Saturday May 8th is International Migratory Bird Day.  It is celebrated in Canada, the United States, Mexico,

Photo by Uttar Pradesh

the Caribbean and Central and South America. IMBD celebrates and brings attention to one of the most important events in North and South America – bird migration.

IMBD was begun by the staff of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. The first event was held at the National Zoo in Washington, DC in 1993. The aviary experts at the Smithsonian figured they would bring attention to the plight of migratory birds and give the public the opportunity to learn about migratory species, the threats facing them and ways to help in their conservation.

Events to celebrate migratory birds are held thought out the United States and Canada during the month of May. To find an event near you, check out the interactive map at BirdDay.org. According to the BirdLifeInternational, nearly 200 species of birds are currently considered critically endangered. Nearly 80% of migratory birds species are affected by by two key pressures: Agriculture, which can result in habitat destruction, and biological resource use, the umbrella under which falls threats like deforestation and environmentally unsustainable hunting practices.  You can learn more at Birdday.org.

I have been attempting since I bought this home five years ago.  I have documented 36 different varieties of birds, including “fly bys”, feeding just black oil sunflower seeds, niger, suet, and providing water.  I also grow plants that encourage the birds, butterflies, and bees

I have hung bird houses made of straw, grass, recycled material,

Flower Top Bird House

functional wood designs, and even ornamental.

Starlings chose to raise a family in the eave which was protected by a fairly large evergreen.  They never returned.

A sparrow had a nest in the laurel hedge which I discovered when I trimmed the hedge, exposing the nest with two babies, which the Ferrell cat found soon after.  I felt so bad!

A pair of house finches started a nest in ornamental bird house by my back door, laid two eggs, and then abandoned the nest.

Mini Wren Bird House

A second pair of house finches started to build a nest in a house I had hung from a tree branch but again they abandoned the process.

I am learning the reasons for my failures and would welcome any ones input!

1. My yard is small and I am outside a lot on my days off.  They start a nest while I am at work, stay with the process a couple of weeks, and then determine my presence is too disruptive.
2. There are natural settings of trees and shrubs in the deep gully and swamp in my back yard, so there are safer more distant settings available.  Now I have moved my bird houses into those tees and let’s see what happens this year and next spring!
3. Because I have such a wide variety of birds coming to my feeders, my small yard is far too busy for birds to attempt to raise a family.  Nesting birds need space!  They do not want to fight off other birds from their nest.
4. If I have a nesting family in my yard, I have to stop feeding the other birds until the fledglings are on their own.  Since only 80% of baby birds survive, it is well worth supporting the nesters!
5. I keep my two cats indoors, but my neighbor allows his cat out and is happy when it has killed a bird!  My pleadings have not changed his attitude or actions.  There are some other Ferrell cats in my neighborhood, which seem to be diminishing in number.

Bird Watchers are invited to take part in the 13^th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), Friday February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers of all levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges.

Taking part in the GBBC is a great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun and help count birds – all at the same time. Anyone who can identify even a few species can provide important information.

Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sighting on at www.birdcount.org.

Bird populations are always shifting and changing. For example, 2009 GBBC date highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to a the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops father north caused the Siskins to move south to find their favorite food.

On the www.birdcount.org website, participants can get more information and explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special material for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website’s photo gallery. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CD’s, and many other great birding projects.

Why Count Birds?

Blackburnian Warbler

Scientist and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.

The Great Backyard Bird Count needs your help. Make sure that birds from your area are well represented in the count. It doesn’t matter whether you report the 5 species coming to your backyard feeder or the 75 species you see during a day’s outing to as wildlife refuge. Your counts can help to answer many questions.

I just read a MSNBC posting about the yearly migration of the Arctic Tern.  This bird flies from the North Pole to the South Pole as the season change at each pole. When it is winter at the North Pole the Arctic Tern files to the South Pole and when winter is returning to the South Pole it flies back to the North Pole. Just amazing!

The shortest journey was 36,900 miles and the longest was 50,700 miles. The study confirmed what researchers suspected for decades, the Arctic Tern has the longest annual migration of any animal in the world. Over its life time the Arctic Tern files the equivalent of three trips from the Earth to the Moon and back.

The birds do not just fly south. They spend about a month in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They spend this time feeding to “fuel up” before they continue to fly into the waters of the South Atlantic which have less food sources for them.

After this pause, the birds continued their long journey south down the coast of northwest Africa. However, around the Cape Verde Islands — islands off the west coast of Africa, close to Senegal — the birds’ behavior surprised the research team again. About half of the birds continued down the coast of Africa, while the other half crossed the Atlantic Ocean to follow a parallel route south down the east coast of South America. All of the birds went to the Antarctic waters, none of them stayed at any location along the their route.

After spending the summer at the South Pole on their return trip to the North Pole they did not follow the most direct route back to their breeding grounds in Iceland. Instead they flew a gigantic “S” pattern through the Atlantic Ocean. This route added several thousand miles to the birds flight back to their breeding grounds. This indirect  route allowed the birds to take advantage of the global wind system and to reduce the amount of energy they need to use on their return journey.

Twas the Night Before Christmas
(Bird Count that is)
by Henry Lappen, Amherst, Massachusetts

‘Twas the night before Christmas (count that is)
when all through the dark
not a creature was stirring
not even a lark.

The stockings were hung
on their feet with care
in hopes that real frostbite
would not settle there.

The birders were quiet
listening for owls
filled up with coffee
which gurgled their bowels.

And Jan in her kerchief
and Scott in his cap
were straining their ears
to hear any yap.

When out in the field
there arose such a clatter
we sprang from the forest
to see what was aflutter.

When what to our wondering
eyes should appear
but a miniature flock
of eight tiny Killdeer.

I got out my camera
lively and quick,
I knew in a moment
I must have a pic.

More rapid than eagles
the birders all came
and they whistled and shouted
each calling a name.

They’re buntings. No, warblers.
They’re swallows. No, grouse.
They’re Mallards. No, nightjars.
Or maybe titmouse.

To the tops of the trees
the birds flew away all.
Oh dash it! Oh darn it!
Did you hear a call?

As varied opinions that before
no proof will fly
the arguments of birders
will mount to the sky.

They’re sparrows. No, bobwhites.
No, alcids. You dolt:
They were Black-headed Gulls
in second-year molt.

And then in a twinkle
we heard from the air
a trilling or chirping
or something unclear.

As we drew in our heads
and were turning around
down to the clearing
they came with a sound.

They were all dressed in feathers
from head to their foot,
they were dark as if tarnished
with ashes and soot.

A bundle of speckles
they had on their breast
their belly and shoulders
but not on the rest.

Their eyes-how they twinkled,
their mandibles-how pale.
Their cheek patches brownish,
not much of a tail.

Their dull little coverts
were brown like the wing
and their backs and their heads.
They had no eye ring.

They were chubby and plump
all filled up with berries
and also from composted
maraschino cherries.

A wink of an eye
and a twist of a head
soon gave us to know
we had something to dread.

They sprang to the air
to our team gave a whistle
that sounded as raucous
as an incoming missile.

But we heard them exclaim
e’er they flew out of sight
many starlings to all
and to all a good flight!

This poem is from an email that was forwarded to me. Mr. Lappen Thank You for writing this poem. To all I wish you a Merry Christmas and an Happy New Year.