Month: May 2022

Birds and Light Pollution

Happy World Migratory Bird Day! I hope you are able to get out and enjoy watching the birds today. The 2022 theme for World Migratory Bird Day is light pollution.

Many bird species migrate at night, so light pollution from populated areas disorients their navigation, disturbs their internal clocks, and cause numerous collisions every year. In the United States alone, 100 millions birds die annually from collisions with buildings. Building collisions can happen during the day too, but the lights at night add an extra threat by attracting birds to the area, in the same way that your porch light attracts moths.

A study published in the journal Nature in 2020 found that light pollution is starting to impact breeding habits of some birds species as well. The researchers analyzed how noise and light pollution impacted breeding success of 58,506 nests from 142 North American species. They found that light pollution leads species of open habitats such as grasslands to breed up to a month earlier and 18 days earlier in forested environments. In forested habitats noise pollution was more disruptive than for open habitat birds, causing some species to delay breeding. These changes in breeding habits can cause temporal mismatch which could lead to higher mortality rates due to weather events and difficulties finding food sources.

Bird Mortality from Collisions (Bishop, 2018)

According to the World Migratory Bird Day website, artificial light is increasing by 2% each year globally. While that may not seem that much, this increase is having adverse effects not only on birds, but other species including humans. There are 4 components to light pollution: glare (excessive uncomfortable brightness), clutter (bright confusing groupings), skyglow (brightening of the night sky in inhabited areas), and light trespassing (light in unwanted or not intended areas). According to the International Dark-Sky Association, 80% of the global population lives under skyglow and up to 99% of the public in Europe and the United States can’t experience natural night! Industrial civilization is the root cause of light pollution. Light pollution also affects melatonin production, discombobulates circadian rhythms, disrupts ecosystems, and increases energy consumption.

Lights Outs is a program created by the National Audubon Society to combat light pollution. The program encourages building managers and owners to turn off excess lighting during migration season to make it easier for birds to travel. Lights Out has found success in many cities throughout the United States and is becoming more popular over time. Individuals can participate in Lights Out events too.

So what can be done to help birds and reduce light pollution? Here are some simple steps you can take:

  • Turn off unnecessary lights. Only use lighting if needed.
  • Set lights on a timer or motion detector
  • Keep blinds closed to keep light inside.
  • Participate in citizen science projects to measure light pollution such as Globe at Night , Cities at Night, or track on your smartphone using apps such as The Dark Sky Meter app. Check out the “Measuring Light Pollution” page at The Dark-Sky Association website for more information to get involved.
  • Support programs such as Lights Out
  • Spread the word about light pollution to you friends and family. Knowledge is power!

References

Global Big Day/World Migratory Bird Day 2022

Tomorrow, 5/14/2022 is World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) and Global Big Day (GBD). The purpose of World Migratory Bird Day is to raise awareness about the ecological role migratory birds play, the threats they face, and the importance of conserving birds and their habitats. International cooperation in conserving habitats birds depend on is another goal of WMBD. This year’s WMBD is light pollution. Check out the World Migratory Bird Day website for more info.

 ©️Omar Custodio – World Migratory Bird Day

May 14 is also Global Big Day. Created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Global Big Day is an event that encourages everyone to go out and count birds. The goal is to count as many birds as possible in one day. Participating is easy! Count as many birds as you can for as long as you want from anywhere and add your observations on eBird. Scientists use the data you submit to track where birds are during their spring migration. You can learn more information at the eBird website.

Last year, 4 new birding records were set on Global Big Day:

  1. Most birders participating in one day (51, 816 people)
  2. Most countries participating in one day (192 countries)
  3. highest number of species and eBird checklists in a single day (7,234 species and 133,887 checklists submitted)
  4. 1 billion bird observations reported on eBird

I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings! We will be doing some birding in the morning, so I will let you know how it goes. If you are on social media make sure to use the hashtags #GlobalBigDay, #WMBD2022, and #WorldMigratoryBirdDay to check out updates around the world in real time. Happy birding!

Are you participating in GBD/WMBD tomorrow? Tell me about your experience in the comments!

References

Mother’s Day Sparrows

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms! You are amazing!

This is my 2nd Mother’s Day as a mom. When Dave asked me what I wanted for the holiday of course my answer was to go birding (and get ice cream lol). Baby Birder was only a few months old at this time last year, so we took a short walk at Mine Falls Park for my first Mother’s Day. Since Baby Birder is a little older this year and travels well, we did 2 birding trips this weekend: one to Maine and the other to a smaller local park. I’m also really excited about my gift from them: a gift certificate to the Bird Watcher’s General Store in Cape Cod. 🙂

Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, Kennebunk, ME

Yesterday we explored Kennebunk Plains WMA, which consists of over 1,700 acres of grasslands and pine barrens. The National Audubon Society considers Kennebunk Plains an Important Bird Area (IBA). The Plains are significant because they are breeding grounds to many grassland species such as Vesper Sparrows, Upland Sandpipers, Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, Savannah Sparrows, and Grasshopper Sparrows. Many of these birds are considered threatened throughout their ranges and are vulnerable to climate change, so managing a native grassland like Kennebunk Plains is necessary to their survival. The forest edges support many species of warblers, Black-billed Cuckoos, Whip-poor-wills, Lark Buntings, and others.

Kennebunk Plains (Photo by BirdNation)

Notable Species Observed: American Kestrel, Vesper Sparrow, Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Towhee

We added a new species to our life list: the Vesper Sparrow! There were many of these cute little sparrows flying around the grasslands as well as Field and Savannah Sparrows. We observed a pair of American Kestrels flying around together and preening. They are super fast and we had the opportunity to watch one hovering and diving for prey. Field Sparrows and Prairie Warblers were a special treat because we haven’t seen any since we moved from NH to NJ.

Vesper Sparrow (Photo by BirdNation)

Vesper Sparrows mainly breed in the West/Midwest United States but can be found in smaller populations in the East and winter in the southern part of North America. Interestingly, this species has gone through numerous names over the years: from “the Gray Grass-bird” to “grass finch” to Alexander Wilson’s name of “Bay-winged Bunting”. Naturalist John Burroughs was fond of its pretty musical song and thought it sang most impressively during the evenings, so he named it “Vesper Sparrow” based off the sixth canonical hour of evening prayer worship. Distinctive field marks include its white-edged tail that can be seen in flight, chestnut lesser wing coverts on its shoulder, its stocky bill, and thin white eye-ring.

Field Sparrow (Photo by Dave Horowitz)
Savannah Sparrow (Photo by Dave Horowitz)
References