Alaska Bird ObservatoryAlaska Bird Observatory
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Landbird Conservation in Alaska by Brad Andres, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The publication of widespread declines in populations of birds that breed in North America and winter in the Neotropics catalyzed the formation of a vigorous conservation program for nongame, migratory landbird species. Launched by the Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 1990, the Neotropical Migrant Bird Conservation Program (Partners in Flight/Aves de las Americas) has been embraced by federal and state agencies and non-governmental organizations across the continent. To conserve Neotropical migratory birds, the Partners in Flight uses the following principles: 1) conserve before endangerment, 2) enhance conservation of habitats, 3) conserve species in breeding, migration and wintering areas, 4) develop an informed birding constituency, and 5) develop innovative partnerships. Modeled after the national Partners in Flight organization, the Boreal Partners in Flight Working Group (BPIF) was formed in March 1992. BPIF members come from a variety state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations, including the Alaska Bird Observatory, across Alaska. The main purpose of BPIF is to promote and coordinate monitoring, research, habitat protection, professional training, and public outreach specific to Neotropical migratory landbirds that breed in Alaska. Working groups within BPIF focus on regional issues or the technical aspects of the program (e.g., netting/banding, off-road point counts, and information/education). Much of the effort of BPIF members has been directed toward the development and implementation of standardized monitoring techniques. Because many boreal forest species and subspecies of Neotropical migratory birds can be monitored on their breeding grounds in Alaska but not elsewhere (e.g., Alder Flycatcher, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Blackpoll Warbler), BPIF encourages state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations to participate in landbird monitoring programs. More recently, Partners in Flight working groups throughout the U. S. have begun to formulate conservation plans for Neotropical migratory birds. Although solid information is often lacking for many species and in many regions, working groups feel they must begin to tackle this important, and critical, task. The general steps of conservation planning involve: 1) identify and rank species most in need of conservation, 2) set objectives for the nature, extent, and distribution of favorable habitat conditions or populations of priority birds 3) identify habitat conservation partnerships that will accomplish objectives of step 2, 4) implement the plan and monitor progress. Members of BPIF have been working on the Alaska Landbird Conservation Plan over the last two years and anticipate having the plan completed in 1999. The plan will suggest conservation strategies for individual species and species-habitat groups. The overriding conservation goal is to keep landbirds well-distributed across the Alaskan landscape. For many species, conservation actions may simply be to accurately determine population status, implement effective monitoring, or develop precise habitat models. A thoughtful conservation plan will help agencies and non-governmental organizations develop effective landbird conservation strategies. For more information about Boreal Partners in Flight, contact Brad Andres, Chair, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska, 99503; phone 907-786-3378; e-mail Brad_Andres@fws.gov. |
Slide Presentation and ABO Annual Meeting ABO members and other bird enthusiasts are invited to our annual meeting and slide program on Tuesday, March 30 at 6:30 PM at the Noel Wien Library in Fairbanks. We will present highlights from our 1998 programs, present our goals and schedule for 1999, and hand out Birdathon and volunteer program information. Anna-Marie Benson, ABO's Migration Program Manager, will then present "The Best of Both Worlds: Neotropical Migrant Birds in the Brief Subarctic Summer," a slide program about habitat selection and breeding-season duration by passerines in northern and western Alaska. Come help us kick-off spring migration!
Did you know?There are nine species of songbirds that nest in Alaska and migrate to the tropics of Asia and Africa that breed nowhere else in the United States. From U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Region 7.
Alaska Airlines Sponsors BirdathonIt's time to dust off your field guide and start planning for the 1999 Birdathon! This event provides wildlife enthusiasts with a great excuse to spend a day looking for neat birds in a variety of habitats &emdash; all while raising funds for the Arctic Audubon Society and the Alaska Bird Observatory. The idea is simple. Collect pledges based on the number of bird species identified in a 24-hour period between May 15-31, select a day, count species, and let us know how you did. Prizes will be awarded and results shared at a potluck barbecue on June 4, 6:30 p.m. at the Creamer's Farmhouse. There are many ways to participate. Beginners and even non-birdwatchers can enjoy a leisurely walk at Creamer's Refuge with an expert, a guided birding tour around Fairbanks, or tag along with a team of die-hards on a 24-hour Big Day. You can also form your own team of friends or family, walk around your neighborhood, drive a pre-planned route (we'll give you hints on hot birding spots around Fairbanks), canoe the river, or invite an expert to your school for a walk around the school grounds. Proceeds raised during the Birdathon support local bird conservation programs. As a special bonus, for every $50 raised by each particiant, their name will be entered in a drawing for two round-trip tickets on Alaska Airlines (domestic). Everyone is eligible to win door prizes, and special prizes will be awarded for most money raised and most species seen in both the competitive and recreational divisions. Birdathon packets will be available at the annual meeting or after March 31 by mail or at various locations around town. Please call or e-mail ABO if you would like a Birdathon packet sent to you. Listen to the radio or watch the newspaper for details! |
Spring Migration VolunteersABO relies on the help of more than 50 wonderful volunteers each year to operate our Creamer's Field Migration Station. Volunteering at ABO provides great opportunities to learn about landbird research, gain an understanding of songbird natural history, improve bird identification skills, and hang out with other "birdy" folks. Volunteers assist by removing birds from nets, transporting birds to the banding lab, recording data, and maintaining nets and net lanes. Ideally, volunteers commit to work at least one day or shift per week, since it takes practice to become proficient at removing birds safely and quickly from nets. We start early in the morning (5:30 AM), but the beauty of the refuge in the morning makes it worth it! We have scheduled two important meetings in April for volunteers. Returning volunteers will meet on April 7 to go over new procedures and sign up for spring banding. A meeting and training session for prospective volunteers is set for April 14. Both meetings will take place at 6 PM at the farmhouse (Creamer's Refuge Visitors' Center). We also need volunteers for a few other spring projects. Veteran net tenders are needed to serve as mentors for new volunteers. Please let us know if you are willing to offer some one-on-one guidance for a rookie this year. We also need some folks to help us extend the floor for our banding station and erect our new weatherport on April 24. Call 451-7059 if you can help. &endash; A 1998 ABO Volunteer |
ABO Presents
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Training Programs Scheduled for Wildlife Professionals The Alaska Bird Observatory has invited Peter Pyle, author of the Identification Guide to North American Birds: Part I, to Fairbanks for a workshop on "Aging Alaska Passerines in the Hand Using Molt-related Methods." Other topics related to age, sex, and subspecies determination in the hand will also be covered. This 4.5-day workshop for bird banders will take place at our Creamer's Field Migration Station in Fairbanks July 11-15. Participants should have at least two field seasons of banding experience. Cost is $250 for ABO members and $275 for nonmembers (this does not include lodging or meals). Space is extremely limited, so call or e-mail early to reserve your spot. ABO also offers an intensive standardized mist-netting and bander training program (suitable for the operation of MAPS stations and migration banding stations). Training includes: basic sample design; establishing, maintaining and operating mist-net arrays; identifying, aging and sexing birds in the hand; banding; handling and measuring birds; recording and summarizing data; banding ethics; and censusing techniques. This demanding course includes classroom work and extensive field time. The program costs $1,000 per trainee. For more information or to register for either program, please contact Anna-Marie Benson, Migration Program Manager, at (907) 451-7059 or birds1@ptialaska.net.
Holiday Fundraiser Once again, the ARCO-ABO Christmas tree at the annual "Trees from the Heart" fund-raiser was the star of the show! Our tree, which was decorated with a delightful assortment of hand-crafted bird-theme ornaments, brought in the top bid of $800. We are grateful to ARCO Alaska for sponsoring the tree and the following folks for donating time and ornaments: Randall Compton, Laurel Devaney, Nancy DeWitt, Cathy Donaldson, Laura Ekins, Cindy Fabbri, Janlee Irving, Sandy Jamieson, Jim Logan, Dan Kennedy, Gail Mayo, Sara McDaniel, Steve, Elizabeth & Jonathan Porter, Lori Quakenbush, Mark Ross, Melissa Sanford, Steve Springer, Ted Swem, Andrea Swingley, Dave Totten, and John Wright. Thanks for the support!
ABO's New Piece of Cyberspace The Alaska Bird Observatory web site has continued to develop and expand since its inception in November 1997. As part of the next punctuation in our evolution, ABO has acquired our own Internet domain. Instead of our web site residing at http://www.ptialaska.net/~birds1, our pages have moved to: The old site will continue to function for a while. Please update your bookmarks to the new location. Keep looking for future developments including new information and reorganization.
ABO Wish List
Many thanks to Bob and Karen Day for donating a snappy Pentium computer and scanner to ABO. We sure needed it! We are also grateful to Peter Bente for answering our wish for back issues of several journals, and to ABR, Inc. for a Macintosh computer keyboard. |
By Andrea Swingley One of the last birds to make an appearance at Creamer's Field Migration Station in spring is the Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum). The common name, Alder Flycatcher, comes from the birds' habit of catching insects out of the air in alder habitat (Terres 1980). The name Empidonax comes from the Greek words "empidos" for "a gnat" and "anax" for "king", which, when combined, give the term "king of the gnats" (Choate 1985). The species name, alnorum, comes from a Latin word for "of alders" (Terres 1980). This species was originally named Traill's Flycatcher after Audubon's friend, Dr. Thomas S. Traill (Bent 1963). Traill's Flycatcher was eventually split into Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) and Alder Flycatcher. The two species are almost identical in appearance and can often only be distinguished by song. Pyle (1997) goes so far as to state that "Alder Flycatchers should be separated from most Willow Flycatchers with great caution, and only with extreme individuals." Alder Flycatchers have olive-brown upperparts, a whitish throat and undertail coverts, white eye rings, and two white wing bars. The lower mandible can range from yellowish-pink to almost orange. Males and females look alike. Flycatchers have short, stiff "whiskers" at the base of the bill called "rictal bristles" that aid in catching insects. Over 95% of the diet of Alder Flycatchers consists of arthropods, primarily hymenopterans, including wasps and bees (Bent 1963). These birds also eat beetles, crane flies, houseflies, moths, caterpillars, aphids, mosquitoes, and occasionally dragonflies, spiders, and grasshoppers (Bent 1963). Flycatchers mainly acquire food by hawking, or making short flights from perches to capture flying insects (Ehrlich, et al. 1988). These birds may also take insects on foliage and the ground. Alder Flycatchers are members of the family Tyrannidae, which are among the most biologically successful of the suboscine, or primitive songbirds with simple syringes (the plural of syrinx, the part of a bird involved in vocalization). Tyrant flycatchers are related to South American cotingas and manakins. Alder Flycatcher song is entirely innate rather than partially or completely learned like most songbirds (Ehrlich, et al. 1988). Their distinctive song is often phrased as a buzzy fee-bee´-o or wee-bee´-o with the third note often not heard (Terres 1980; Griggs 1997). These active birds breed in damp thickets of brushy willow and alder along stream banks or shores of ponds. Alder Flycatchers build compact nests in upright or slanting forks of shrubs 4 &emdash; 6 feet above the ground (Bent 1963; Ehrlich, et al. 1988). They are one of the last neotropical migrants to arrive in interior Alaska each spring, and the first to leave for fall migration. Based on median dates of passage through the Creamer's Field Migration Station, Alder Flycatchers spend approximately 51 days on their breeding grounds (Alaska Bird Observatory unpubl. data). These birds do not molt while on the breeding grounds, which may account for the 30-day difference between Alder Flycatchers and Yellow Warblers, the species with the next shortest amount of time spent in breeding areas (A-M. Benson pers. comm.). These flycatchers may also need the extra time to travel to and from their wintering grounds as they may winter farther south than other birds caught at Creamer's Field. Alder Flycatchers have been reported wintering in Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, and northern Argentina (Paynter 1995, AOU 1998). One of the best places to observe Alder Flycatchers in Fairbanks is at Creamer's Field along the Seasonal Wetland Trail. There are many willow and alder shrubs along the edges of the seasonal pond and many insects breed in and around the pond. Look for these "gnat kings" to begin arriving around May 25 and leave for the winter in August. |
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You can support ABO and bird conservation in Alaska by wearing or using the following items for sale through our office:
And coming soon &endash; Bird Songs of Alaska CD set! We hope to have these in stock by early May. For merchandise prices and ordering information, please call 451-7059 or visit the Merchandise page at this web site. |
Literature citedAmerican Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American birds, 7th Edition. Bent, A.C. 1963. Life histories of North American flycatchers, larks, swallows, and their allies. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, pp. 204-213. Choate, E.A. 1985. The dictionary of American bird names. The Harvard Common Press, Boston, pp. 121. Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder's handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon & Schuster Inc., New York, pp. 388. Griggs, J. 1997. American Bird Conservancy's field guide to all the birds of North America: a revolutionary system based on feeding behaviors and field-recognizable features. HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc., New York, pp. 103. Paynter, R. A., Jr. 1995. Nearctic passerine migrants in South America. Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp. 16-17. Pyle, P. 1997. Identification guide to North American birds: Part I. Braun-Brumfield Inc., Michigan, pp. 224-228. Terres, J.K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, pp. 381-382.
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You can get the printed version of The Arctic Warbler, which gives you more information and photos, by joining ABO. It's easy to do. Visit the Join ABO page to see how to join. |
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