14
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
The world of birds
and worms
During the Christmas/
New Year holiday season, I
took it upon myself to listen
in on the electronic Christmas
Bird Count (CBC) that’s car-
ried on the Internet’s Oregon
Birds On Line (OBOL). I got
onto it to become more aware
of what birds have been spot-
ted in Oregon, where and by
whom.
Birds like the rare
Siberian red-flanked blu-
etail — a distant relative of
our American robin — that
turned up in Lewiston, Idaho.
Birders from all over the U.S.
are converged on Hell’s Gate
State Park to add this little
charmer to their Life List.
Yes, it was, and is, birds
like the bluetail that got me
onto the OBOL site, but
there have also been grand
discussions about climate
change, birds expanding their
range, hybrids, and irregulars
sighted while birders were
doing the annual Christmas
Bird Count (CBC) — and
of all things, worms — that
made listening in even more
fun.
What started the worm
discussion was birder/author
Harry Fuller conducting the
CBC in Yamhill (that’s over
in The Swamp) who observed
a red-tailed hawk dining on
earthworms which began
an interesting exchange of
comments.
Someone remarked
“There were none of these
earthworms in North
America before European
contact. Imagine the positive
impact it has had on birds.
I’ve learned that gulls will
commute at least 40 miles for
a good field of worms.”
Then another person
picked it up with: “Yes,
THESE worms are European,
but do not assume that North
America was wormless
before their introduction.
North America apparently
had a diverse annelid fauna
that has been pretty margin-
alized. The European spe-
cies seem to tolerate agricul-
tural practices better than the
natives.”
Then the original observer
of the red-tail came back
with: “There are numerous
native earthworm species but
they are being crowded out
of our forests by introduced
species, to the detriment of
the forest. There is one exotic
that eats all the forest litter
and opens the soil to erosion
and desiccation... I learned
this as I researched a book
I’m writing on what man has
done to the environment in
the 49 square miles of San
Francisco.”
Carole Hallet, a fellow
raptor-bander — who for the
safety of birds and airplanes
traps, bands and transports
her captive raptors miles from
4 OUT OF 5 MEN SAY THEIR HAIR
FEELS STRONGER, LOOKS THICKER...
the airport — got into the dis-
cussion with: “Out at PDX,
its not uncommon to see
red-tails taking worms from
the grass or picking them up
off the pavement after heavy
rains. I don’t think it’s a pre-
ferred food but its easy and
seasonally abundant. The first
time I saw this behavior I did
a good bit of digging around
in the literature before I came
up with anything that specifi-
cally mentioned earthworms.
Thanks for posting your very
interesting observations.”
Which prompts me
to comment on worms,
American robins, and
European starlings. I watched
about 15 robins hopping
about in one of Dorro Sokol’s
fields at the south end of Pine
Street awhile back, tipping
their heads this-way-and-that,
gobbling up earthworms like
there was no tomorrow, while
about 10 feet away a small
group of starlings watched
them intently.
It only took about 20
minutes for the starlings to
catch on; they flew out to the
robins, chased them away
in their usual belligerent
fashion, and began feeding
on the earthworms exactly
the way the robins had been
doing — to the point of even
tipping their heads as robins
do to make an accurate strike
with their bills and hitting the
worm(s) dead-center.
Sisters rehabber Elise
Wolf, also on the OBOL site,
took the subject of worms
one step further to include
tips on mealworms, which
are not “worms” as such, but
the larvae of darkling beetles.
Because a great many Sisters
Country residents use meal-
worms as food for lizards,
fish and birds — and by fish-
ermen (like night crawlers)
as bait — her comments are
worthwhile in this wormy
discussion:
“Mealworms MUST
be gut-loaded,” she began,
“before feeding — meaning
they must be fed or you are
just feeding mainly exoskel-
eton, which takes up a birds’
energy for little gain, and in
the snow this can kill a bird
to eat empty calories.” For
more specifics on raising
mealworms you can contact
Elise at ewolf97@gmail.com.
So much for mealworms,
aka beetle larvae. The origi-
nal subject of this discussion
— the earthworm — is in the
zoological group as: “tube-
shaped, segmented soft-
bodied worm in the phylum
Annelida commonly found
living in soil, feeding on live
and dead organic matter.”
“Earthworm” is the com-
mon name for the largest
members of the many species
of Oligochaeta (pronounced,
o-lig-o-kaa-tee — which is
either a biological class or
a subclass depending on the
author). Folk names for the
earthworm include “dew-
worm,” “rainworm,” “night
crawler,” and “angleworm”
(the latter due to its use as
fish bait).
Bottom line is they are
an acceptable source of pro-
tein for a raptor when other
food is scarce. And if after a
rain they are exposed on the
surface of the ground, why
waste energy trying to catch
a rodent when “spaghetti’ is
already being served?
Former
officer files
whistleblower
suit
PORTLAND (AP) — A
former police officer is suing
the eastern Oregon city of
Stanfield, arguing he was
fired in retaliation for report-
ing concerns about a lieuten-
ant’s conduct.
Ryan McBride’s whis-
tleblower lawsuit, filed in
Umatilla County Circuit
Court, seeks $500,000 for
emotional distress, anger and
humiliation.
The
Oregonian/
OregonLive says that
McBride alleges he was fired
in October 2015 without a
termination letter or expla-
nation. His lawsuit says the
police chief extended his pro-
bation an extra six months
shortly after McBride shared
concerns about his supervi-
sor’s behavior.
According to a state-
ment another officer made to
Oregon Justice Department
officials, McBride was put
on leave after he reportedly
showed up drunk, while not
on duty, to help an off-duty
sheriff’s deputy who had
driven off the road.
Stanfield City Manager W.
Blair Larsen says McBride
was fired for failing to be
forthright about that night
and the lawsuit mischaracter-
izes what occurred.
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