• How birds handle hot weather

    By Bob Lewis
    With our temperature climbing this week, some of us are wondering how birds deal with elevated temperatures. Remember, they’re sitting inside a feather quilt. A review of Cornell’s Handbook of Bird Biology and a bit of personal experience provide some clues.
    Like mammals, birds control their core body temperature in a fairly narrow range. For birds, that range is usually 39-43 degrees C (102-109 degrees F). Usually the ambient temperature is lower than the bird’s body temperature, and the bird’s metabolism produces heat to keep warm. But when the outside air rises above about 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) the bird’s metabolic heat will cause it to get too warm. So the bird needs to cool down.
    Humans perspire, and the evaporation of sweat cools the body. The most obvious ways a bird can utilize evaporative cooling is by panting or gular fluttering (looks like vibrating the throat), which increases airflow across moist surfaces and increases evaporative cooling. But of course this results in water loss. Birds can also lose water vapor through their skin, even with their feather coat. Although they don’t perspire, this water loss still results in some cooling. It’s important that birds have access to water when the temperature is high, to replace that lost to cooling processes. Without water, hyperthermia can result and can be lethal. Keep your bird bath full!
    American Robin at a bird bath by Bob Lewis
    Greater Roadrunner panting, by Bob Lewis
    Birds move to shady areas when it gets hot, and often in the heat you can see a bird under a bush in the shade, panting. Some birds like the Turkey Vulture urinate on their bare legs, increasing evaporative cooling in that way. Other species like Black-necked Stilts wet their feathers in a stream or puddle, and then return wet to their nests to cool nestlings. Shorebirds standing in water lose heat through their legs, and will stand with both feet in the water on hot days, as opposed to the well-known single-legged posture when the weather is chilly.
    Birds in normally hot areas often have lower metabolic rates, producing less body heat so panting isn’t as necessary. Even so, on a warm day in South Africa, a panting White-breatsed Chat and Spotted Eagle-Owl posed for pictures.
    White-throated Chat panting, by Bob Lewis
    Spotted Eagle-Owl panting, by Bob Lewis

    Bob Lewis, a former Golden Gate Bird Alliance board member and a birding instructor for 23 years, was awarded the American Birding Association’s Chandler Robbins Education/Conservation Award in 2016.…

  • There’s a tropicbird under my bed!

    By Eric Schroeder
    This past spring I spent some time following the progress of a Brewer’s Blackbird family that built a nest on my horse trailer.  That concern was part of my larger interest in breeding birds, one cultivated by the Master Birding Program co-sponsored by Golden Gate Bird Alliance that I completed last year. But this summer, when I went to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to dive, I had coral and fish on my mind, not birds. After all, July is winter there. Little did I think I would find a Red-tailed Tropicbird nesting under my bed.
    Actually, I knew from past visits that tropicbirds had nested in front of the reef suite where my wife, Susan, and I stay at the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort. But, as the sign posted for guests says, the birds nest there from September to May—not in winter. We hadn’t been back for a few years. The sign is now inaccurate. The tropicbirds have started coming twice a year. Their success story is part of a larger story of conservation success on this small coral cay, the southernmost point on the Great Barrier Reef.
    Lade Elliot Island from the air by Ian Morris
    Lady Elliot island and the Great Barrier Reef
    Brown Noddies on Lady Elliot island by Eric Schroeder
    The month of December—summer in the southern hemisphere—is a madhouse for breeding on Lady Elliot. Over 100,000 birds nest on this 110-acre island, so there’s a real competition for choice lots. In front of the unit that Susan and I usually rent, up to twenty pairs of Brown Noddies can be found nesting in a single octopus bush—it’s like a four-story apartment building for seabirds! And the tropicbirds nest on the ground underneath. Shearwaters and several species of terns also nest in great numbers on the island. There’s so much nesting that it generally takes new visitors a couple of days to adjust to the island’s noise level: The sound of birds calling, squawking, and shrieking slows down a bit at night but never completely stops.
    But July, the peak of wintertime, is a quiet month here. Other than the Buff-banded Rails, Silvereyes, and House Sparrows that have colonized the island and are permanent residents, other birds can be few. Some Reef Herons, a pair of frigatebirds, a White-bellied Sea Eagle. A flock of terns showed up for a day but moved on.…

  • Tiny nest box camera = big schoolyard excitement

    By Ilana DeBare
    You’re probably seen our amazingly intimate video feed from an Osprey nest on the Richmond shoreline — the first live Osprey nest cam in the Bay Area.
    But the Osprey video feed wasn’t our only peek into avian family life this year.
    Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s Eco-Education program used tiny digital cameras to give kids a close-up view of eggs and chicks inside schoolyard nest boxes this spring. They were thrilled!
    “They were so excited,” said Anthony DeCicco, until recently the director of GGBA’s Eco-Education program, which provides hands-on nature education to low-income elementary schools. “They’d exclaim, ‘There’s the beak!’ ‘I can see beaks!’ “How many are there?’ ”
    For the past three years, Eco-Ed students in three Richmond schools have been building nest boxes for Western Bluebirds in their schoolyards and for nearby parks. This spring, Anthony came up with the idea of using digital video to let kids see what was going on inside the boxes.
    Chestnut-Backed Chickadee eggs in nest box / Cellphone photo by Anthony DeCicco
    “I read about biologists using cameras with cavity-nesting parrots in some other part of the world and thought, ‘That’s pretty cool!'” he said. “They had a big telescoping pole and fished a digital camera into the nest. I figured we could do that. So I started doing Internet searches for cheap micro cameras.”
    Eventually he found miniature cameras about the size of a crayon — endoscopes used by technicians for inspecting the inside of machinery — that cost just $25. They had LED lights, which would illuminate the dark interior of the box but would not be bright enough to disturb any resident chicks.
    This is one small camera! Photo by Ilana DeBare
    Eco-Ed students using the nest box camera / Photo by Anthony DeCicco
    He mounted the camera onto a telescoping pole from a fruit picker, using a wire to make a hook shape that could be maneuvered into the nest box entrance hole. He plugged the camera into a digital tablet that would provide power and control the camera… and gave it a try.
    It worked!
    Students held the tablet and maneuvered the camera to get good views of adult birds sitting on eggs or chicks clamoring for food. Many of the kids were new to observing birds, but familiar with technology. “It was amazing to watch them: They were so swift and skilled at using the camera,” Anthony said.…

  • Farallon Islands through the centuries

    Editor’s Note: The Farallon Islands have been part of Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s history since our founding a century ago in 1917. Today they face a new threat as the Trump Administration considers paring back the surrounding National Marine Sanctuary to allow oil drilling. This is a reprint of a story that ran in The Gull newsletter ten years ago as part of our 90th anniversary celebrations.
    By Harry Fuller
    Golden Gate Bird Alliance began as nature’s presence was at a low ebb on the Farallon Islands. Until European explorers came, the 211 acres of scattered rocky islands were the undisturbed home of a dense population of seabirds, marine mammals, and flying invertebrates.
    By 1917, when the Audubon Association of the Pacific (as GGBA was initially called) was formed, the nesting bird populations were greatly reduced. Some mammals native to the Farallones had disappeared completely. What happened?
    Early Native Americans feared the islands and stayed away. The first humans to set foot deliberately on the Farallones may have been Sir Francis Drake’s crew. In 1579 his men hunted sea lions and collected seabird eggs, beginning a pattern of exploitation that would last for 400 years.
    Aerial view of Southeast Farallon Island
    Sailing merchants wanted Northern Fur Seal pelts to trade in China. By 1810 hunters lived seasonally on the islands. That year, 30,000 fur seal hides were collected during a five-month season. In 1817 a permanent Russian hunting colony was established on Southeast Farallon Island. The highest fur seal kill—200,000—was probably 1834. Seabird eggs and seabird meat were collected and shipped north to the Russian post at Fort Ross. In 1828 approximately 50,000 Farallones seabirds were killed for food. The Russians left in 1841, just before the most profitable exploitation of the islands’ wildlife.
    After the Gold Rush, fresh eggs were in demand. California had no poultry industry so commercial egging struck the Farallon Islands. In 1854 over half a million seabird eggs were gathered for sale to San Francisco restaurants. Only the Western Gull eggs were avoided as their thin shells would not survive the ocean passage. Some eggers also avoided disturbing the nests of Tufted Puffins because of the birds’ ferocious bite. Common Murre, all cormorant species, and other birds that nested in the open were easy targets.
    Common Murre adult (probably father) and chick at the Farallon Islands, by Glen TepkeCommon Murre adult (probably father) and chick at the Farallon Islands, by Glen Tepke
    Tufted Puffin at the Farallon Islands, by Glen TepkeTufted Puffin at the Farallon Islands, by Glen Tepke
    Compounding the damage to wildlife was the construction of the first lighthouse, begun in 1852.…

  • From bird lover to bird lobbyist (for a day)

    By Janet McGarry
    Like most nature lovers, I am alarmed and outraged at Trump’s efforts to dismantle environmental regulations and policies. So when I read on Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s Facebook page about Audubon California’s Advocacy Day on June 8th, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take action rather than despair and rage. Spending a day in Sacramento would be a small sacrifice in light of how much I love birdwatching and enjoy Audubon classes, walks, and lectures. I had traveled much further to attend the climate change conferences in Copenhagen and Cancun; a trip to Sacramento would be easy in comparison.
    I was a bit nervous at the prospect of speaking to politicians, so was relieved when Audubon California invited me to participate in two conference calls to prepare for Advocacy Day. During the calls, Policy Director Mike Lynes provided background about the bills and advice about how to best communicate with legislators. Although they meet with many professional lobbyists, lawmakers are particularly interested in hearing about issues that impact their constituents. He encouraged us to speak about out personal experiences with birds in addition to the proposed legislation. He also reassured us that an Audubon employee knowledgeable about the bills would accompany each group of advocates.
    Mike Lynes orients the citizen-advocates at the start of the day. Photo by Chris Winn.
    In addition to these training calls, Audubon staff scheduled meetings with legislators, helped coordinate carpooling, and provided links to web sites with information about legislators’ voting records. Some quick Internet research allayed any remaining anxiety: My representatives strongly supported environmental laws, so I anticipated “preaching to the choir” on Advocacy Day.
    For our 2017 visits, Audubon focused on four areas that directly pertain to birds:

    • Protecting California’s natural resources.
    • Wildlife funding.
    • Funding and support for the Salton Sea.
    • Climate.

    “Preserve California” Bills

    Three of the bills we were supporting — Senate Bills (SB) 49, 50 and 51, collectively called the “Preserve California” package – will provide protection under California law if Trump’s administration weakens federal environmental laws and policies. SB 49 establishes baseline protection for water and air quality and endangered species so that California will continue to have environmental standards at least as strong as the federal laws that were in place on January 1, 2017.
    SB 40 would give California the right of first refusal to purchase any federal land that the U.S. government tries to sell in the state.…