April 2019 Yellowbill

01 Apr April 2019 Yellowbill

President’s Message

April General Meeting
FAS Birding Class at the River Center
9 April 2019, 7-8 pm
UC Center

Fresno Audubon Society has teamed with the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust to offer birding classes to the general public at the Parkway’s River Center. We will initially be offering the classes monthly on weekends, and dates will be determined to fit with the Parkway’s calendar. The purpose of this meeting is to finalize the curriculum for the class and enlist volunteers to teach people about birding. We now have 10 pairs of binoculars to loan for the class, and we have installed a fountain, brush pile and bird feeders on the property to create a birdy location to use for the instruction. Please attend if you have an interest in volunteering for this new Fresno Audubon Society activity.

If you can’t make the meeting you can still volunteer to be part of this project by sending an email to rsnow@fresnoaudubon.org.

We hope to see you on March 12, 2019 at 7:00 at UC Center, 550 E Shaw Ave, Fresno, CA 93710.

Field Trips

Our website has a calendar that allows you to see all the details of an upcoming trip as they become finalized. Included in the details is a link to map showing the meeting point for the trip. The calendar is subscribable, which allows you to integrate it into your electronic calendar. Updates to events will appear as they are made. We encourage you to subscribe. Follow the links within each writeup for more information on destinations and meeting point locations.

April Field Trips

Wednesday 3 April 2019 – Lost Lake Park with Susan Estep

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Gary Woods

Wednesday 17 April 2019 – Fine Gold Preserve with Robert Snow

Lewis’s Woodpecker by Gary Woods

Because we can no longer have trips to Black Mountain during the week, this trip has been changed to Fine Gold Creek Preserve. We will meet at the Park & Ride lot at the corner of Highway 41 and Road 145 at 7:45 and then carpool to the preserve, located at 21582 Rd 216 Friant, CA 93626. Fine Gold Creek Preserve is a wooded area featuring many foothill birds, including raptors, woodpeckers and flycatchers. After birding we will eat lunch along the creek.

This trip is a joint effort of Fresno Audubon Society and the Sierra Foothill Conservancy (SFC). You must register for the event on SFC’s website here.

Checklist:  binoculars, scope, field guide, snacks, lunch, water, sunscreen, hat

Saturday 27 April 2019 – McKenzie Preserve with Robert Snow

Gray Flycatcher by Gary Woods

Join Robert Snow and Gary Woods birding the Sierra Foothill Conservancy’s McKenzie Preserve. This foothill property features Golden Eagle nesting on the cliff below the Table Mountain, White-throated Swift, Western Bluebird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Oak Titmouse, and with luck Gray Flycatcher which pass through the area during the last two weeks of April.

This is a joint event with Sierra Foothill Conservancy who are handling registration for the event. To participate, please sign up here. There is no charge for the event.

We will meet at the preserve, 2247 Auberry Rd, Clovis, CA 93619. The event is from 8-12.

Checklist:  binoculars, scope, field guide, snacks, lunch, water, sunscreen, hat

April Birding Classes

13 April 2019 – Spring Beginning Birding at the Gorge

Sierra Foothill Conservancy (SFC), Fresno Audubon Society, and the San Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area (BLM) have joined forces to offer a birding class that combines instruction, exploration, and fun! Beginning birders will see and learn about spring migratory birds visiting the San Joaquin River Gorge. Birders will discover easy ways to identify migrating and year-round, local birds. The class will include a walk looking for birds in the fall habitat found on the scenic hillsides of the River Gorge. The address of the event is 40060 Smalley Rd, Auberry, CA 93602. Registration is being handled by SFC: Register here. The class will be from 9-11 am.

Bring binoculars, lunch, water and sun protection. There is no cost to attend, and BLM is waiving the normal $5 daily use fee. Fresno Audubon will have binoculars to loan if you do not have your own.

20 April 2019 – Introduction to Birding at the River Center

Fresno Audubon and the River Parkway and Conservation Trust have teamed to offer a recurring Introduction to Birding class at the Coke Hallowell Center for River Studies. Students will learn how to use binoculars, why birding is a fun and valuable hobby, and what resources are available to help you identify birds. After the initial class work you will accompany Fresno Audubon experts on a bird walk around the River Center property including the Hidden Homes Trail. The class will meet at the wisteria arbor just north of the River House. The Parkway is handling registration. Register here. The address of the event is 11605 Old Friant Rd, Fresno, CA 93730. The class will run from 8-10, and children are welcome.

Bring binoculars, snacks, water and sun protection. There is no cost to attend. Fresno Audubon will have binoculars to loan if you do not have your own.

Earth Day Fresno

Earth Day will be celebrated this year on 20 April from 10-4 at Radio Park in Fresno. The mission of Earth Day Fresno is to inspire people to make changes in their daily lives to help restore the ecological health of our San Joaquin Valley and the world. This year’s theme is species protection, a natural fit for Fresno Audubon. come by our booth and learn about planting native plants for birds. The address is 2233 N First St, Fresno, CA 93703

Fresno-Madera Birds
by Jeff Davis
photos by Gary Woods
Including reports for the period of
February 16 to March 15, 2019

A Greater Scaup, a female, at Bass Lake February 21 (ph. RF) was the only one reported this winter. 

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Lost Lake Park, first discovered November 20, was present through at least March 9 (JM). 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Gary Woods

A Cassin’s Kingbird at Scout Island February 23 (JS, BW, ph. BM) may have been the same one reported near Riverbottom Park in January and at River West Open Space Area and Sycamore Island in November.

Cassin’s Kingbird by Gary Woods

At least one Black-throated Gray Warbler, a female, remained China Creek County Park at least through February 25 (ph. RS, DH). 

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Cited Observers: Rob Fowler, Diane Highbaugh, Bruce Mast, Josh McLaughlin, Rick Saxton, Jeff Seay, Bruce Williford, and Gary Woods. m.ob. = many observers, ph. = photographed by.

If you make an interesting observation, we’d love to hear about it. We are especially interested in birds listed as casual or rare on the Fresno Audubon checklist and those found out of season, out of normal habitat, or in unusually large numbers. Please submit reports to Jeff Davis (559-246-3272, jndavis@ucsc.edu), the Fresno County Birders e-mail list, or eBird.

Birds in the News
Links to Recent Articles on Birds

This New Scientifically Accurate Board Game Is for the Birders

Wingspan,” an eclectic new board game that transforms players into avian enthusiasts working to attract visitors to competing wildlife preserves, boasts a level of scientific rigor typically unseen in the gaming world.

As Siobhan Roberts reports for The New York Times, creator Elizabeth Hargrave—a self-proclaimed “spreadsheet geek” and avid birder—crafted “Wingspan” with mathematical precision: Drawing on data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird citizen-science project and All About Birds portal, as well as Audubon’s online guide to North American birds, Hargrave made a massive spreadsheet detailing information such as habitat, wingspan, red-list status and diet. At one point, the document reached a staggering size of 596 rows by nearly 100 columns. Read more…

Study finds people who feed birds impact conservation

People in many parts of the world feed birds in their backyards, often due to a desire to help wildlife or to connect with nature. In the United States alone, over 57 million households in the feed backyard birds, spending more than $4 billion annually on bird food.

While researchers know that bird feeding can influence nature, they do not know how it influences the people who feed those birds.

“Given that so many people are so invested in attracting birds to their backyard, we were interested in what natural changes they observe at their feeders beyond simply more birds,” said Ashley Dayer, an assistant professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech. “In particular, we wanted to know how they respond to their observations. For example, how do they feel if they see sick birds at their feeders, and what actions do they take to address these observations?” Read more…

How birds become male or female, and occasionally both

The highly unusual “semi-identical” Australian twins reported last week are the result of a rare event. It’s thought the brother and sister (who have identical genes from their mother but not their father) developed from an egg fertilised by two different sperm at the same moment.

In humans, it’s the sperm that determines whether an embryo is pushed along a male or female development pathway. But in birds, it’s the other way around. Eggs are the deciding factor in bird sex.

There are other fascinating aspects of bird sex that are not shared by humans. Female birds seem to have some capacity to control the sex of their chicks. And occasionally a bird that is female on one side and male on the other is produced – as in recent reports of this cardinal in the United States. Read more…

For this beautiful bird, life is better with zygodactyl feet

Red-breasted sapsuckers are so named because most of their diet is sap, but they also love to indulge in fruits as an extra sweet treat. If you look closely at how this bird is gripping the apple, you’ll notice something interesting about its feet.

The red-breasted sapsucker is a member of the woodpecker family, and most species of woodpecker — as well as owls, parrots and ospreys — have zygodactyl feet. This is a type of foot structure in which the two middle toes (toes 2 and 3) point forward and two outside toes ( toes 1 and 4) point back. This clever foot formation, which can look like an X or a K, allows birds to grip things more efficiently. For owls and ospreys, it gives the bird exceptional hold on wriggling prey. For woodpeckers, it gives them the ability to cling easily to vertical tree trunks. And in parrots, it provides an amazing amount of dexterity when handling food items or navigating branches in a tree canopy. Read more…

Welcome to Birdpunk: A Subculture of a Subculture

It’s the evening golden hour at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum. A whirlwind of swallows swims through the soft light, chasing midges into a frenzy. Nearby on a platform a handful of birders scans the dimming sky, exposed to the marsh and its blood-thirsty elements.

In plain T-shirts and khakis, the group blends into the woods-y backdrop—with two exceptions. Caleb Hunt, a bookkeeper for an adult-entertainment boutique, rocks a Philly Punx tank top with a fanged, horned Benjamin Franklin splashed across the front. Next to her, Tony Croasdale, the leader of today’s walk, sports an aviary of skin art. A Swallow-tailed Kite, Belted Kingfisher, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Scarlet Tanager, and three types of vultures bedeck his legs, collarbone, and arms. Read more…

Keeping Backyard Birds Safe

UNTIL 2005, A SMALL SONGBIRD called the greenfinch was common across Great Britain. Today, its numbers have plunged by 35 percent due to the emergence of a disease called finch trichomoniasis. Usually transmitted at backyard feeders, finch trichomoniasis has not yet been detected in the United States. It has, however, been found in Canada’s Atlantic Provinces, where it has killed purple finches and American goldfinches. Biologists believe it could move easily into this country, where it would join other deadly diseases already spread at feeders, including salmonellosis, aspergillosis, conjunctivitis and avian pox.

Despite these threats, Travis Wilcoxen, a biologist at Millikin University in Illinois, says people do not need to stop feeding birds. But Wilcoxen, who has studied feeder birds for many years, adds that backyard birders should take steps to minimize the risks. “Take your feeders down once a week and soak them in a bucket of bleach solution,” he says. “Rinse them and let them air dry before you fill them up again.” He also recommends putting out fewer feeders and spreading them out. “Place them in different parts of your property,” he says, and only put out the amount of seed that will be eaten in a couple of days. Read more…

 

Member Photographs

Fresno Audubon members have been submitting some really terrific photographs to this column. If you would like to add yours to the mix, please send your photo in jpeg format to rsnow@fresnoaudubon.org with a brief description, where the photo was taken and how you want the photo credit to read. Birds may be from anywhere. Limited space may restrict publication to a later issue. We now have an Instagram site (@fresnoaudubon), and we will showcase photos there as well.

Julia Baisch

Greater Roadrunner by Julie Baisch

Taken at the Coke Hallowell Center for River Studies 12 March 2019

Clayton Dahlen

Wood Duck by Clayton Dahlen

Taken in Woodward Park

Black-crowned Night-Heron by Clayton Dahlen

Taken at Quail Lakes

American Kestrel by Clayton Dahlen

Taken at Quail Lakes

Nina Jones

Wild Turkey by Nina Jones

Taken in the foothills March 2019

Brown Creeper by Nina Jones

Taken at Bass Lake 24 March 2019

Swainson’s Hawk by Nina Jones

Taken on Road 208 25 March 2019

Red-tailed Hawk by Nina Jones

Taken in the foothills March 2019

Larry Parmeter

Female Nuttal’s Woodpecker by Larry Parmeter

Taken at Avocado Lake 15 March 2019

Nathan Parmeter

Green Heron by Nathan Parmeter

Taken in San Juan Capistrano, CA in December 2018 at the San Juan Capistrano Mission

Trumpeter Swan by Nathan Parmeter

Taken in December 2018 at Lake Artemesia in College Park, Maryland

Cecelia Sheeter

Red-tailed Hawk eating gopher by Cecelia Sheeter

Tricolored Blackbirds by Cecelia Sheeter

Yellow-headed Blackbird by Cecelia Sheeter

Bullock’s Oriole by Cecelia Sheeter

American Goldfinch by Cecelia Sheeter