[cayugabirds-l] dawn Black-billed Cuckoo

[nutter.dave]

I slept with windows open last night because of the days' heat. It was still pretty dark at 4am when I got up for work, but when I neared the window I heard a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO calling vigorously from my backyard (first yard record!). I think maybe it was replying to my alarm clock, which has a similar pitch and rhythm, although I'd never noticed it before. I told Laurie about the cool bird, but it had quieted by the time she came to the window. A few minutes later I prepared to try playback to provoke more calling, but when I opened the back door, it was already calling again, so I decided to leave it alone. Again Laurie missed it from the window, so she listened to the recording before going back to sleep.--Dave Nutter
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[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma this evening

[Ann Mitchell]

Gary and I arrived at Knox Marsellus at. 5:40 this evening. The highlight there 
was seeing approximately 300 Bank Swallows. There was a total of 7 Wood Ducks 
and 10 Ruddy Ducks. There was an Indigo Bunting singing along with many Yellow 
Warblers and Common Yellowthroats.  Puddlers Marsh had 4 Redheads.


The main pool at Montezuma was remarkable for the lack of shorebirds. We saw 2 
Least Sandpipers at Larue's,  50 peep species on the main pool which was quite 
dry. We saw nothing at Benning.
Good Birding,

Ann Mitchell
Sent from my IPhone
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Flattened birds

[Anne Clark]

My late colleague Jack Christian documented barn and tree swallows taking the 
low spread-wing posture, exposing their wings fully, on metal barn roofs on hot 
summer days.  I also saw a few instances.  One possibility is that direct heat 
helps drive out feather parasites and exposure to UV and heat may decrease 
bacterial load on the feathers.  Actual sunning for body warmth seems very 
unlikely because, like an anting bird in the sun, they often pant and look, if 
anything, heat stressed.  

So I favor the interpretation that they are trading off their own excessive 
heating against what it might do against arthropod or bacterial parasites.  

I love the mousebird story--they are truly strange and wonderful little birds 
that I only partly appreciated when I lived in South Africa so long ago.  

Anne
  
On May 31, 2013, at 7:01 PM, Suan Hsi Yong wrote:

> On May 12, our SFO group at Arnot saw a brown creeper do the same pose but 
> vertically on a trunk, remaining fully camouflaged when doing so. I wish I 
> had my camera then. Anyhow, I assumed it was sunning itself, a reasonable 
> assumption on that cool day (40s-50s). The fact that your gnatcatcher did it 
> on this 90-degree day makes one wonder if something else is going on.
> 
> In South Africa I saw a speckled mousebird sunning itself in what I thought 
> was an odd posture:
> 
>   http://suan-yong.com/s.africa.php?s=Mousebirds&k=101618
> 
> I later learned that this was common behavior for mousebirds and helps warm 
> the stomach to digest the leaves it eats (digesting leaves is slow and 
> inefficient and tends to work best in cow-sized beasts with multiple 
> stomachs, not easy to pull off in a bird, though the hoatzin has managed it).
> 
> Suan
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Flattened birds

[Suan Hsi Yong]

On May 12, our SFO group at Arnot saw a brown creeper do the same pose but
vertically on a trunk, remaining fully camouflaged when doing so. I wish I
had my camera then. Anyhow, I assumed it was sunning itself, a reasonable
assumption on that cool day (40s-50s). The fact that your gnatcatcher did
it on this 90-degree day makes one wonder if something else is going on.

In South Africa I saw a speckled mousebird sunning itself in what I thought
was an odd posture:

  http://suan-yong.com/s.africa.php?s=Mousebirds&k=101618

I later learned that this was common behavior for mousebirds and helps warm
the stomach to digest the leaves it eats (digesting leaves is slow and
inefficient and tends to work best in cow-sized beasts with multiple
stomachs, not easy to pull off in a bird, though the hoatzin has managed
it).

Suan

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

[Chris R. Pelkie]

Was sending my previous note just as yours arrived. My idea is like your #3. I 
like #3 and #4.

I should add that the bird resumed active foraging right after the 2nd sunning 
on the path. It didn't appear to have just bathe nor did I see any preening.


ChrisP

On May 31, 2013, at 17:43 , Susan Fast wrote:

Chris,

I can think of 4 reasons that could explain this behavior.

1.  Some birds, like some people, like to lie in the sun.

2.  The bird may have come from bathing, and wishes to dry its feathers quickly.

3.  Research has shown that a short period of dry heat (a dryer, for example) 
will kill nymphal deer ticks.  Washing doesn’t kill ticks.

4. At this time of the year, when birds have nestlings to feed, they may not 
feel they have the time to spend laboriously oiling individual feathers, and so 
use the sun’s warmth to distribute their oil quickly and evenly, especially to 
hard to reach spots like the back.

I like the last idea myself.

Steve Fast
Brooktondale


From: 
bounce-97343615-9286...@list.cornell.edu
 [mailto:bounce-97343615-9286...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Chris Pelkie
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 1:07 PM
To: CAYUGABIRDS-L CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at SSW.
I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it and ID'd 
it as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.

Then, it flew down to the bark mulch in full sun, spread its wings and wing 
feathers as wide as possible, pressed its belly to the mulch and flattened its 
wings on the mulch, fluffed up all its back feathers, opened its mouth wide. 
Sat there for 15 seconds or so. Hopped up into a bush for 15 sec or so, then 
repeated the spreadeagle (spreadgnatcatcher, I guess) in a different spot.

I thought the first time it might be 'anting', the behavior I've heard of 
(correct me if this is an old wive's tale) of some birds letting ants bite them 
to get the formic acid rush which either repels parasites or feels better than 
the parasites themselves.

But when I walked forward I saw no ants or anthills or holes at the spots the 
bird had just used.

No other birds obviously nearby so not apparently a display.
Ideas?
__

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850

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[cayugabirds-l] Flattened birds

[Chris R. Pelkie]

Thanks for the responses and ideas about the flattening Gnatcatcher.
Here are two images gleaned from Google searches like "bird flatten behavior" 
that look very similar to what I witnessed, but with 2 other species entirely:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/51562852
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopsmaltyeast/4607003205/

There doesn't seem to be an obvious pattern here. In the Bewick Wren's case, it 
could have been a camouflage attempt.

I was wondering if maybe the Gnatcatcher was actually using the hot bark mulch 
to 'cook' parasites. It did choose the hot sunny part of the trail when there 
were cooler shaded parts only 10' in either direction. So the wing spreading, 
feather fluffing, and open mouth may have been to help dissipate body heat 
while concentrating heat on the belly fat.

ChrisP



__

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850


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RE: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

[Susan Fast]

Chris,

 

I can think of 4 reasons that could explain this behavior.

 

1.  Some birds, like some people, like to lie in the sun.

 

2.  The bird may have come from bathing, and wishes to dry its feathers
quickly.

 

3.  Research has shown that a short period of dry heat (a dryer, for
example) will kill nymphal deer ticks.  Washing doesn't kill ticks.

 

4. At this time of the year, when birds have nestlings to feed, they may not
feel they have the time to spend laboriously oiling individual feathers, and
so use the sun's warmth to distribute their oil quickly and evenly,
especially to hard to reach spots like the back.

 

I like the last idea myself.

 

Steve Fast

Brooktondale 

 

  _  

From: bounce-97343615-9286...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-97343615-9286...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Chris Pelkie
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 1:07 PM
To: CAYUGABIRDS-L CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

 

I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at
SSW.

I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it and
ID'd it as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.

 

Then, it flew down to the bark mulch in full sun, spread its wings and wing
feathers as wide as possible, pressed its belly to the mulch and flattened
its wings on the mulch, fluffed up all its back feathers, opened its mouth
wide. Sat there for 15 seconds or so. Hopped up into a bush for 15 sec or
so, then repeated the spreadeagle (spreadgnatcatcher, I guess) in a
different spot.

 

I thought the first time it might be 'anting', the behavior I've heard of
(correct me if this is an old wive's tale) of some birds letting ants bite
them to get the formic acid rush which either repels parasites or feels
better than the parasites themselves.

 

But when I walked forward I saw no ants or anthills or holes at the spots
the bird had just used.

 

No other birds obviously nearby so not apparently a display.

Ideas?

__

 

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850

 

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Glossy Ibis, Montezuma

[Carol Keeler]

I was at the Wildlife Drive yesterday, and there were almost no shorebirds. Way 
out there was a flock of shorebirds zooming about, but that was it.  I went 
there for shorebirds so I was very disappointed .  At the visitor there was a 
pair of Blue Winged Teals.  On the drive there were 2 Willow Flycatchers, a 
Marsh Wren, Yellow Warblers, Song Sparrows, a Warbling Vireo, Red Wings, and an 
Eastern Kingbird.   Near the parking lot, a Northern Oriole was harassing a 
crow.  Of course there were Martins and Tree Swallows.  

Sent from my iPad

On May 31, 2013, at 12:27 PM, Jay McGowan  wrote:

> Larue St. Clair and Jackie Bakker report a GLOSSY IBIS at Knox-Marsellus this 
> morning (31 May 2013). Today's survey does not include the main pool so no 
> word on shorebird numbers there, 
> 
> -- 
> Jay McGowan
> Macaulay Library
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> jw...@cornell.edu
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RE: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

[Meena Madhav Haribal]

Bark mulch has some fungus/bacteria in it to keep weeds from growing, so these 
may be beneficial to birds too. Plus, it is rough enough to be a scratching 
surface to remove mites and lice.

I have seen this behaviors in house sparrows on the campus where everything is 
covered with tons of bark mulch and Great Crested flycatchers do this too. So 
this may not be an uncommon behavior.

Meena


From: bounce-97343670-3493...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-97343670-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of David McCartt
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 1:22 PM
To: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

I've seen Robins doing essentially the same thing on the same trail though they 
stayed put on the bark mulch for much longer than 15 seconds.  Looked for ants 
too but did not see any.  Seem to remember it was always on a hot day.

David

--- On Fri, 5/31/13, Chris Pelkie 
mailto:chris.pel...@cornell.edu>> wrote:

From: Chris Pelkie mailto:chris.pel...@cornell.edu>>
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness
To: "CAYUGABIRDS-L CAYUGABIRDS-L" 
mailto:cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu>>
Date: Friday, May 31, 2013, 1:07 PM
I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at SSW.
I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it and ID'd 
it as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.

Then, it flew down to the bark mulch in full sun, spread its wings and wing 
feathers as wide as possible, pressed its belly to the mulch and flattened its 
wings on the mulch, fluffed up all its back feathers, opened its mouth wide. 
Sat there for 15 seconds or so. Hopped up into a bush for 15 sec or so, then 
repeated the spreadeagle (spreadgnatcatcher, I guess) in a different spot.

I thought the first time it might be 'anting', the behavior I've heard of 
(correct me if this is an old wive's tale) of some birds letting ants bite them 
to get the formic acid rush which either repels parasites or feels better than 
the parasites themselves.

But when I walked forward I saw no ants or anthills or holes at the spots the 
bird had just used.

No other birds obviously nearby so not apparently a display.
Ideas?
__

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

[David McCartt]

I've seen Robins doing essentially the same thing on the same trail though they 
stayed put on the bark mulch for much longer than 15 seconds.  Looked for ants 
too but did not see any.  Seem to remember it was always on a hot day.

David

--- On Fri, 5/31/13, Chris Pelkie  wrote:

From: Chris Pelkie 
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness
To: "CAYUGABIRDS-L CAYUGABIRDS-L" 
Date: Friday, May 31, 2013, 1:07 PM

I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at 
SSW.I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it and 
ID'd it as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
Then, it flew down to the bark mulch in full sun, spread its wings and wing 
feathers as wide as possible, pressed its belly to the mulch and flattened its 
wings on the mulch, fluffed up all its back feathers, opened its mouth wide. 
Sat there for 15 seconds or so. Hopped up into a bush for 15 sec or so, then 
repeated the spreadeagle (spreadgnatcatcher, I guess) in a different spot.
I thought the first time it might be 'anting', the behavior I've heard of 
(correct me if this is an old wive's tale) of some birds letting ants bite them 
to get the formic acid rush which either repels parasites or feels better than 
the parasites themselves.
But when I walked forward I saw no ants or anthills or holes at the spots the 
bird had just used.
No other birds obviously nearby so not apparently a display.Ideas?

__
Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850



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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

[Asher Hockett]

Perhaps it is trying to dissapate heat. It is awfully warm today.


On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 1:07 PM, Chris Pelkie wrote:

> I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at
> SSW.
> I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it and
> ID'd it as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
>
> Then, it flew down to the bark mulch in full sun, spread its wings and
> wing feathers as wide as possible, pressed its belly to the mulch and
> flattened its wings on the mulch, fluffed up all its back feathers, opened
> its mouth wide. Sat there for 15 seconds or so. Hopped up into a bush for
> 15 sec or so, then repeated the spreadeagle (spreadgnatcatcher, I guess) in
> a different spot.
>
> I thought the first time it might be 'anting', the behavior I've heard of
> (correct me if this is an old wive's tale) of some birds letting ants bite
> them to get the formic acid rush which either repels parasites or feels
> better than the parasites themselves.
>
> But when I walked forward I saw no ants or anthills or holes at the spots
> the bird had just used.
>
> No other birds obviously nearby so not apparently a display.
> Ideas?
> __
> *
> *
> *Chris Pelkie
> Research Analyst
> Bioacoustics Research Program
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> 159 Sapsucker Woods Road
> Ithaca, NY 14850*
>
> --
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-- 
asher

-Never play it the same way once.

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[cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

[Chris Pelkie]

I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at SSW.
I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it and ID'd 
it as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.

Then, it flew down to the bark mulch in full sun, spread its wings and wing 
feathers as wide as possible, pressed its belly to the mulch and flattened its 
wings on the mulch, fluffed up all its back feathers, opened its mouth wide. 
Sat there for 15 seconds or so. Hopped up into a bush for 15 sec or so, then 
repeated the spreadeagle (spreadgnatcatcher, I guess) in a different spot.

I thought the first time it might be 'anting', the behavior I've heard of 
(correct me if this is an old wive's tale) of some birds letting ants bite them 
to get the formic acid rush which either repels parasites or feels better than 
the parasites themselves.

But when I walked forward I saw no ants or anthills or holes at the spots the 
bird had just used.

No other birds obviously nearby so not apparently a display.
Ideas?
__

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850


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[cayugabirds-l] Glossy Ibis, Montezuma

[Jay McGowan]

Larue St. Clair and Jackie Bakker report a GLOSSY IBIS at Knox-Marsellus
this morning (31 May 2013). Today's survey does not include the main pool
so no word on shorebird numbers there,

-- 
Jay McGowan
Macaulay Library
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
jw...@cornell.edu

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Barred Owl at Severinghaus, SSW

[Chris Pelkie]

Thanks for this report!

I went out at 7am looking/listening for the Olive-sided Flycatcher (not found). 
Instead, I heard more raucous crows in the forest in the middle of the 
Severinghaus loop, so started scanning. The crows broke off and I had seen 
nothing but a couple of them flying past the same tree when from another 
direction, a large bird flew to a hidden perch behind me. As I got on that, it 
flew a short distance to another perch up in in the mid-canopy and this time I 
got the best view ever of a BARRED OWL looking right back at me with those big 
black optics of its own in lovely morning light. I suspect this is the 
pair-mate of the attacked bird since the crows were going after something 
further away and I heard some sounds that were not Barred Owl 'song' but might 
have been some hoots from the direction of the now departed crows, so thought 
it might have been an attempt to rejoin the pair (that is wild speculation of 
motive, but the sounds were not familiar and were 'hoot-like'). For others 
reference, this time the Owl landed on a maple branch, probably 12-15' away 
from the main trunk, but was reasonably well tucked into the foliage. I would 
probably not have seen it unless I had seen it land, but once found, I took a 
couple steps to  get a great full front view.

Great bird in the morning too!

ChrisP


On 20130530, at 21:04 , Diane Morton wrote:

> We had great looks at a very vocal BARRED OWL, 8:40 p.m.
> Severinghaus trail, approaching Sapsucker Woods Road.
> 
> Diane Morton
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__

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850


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[cayugabirds-l] Yellow-billed Cuckoo early morning

[Meena Madhav Haribal]

Hi all,

Today at 0.45 am I was looking for moths when I heard a calling Yellow-billed 
cuckoo flyover.  Today morning by 4.45 am my yard was very noisy or rather 
musical with 10 different species calling. Robin was the main singer. There 
were Carolina wren, male and female cardinals, House wrens (at least two), 
Catbirds, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, American Crow, House 
Sparrow, Red-eyed Vireo and distant Common Yellowthroat.



Overall, I had about 40 species of moths including beautiful peppered moth, 
rosy maple moth and Io moth. I tried to scare as many moths as possible from 
the birds. But Hickory Tussock moths got nabbed by the male cardinal. Catbird 
was too late no moths left for him. But his showed his annoyance by a fire 
cracker chatter and mewing. I had hid both Io and Rosy maple in the thistles, 
so I hope they are surviving. Birds (at least catbird and cardinal) do not 
touch the Pale Beauty. They fluoresce intense blue/yellow in UV.



Cheers

Meena



Meena Haribal
Ithaca NY 14850
http://haribal.org/
http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/


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