Local birding report

It is staggering to imagine that if you were alive in 1970, more than 1-in-4 birds have disappeared within your lifetime. Of this figure 90 percent of the losses come from 12 avian families, including thrushes, swallows, sparrows, blackbirds, wood warblers and finches, all of which frequent our backyards. Ken Rosenberg of Cornell Lab of Ornithology stated that “it’s a strong signal that our human-altered landscapes are losing their ability to support birdlife.”

With this in mind, March is a month to reflect on how we manage our backyards, but from a bird’s point of view.

From my own lessons learned I can say that birdwatchers tend to focus on things like food, coverage, water and pesticide alternatives, while at the same time neglecting the two primary things that we actually need to be doing in order to save birds which are, preventing window collisions and keeping domesticated cats indoors. On average six to eight birds die annually at every house that has an active bird feeder from window strikes and felines.

Anyone that pretends that birds do not hit their own home windows is just not paying attention. Of the hundreds of millions of songbirds who fall prey to window strikes every year, very few live.

The collision itself takes place in a flash of a second. If the bird does not die immediately its chances of survival are slim. I remember spending many hours bird proofing windows in our living room (closest to the feeders) along with my son’s bedroom and feeling such a sense of relief only to hear the dreaded thud at the front door and find a fallen male Black-throated Blue Warbler. Since that day I make certain to remove the full glass storm panel and replace it with a screen well before warblers arrive.

Also, consider past recommendations about safe distance for feeders outside windows no longer valid. In order to ensure birds do not hit windows, vertical decals should be placed no more than four inches apart and horizontal no more than two inches apart. Decals, stickers or even masking tape can be used. Unfortunately silhouettes of raptors do little to deter songbirds. I highly recommend using CollidEscape 2x2 Repeating Dot Pattern which can be found on Amazon.

Keeping cats inside is an incredibly important step that we must strive to take. Unfortunately putting a bell on a cat collar does not work because the tinkling noise is not something that birds associate with predators or other dangers.

With the same sort of compassion that we put towards inviting birds into our own backyards we should also show towards not allowing them to fall prey to windows and cats.

As for my limited field notes, on March 6 two Song Sparrows arrived in our yard as did a very cautious Common Grackle. On the afternoon of March 12 while scanning the Jordan Farm fields, I observed a large object at some distance and assumed it to be a Canada Goose. Closer inspection revealed a juvenile Bald Eagle scavenging on a Mallard duck. In the same moment a Turkey Vulture teetered high above the Spurwink River while a Red-tailed Hawk took its perch atop nearby farm equipment.

Lastly, on the afternoon of March 13 I heard the far-carrying cry of Killdeer along Gull Crest. Of the plover family, these robin-sized birds are one of the least water-associated of all shorebirds. Killdeer are one of the first spring migrants to arrive and are considered partial migrators because the more southerly populations stay put year round.

The Killdeer that arrive this far north are known as leap-frog migrants because rather than compete for food and space with the year round residents inhabiting the southern half of the U.S., they will use the earth’s magnetic field, practically flying straight from Mexico and Central America to Cape and beyond. Lastly, a Snowy Owl was reported in the vicinity of Dyer Point on March 11.