News

Aug 13, 2023

Setting record straight on scarce warbler; hawks and more hawks

First, a correction. In the last column I wrote about the successful efforts to

First, a correction. In the last column I wrote about the successful efforts to move the Kirtland's warbler off of the federal endangered species list by removing brown-headed cowbird eggs from the warbler's nests.

Brown-headed cowbirds do not build their own nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and the host bird then incubates the eggs and raises the young cowbirds at the expense of their own young. For the Kirtland's warbler, which needs a very specific type of habitat found only in upper Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario, cowbirds could bring the Kirtland's warbler to the edge of extinction if not kept in check.

Shortly after that column appeared, I received an email from William Rapai, executive director of the Kirtland's Warbler Alliance who corrected me on their efforts to control cowbirds. Specifically, he told me that removing eggs is impractical because Kirkland warblers are ground-nesting birds that build their well-concealed nests under overlapping branches of young jack pine trees and any effort to remove eggs would result in destruction of the branches that cover the nest or the nest itself.

Although a number of methods have been used over the years to control cowbirds, there were two that caught my attention. The first is the overall decline of cowbird populations in eastern North America — a decline Mr. Rapai describes as dramatic. The second is the maturing of the forest to the south of the Kirtland's nesting areas, which acts as a natural barrier to the northward movement of cowbirds, which favor open areas rather than deep woods.

Also of interest is a more detailed description of the habitat requirements of the Kirtland's warbler, which is not just young jack pine trees with overlapping branches but also the requirement of sandy soil that drains well since the Kirtland's builds its nest on the ground. All of this explains the tenuous hold that the Kirtland's warbler has on existence and underscores the importance of conservation groups like the Kirtland's Warbler Alliance and I thank Mr. Rapai for his email setting the record straight.

My own plans to see the Kirtland's warbler will be on hold for a year or two, but if you’re interested in learning more about the bird or the conservation efforts of the Kirtland's Warbler Alliance you can check out their Facebook page for a lot more information and some cool photos.

As an aside, as uncommon as the Kirtland's warbler is outside of its range, it's not our rarest warbler. Sadly, that distinction belongs to the Bachman's warbler, which my copy of the "Peterson Field Guide" describes as "The rarest North American songbird," but other sources describe as extinct with the last confirmed sightings being in the 1960s, although there may have been a sighting in 1988 in Louisiana.

As we move on with spring, we’ll begin to see and hear more birds returning to our area to set up territory and begin nesting. Following the last column I received reports of tundra swans on Cuba Lake and saw a flock of almost 30 flying north over my house. Flights of tundra swans, which used to be called whistling swans, are easy to miss compared to the loud bark of the Canada goose, but they pass overhead at the same time of the year so if you hear a soft whistling sound, it pays to look up.

In addition to tundra swans, snow geese have been reported on the Allegheny River in Olean and in the Conewango Valley on the western side of the county.

If March is when we see migrating waterfowl, then April is when we expect to see migrating birds of prey including hawks, eagles and osprey. For people who are in tune with the natural world, these birds can be seen almost anywhere in April, particularly when we have a warm breeze from the southwest. It's their adaptation to using wind direction and the lift generated by thermals that makes it possible to see large concentrations of birds of prey — sometimes into the thousands — at area hawk watches. The two that I’m familiar with are the Hamburg hawk watch and the Braddock Bay hawk watch.

Braddock Bay is just west of Rochester and because of the unique geography at that location it creates a funnel through which birds of prey that are migrating along the shore of Lake Ontario pass overhead. If the conditions are right, a visit to Braddock Bay can be spectacular with a half a dozen or more raptor species passing through — some of which come zooming by at eye level. But since the birds aren't talking, determining when the conditions will be "right" is pretty challenging and it can be frustrating to drive two hours or more to find the conditions aren't right.

But as the popularity of hawk watching has grown so have the resources used to determine the "right time" and Braddock Bay has taken full advantage of those resources including a website at www.bbrr.org with links to live updates and useful resources including www.hawkcount.org, which keeps daily counts from over 300 hawk watch sites in North America and each of those sites includes a forecast for the next day if the site is active. So, for example, on March 24, the forecast for Saturday March 25 at Braddock Bay said: "Very strong winds and coming from a bad direction. Count will probably not be held," whereas the forecast on March 23 included this statement: "A less favorable wind direction but light so won't be a big issue; but not sun to get raptors up."

In short, the people who count the birds watch the forecast and give their best prediction to when conditions will be "right."

The Hamburg Hawk Watch is less developed than Braddock Bay so people bring their own lawn chairs and, depending on the flight line, move around the area to get the best view. Hamburg relies on volunteer counters who are members of the Buffalo Ornithological Society (BOS) but like the paid counters at Braddock Bay they post their count data to www.hawkcount.org and also include forecasts for the days ahead. I’ve never been to Hamburg on days that I would describe as spectacular but it's much closer and it's a collegial group of people very willing to help beginners identify birds of prey on the wing. For anyone interested in going, there's a map of the location on the BOS website.

Some of my most memorable observations of birds of prey have taken place from my own backyard so there's no need to travel to a hawk watch site, but if you want a crash course in how to identify birds of prey on the wing, you’ll find experts at Hamburg and Braddock Bay.

If the conditions are right, it’ll be an experience you won't forget.

Images of hawks on the wing can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/79356893@N03

(Jeffrey Reed writes a monthly birding column for the Olean Times Herald. Readers with questions or comments can call him at 557-2327 or email him at [email protected].)

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