HART BEAT: SPARK BIRDS

Tufted Titmouse (1)

What is a Spark Bird? Many veteran birders will tell you that they first became interested in birds after they encountered a bird that they found very interesting and wanted to know more about.

For example, the first time I ever went birding as an 11-year-old soon-to-be Boy Scout with my then-soon-to-be Scout Master, who was also the only birder in my hometown, I saw a bird that was completely new to me. After studying it with my binoculars and searching through the old original Peterson field guide my Scout Master had, I learned that the new bird was a Tufted Titmouse.

The whole experience was quite thrilling to me and sparked me into a lifetime interest that continues today. Yes, I know that Tufted Titmouse is now a very common feeder bird in Pennsylvania and most states east of the Mississippi and from northern Florida to the St Lawrence River. But back in 1943 bird feeding was unheard of and the only way to see such birds was to go into the field in search of them.

I asked my wife, Jewel, if she had a similar Spark Bird experience. She responded that as a recent college graduate living in her first home away from her parents she had a bird feeder (she is younger than I am, and bird feeding was a common activity by then) and just wanted to know what all those birds were. In order to find out she took a college course with a well-known ornithologist, along with field trips and visits to popular birding sites, and became so interested that she attended week-long Audubon camps and spent considerable time at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania, where fall hawk migration is particularly exciting. She also attended many bird walks at Peace Valley Park near our Pennsylvania home.

Another close birding friend, (who my genealogist and birder brother, Bob, has discovered is also a distant cousin of ours,) has posted on our Pennsylvania birding club website that his Spark Bird, encountered when he was camping with his family in the Rocky Mountains, was a Western Tanager that he began chasing, and sparked him into birding to the extent that he has now completed his goal of seeing at least 100 species of birds in each of the lower 48 states. I now vicariously bird with him from home by following all his bird chases throughout the United States as he searches for and photographs the rare and unusual species that suddenly appear at remote spots almost anywhere.

The Tufted Titmouse loves sunflower seeds (photo 2). They typically come to a sunflower feeder, dig out one sunflower seed, and then carry it to a nearby branch where they hold the seed down with their claws while they crack open the hull to feed on the tasty seed. (photo 3) Tufted Titmice (note the plural of the species) also love unsalted shelled peanuts almost as much as sunflower seeds. (photo 4) Sometimes when they are actively engaged they lower the tuft so that they almost seem not to have one anymore. And even when they have just emerged from the bath and are soaking wet, they are still quite cute. (photo 5)

The Tufted Titmouse is in the family of birds known as the paridae which includes 55 species worldwide, including the chickadees and popular British species such as Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tit. But there are only five Titmouse species in the United States, the other four of which are all in the western states.

Yes, the Tufted Titmouse is the only Titmouse species in the east and is the only species with a black spot just above the bill. Unfortunately, here in St Lucie County, we are just south of the range of the Tufted Titmouse. While I have never seen one in the county, there have been reports of occasional sightings in the area. The farthest south I have seen one is at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area on the way to Joe Overstreet Road.

I have sometimes wondered whether the tuft on the Tufted Titmouse would someday inspire a new either men’s or women’s hair style. And wouldn’t it be something if they could raise it or lower it at will like the Tufted Titmouse does. It could be used to signal all sorts of emotions. Raise it if interested, lower it if not. You get the idea. For humans they might need some sort of electrical pulse to make it work. On second thought that might not work. It would be a shame if someone got so excited they would electrocute themselves just when things were really going well. Still an idea that needs more work. Thank you, Tufted Titmouse, Spark Bird.

Learn more about “Spark Birds” on recent NPR feature on This American Life: www.thisamericanlife.org/754/spark-bird

For more information on Tufted Titmouse, see: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/overview.

HART BEAT: EXTINCTION AND RECOVERY

The “Lord God Bird” is about to be declared extinct again. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (above) is referred to as the “Lord God Bird” because supposedly everyone who has ever seen one exclaims “Lord God, look at that bird!” (The Ivory-billed is also sometimes referred to as the “Holy Grail Bird” as finding one is regarded as the Holy Grail of birding.)

And no, I don’t have any photos of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker to share with you, and you will note the picture of the Ivory-billed pair at the top of this column is a painting of the male with it is red crest and the female with its black crest because no one has ever taken a color photo of any Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. In fact, the only photos known to exist are some grainy black-and-white photos taken back in 1935 of a pair at the nest by Arthur A. Allen and of a nestling taken in 1938 by James Tanner, all those photos taken in the very remote Singer Tract of old growth forest in Louisiana, now long gone to timbering.

More recently in April 2004 an Ivory-billed Woodpecker was spotted in Arkansas which prompted an intense search for the bird. During that search, which included over 50 searchers spending up to 14 hours a day in impenetrable swamps, four different searchers on four different days spotted the bird, and from June 2004 to February 2005 there were two more sightings of the bird. In September 2006, another group of ornithologists searching along the Chotawhatchee River in Northwest Florida also spotted an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, but further searches of the area extending into 2009 did not produce any additional sightings. As further evidence of the bird’s existence, during the search, audio recordings were made of the Ivory-billed Woodpeckers distinctive double knock pounding on a tree.

Many doubters of the 21st century sightings of Ivory-billed Woodpecker believe the observers mistakenly saw Pileated Woodpeckers and jumped to the wrong conclusions. Pileated Woodpeckers (photos 2 male, 3 and 4 both females) do indeed superficially resemble Ivory-billed, but the latter are significantly larger and have distinctive white primary feathers, contrary to the Pileated Woodpeckers all black back, and the Ivory-billed has a most distinctive massive ivory-colored bill.

This column was prompted by two articles in the September 30th edition of the Palm Beach Post. The first was the announcement that the U S Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to move the Ivory-billed Woodpecker from the “Threatened” list to the “Extinct” list. The final decision will be made some time after November 29th of this year, and a concerted effort is being made by many ornithologists to prevent that final decision from being made. The second article in the same edition of the Palm Beach Post featured the recovery efforts being made to save the Florida subspecies of the Grasshopper Sparrow (photos 5 and 6) from becoming extinct.

The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow is a non-migratory grassland subspecies that lives year-round in a five-county area of Florida (Glades, Highlands, Polk, Okeechobee, and Osceola counties) and is generally darker than its namesake migratory birds (photo 7) that leave Florida to breed generally from northern Texas to South Carolina and all the way to southern Canada. When these photos of the Grasshopper Sparrows were taken, back in 2007 on a St Lucie Audubon Society field trip to Kissimmee Prairie where we assisted in the capture of Grasshopper Sparrows for banding purposes, it was estimated that there were about 50 pair of Florida Grasshopper Sparrows in the wild. That number was reduced to an estimated 15 pair of Florida Grasshopper Sparrows in 2017. In 2019, a captive breeding program was begun and since then over 500 Florida captive bred Grasshopper Sparrows have been released into the wild. The program has been successful, and it is now estimated that more than 200 Florida Grasshopper Sparrows are now living in the wild, with more to come each year as the recovery program continues.

It’s interesting that the same edition of the newspaper would carry two different bird stories: one about extinction and one about recovery. Certainly, we are aware of the successes of other recovery efforts, such as Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Osprey, and any number of other success stories. Nevertheless, we must also be mindful of the species we are losing forever. The same USFWS announcement that proposed extinction status for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker also proposed the Bachmann’s Warbler, last seen in 1988, be declared extinct.

While it is true that as individuals every single one of us is facing eventual extinction, we are confident that as a species we will continue to survive. And hopefully some day someone will find another Ivory-billed Woodpecker or Bachmann’s Warbler and further evidence that they still exist. Now if only we could find some way to prevent the extinction and figure a way to recovery of bipartisanship in Congress. That would be a true success story.

HART BEAT: BIRDS NEED WATER

“I’ve got a present for you.” Our longtime friends, formerly Pennsylvania residents, but now fellow Snowbirds like us, who have retired to Maine but winter near us in Florida where we get to see them regularly, had just arrived for a visit at our Pennsylvania farm. He presented us with a beautiful granite birdbath (Photo 1, top of page) which he had made himself with granite stones found on his Maine property.

It was a work of art which he created by using a diamond-tipped sawblade to cut grooves in the granite and then a motorized oscillating hammer/chisel to chip out the granite pieces between the cut grooves. When the bowl was cut to his satisfaction, he then used a grindstone to smooth out the bottom.

The final product is magnificent, natural looking, and a tremendous addition to our bird feeding station. And the birds took to it immediately. It is very satisfying to watch birds dip into the water (Photo 2), scoop up a bill full of water and then throw their heads back to let the water run down their throats. (Photo 3) The present ranks high on our list of the best we have ever received.

Observing the birds use the birdbath drives home the importance of water in the lives of birds. Obviously, some species live near water and earn their living chasing and catching fish that live in the water. Anhingas (Photo 4) catch fish under water by spearing them and it can be amusing sometimes to watch them get the fish stuck on their bills and have difficulty getting the fish unstuck. Cormorants on the other hand chase after fish under water and catch them with their seriated bills which enable them to grab hold of the fish and keep them from slipping away.

Other species of birds such as Least Bitterns (Photo 5) and Green Herons catch their fish by waiting along the edges of water until a hapless fish swims by and then catching the fish from their perch. Most herons use either the “catch fish in the water” or “wait by the shoreline” technique to provide their daily meals.

Reddish Egrets use the canopy feeding technique by spreading their wings wide over the shallow water to create shade to draw fish near to them for easier catching. Of course, some species such as Great Blue Herons, are omnivorous and will catch fish, snakes or frogs for lunch (Photo 6) and then may just leave the water to hunt for mice or voles in a nearby field or meadow.

Any number of species such as gallinules, snipe, and many duck species will forage in the water for grasses or other organisms. Limpkin and Snail Kites will hunt for Apple Snails and many species such as shorebirds, Avocets and Black-necked Stilts and many sandpipers will forage for all kinds of organisms in the shallow waters or along the water’s edge.

Finally, several species will dive from the sky to catch their fish and take them to a favored perch to devour. Ospreys (Photo 7), some tern species and notably kingfishers all fall into this category.

But all other species that don’t rely on water directly for their daily diet do indeed need water. Even the casual observer at one time or another has seen birds in a public parking lot drinking or bathing in a small water puddle, or even in the middle of a busy street or road.

Years ago, we had a ceramic birdbath in our garden in which we installed a small fountain. That was a very popular bird destination. When it broke, for some unknown reason we never got around to replacing it. Our new granite birdbath is not likely to break and now we are looking for a solar-operated bird bubbler to install in it to make it even more attractive.

Sometimes it takes something like an unexpected but exciting gift to shock us out of our lethargy. Either that or a quick swift kick in the pants might work. Thank heaven for really good friends.