re trying to find a bird you’ve never seen before, knowing exactly when the largest flocks are arriving is a huge help.

Anders: The point is that animations like the Canada Warbler, along with abundance, range and breeding maps, now exist for 610 species, which make up almost all of the species in North America, in archives Cornell calls status and trends maps.

The lab began putting these together about two years ago as a way to convert their raw bird data into compelling maps and show how birds move through the seasons of the year. The first batch of maps covered about 20 percent of the species, but the addition of the rest of the species opens all sorts of possibilities for comprehensive research and conservation approaches.

“This is a big jump in terms of the utility of the data project,’’ said Daniel Fink, a senior research associate at the Cornell Lab.

Go to the end of this post for a summary of the full lineup of birding options from Cornell. 
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