Archive for September 11th, 2006
Santa Fe New Mexican, NM - Aug 5, 2006
By STELLA DAVIS | Associated Press
August 5, 2006
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) - Nobody knows for certain how many cave swallows share the home of the Mexican free-tail bats at Carlsbad Caverns, but for the past 26 years, volunteers have come back year after year to learn more about them.
Since 1980, Steve West, a science teacher at Carlsbad High School and an avid birder and researcher, has been part of a cave swallow banding project that he helped initiate to determine their migratory range and lifespan.
Also a member of the Chihuahuan Desert Conservation Alliance, West said members of his organization and volunteers from 38 states and 15 countries have over the years banded an estimated 17,000 cave swallows starting each spring and ending in the fall when the birds leave the cave for the winter and head to Mexico.
“We needed to know their winter range and where they spend half a year when they are not living in the entrance to the caverns,” West said. “But we have collected a lot of other data about them in the past 26 years.”
West said the cave swallows were discovered inside the cavern’s big entrance 40 years ago.
“There were three nesting pairs found there in 1966. There was a population explosion in the 1970s, but by the early 1980s, the population had maxed out,” he said.
Although the banding project has been ongoing since 1980, West said determining the number of cave swallows is difficult at best. He estimates about 1,600 swallows make their home at Carlsbad Caverns during the summer months.
West said banding the birds is not an easy task. They have to be captured in a net, then an aluminum band with data relating to the capture is placed around the leg.
“Although we have not had many birds returned documenting where they were found, we have had a few that had died and were returned to us because of the bands. When that happens, it gives us good data of their range and when they were banded by us.”
The oldest bird to be recaptured in the cave was 12 years old; its band showed it was first captured in 1993. West said about two-thirds of the birds die in the first year, and those who make it can live about eight years.
West’s group gets federal and state approval for its work and permission from park officials to be in the cave. He said the data gathered is shared with the park, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others who are conducting cave swallow research.
“My philosophy is that what good is the scientific data if it is not shared?” he said.
West became interested in cave swallows shortly after he left the military in the 1970s. His experience banding cave swallows began in Alpine, Texas, with the Texas Bird Banding Association.
West moved to Carlsbad in 1980 and it was only logical that he continue banding cave swallows. With park permission, he and a band of volunteers began the project.
Banding generally takes place in the evenings after visitors have left and before the bats leave for a night of feeding.
“The bats and the cave swallows co-exist. The birds fly out in the morning when the bats come in after being out all night,” he said.
Through his research, West has determined the cave swallows winter as far south as El Salvador and in Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, Mexico.
Over the years, West also has seen a shift in the migratory pattern of the cave swallows summering at Carlsbad Caverns. The birds used to return in early March, but now they’re showing up in January.
West said the birds are expending less energy by living in the cave, where they are protected. He also said global warming may play a role in the birds’ schedule.
September 11th, 2006
Salt Lake Tribune, United States - Aug 17, 2006
By Lori Buttars
The Salt Lake Tribune
San Juan Capistrano it isn’t.
   But the outdoor-garden center at Smith’s Marketplace on 3300 South and 3300 East has become a summer mecca for barn swallows.
   ”Unfortunately, they have a habit of pooping in high-traffic places and that has become a problem,” says Smith’s spokeswoman Marsha Gilford.
   As the name “barn swallow” implies, dozens of the tiny birds - easily identified by their light-colored chests and long forked tails - have set up shop at the store. The birds have even built nests in the eaves of the outdoor shelter that covers the garden area. They are especially fond of the area closest to the building, including the walkway leading to the grocery store.
   According to workers, the birds can be beneficial - and entertaining. Even though their nesting area is often white with droppings, the swallows are known to feast on flies and mosquitoes.
   ”I’ve seen nearly 10 pair and watched them fledge their young,” says Jack Nielsen, assistant manager of the home and garden center. “In the mornings, you can watch them snap bugs right out of the air. The customers love them. People bring their kids to see them.”
   For some customers, though, the swallows have been tough to stomach.
   ”I got hit,” laughs Holladay resident Tammy Adams. “It wasn’t a big problem because I was wearing my gardening clothes, just embarrassing.”
   Adams, however, cut her shopping trip short. That is a concern for store managers.
   “It has happened several times,” Gilford says, “and we’ve had customers complain. And it’s become more of a problem because more and more birds are coming every year.”
Maggie Shoa, a horticulturist with the Utah State University
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Service, says the conditions at the garden center are likely the draw for the swallows.
   “They construct their nests out of mud, so they like to be near a good source of soil,” she says. “Water is also an attractant.”
   Some customers were rattled when store workers removed some of the nests near the doorway. One wrote a letter to the editor pointing out that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act forbids removing occupied nests.
   “I just don’t think people realize what they’ve got,” says bird aficionado Allan Daly. “These things eat copious amounts of mosquitoes. In a season known for West Nile Virus, these birds are beneficial.”
   Gilford says store officials are taking a hands-off approach for the rest of the season. But the store may take Shoa’s advice and put up physical barriers in the corners of the shelter for next summer.
   “We’d like to keep them in the areas over the plants and places that are easy to wash down,” Gilford says. “They do lend a sort of natural charm to the garden area.”
   lorib@sltrib.com
September 11th, 2006
uiowa.edu
Bird Hall renovations take flight
Spring has officially arrived. This means longer days, milder weather, and the happy, melodic banter of songbirds.
At the Museum of Natural History, it means crunch time. Staff members have been working since December on the installation of the museum’s newly renovated bird exhibition in what is now known as the Hageboeck Hall of Birds. The renaming of the hall is in recognition of a gift from William and Eleanor Hageboeck of Iowa City.
Though a grand opening event for the exhibition is set for May 5, staff members hope to welcome the public as early as next month.
Julia Golden, the museum’s interim director, says visitors can expect many improvements to the hall’s exhibition, which has a new title, “Taking Flight: The World of Birds.” Not only have all the murals been repainted and the birds cleaned and remounted, but new displays will allow for more education and interpretation.
“We’re going to feature new sections on birds’ nests and skeletons. One display will include real nests, most of which were collected more than 100 years ago. We’ll also have a wall of feathers,” she says, pointing to a bright orange plume from a red ibis.
In addition, new displays will feature information on eggs and bird DNA. Other new elements will include flip panels and tip-out drawers with more information; extensive labeling with stories identifying characteristics of specific groups of birds; an interactive computer program on bird song; and a 15-minute video on bird flight produced by the Audiovisual Center. Additionally, each bird will have a badge indicating which seasons, if any, one might see the bird in Iowa.
The gallery, which opened in 1904 and has one of the Midwest’s largest collections of North American birds, has had only one facelift in its lifetime and that was 30 years ago, Golden explains. The current renovation project has been in the works for a decade.
Five years ago, an advisory committee comprised of James Fuller, professor emeritus of operative dentistry, Jeffry Schabilion, professor of biological sciences, Jeff Klahn, lecturer in biological sciences, and Vera Jean Fitzgerald, lecturer in biological sciences, began meeting to plan the new components.One new display is a suspended wandering albatross, whose skeleton had been shown in a perched position before the renovation. It now hangs from the ceiling with a wing span of more than 11 feet. Former museum director George Schrimper took apart the skeleton, cleaned it, and repositioned it. Terry Brown, of Minneapolis, designed the flying model that surrounds the skeleton.
Perhaps the most significant development in the gallery, Golden says, is the addition of updated and expanded labels. One can learn, for example, what characteristics distinguish a swallow from other birds or how owls digest rodents. The information has a wide appeal.
“The content is at the college level but presented in language that is less scientific than what might be used in a college lab course—it’s also suitable for tours of K-12 students,” she says.
As a curator of paleontology in the Department of Geoscience, Golden says she’s learned a lot about birds in recent months.
“Yesterday I saw a bird,” she says. “I wasn’t sure what it was, but when I heard it sing, I said to myself, ‘That’s a flicker, I can tell. Before this renovation, I might not have been able to identify it.”
Most of the installation, she notes, should be complete by the end of the month. Staff members will then spend time finishing the gallery before opening it to the public. Two areas that will be open at a later date are “Iowa: The Most Altered Landscape,” which will depict how environmental, cultural, and industrial changes in Iowa have affected birdlife, and “Birds and You,” which will illustrate human relationships with birds and offer tips on how to attract backyard birds.
The museum has more than 30,000 visitors each year, nearly half of whom are schoolchildren and University students. Exhibit designer Bruce Scherting, who came to campus from Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum in Chicago, says the museum is impressive for its size.
“It’s quite a good collection,” he says. “People are always surprised when they visit.”
To learn more about the museum or to check on the gallery’s progress, see www.uiowa.edu/~nathist.
Article by Sara Epstein
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September 11th, 2006