Jeff and pelicans

I've taken the liberty to link a few things where applicable and removed a few snippets for privacy and length - it is otherwise an e-mail exchange regarding the banded pelican from Santa Ana NWR. Cliffs notes version pending! (see footnotes for updates)

Hello!
I got a note from USGS in the mail the other day about a pelican that my husband and I saw at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge - in googling your name and hoping for a site about your project, I found a page by "birdchick" - if you'd like to see our post about the bird and tag, here's the link.
I did link to "bird chick's" site so readers could get an idea of things, but if you have another page with information I'd be happy to add it as well.
All the best with your work!
-heidi

***

Hi Heidi,

First of all, thanks a lot for reporting this bird to the BBL. Many people don't, so I really appreciate it when someone does.

And thanks for sending the link to your web post, as well as encouraging others who view it to also report banded birds to the BBL. And no, I don't have a web site about my banding project, but have often thought that I probably should, but am a little too busy these days. I had to chuckle about your comment about the bird not crossing the border, because there's another reason why it was lucky it didn't--pelicans get shot for food south of Texas. A fair number of the reports I get from Mexico are of birds that were shot for food, and almost all of the reports south of Mexico are that type of recovery. I've had recoveries from as far south as Guatemala and Nicaragua (as well as ringing the Gulf coast from the Yucatan Peninsula, up through Texas, then east to Florida and down to Cuba).

A little history on the Marsh Lake pelican colony: pelicans first returned as a breeding species in Minnesota after an absence of 100 years when 10 pairs were found nesting on a small island in Marsh Lake in 1968. Four years later (1972) my master's adviser, Dr. Alfred H. Grewe, Jr. (St. Cloud State University) began a banding project in the Marsh Lake colony that has continued every year since. To date, over 54,000 pelicans and numerous other species of colonial waterbirds have been banded in the Marsh Lake colony. Following Al's death in 2001, the BBL transferred his banding permit to my name, and with the help of numerous volunteers (many are former students of Al's), we kept his banding program going without missing a year. Next summer will be our tenth year of banding without him. The colony grew steadily through the 1970s, 80s, and 1990s before leveling off between 15,000-20,000 breeding pairs in the 2000s.

Although I don't have a web site about the banding project, there are a few other web resources that reference it. The first year we banded after Al's death, the St. Paul Pioneer Press did a story that can still be found on several web sites (e.g.
[link]).
More recently, we were joined by a 3M scientist with a personal interest in birds. He's originally from Japan, and is also involved with a web site dedicated to helping Japanese learn how to speak English "like Americans". He posted an article about pelican banding on their web site that can be found at [link] (there is also a Japanese version posted on their site).

When I took over the pelican banding project I worked as a waterfowl research biologist for the Minnesota DNR where I oversaw the state's bird banding program (primarily ducks and geese). From there, I went to the BBL where I served as their waterfowl biologist. Currently I'm pursuing a Ph.D. with a study in the Marsh Lake colony. The long term banding data will be part of that project, but I'm also looking at diet and other physiological factors related to chick growth and condition.

Thanks again for your report and additional information. I'll be sending more color-marked pelicans south next fall (as are researchers in Idaho), so keep your eyes open for additional birds with patagial tags.

-Jeff

***

Jeff,

Thanks so much for the additional history and insight! I'm so sorry to hear about hunting, it seems to be out of necessity in some regions and out of boredom in others (not too long ago there was a big stir on our state birding list about a hunter killing a pelican and a birder reported it - they'd tried to hide the body, but what a waste). Would you mind if I include some of your e-mail in a post? I'd at least like to add the two links for more background, and I finally dug up the old Abilene pelican link ...I guess some of the little fellows run out of steam sooner than others! The Abilene critter wintered in ponds adjacent to the zoo, also a pretty cushy spot (the pond has a resident pelican who can fly but never did take up migration after being released from rehab).

Happy trails,
-heidi

***

Heidi,

Yes, the hunting is out of necessity in some regions. If you read "Birdchick's" descriptions of the pelican colony, you can imagine that most banders are disgusted at the thought of eating a pelican (the colony really is gross, and the smell sticks with you long after you leave and [try to] clean up). But I was sent photos of the living conditions and extreme poverty where one of my pelicans was shot in Nicaragua, and it became abundantly clear to me why they would eat pelicans. My master's research involved tracking radio-tagged sandhill cranes from northwest Minnesota to the Gulf Coast of Texas (they were thought to winter in Florida like cranes in east central Minnesota) and the first radio-tagged bird to get there was also shot. Although cranes are a legal game species in Texas (they're nongame in Minnesota), this happened prior to any hunting seasons. It was found in a ditch with a pile of dead ducks, and it was also before duck season opened. I have since had recoveries of other sandhill cranes from northwest Minnesota legally harvested in east Texas.

Thanks for sending the additional web link (and yes, you can include the information I sent in a post). I consulted with Idaho F&G officials when they started their marking program a few years ago. Among other things, we coordinated marking protocols so there would be no confusion between their birds and mine (different colors and mark on opposite sides). I found it a bit ironic that in the entire state of Idaho they don't have anywhere near as many pelicans as we have at Marsh Lake alone, but the incentive of their research is that they want to reduce pelican numbers. Which is a big reason why we're looking at diet in the Marsh Lake colony. We're already culling cormorants at a variety of locations in Minnesota based on a perceived threat to the state's walleye fishery. Diet studies were required to allow the culling operations, but even though those studies have shown that cormorants don't eat walleyes, the culling continues and gets expanded to new areas every year. Some would like to see pelicans added to the list, so we'd like to have some data to address those issues, although banders know from what they see in the colony that pelicans eat crayfish, salamanders, and rough fish, not game fish, but people can't see beyond the term "fish-eating birds".

...pelican banding [is] usually in mid-June, although late springs in recent years have resulted in July banding dates. Pretty much just have to play it by ear each year and see what the chronology of the hatch is like. I also band in other Minnesota (and North and South Dakota colonies), but those are even more variable... Marsh Lake is the big banding day each year. We do 2,000 pelicans, and then we try to band 3-500 cormorants, 500 ring-billed gulls, and as many as possible of great blue herons, great egrets, black-crowned night-herons, cattle egrets, and Forster's terns. We do that in a single morning and try to be off the lake by noon. Our best year we banded over 3,300 birds in one morning.

Migration seems to be a strong, instinctive behavior in most birds. But, I know there is a small colony of nonmigratory white pelicans in east Texas, and one (or two) in Mexico. Perhaps the rehabed bird came from that stock? Although, a lot of birds do become somewhat "domesticated" after going through rehab, and that may have caused that behavior.

-Jeff

So much great information about where "our" pelican was from - the history of its nesting colony and the sad reality facing other pelicans. Research indicates that pelicans are not eating game fish, but people don't feel better until pelicans are culled in the name of saving game fish. This is why science needs to be taken seriously; otherwise we're wasting our own time.

FL Scrub Jay paper trail

I can't believe I didn't post this when the e-mail came in, but here's a look behind one Florida Scrub Jay (from Matt's Scrub-Jays, the Floridians post)

A few details are omitted for privacy, but this is a fascinating look at what goes on in the background! We knew the odds were good that this bird had a story - every jay at Oscar Scherer State Park is banded, but hey, why not look into it?

Here's the bird in question:



And here's the series of e-mails in chronological order:


USGS-PATUXENT WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER
12100 Beech Forest Road
Laurel, Maryland 20708-4037
FAX 301-497-5717
AUGUST 11, 2009

In Reply Refer To: BLL-19.2A

Dear Ms B,

The United States Geological Survey authorizes and coordinates the use of auxiliary-marking devices on all wild, migratory birds. Such devices allow researchers to identify individual or groups of birds from a distance, thus helping them in their studies of various aspects of avian biology.

Enclosed is copy of a letter reporting an auxiliary-marked bird. Our records indicate that you are using markers of this type. Because there is no way from this sighting to identify the individual bird to a specific band number, we will not be able to provide the observer with a certificate. If you believe this to be a bird you marked, it is imperative that you contact the observer with any information you have concerning your studies. If this marker is not yours, please accept our apologies and notify me. If you know of another researcher using similar markers, please indicate the name and/or permit number on the letter.

We have provided a copy of this letter to the observer, who will be anticipating your prompt response.

Sincerely,

D B, Biologist
Bird Banding Laboratory


See ORIGINAL REPORT below:

ORIGINAL REPORT

Email Address: h.trudell [at] gmail [dot] com
Type: color leg band w/o codes
Species: Florida Scrub Jay
Marker Color: white
Other Marker Color:
Code Color: white
Other Code Color:
Pattern of Codes: row
Row:
Top:
Bottom:
Upright:
Sideways:
Other:
Web:
Radio:
How Code: live bird how 29/pres cond 07
How Other:
Recovery Date Type: Exact
Exact Date: 26/07/09
Inexact Date of Recovery:
Recovery Location Descript: Oscar Scherer State Park, the "scrub jay" loop
Recovery Location: USA
Other Country:
State: Florida
County: Sarasota
Miles: 3
Direction: SE
Town: Osprey, FL
Name: H Trudell
Street 1: [street]
Street 2:
City: Waco
State: TX
Zip:
Country:
Phone Number:
Fax Number:

Comment: Right leg was white band over silver/service band, left leg had no bands.


***

From: B, J
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 12:44 PM
To: M, K
Subject: FW: BLL-192.A: STATE OF FLORIDA - NONGAME / MS B (21980)

These are fun…..do you know this bird?

***

From: M, K
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 12:46 PM
To: B, J
Subject: RE: BLL-192.A: STATE OF FLORIDA - NONGAME / MS J B (21980)

Probably banded at Oscar Scherer by T H.

-K
__________________
K M, Ph.D.
Upland Nongame Bird Lead
Wildlife Research Laboratory - FWRI
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

***

from H, T
to "H. Trudell"
cc KM, JB, RD
date Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 11:43 AM
subject RE: Banded Florida scrub-jay

Hello,
We conduct a monthly census of Florida Scrub-jays at Oscar Scherer State Park.
We have not recently had a bird identified with a White over Silver/service, and no bands on the left leg.
However, we do have a bird identified with a Flesh over Silver/service on its right leg, and no bands on its left leg.
This bird was banded at Oscar Scherer State Park on March 24, 1999, and the flesh band has faded.
The bird is currently the male breeder in its territory in the vicinity of the campground.

T H
Environmental Specialist III
District 4, Florida Park Service
Department of Environmental Protection

***

So there you have it - an adult male bird who has been rockin' OSSP for over 10 years now! I'm glad I didn't just get a certificate, it's so much more fun to hear the details. It didn't take much sleuthing for the bander to let us know that the "flesh" band had faded to white, but that's the sort of thing that regular monitoring tells you. Not bad, for 10 years of sun bleaching in Florida.

What a handsome fellow.

(now also posted at I found a banded bird)

PSA - FREE WindowAlert clings!

Get Ready: The Birds are Coming! The Birds are Coming!

SPECIAL OFFER:
From March 1, 2010 through April 30, 2010, while supplies last, the Wisconsin Humane Society’s “WIngs” program will once again be distributing FREE WindowAlerts (8 WindowAlerts per request) with NO CHARGE for shipping and handling, to help you protect birds from collisions with windows at your home or office this spring. For more information about protecting birds from collisions with windows and to find out how to request your free WindowAlerts, visit the WIngs web site at http://www.wihumane.org/wildlife/wings/default.aspx

This offer is made possible by a grant from the Jeff Rusinow Family Foundation.

(Note: For requests for free WindowAlerts received prior to March 1st, and after April 30th, our standard $2.50 shipping and handling charge will apply.)

Please distribute this message to bird clubs, Audubon Societies and other birding and conservation organizations; feel free to post it online and in print; heck, put it on your bulletin board at work. Don't forget to request some for your home and/or office. This offer is NOT limited to Wisconsin residents only.

***

This is hot off the collision list press - and a topic VERY dear to my heart!

Here's the WindowAlert page - you'll notice that they're pretty much all sold in packs of 8 regardless of the shape of the "alert" cling. Shape does not matter. Clings need to go on the outside of the windows that are being hit (clean the window before applying the clings) - and you'll need enough of them on the window that a bird will not try to fly "between" them. See: the handprint rule. So your 8 free clings would nicely cover a small or medium window.

Some incentive: Bullock's Oriole (roadkill, but you get the idea).



Repeating: the point of the window cling is to have enough "objects" scattered around the window that a bird will not want to fly between them. If you have 2 clings on a door-sized pane of glass, you're likely to have birds hit around where the clings are placed.

So, with your snazzy new window clings you could prevent a bird from hitting a window. Many birds, even. And they'd go on to face all of the other challenges that life has to offer; cats, cars, wind turbines and other windows. The odds won't be good, but it will at least live to face them.

Apologies for the pessimism, now go bird-proof your windows!

For other great window fixes, check out:
Birds and Buildings
FLAP - Fatal Light Awareness Program
CollidEscape

EDIT: I've added a follow-up post with a photo showing actual WindowAlerts - click here.

EDIT 2: The Nature Conservancy posted "Window Glass: Silent Bird Killer?" to their blog earlier this year, it has some interesting stats and suggestions. I didn't include the window angle because for most folks with windows, it simply isn't an option.

Appleton to Alamo; 1,482 miles by Pelican

Last summer we shared a few posts about how reporting banded birds can be important, fun, educational and/or just plain interesting. (see posts: eagles with accessories and Camp Eagle)

A few posts back there was a photo of an American White Pelican at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Here it is again, with a somewhat visible green tag with 398 in black. That's actually kind of important for reporting purposes.



"...a wing-tagged American White Pelican. We're waiting to hear back on that [...] but we're not holding our breath."

The Bird Banding Lab, run by USGS is where you can report bands; you need to know the kind of band and if there's no band visible because it's a live sighting, you need a plethora of information. Pretty much off the bat, you need to know the species of bird, what kind of marker, what colors are used, what numbers or codes are used, and the date & location of the sighting.

Using the information you submit, more often than not, you'll get a response within a few weeks. It may come in the form of an e-mail response from the group behind the banding of the actual bird you saw, or it could be a certificate of appreciation from USGS. (Or if it was a Black-whiskered Vireo, you're still waiting in suspense!) Come to think of it I never did post the story behind the Florida Scrub Jays that we saw.

Where was our pelican from? The highlights: "Marsh Lake"Minnesota; "was too young to fly when banded in 2009" and the band date was 07/11/09 - this information showed up in the mail yesterday on a certificate of appreciation. Oh, and a fellow named Jeff was the bander.


View Larger Map

See? The little fellow wasn't too far from our relatives in Willmar! Now, as-the-pelican-flies, it probably wasn't a full 1,482 miles but they do a lot of circling on thermals to get to where they're going. In Illinois I'd watch the pelicans flying down the Mississippi River in October and they'd be around for my Houston/Seabrook Christmas Bird Counts... then I'd see them again in the spring, heading back north. (A note about Seabrook: they're more about tourism than nature, but pelicans are prominently featured all over their city pages.)


View Larger Map

How's that for perspective? The little fellow made it all the way to the border - I don't blame him for not crossing though, it's too much of a hassle to get back into the US even with the appropriate paperwork. It's amazingly easy to get into Canada or Mexico, but the worst border grilling I've gotten was trying to get back to Buffalo, sheesh. Regardless, Santa Ana is not a bad spot to rest... even if the rest of the flock has moved on.

EDIT: Right after posting I googled Jeff Dimatteo, the fellow who is listed as the bander. There's a wonderful site about the project with some hilarious baby pictures, for those of you who might need convincing that birds are actually dinosaurs...
Banding Pelicans (hosted by birdchick)

RGV wrap up

Weeks after our most recent RGV adventure, I think I'm down to the last post. All of the birding has already been covered, so this is simply a matter of highlighting our favorite B&B and visiting some friends in Kingsville.

Alamo Inn is essentially our home-away-from-home when we're in the RGV. Owner Keith Hackland and Office Cat Gordon are gracious hosts for birders and non-birders alike, offering incredibly comfortable and unique lodging on a quiet corner in Alamo. It's the closest lodging to Santa Ana NWR as well, so when I was an intern at SANWR, it's where my folks stayed. My folks had a wonderful suite - Matt and I generally aim for the smallest room because we'd stay forever otherwise. If we were any more comfortable there, we'd never make it out for the birding! You see the dilemma.


View Larger Map

Google maps indicates that Alamo Inn not just a B&B, it also has an "outdoor store" - just about anything a birder could need if luggage was lost or destroyed. There's a variety of optics, outerwear, reference materials, you name it. We're always a bit sad to leave, but on the bright side, we've got about 40 more years to make our annual winter pilgrimage to the RGV before we're too feeble... hopefully Keith's operation will still be thriving with a new set of folks at that time!

Anyway, our drive back north was highlighted with a visit to Texas A&M's Kingsville Serpentarium - we caught up with some long lost friends and learned about the venom research and how different parts of toxins can be isolated and used for medical purposes.



You might recognize those baby spoons: they're baby spoons. They're also wrapped with a thin layer of a plastic wrap type substance. They're labeled and sitting on ice because they've been used for "milking" a Coral Snake. (L) D tube-feeds a Coral Snake.



See? Tube-feeding a Coral Snake. And being watched by a rattler.


Examine the photo below. That's at D's house. Think about it.



For a close-up of one of the residents of that room:



It boggles the mind to think of how certain researchers live and breathe their work - it follows them home (dead birds in my dorm freezer comes to mind), but it's just a part of life. And every line of work is different. You know, I think I'd draw the line at venomous snakes in my bathroom. Dead birds and rehab birds are fair game, though.

Lest I leave you with nightmares from this post, here's Happy Puppy (for lack of a better name), the little fellow who serves as welcoming committee for the Beeville Northern Wheatear:

what is cochineal?

Cochineal is a small, fluffy, white scale insect that inhabits prickly pear cactus. And it is notoriously hard to research on the internet. That said, there's an absolutely amazing post at Bug Girl's Blog. Here are some snippets...


So much misinformation is being published right now about Cochineal, I thought a post that explains what it is, how it’s made, why it’s relatively harmless, and why I support labeling but oppose a ban, might be useful.
...

Cochineal supports subsistence farmers in poor parts of the world. This insect is an important cash crop! From an NPR story about cochineal:

“Even though a full pound of cochineal sells for just $1.30, harvesting the bug earns enough money to feed and clothe a whole family in the impoverished highlands region of Peru. An estimated 40,000 Peruvian families depend on harvesting the bugs — which belong to a class of scale insects — to make a living.”

By not rejecting cochineal in your food or makeup, you get to not only support farmers raising their tiny pink cash-cows, you can connect with the rich history of this pigment.


Now, go forth and read the whole NPR story and definitely read the whole post on Bug Girl's Blog. You owe it to yourself!

Full disclosure: I'm posting this in hopes that it will help Bug Girl's information reach more people who search for Cochineal.


Cochineal
Originally uploaded by Carolina Gonzalez

Here's the caption from the Cochineal photo above:

This is the cochineal we wildharvested a week ago in the Anaga mountains, cleaned and ready for the oven – I was going to make a cake, so I wanted to use the after-baking heat of the oven to dry it – talk about saving energy! Cochineal makes one of the most ancient fiber dyes in history, carmine, and it has been a huge tradition in the Canary Islands for many centuries, as nopales are one of the most common cacti here. The insect is collected from the nopales after its reproductive stage with big wooden spoons, cleaned (they grow a white “foam” around them to protect the egg lays) and dried, both with oven heat and later by the action of the sun. Once completely dry, it is powdered and simply added to water, as it is water soluble. Once we start the dyeing experiments I’ll talk more about this process – and don’t worry vegetarians, this insect is collected dead :)

Doesn't seem so bad at all! ...and look where else it's found:
Sobe Tsunami Orange Creme

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

Back in early February of 2006, Matt and I met at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. We've posted about it before but this post comes with a few surprises. So here's "that was then" from January of 2009:



I won't make you wait - the big surprise for this trip was that the trails are now marked. Not just somewhat vaguely depicted. Nope, they're actually well represented. In fact, the new sign at the trail head was just an indication of what was to come.



Look at the beauty of that map. I mean, you can see Mexico from here! Er, actually, you can see the trails... and bridges... and parking lot... it's unheard of! The old map had some squiggly lines and that was about it. But if you're looking closely at the map above, you'll notice that nowhere on the list of trails does it say anything about "C-trail" ...and that my friends is why we, here at seetrail, had a moment of silence. Sure, change can be a good thing. That map will probably save dozens of tourists from getting lost and dehydrated in hot weather. But "C-trail" as we knew it, the generically labeled trail of "where Matt and Heidi met" is no more. So "C-trail" now lives on as a pun in our title. And it's finally actually labeled for something more realistic: the lakes that it meanders through.



"Is that a muddy shoe?" Why, yes it is. Not as muddy as it ended up, but showing good progress. Last year we shared a muddy walk on "C-trail" so it seemed appropriate for the weather to cooperate. Misty, overcast, muddy. Again. At least it's not intermittently raining, like the last bird walk I recall sharing from 2006. The lovely photo next to the muddy shoe is a wing-tagged American White Pelican. We're waiting to hear back on that* (still no news from our honeymoon Black-whiskered Vireo) but we're not holding our breath.



This is now; the first week of February, 2010. AND THERE'S A SIGN! (You have no idea how awesome it is for there to be signage.) Anyway, the photo is not really at the spot where we met (forgive us, the segment of trail is 1/4 mile so it's hard to know for sure), but at least it's in front of the pond that housed the tree that hosted the sapsucker... it's turning into a book!

There was a young couple who met at a refuge that had a trail that harbored a bench that was across from a pond that housed the tree that hosted the sapsucker who startled the birders who called the RBA who alerted the folks who birded the state who... started a vicious cycle of bad poetry?

For early orders on that dramatic essay for children of all ages, drop us an e-mail. I'll even draw some stick-figures of us and the sapsucker with four different colors of crayon to serve as illustrations ;-)

PSA - Water

This is brave new territory for See Trail; Matt and I tend to post about birds and bugs hoping that conservation is adequately addressed. It's hard to save a species when it has no habitat, but it's also important that we're just plain practical in our daily routine.

So here's our first Public Service Announcement - Water

Brain food from GOOD Magazine & Whole Foods:



Water conservation is a beautiful thing. We all know that leaving the water on while brushing teeth is a waste... but it's not often that we look at our food choices for water conservation ideas. As a former vegetarian of five years, I can attest to the difficulty of going veggie in Texas. But simply promoting vegetarian options at a restaurant by ordering something without meat is making a statement; and it supports the demand for fresh, flavorful options that aren't all peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.

Anyway, the above video made me a little bit braver in promoting the following video, which I finally found a translation for:





Since most Americans take one shower a day* (I'm stereotyping without citations here), there's one flush saved per day. That's only a few gallons. One of the comments posted for the video was this, from CraniumOnEmpty:

Brazilians take a lot of showers because of the heat and humidity. It would be hard to get through the day without taking at least two. Granted most showers are very quick so they don't use as much water as the toilet would. Since they are in the shower already, might as well take a leak and conserve a little water.

A simple, elegant solution. I'm still waiting for most residential areas to embrace gray water reuse, but that seems incredibly unlikely, given the stigma that hand-rinsing water is suddenly tarnished and not even the front lawn deserves such impure fare. Given that this is Texas, I'm pretty sure the lawn wouldn't care.

Thanks for braving the videos, we'll return you to your regularly scheduled blog program eventually!