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Cowbird Catastrophe

The Brown-headed Cowbird has become a menace to songbird populations all over North America. A small, stocky blackbird, the males have glossy black plumage and a rich brown head whereas the females are drab brown birds. What makes the Brown-headed Cowbird such a menace to songbirds is the lazy manner in which they raise their young.  Females will use all their energy over the breeding season to produce eggs, sometimes up to 50 a summer. They lay these eggs in the nests of unwary birds; usually at the cost of the smaller bird’s young. The young cowbirds usually hatch earlier than their foster parents chicks and therefore, get most of the food, which can ultimately lead to the death of the foster parent’s young. The Brown-headed Cowbird parasitizes more than 200 species of birds; the Chipping Sparrow being one of the most hard hit species.

In the above photo, there are 4 male cowbirds all looking up from my bird feeder at the arrival of a juvenile Grackle.

There is a history behind the cowbird’s parasitism. At one time, it followed the buffalo herds across the prairies, a nomad, and therefore could not raise its young, resorting to the help of unwitting songbirds. Following herds of buffalo, the Brown-headed cowbird’s range was limited to plains and prairies. Deforestation and forest fragmentation by humans, however, opened up the way for the cowbird and they started to parasitize more and more species. Due to deforestation, the cowbird has expanded significantly, both in range and in number and it now poses a threat to some species.

Several species, such as the Yellow Warbler, have developed defences against cowbird parasitism and recognize the cowbird egg. The female Yellow Warbler will make a roof over all the eggs, including her own, upon recognizing the cowbird egg. She will then lay her eggs again. Other birds will throw it out of the nest or abandon the nest all together.

This one species goes to show how much human actions can change the world around us.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Banff: A National Treasure Part 3

Continued from Part 2.

For our final day in Banff, we went to Johnston Canyon, just minutes away from the Johnston Canyon campground. We packed up our trailer under sunny skies and prepared for the hike. As we went along our hike more and more clouds started to roll in…

    Johnston Canyon is one of two places in Alberta where Black Swifts nest and is also home to American Dippers, North America’s only truly aquatic songbirds. We started our hike, looking for Dippers and admiring the rushing water as it raced by us.

We continued on our way until we reached the Lower Falls, where a small tunnel gave us a closer look at the waterfall; spray from the water jumping about.

From the Lower Falls, we hiked up to the Upper Falls, looking for our target birds but failing to see them. We heard some Townsend’s Warblers, a difficult bird to see and we did manage to see a Pacific Wren, a race of the Winter Wren that was recently split and became its own species.

Common Ravens, which are readily seen in the mountains, were seen in several different places along the hike.

By this time, we were almost to the Upper Falls and now a steady drizzle was falling; it became heavier and heavier until it was raining quite hard. We made it to the Upper Falls, enjoyed the view and then beat a hasty retreat to our car, trying not to become wetter than we already were. We made it to our car, wetter than we would have liked before driving down the road several kilometers to the Castle Mountain chalets and stopping in a parking lot for a quick lunch. By this time, the rain had stopped (how convenient) and we stopped to admire a pair of Osprey’s and their nest as well as a Flicker nest right beside the road.

Our trip to Banff was great and I would readily do it again!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Photo Feathers: House Finch

When I first saw this bird I thought it was a Purple Finch.  It has raspberry-red plumage that extends over the top of the head and onto its back like a Purple Finch.  In all other respects it looks like a House Finch, so it is probably just another male House Finch with unusual colouration.

 

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Banff: A National Treasure Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

After visiting Peyto Lake, we headed to magnificent Bow Lake, which has views of two glaciers; Bow Glacier and Crowfoot Glacier as well as views of Wapta Icefield, Bow Peak, Mount Thompson and Crowfoot Mountain.

We were at Peyto Lake in search of a small, cute mammal at home on rocky slopes: the Pika. Giving high-pitched alarm calls when they spot danger, the Pika, also known as the ‘rock rabbit’ or the ‘whistling hare’, is always alert. After waiting a dozen minutes or so and getting eaten alive in the process, we found Pika on the scree slopes at Bow Lake.  The sight of these short-limbed creatures was well worth the bites though.

As we walked around the lake, we also saw a family of Barn Swallows and a group of Clark’s Nutcrackers.

The best bird sight however, was a White-crowned Sparrow drinking water from the lake’s edge right next to us.

By the time we had finished our walk, it was early evening and we headed back to Johnston Canyon Campground. On the way back, along the Bow Valley Parkway, we spotted a family of black bears; a mother with two young by the side of the road. The bears were contentedly munching on grass and gave us only the occasional glance. It was definitely a beautiful sight to behold.

We arrived back at the campground and I did a short walk beside Johnston Creek as the sun began to set and the thrushes began to sing with renewed vigour before the night closed in.

The third and final part will come on Thursday.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Banff: A National Treasure Part 1

Banff National Park is a hotspot for just about anything; birds, mammals, flowers, scenery, recreation, vacations; the list could go on for a long time. Canada Day long weekend, I visited Banff with my family, eager to explore this local gem a little bit more. Saturday, July 2nd, we made our way up to Johnston Canyon campground, in hopes of finding a spot despite the busy weekend. We got lucky and got a spot, set up our trailer in a lot dotted with dandelions and heart-leaved arnicas and then left for a short hike at nearby Silverton Falls.

The Heart-leaved arnica is a pretty yellow flower that can be found in Banff.

Silverton Falls, not as well-known as Johnston Canyon, is a scenic, short hike with a waterfall as a climax. As we did this short hike, we were serenaded by both Swainson’s and Hermit Thrushes and we caught glimpses of several Yellow-rumped Warblers.

 The scenery was great at Silverton Falls and we ascended a trail littered with Indian’s Paintbrush and offering a scenic view of the mountains in the distance.

 Indian’s Paintbrush

Then came the falls themselves…

We finished our hike and then headed to Castle Mountain chalets where we stopped to grab some supplies before eating our lunch there. We met a fellow photographer who was looking for some Rufous Hummingbirds; we all saw one brilliant-colored male. After lunch, we headed up to the popular Peyto Lake. On the short walk up to Peyto Lake, we saw  some local flora and fauna; Grey Jays and Western Anemones.

Peyto Lake was brilliant and I highly recommend anyone who has not been there to visit this stunning lake (visit in the morning and in the evening, when it is less crowded).

While at Peyto Lake, we observed a young family of Boreal Chickadees foraging in the spruce trees. Our first afternoon was great and we had high hopes for the remainder of our trip.

I will post the rest of our journey highlights after this one.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Loon Survey, Part One

This year I decided to take part in another Citizen Science project, the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, conducted by Bird Studies Canada.  The basic requirements are quite simple:  visit the lake once in each of June, July, and August to see if there is a breeding pair of Loons present, if they fledge young, and if the young survive.  Each visit should be at least two hours, but of course you can spend more time and may visit the lake more often if you like.  You also keep track of other birds associated with the body of water.  I knew of a small lake southwest of Calgary in the Bragg Creek area that has been occupied by loons for a few years, so I checked with BSC to see if it was being monitored.  It hadn’t, so I registered to monitor the lake.

We arrived at the lake in the afternoon and soon spotted a lone Loon.

There are two islands in the lake, and I knew that the loons had built a nest on the south island in each of the past three years.  We climbed into the local rowboat which is always on the shore, and headed out into the water.

We tried to keep clear of the south island so as not to get too close to a nest if there was one, although I did want to see how many eggs were present if possible.  We went between the two islands, keeping close to the north one, and checking the south one through binoculars for a nest.  There had also been a cow moose who calves on the south island every year, and if she was there, we didn’t want to disturb her either.  To our delight ,we soon saw the Moose and her calf through the dense foliage. I got a quick picture of the cow, but not the calf, and didn’t linger near the island – Moose can swim very well!

We soon noticed that there were in fact two Loons on the lake, a breeding pair.

The Loons were acting strangely, diving and then surfacing very close to the boat, and diving again with a noisy splash, only to come up again on the other side.

We were getting some great close-up views, but then I realized why the Loons were so agitated:  their nest was on the north island, and we were only a few feet away from it.

There were two eggs on the nest!  We quickly retreated, and were relieved to see one of the Loons take its position on the nest.  They are probably quite used to people being around – there were the remains of a campfire on their island – but we certainly hadn’t intended on disturbing them.

When we returned in the evening for another look at the Loons, we came across the cow Moose which was feeding on the path to the lake.  Luckily, since the calf was still on the island, she was not aggressive.

Doing the survey is a great opportunity to contribute to our knowledge of Common Loons, and you get to witness scenes like this:

I will post Part Two of the Loon Survey later, after I return to the lake in late July and see if the chicks have successfully fledged.

If you are interested in taking part in the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, contact Bird Studies Canada. Here is a link to their website .  You can also contact Kathy Jones at volunteer@birdscanada.org or by phone at 1-888-448-2473 ext. 124, or register online. The CLLS is a self-supporting program, so you must hold an active BSC membership to participate. For more information, select this link to view the program brochure, or to view a map of available Canadian lakes and their most recent survey year, select this link.  (Above information taken from the Nature Calgary website )

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Wednesday Wings: American Coot Family

More fantastic photos sent to us by Rob English. If you’ve never seen baby American Coots, you’re in for a surprise. Click on images for a larger view, and enjoy!

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: July 4

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary? If it is on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the Nature Calgary Rare Bird Alert line at 403 221-4519 and leave a message after the beep at the end of the recording. If you would like some help with species identification, us email us at zoxox@shaw.ca  To report injured wildlife call the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403 239-2488, or the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation at 403 946-2361.

This Bird Albert was recorded on July 4, 2011.

SUNDAY July 3
–BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER (1) – Jumping Pound Gorge at the first bend in the Powderface Tr. Powderface Tr is S of Hwy 68, W of Calgary-
by Andrew Slater
–PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER (1) – location and observer as above
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE (1) – location and observer as above
–ALDER FLYCATCHER (5) – along Hwy 68 by AS
–WILOW FLYCATCHER (12) – along Hwy 68 by AS
–SOLITARY SANDPIPER (1) – Lowery Gardens (S side of Bow River just W of Crowchild Tr bridge) by Marcel Gahbauer
–WESTERN TANAGER (1) – location and observer as above
–BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (3) – along irrigation canal on Dead Horse Rd, S of Langdon and E of Boulder Creek community, by Gary Kurtz

SATURDAY JULY 2
–NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH (1) – heard singing in Bebo Grove in Fish Creek PP, S side of the creek along the trail from the SE corner of the
parking lot by Terry Korolyk
–MARBLED GODWIT (60) – just N of Hwy 564 on RgeRd 254 (E of Hwy 9) by Kathleen Roman & Mary Coughlin

FRIDAY JULY 1
–NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD (1) – North Glenmore Park, 150 m W of the point by the Rowing Club by AS
–CASPIAN TERN (1) – observed flying over Glenmore Reservoir by AS
–GREATER YELLOWLEGS (1) – Boundary Rd/Twp Rd 232 junction, SE of Langdon, by TK

WEDNESDAY JUNE 29
–SHORT-EARED OWL (1) – Chain Lakes PP by Victor Basok

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thursday July 7.