Curlews on the move

Recently there has been some curlew migration discussion on the Texbirds mailing list. Never one to let something cool slip by me, I e-mailed Joel about the project.

Nebraska Long-billed Curlew Tracking Project is following two female Long-Billed Curlews (Numenius americanus) - the site is amazing. One has not been heard from since December, but the other has made an early fall migration; she left the wintering grounds in April, and is almost back on them already and it's only mid June!

"Feel free to blog about the project and the website. It is a fun part of the curlew project and I think people find it interesting."

...Joel's suggestion that this study is interesting is an understatement. Take a look at Long-billed Curlew life history. First of all, it's a sandy colored bird about the size of a football. On stilts. With a long neck. And a beak that is longer than its legs. The curlew tracking project takes this fantastically proportioned bird and then adds a telemetry pack. The fine print also lists their life expectancy of 8-10 years.

Joel also offered some reassurance to my question of whether or not the transmitter interfered with mating: "I do not believe the satellite transmitter interfere with mating, other than the small battery, the rest of the transmitter is flexible."

And now for a paragraph of sage advice, and part of the wisdom behind all bird tracking (emphasis mine):

Why Track Long-billed Curlews?

Long-billed Curlew are migratory shorebirds that spend only a quarter or a third of their annual cycle on their Nebraska breeding grounds. While understanding Long-billed Curlew reproductive ecology in Nebraska is important and is part of the broader project, knowing where Nebraska curlews spend the rest of the year is equally important. For instance, the species' habitat and food resources may be secure in Nebraska, but curlews may face threats on their wintering grounds in Texas, California, or Mexico (we don't know for sure where Nebraska curlews go?). Linking birds breeding grounds with their wintering areas and migrations routes is key to conserving the species.

And so we end on a note of conservation: as guests on this planet, we need to make sure that what we do is not at the expense of others. Birds know no borders.

behind the Black-whiskered Vireo

In the summer of 2009, my spouse and I witnessed a very active Black-whiskered Vireo rummaging around the treetops of Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park. Whew. What a name! Anyway, the bird and its unbanded companion were the highlight of our time on Key Largo - so naturally we reported the banded bird and waited. And waited. And finally this spring we were prompted by the Bananaquit bander (see previous post) to re-send the information.

Hi Ms. Trudell,

Thanks for getting in touch with the Bird Banding Lab to report that you saw my bird! I've sent them a bit of information regarding when and where it was banded, so I think you should be getting a certificate of appreciation from them. I banded that guy (and yes, it is a male) on July 5th of last year, at Dagny Johnson. I'm happy that you saw him! Unless I'm mistaken, it was towards the end of last July that you spotted him?

As I said, you should be hearing from the Bird Banding Lab - but I'm more than happy to tell you a bit about my research and why I was banding Black-whiskered Vireos, if you'd like to know.

Thanks again for reporting your sighting!

Catherine Dale

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Catherine Dale
PhD Candidate
Department of Biology
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario
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So when we saw the bird on July 29, he had only been wearing those bands for 24 days! Right leg color bands were green over pink, left leg was [some color we couldn't make out] over silver. Since the e-mail confirms that he was actually banded where we spotted him, it's neat to see that he hung around even after being accosted and color marked.