January 2008
Volume XXXIII, Issue
5
Frank
Chapman was a one of the most influential professional scientists in his time.
Now Chapman was not opposed to shooting birds. He collected and prepared
thousands of specimens at a time when the birderÕs major tool was his shotgun.
But while working in Florida as a field biologist, he witnessed the wholesale
slaughter that supported the late 19th century craze for hats decorated with
feathers and, at times, entire carcasses of wild birds. This experience led him
to become one of the founding members of the Audubon Society. Although the
Florida plume wars were still raging, by 1900 Chapman had set his sights on
ending another institution built on the slaughter of birds, the side hunt.
Side
hunters would gather each Christmas, chose up sides, and then proceed to shoot
every eagle, heron, crow, bluebird, sparrow—every wild bird that came within range. The newspapers of
the day ran pictures of smiling revelers standing behind mounds of dead birds.
Frank
Chapman proposed that friends of birds should go out on Christmas day and count
live birds instead of dead ones. This was a radical idea. Remember, in 1900
there were no bird-worthy binoculars. Many of the birders who counted that
first Christmas were out shooting birds and robbing nests when spring arrived.
It was also an unheard of idea to ask the public to take part in a scientific
endeavor.
On
Christmas day, 1900, twenty-seven volunteers took part in twenty-five bird
counts from California to Ontario. The nearest count to Hattiesburg was
Baldwin, Louisiana, on the banks
of Bayou Teche, where a total of 90 species were counted that day. There were
no geese, no eagles, no falcons, no egrets, herons, or rails. In fact there
were almost no marsh birds of any kind. There were, however, LewisÕs
Woodpecker, Greater Prairie Chicken, Varied Thrush, and, yes, they found plenty
of European Starlings.
Now,
108 years later, Frank ChapmanÕs little protest and experiment in citizen
science has become a major tool in analyzing bird populations in North America.
As participants in the Christmas Bird Count and in FebruaryÕs Great Backyard
Bird Count we are truly furthering the scientific knowledge of the birds we
love. Who would have thunk it?
Frank
Chapman would and did even when other scientists were telling him to shut up
and shoot more Ivory-bills before theyÕre gone. He believed that scientists could make a difference,
and he thought that regular people, citizens, could contribute to science.
After all, Frank Chapman, the leading Ornithologist in his generation, only had
a high school education.
The
Hattiesburg Christmas Bird Count will be held Saturday, December 29, 2007.
Call Larry Smith, Count Coordinator (265-8364), Ronnie Blackwell
(543-0091), Larry Morgan, or Diane Lafferty to participate. Or, just show up at the Hattiesburg
Sewage Lagoons on Saturday morning around 7:30 a.m. for some hands-on citizen
science!
Bird Watching From a
Farmhouse Window
All year I feed them,
watch them, love them.
Their flute-like calls,
their grace in flight
move me to joy
when all is grey.
A flash of red bird in the snow,
iridescent sheen of crow,
the blue of sky I trace in jags
light the darkest, weary way
and shine as stars.
And now – in snow,
in this holy, Christmas
time,
the wonder of small feathered
things
in my back yard –
home of sparrow, lark and wren,
is here,
is mine.
Then
quiet peace floats from
above
on wings of nuthatch,
goldfinch,
dove.
-- Marion Brimm Rewey
(shared with permission)
Only one species of swallow has ever been reported on a
Hattiesburg Christmas Bird Count?
For the BIG prize, name that swallow.
All of the guesses for the most numerous species on last
yearÕs Hattiesburg Christmas Bird Count (107th count year) were
wrong. Just as I suspected, most folks went for the ducks. It so happens that
ducks on our count are declining just as are nearly all species, but last year
was a particularly bad duck year. Since no one got it right, and since I was
not present, and since the meeting was so busy the quiz was never asked, no
prize was awarded.
The most numerous species for our count was the American
Robin, weighing in at 913 species. Robin numbers are always erratic since in
winter they tend to roam around in large flocks. The high count for A. Robin in
the last 5 years was 1169 for the 105th count year, and our 913 last
year probably approaches average for recent years. Seeing robins is a matter of
being in the right spot at the right time. I recall one year when I raised
collective eye-brows by personally reporting 1000 robins on a CBC, while only a
few were reported by others. I had chanced upon a flock blanketing several
contiguous residential lawns in the Lake Serene area. More recently, I saw at
least 1000 robins covering the grounds and buildings just across the street
from the Main Street Methodist Church.
Duck lovers were not all that far off, as they took the next
two places in most individuals on last yearÕs count. We reported 550 Northern
Shovelers and 420 Ruddy Ducks. Both of these are well below their historical
highs which are easily in the thousands. Next two places were White-throated
Sparrow at 107 birds, and Mourning Dove with 96.
We will squeeze in here a few vital statistics from the 107th
CBC, gleaned from the Audubon report which conveniently arrives just as we are
about to embark on the 108th. Geoffrey LeBaron points out that
climate had considerable bearing on count results, but perhaps not so much as
the record wild food crop across much of the northern forests. As a result of
these factors the irruptive migration of winter finches didnÕt happen, and
waterfowl remained north of their usual CBC range.
The 2052 CBCs recorded was 8 less than the record, but the
57,851 individuals
counting did set a new record. Of these, 44,965 counted in
the U. S. - 40,068 in the field and 4897 at feeders. The number of observers in
individual count circles varied widely, from 10 (we had 13) to over 100. The
grand total of birds from all counts was 69,354,406 of 643 species. A first
ever CBC bird was CraveriÕs Murrelet (donÕt look for one of these at your
feeder anytime soon) seen in Crystal Springs, CA not MS. There were a total of
82 counts with 150 or more species. The high species count for north of the
border was Corpus Christi, TX with 238 species, and the high for all counts was
Mindo-Tandayapa, Ecuador with 417 species! Fortunately for us (65 species)
bottom counts were not listed.
Folks, we have to try harder!!
Dec. 29, 2007: Hattiesburg
Christmas Bird Count. Contact Larry Smith for information
(601-264-8364). Compilation to be held at Keg and Barrel @ 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 3, 2008 (Thursday):
Pine Woods Audubon Society Board Meeting, 6:15 p.m. in Hattiesburg Zoo
Education Center. The Public is
invited to attend.
Jan. 3, 2008
(Thursday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Chapter Meeting, 7 p.m. in Hattiesburg
Zoo Education Center. PROGRAM:
Attracting Bluebirds and Other Cavity Nesters (presented by Dave Cagnolatti).
Contact Program Chair Josh Hodge (601-606-3440) for information.
Jan. 8, 2008
(Tuesday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Birding Committee Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at location TBA at Meeting. Contact Ron Blackwell (601-543-0091)
for information.
Jan. 19, 2008
(Saturday): Field Trip:
Wintering Birds in Mississippi. Location & travel arrangements TBA
at January Chapter Meeting.
Contact Field Trip Coordinator Chuck Gramling (601-268-3859) for more
information.
Jan. 21 (Monday):
Deadline for items for February Pine Warbler to newsletter
editors by email (lin.harper@usm.edu)
or by phone (601-545-2437).