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IN-BIRD for Tuesday, January 15, 2002
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Subject: Richmond, Wayne Co. waterfowl, cowbirds
From: Bill Buskirk <billb(AT)EARLHAM.EDU>
Date: 15 Jan 2002 9:47am
Last evening (14 Jan) I checked Springwood Park, Middlefork Reservoir
and the Weiss Road starling roost just before dark. These locations
are in the northern outskirts of Richmond, Wayne Co., in eastern IN.
Birds of interest:
Springwood Park, more open water than a week ago. From out of town,
can be reached by turning south off I-70 onto US 27, about 3 mi S of
interstate turn right (W) on Waterfall Road, the park is on your
right in less than a mile, just beyond a stream crossing at
Thistlethwaite Falls:
Canada Goose - 200
Gadwall -18
Am. Wigeon - 3
Mallard - 55
Middlefork Reservoir, more open water than a week ago. From out of
town, can be reached by turning south off I-70 onto US 27, about 2.5
mi S of interstate turn left (E) on Sylvan Nook Rd.:
Canada Goose - 350 (down from about 3000 a week ago)
Am. Black Duck - 4
Mallard - 230
Am. Coot - 1
Weiss Road starling roost (From I-70, take the
Middleboro/Whitewater/SR 227 exit, turn S on SR227, take second left
onto Weiss Road, roost is about .5 mi. E of SR 227 in the cedars on
the hillside north of Weiss Road, between Weiss Road and the Smyrna
Road/I-70 overpass):
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 immature, female by size, "roiling" the
starlings and cowbirds! A Cooper's Hawk has been seen chasing the
birds on other evenings.
European Starling - 40,000+ (est.). Down from about 120,000 on the
Christmas Count.
Brown-headed Cowbird - 3000+ (est.). This is a very large number of
cowbirds for this region. The estimate is very rough and certainly
conservative.
Bill Buskirk
Biology Department
Earlham College
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Subject: snowy owl report
From: John Castrale <jcastrale(AT)DNR.STATE.IN.US>
Date: 15 Jan 2002 10:04am
An INDOT worker reported seeing a snowy owl perched on a utility pole in
Hancock Co. on 1/11. He hasn't been back in the area to see if it is
still around.
The location: on CR 200W about 1 mile north of highway 52.
John Castrale
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Subject: Pigeon River FWA- Jan 15, 2002
From: Rodger Rang <rrang(AT)FWI.COM>
Date: 15 Jan 2002 7:32pm
Frannie Headings and I found 30 species this afternoon 1:30-5:30 PM at =
Pigeon River FWA. Most noteworthy sightings:
Killdeer- 3 at Orland ponds west side of SR 327, 3rd pond from road =
(DeLorme pg. 23, A-7)
Common Snipe- 4 at Orland ponds east side of SR 327 1st pond from road =
at south entrance
Note to Jim and John: No Merlin :(
Rodger Rang
Fort Wayne
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Subject: Peregrine falcons downtown Indianapolis
From: tom pericak & bonnie simmons <persim(AT)COMPUSERVE.COM>
Date: 15 Jan 2002 8:00pm
This afternoon I saw 2 Peregrine falcons hanging around the top of the Ke=
y
Bank Building near the Circle in downtown Indianapolis. I did't have my
binoculars with me but at one point I'm sure I saw the mating thing going=
on. An early Spring I guess.
Tom Pericak
Indianapolis, IN
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Subject: Re: More on the Nesting Robin Saga
From: Ron Weiss <chipperwoods(AT)WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Date: 15 Jan 2002 9:07pm
Some may already be aware of the research on what triggers robin nesting,
but for those who may be interested in this phenomenon and not familiar
with the findings, here is the scoop.
Based on the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's Nest-record Card Program,
Francis James and H. Shugart* determined that a combination of humidity
and temperature is the best predictor of the beginning of the nestling
period.
They found that:
"If the mean noon relative humidity is near 50% in April, the beginning of
the nestling period will be in late April or early May, regardless of the
the dry-bulb temperature; if the mean noon relative humidity is either
higher or lower than 50% in April, the beginning of the nestling period
will be later." (note it says nestling, not nesting period)
"Robins at localities having a mean noon April dry-bulb temperature
between 45 and 65 °F begin feeding young in late April or early May,
providing that the relative humidity is about 50%. If the relative
humidity is either higher or lower than 50%, robins nest
later....and...where wet-bulb temperatures are depressed by the dry air of
the western localities...the birds do not begin feeding young until late
in May or early June."
Using this data, they were able to generate isolines for the dates of the
beginning of the period when robins have young in the nest, a boundary
that defines the southern limit of the breeding range, and the impact of
man's historic alteration of habitat on robin distribution and breeding
behavior."
They also found that in the east, an average robin nested 3 days later for
each degree of increasing latitude, and at progressively cooler
temperatures as spring progressed northward.
A mild winter that approaches the right conditions of temperature and
humidity may cause robins to begin to nest, but they will abandon the
effort if the conditions revert to winter.
This finally explains why robins in Colorado Springs nest at the same time
as robins in Fairbanks, Alaska!, and why robins do not breed in certain
localities such as San Diego and El Paso.
Knowing these parameters, it would be an interesting study to observe the
behavior of robins in your neighborhood relative to temperature and
humidity trends to check this out. This could also be a neat and easy
study for youngsters learning about birds, their environment and their
behavior.
All the best
Ron
Chipper Woods Bird Observatory
Indianapolis
http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods
For those who would like to really read up on robin behavior, the full
reference for this study is:
*James, F. C. and H. H. Shugart, Jr. 1974. The phenology of the nesting
season of the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in the United States.
Condor 76(2): 159-168.
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Subject: Spacing Nest Boxes
From: Beverly Richardson <beverlybaynes(AT)WEBTV.NET>
Date: 15 Jan 2002 9:31pm
I'm try to help an acquaintance find some information.
Where could one find information about the spacing of nest boxes? I
know I've heard about the distance apart one should space bluebird
boxes, for instance, but what about spacing nest boxes for different
species? For example, how far away should a wren nest box be from a
martin house? Or from a platform for some other species? Is this kind
of information even available?
Unfortunately, I don't know the size of the area this person is talking
about, but I know she wants to encourage nesting of 'common backyard
birds' (her words) in her yard as much as possible.
Many thanks in advance for any information or 'leads' you can provide.
Beverly Richardson
Fort Wayne
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Subject: robins egg
From: Ervin and/or Lois Rockhill <rockhill(AT)indy.net>
Date: 15 Jan 2002 10:29pm
I may be adding to some urban legend here but can't help mentioning that a
week ago I saw what I thought was a broken robin's egg on the bike trail
here in Anderson. It looked like a whole bird's egg that had broken open
when dropped. It had a very blue shell. There was thick, cloudy, yellow egg
looking stuff spilled around it. Why I didn't stop and take a closer look, I
don't know. I thought it unusual but was not surprised that it looked like
an egg that hadn't faired well given the time of year. After reading the
other robin comments, it seems like it could have been just what it looked
like!
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IN-BIRD