FEBRUARY 16, 2017 // 9
Continued from Pg. 8
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
notes that the red knot is around
nine inches long with a wingspan
of 20 inches. This little shorebird,
part of the sandpiper clan, weighs
less than a cup of coffee. But every
year of its life, it goes on a very
long migratory journey. There are
two North American subspecies.
The Calidris canutus roselaari
breeds in Siberia and western
Alaska and migrates south each
fall to winter in Mexico, Florida
and South America. The Calidris
canutus rufa nests in the Canadian
low arctic and migrates more than
9,300 miles south to the tip of
South America’s Tierra del Fuego
for the winter. The migration is
one of the longest in the animal
kingdom. One red knot, banded in
May 1987, was seen on Delaware
Bay in May 2000. During those
13 years, the bird had flown about
242,350 miles, a distance farther
than it is from the earth to the
moon.
The bird band identifying that
red knot is a true boon to tracking
birds. It is a non-invasive num-
bered ring attached to a wild bird’s
leg or wing, providing ornitholo-
gists with information about the
bird’s migration and life history
GES without harming the bird. And
nded it’s been done for centuries —
n the think homing pigeons. The North
American Bird Banding Program
is run jointly by the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey and the Canadian
Wildlife Service. Banding is an
indispensable way to study the
behavior, movement and survival
of birds and is also essential to bird
conservation.
“Today lightweight devices
such as geolocators are revolu-
tionizing the tracking of migratory
birds and, in the process, docu-
menting astonishing new records
for distance and endurance,” wrote
Jessica Snyder Sachs in a 2011
article for the National Wildlife
Federation. A geolocator weighs
1.1 grams, or less than two M&Ms.
“The first surprising discovery
came in 2007, when wildlife
biologists used surgically implant-
NEAL MAINE/PACIFICLIGHT IMAGES
Great blue herons are year-round
residents of the Columbia-Pacific
region, commonly spotted near the
shores of open water or in wetlands.
NEAL MAINE/PACIFICLIGHT IMAGES
Over the last hundred years, the Eurasian collared dove has colonized the bird world, spreading from its native
warm temperate and subtropical Asia across the world. Introduced in North America in the 1980s, the collared dove
is now found in nearly every state in the U.S. and is an example of a new bird taking up residency in the local area.
JOIN A BIRDING CLUB
PHOTO BY ROY WESTERN
A trumpter swan spread its wings
on Black Lake in Ilwaco, Washing-
ton, in late December. Seventy per-
cent of all trumpeters breed and
nest in Alaska, then winter in the
Pacific Northwest, including here
along our coastline.
ed satellite transmitters to show
that migrating bar-tailed godwits
fly from Alaska to New Zealand
without once stopping to refuel.
At 7,100 miles in just over 8 days,
the migration was, and remains,
the longest nonstop flight ever
recorded.”
Purple martins, birds that comes
to visit the Columbia-Pacific
region, have been geo-tagged in
northern Pennsylvania. Stay tuned
for tracking updates.
Tom Anderson, a part-time
Gearhart resident and ardent birder,
documents his daily sightings by
taking mental notes and then en-
tering them on a list on his iPhone.
His iBird and Merlin Bird ID apps
The Shoalwater Birders meet four times a year at the Ocean Park
Timberland Library in Ocean Park, Washington, and generally
hold field trips once a month, taking birders all over the Long
Beach Peninsula and the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge as well
as further afield to the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge, Astoria, Cannon
Beach and more. Membership is $12 a year. For more information,
visit shoalwaterbirders.com or email info@shoalwaterbirders.com
help him identify birds. Currently,
Anderson’s favorite neighborhood
bird is the western bluebird.
“They haven’t, until recent-
ly, been a common visitor to the
Gearhart neighborhood. I think
the tree removal on the (Gearhart)
golf course has been beneficial to
this population, along with locals
placing nest boxes in appropriate
locations,” he said. “The western
bluebird has been declining in
population due to competition for
nest sites by starlings and house
sparrows. A great winter activity
for interested birders would be
construction and placement of nest
boxes designed for this bird,” said
Anderson, who welcomes any-
one interested in contacting him
regarding his idea.
Wendy Watson-Beisner,
co-owner of Lyles’s Garden and
Pet Center in Seaside, has a steady
stream of customers seeking her
advice about all things birds, both
wild and caged. A backyard birder
herself, she has fly-bys, new-to-
the-area birds and regulars at her
bird feeders all year round. “I have
some winter thrushes and finches
hanging out in my backyard right
now. The finches are early this
year, usually not start showing up
until late February or March,” said
Watson-Beisner
This area is truly “for the
birds”: So much for us to learn, so
PHOTO BY MADELINE KALBACH
Whimbrels like this are among our
region’s more dramatic shorebirds.
much to see flying right around us.
If you find yourself needing a
break from our long, wet winter
days, here’s a suggestion: Check
computer websites to see if birds
have a sense of smell. My com-
puter listed 6,250,000 related web
results. Which led to wondering if
birds can taste? 8,600,000 results
pop up: yes, no, some can, most
can’t — whatever your conclusion,
it’s evidently something lots of
people have been wondering about
for a long time. Since birds can’t
people-speak, step outside or find
a well-placed viewing window
and watch them. Draw some of
your own conclusions. Just like the
birds, time will fly.