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DNS FOG Temp: 33 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Sunday, December 8, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 17, 2002 Housefinches and a red-breasted nuthatch find the black sunflower seeds at these Medford feeders to their liking. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Volunteers help scientists study bird populations by counting them at feeders By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune Millions of American feed birds in their back yards, but probably not many of them realize how easy it is to turn that interest into an actual part of ongoing scientific research. The small group of people watching a dark-eyed junco at Ashland’s North Mountain Park, for example, is probably not what you picture when you think of a scientific study. But as the junco forages and housefinches sing and hooded mergansers preen in the nearby creek, park volunteer Denny Niebuhr makes a pitch for volunteers to help scientists study bird populations right here, or even at home. Those who take part in Project FeederWatch, a program of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, count birds at feeders — either here or at home — for an hour or so every two weeks from November through April. The sightings become part of the big picture scientists are building with the world’s largest data bank on feeder birds, an important part of bird research and conservation biology. You don’t have to be a bird expert. Niebuhr himself is a retired teacher, a participant and a volunteer. "I’m not an expert birder," he says. In an hour here the other day he saw four fox sparrows, a red-winged blackbird and good numbers of white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows in addition to the usual suspects such as housefinches, juncos and chickadees. There’s a question about telling immature golden-crowned sparrows from white-crowned, before the distinctive crowns are apparent. The easiest way is the bills, Niebuhr says. The white- crowned have yellow or pink bills; the golden-crowned two-toned gray bills. Niebuhr says the program tracks changes in bird distribution over time. Some species expand or change their ranges, for example. FeederWatch also monitors movements of irruptive species, or those that move suddenly into an area where they are not usually common. Irruptions may be unpredictable, or they may be tied to patterns of food availability that we understand. For example, Niebuhr says, snowy owl irruptions into Southern Oregon seem to be tied to the cycles of lemming populations on the northern tundra. Similarly, those of rough-legged hawks are tied to snowshoe hares up north. "About every 10 years they come down and eat our rabbits," he says. In addition to contributing to the big picture at Cornell, local organizers at the park’s nature center and Audubon Society say they hope the project sparks interest in birds and birding and helps feeders develop skills. It will also develop a database for birdlife at the park. Volunteers should plan on observing for an hour or so on 19 dates and keeping species lists. Participants pay a $15 fee for the cost of materials. They receive bird-counting instructions, a handbook, data forms, a bird-identification poster, a calendar and a newsletter. For more information, visit Project FeederWatch at www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw on the Web. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Counting feeder birds requires management Counting feeder birds means feeding them and managing the feeders. "You’d think it would be simple," says Mike Uhtoff. It ain’t, necessarily. Sunflower seeds are probably the best single food. American goldfinches like thistle. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, wrens and creepers like suet. Towhees and juncos go for millet. Orioles, waxwings and warblers will eat fruit at feeders. And of course hummingbirds come to sugar water. The most important thing, Uhtoff stresses, is keeping feeders clean so they don’t transmit diseases. He says to clean any wooden feeders with a 10 percent bleach solution once or twice a month. Pick up husks and seed litter. Suet should not be fed in warm weather. It can melt and the grease will mat and injure feathers. Feeders themselves are endlessly varied. Uhtoff, a bird feeder who also runs Northwest Nature Shop, demonstrated several. A simple screen feeder that provides on open surface will draw many species. Tube feeders draw finches, lesser finches and housefinches. Suet feeders tend to be taken over by starlings, an invasive species. One solution is a roofed feeder that gives access to the suet only through a screen on its bottom, requiring birds to perch upside down. For nuthatches and downy woodpeckers, that’s not a problem, but starlings won’t do it. There are feeders with adjustable or ever-automatic openings to exclude large birds like jays and that feeder nemesis, Mr. Squirrel. There’s a feeder with a perch that closes off access to birds over a certain size. There are even woodpecker feeders designed for the birds to brace themselves with their strong tails. Artists or craftsmen such as Gary Schrodt and Wayne Burns, both of Ashland, make a wide variety of handmade feeders. Feeders should be high enough to be out of the reach of cats. Many feeders provide a brush pile for birds to use for refuge. Water, especially moving water, draws birds even more readily than food. "If you have dripping water," Uhtoff says, "that’s really good." Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S