Listserv Highlights

Has anyone had birding experience in the field with an iPod Touch either leading tours or doing research? (December 2008)

- You can use the internet if there's access to wireless to access all kinds of cool life software, and to report species to eBird. The screen is about the best you're going to find right now for showing pictures and videos (and those take up memory!)--and screen size really is important if you're using this as a teaching tool. As great as it is to play songs and show photos, showing videos is even better, and the iPod touch is superb for this.
~ Posted by Laura Erickson

- An example on youtube shows how the iTouch is being used by one ornithologist/guide Raphael Sobaniain the field. Easy to imagine from this how it could also be used to bring media into an interpretive experience by enhancing what is observed and recording information.

There are other multimedia storage devices that can be applied to birding. I have a Epson P-2000 (Multimedia Storage Viewer with a 3.8 inch display) that I have used for a couple of years with picture and sound files. It has been very handy for playing calls and showing pictures/videos when the birds just won't cooperate. Or they do and you want to show a picture of the nest, highlight an element of their habitat, natural history, interactions with other species and so on.
~ Ralph Jarvis

- I got an IPod last year also use BirdJam. I teach a bird course for educators and have found it to be very helpful. I can attach a speaker and play songs, I can study songs on the plane en route to a location to study up on the birds, and I can use it in the field. It beats tape recorders, searching for the correct species, etc.

~ Sue Bonfield

- There are two superb options for incorporating the iPod into birding – BirdJam and the iBird Explorer. I have reviewed both on my blog: BirdJam (iPod including Touch): http://www.bornagainbirdwatcher.com/2008/05/young-birders-be-jammin.html; Winged Explorer / iBird Explorer (iPod Touch and iPhone): http://www.bornagainbirdwatcher.com/2008/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-day-six-winged.html

~ John Riutta

- I have an old iPod with BirdJam and use it mostly for verifying what I hear in the field during Breeding Bird Atlas work, but I have brought it along with birding groups in places where playback is prohibited and simply put an earbud up to each person’s ear so they can hear what we are searching for. It gives them an audible search image without playback through speakers that could surely be heard by the birds (as well as be in violation of area laws). In fact, I use my earbuds much more frequently than my iMainGo speakers. While this might be prohibitive for a group larger than 8 or 10 (max size for good birding anyway), I find it an incredible tool that has really enhanced my birding and those I bird with.

I used to try to draw little graphic representations of unknown songs (similar to sonograms) in my field notebook and then listen to CDs when I got back to my truck or home to my computer, but the iPod is instant gratification, as well as being more reliable for song-matching. There have been some dialect discrepancies between the Stokes CDs that BirdJam uses, but I can usually nail it down to one or two choices and then listen to other CDs I have loaded onto the iPod, or head home where I have other resources. Just like I have more than one field guide for comparison, more than one audio source is also advised for some species. I sure wish I had one through many years of point counts in the late 1990s and early part of this decade, as well as for spot-mapping SW willow flycatchers and Grenada Doves with cassette players and speakers. I’m saving up for the iTouch myself!

~ Chip Clouse

Are the green or red laser pointers safe to use for guiding field trips and pointing out birds?

- I've been on many trips where leaders have used these. I don't know how strong--others can speak to that. They make pointing out birds VERY easy, both for the leader and the participants.

~Laura Erickson

- I’m not sure there is a “safe” (“eye safe,” yes, but even then care is required) laser; the important thing using one is simply to use it in a safe manner. I use a battery-powered green laser (better daylight visibility) purchased from One Good Tern (www.onegoodtern.com). I try to use it sparingly – only in cases when no other point of reference method will effectively serve to point out the location of the bird or other creature of interest) and to never shine it directly on the bird itself but on an area just below or just above the bird. This prevents a direct shine into the eye which could indeed cause harm.

~John Riutta

From a total cost effective "user friendly" package of hardware and software, does any one have a critique of the “iBird” vs. “birdJam” or other product?
- I have invented a software program that you can download images of birds and their song to a PDA (Palm OS) or cell phone. This allows the user to make up their own field guide to the region they are visiting or live in. The CD is called Danw Chorus I and right now it is for eastern birds. We will be contacting iBird for potential patent infringement as their software does the same but for ipods.For more information visit www.enviroquestltd.ca. ~ Sherrene Kevan

New Report: Birds of Conservation Concern (March 2008)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Bird Management has just released “Birds of Conservation Concern 2008” identifying species, subspecies, and populations of migratory and non-migratory birds most in need of additional conservation actions. The report can be found at http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/reports/BCC2008/BCC2008m.pdf.

Scientists to Investigate Impacts of Wind Energy on Migratory Wildlife (August 2009)

Thirty top wildlife scientists have announced agreement on some of the highest research priorities to help America’s rapidly growing wind energy industry produce much-needed alternative energy—while also providing safe passage for birds and bats.

http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/090723.html

Coverage on the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation [Duck] Stamp (October 2009)

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091027/COLUMNIST22/910270346/-1/SPORTS11

- (March 2009) A link to the Bald Eagle cam at Blackwater NWR in Maryland. It's an avian version of "Truman" -the chick's development is documented with a still pic every 30 seconds.~ David Magpiong
http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html

- (March 2009) For those interested in sandhill cranes, Gary Ivey with the International Crane Foundation, put satellite transmitters on 10 lesser sandhill cranes in Homer, Alaska last summer. You can follow the movement of 9 of those cranes as they make their way back to Alaska this spring. Unfortunately one of the cranes did not complete its journey south this past fall. ~ Michelle Michaud

http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sattrack/cranes/index.html

http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sattrack/cranes/maps.html

Attract Bird to Your Yard (April 2009)

http://www.acehardwareandhearth.com/attracting-birds-to-your-yard.asp

Resource for talks on Bird Friendly Coffee (May 2009)
"Birds of Two Worlds: Saving Songbirds With Your Coffee Cup," has been prepared by Bridget Stutchbury, who is author of the 2007 book, "Silence of the Songbirds: How We Are Losing the World's Songbirds and What We Can Do to Save Them." Bridget has conducted research on birds for many years, focusing on the behavioral ecology and conservation of temperate and tropical species.

Bridget was enlisted by Bill Wilson of Birds and Beans Coffee (www.birdsandbeans.com) to prepare this presentation so that we would at last have something that anyone could use when they are asked by some group to "give a talk on birds." Others involved in the review and revision of this presentation in addition to me were Kenn Kaufman, Scott Weidensaul, Russ Greenberg, and Robert Rice.

You can download a copy of the presentation to share as you like. Click here to download.

Documentary, Birdsong & Coffee: A Wake Up Call (December 2009)

Coffee drinkers will be astonished to learn that they hold in their hands the fate of farm families, farming communities, and entire ecosystems in coffee-growing regions like Costa Rica. In this film we hear from experts and students, from coffee lovers and bird lovers, and-most importantly-from coffee farmers themselves. We learn how their lives and ours are inextricably linked, economically and environmentally.

Why can't a bird feeder be a gateway to habitat conservation (July 2009)
Having worked in the birding and bird feeding industry since 1997, I have seen time and again someone start with a small feeder and then one day notice a bird that they have never seen before.

They want that bird back and then you explain to them about native plantings, ponds, etc. In a few years, they are going gangbusters to get their yard certified as wildlife habitat.
You can do the same with hummingbird feeders. People always wonder why they have only one hummingbird take over a feeder in an urban area, but when they go to rural areas, there are dozens sharing a feeder--that's the opportunity to talk about the pesticide use in urban areas and the number of small insects hummingbirds eat.

Many people respond by seeing the birds at the feeder first as opposed to just walk looking at plants and birds. We can do both, habitat education and bird feeding. We don't have to do just one or the other, we can do both, we can work together and use responsible bird feeding as a tool. ~ Sharon Stiteler

Teaching kids about the effectiveness of healthy habitats (July 2009)

There is a more effective way to connect kids to birds and other wildlife than putting out food that may or may not help. Get them outdoors and teach them about the effectiveness of healthy habitats. Our organization brings in many elementary students for habitat-based field trips focused on birds. On these field trips we stress that the most important food for birds is insects. Insects are essential for the survival of many species (swifts, swallows, warblers, flycatchers, and others) and they are crucial to nestlings.

Increasing numbers of Americans have been offering seeds, suet and nectar over the past four or five decades, during a time that has seen dramatic losses in our migratory bird populations. Josh has enumerated the reasons: more cowbirds, more subsidized predators, more deer destroying habitat. We should add to that -- too few insects.

Insect biomass is at the base of the food web. That biomass is supported by native plants and only native plants. If we demonstrate how a native plants garden benefits birds, butterflies, frogs and other wildlife then we have done our jobs. If we teach them to put up bird feeders, they may think they have done their job in helping birds.

We'll never get kids on board with conservation unless we need to teach conservation. We'll never do it teaching them how to offer supplemental food. ~ Kay Charter,
Saving Birds Thru Habitat

Why can't a bird feeder be a gateway to habitat conservation (September 2009)
The American Birding Association is now offering a new forum for you to share information about your organization—in the well-known and well-read Birding magazine. http://aba.org/birding/v41n5p20.pdf

Bird Education and Climate (October 2009)
There are so many ways that the climate issue touches on birdlife and its future. And there are some solid and practical ways that we can educate the facts and advocate actions that might alleviate the problem for birds (and for humans, of course!)
One such way is through the CO2-light-glass-building connection. In short it's an Enhanced Lights Out Effort (my own awkward words, for the time being).

We have a great bird-education opportunity, and those U.S. cities already involved at one level or another of formal bird-compatible planning (e.g., Chicago, Philadelphia, Portland, St. Louis, Boston, and New York, for starters) should be discussing how to make a modest light out effort into a meaningful campaign to lower CO2, lower the lights, and lower bird mortality. ~ Paul Baicich

Laura Erickson's useful book "101 Ways to Help Birds" can help each of us make a difference in the lives of our local birds. The true power of the book, however, could be realized if every birder/bird educator acted upon Mrs. Erickson's advice. ~ Dave Magpiong

ideas for building bird boxes (February 2010)
Tips on just the kind of construction that all thoughtful bird educators might consider when building bird boxes/houses: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u08oJJh5SKk