The short story is that after being gone for a day and a half #TheFourWeAllAdore returned to Maumee Bay State Park. We'd predicted that that might happen, wondering if the chicks would move between nearby Cedar Point NWR and Maumee Bay SP. We waited to post anything because we weren't sure how long they'd stay.

The longer story is far more complex.

There are no gentle transitions for a #GreatLakesPipingPlover monitor.
It's more like a series of emotional explosions.
​
- OMG, WE HAVE A NEST!!
- OMG, WE HAVE AN EGG!!
- OMG, THE EGGS ARE HATCHING!!
- OMG, THE CHICKS HAVE LEFT THE PROTECTED AREA!!
- OMG, THERE'S AN OFF-LEASH DOG!!
- OMG, THE CHICKS ARE FLYING!!
- OMG, THERE'S A DRONE!!

It's totally worth the emotional rollercoaster ride to experience the joy of being part of this extraordinary project.

But, today we are faced with the sharpness of a reality that has lurked in the shadows of that joy.
Yesterday morning, our volunteers were unable to find Kickapoo. After extensive searching, some twist of fate led them to search an area of Cove 4 one last time. It was there that they found signs of predation. We confirmed that the remains were of a Piping Plover. The few signs they found indicate that the predator was a mink, but we can’t say for sure.

We agonized over how to break this news, even considered not sharing it at all. But in the end, we felt that the truth was best, and important to the integrity of the project.

Please, try not to think of this as a failure. We did absolutely all that we could to give the birds their best chance for survival. This is the sharp reality that nature is not always beautiful. Nature often seems raw and cruel, and far too intense for mere humans to understand, especially under these circumstances. But I, for one, find it “easier” to accept that this was an act of nature rather than losing one of our beloved birds to some evil act of humans.

We will carry the pain of this loss together, sharing in the sadness just as we did the joy, easing the hurt by suffering it as a community, being there for each other as we struggle to come to terms with it. And we will use this information and what we’ve learned to help inform the Great Lakes Piping Plover project so that the loss is not in vain.

My heart goes out to all of the volunteers and to all of you who faithfully follow this story. I know you love these birds, too.

Now we'll try to focus on the three remaining chicks that we need to monitor, with hope beyond hope that they’ll begin their journey safely – and soon.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Sincerely,
Kimberly Kaufman
Executive Director
Black Swamp Bird Observatory 
​

Information provided by Chris Sheley, Wild Birds Unlimited, Columbus, Ohio and Ohio Department of Natural Resources 

We are seeing a number of articles popping up in social media feeds and local news outlets about a novel avian disease and bird mortality event. As of now, we don't know how prevalent this illness is in Ohio or the cause of it. We want you to be as informed as possible and know that we are tracking developments closely.

What we know so far
​

• It was first reported in the Washington D.C. area.
• Symptoms include swollen eyes with a crusty discharge, balance and neuorological issues.
• Birds with similar symptoms have since been discovered in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Maine.
• Reports state that fledglings are the most affected and Blue Jays, European Starlings and Common Grackles are the main species being affected. Some other species being affected in smaller numbers include the American Crow, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Carolina Wren, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, and a Barred Owl. 
• Birds with this unknown disease are being sent to diagnostic laboratories to investigate the cause of death. Those laboratories include the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, and the University of Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program.
• The current tests performed have all been negative. We have no definitive cause as of yet. Testing is continuing and results could take weeks, months or longer; no one knows.
  
  

Precautionary Measures

Until we have a better understanding of what is causing the illness and how it spreads we can take some precautionary measures. Below are some healthy bird feeding tips:

• Focus on using only feeders that can be easily cleaned.
• Clean feeders, birdbaths and all hardware regularly.
• During known outbreaks cleaning as often as possible is best, but at minimum try to clean feeders weekly. 
• Clear away any debris and feces (poop) from the feeder.
• Scrub and wash feeder with warm, soapy water.
• To disinfect your feeder, a 10% bleach or white vinegar solution works best (1 part vinegar/bleach to 9 parts water). If using bleach, be sure to rinse the feeder thoroughly and let the feeder dry completely in the sun to break up any remaining residue before filling.
• Keep the area around your feeders clean and free of feces. Some diseases, such as salmonellosis, can be transmitted through a bird's fecal matter.
• Periodically, move feeders to new locations in the yard to avoid the build up of waste materials and feces. Be sure to always keep the ground below and around the feeders clean. Rake and discard seed debris and bird droppings on a regular basis.
• Limit the amount of seed provided in feeders to only the amount birds will consume in one or two days.
• Give the birds more space. The addition of more feeders, spread far apart from one another, will reduce the crowding of birds that is often found around a single feeder. This will reduce the birds’ stress and the potential for disease transmission between healthy and sick birds.
• Store all bird seed in rodent and insect proof containers to avoid contamination.
• Always discard seed that has become wet.

What to do if you find a sick or dead bird 

• Always use gloves while handling any sick, injured, or dead bird and always wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap after working with your feeders.
• If removing the bird or taking it in to a certified rehabber, wear gloves to minimize contact and place the bird in a sealable plastic bag (if deceased). 
• Take down feeders for 7 - 10 days to reduce the spread of disease. When there is a known contagion in the area, taking down your feeders temporarily can help slow its spread. 
• If you find a sick or dead bird please contact the nearest licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
• Please submit a report online to Ohio Department of Natural Resources using their Wildlife Species Sighting reporting system to help biologists track the spread of the disease. When reporting, select Bird - Diseased or Dead.

                                         Submit a Diseased/Dead Bird Report HERE >>>

• You can also include photographs or videos with your report, as well as latitude and longitude coordinates to help wildlife biologists quickly verify the sighting. Remember to always view wildlife from a respectful distance for your safety as well as the safety of the animal. 

Thank you for doing your part to care for birds! 

Guest post from bird feeding expert, Anna Dissanayaka

From the CDC: Birds can carry germs like Salmonella while looking healthy and clean. However, there are reports of wild songbirds, such as pine siskins (small, streaked, yellow-tinged songbirds in the finch family) sick with the same strain of Salmonella that is making people sick in this outbreak. Salmonella germs can spread between species of birds, to pets, and to people. You can get sick when you touch your mouth with unwashed hands after touching wild birds, bird feeders or bird baths, or your pets that have contact with wild birds.  (For more information on human health, visit the CDC website.) 

In regards to the recent news about salmonella and feeder cleaning, we invited backyard bird feeding expert, Anna Dissanayaka to offer some guidance. 
​
In some states people are advised to take down feeders. While it is not necessary to fully remove your feeders in Ohio right now, here are some precautions you can take:
​

• Always wash your feeders thoroughly and regularly after handling bird feeders.
• Wash your feeder any time it appears dirty or gets food built up in the bottom. This not only prevents disease, but also illnesses from rancid or moldy food, and it prevents maggots and other larvae from living in the bottom of feeders. (I’ve seen it at my job WAY more often than I ever would have imagined.)
• For regular cleaning, I use hot water and dish soap. If it’s really bad, use baking soda and white vinegar and let it soak first. (But you should strive never to let feeders get that dirty!) 
• While it is safe to use 1 part bleach with 10 parts water and let it fully air dry before you put it back outside, I don’t recommend it. Birds’ lungs are far more sensitive than our own, and it’s just not necessary. It also will deteriorate your feeder faster over time, especially when combined with sunlight.
• Fully empty feeders before you refill them. Especially trays in this case, scrape out old food that could possibly have feces on it before you pour more on top.
• Regularly rake the mess under your feeders to prevent buildup, or better yet, use a no-mess blend. But don’t allow piles to accumulate under your feeders.
• Do not allow dogs to forage under feeders. Not only are they susceptible to salmonella, they could get a painful, expensive, and potentially fatal compacted bowel from ingesting shells of some seeds.
• And I repeat: Wash your hands after handling feeders.

As we eagerly await the return of hummingbirds and orioles, here are some tips and recommendations for the best, safest feeders, and accessories. 
​

• The only safe ingredients for hummingbird food are white sugar and water. The best hummingbird food is made at home using four parts water to one part sugar. Bring water to a boil, remove from heat and immediately stir in sugar. Allow to cool completely before adding to feeders. (Boiling removes any impurities in sugar and helps any extra last longer in the refrigerator.)

 

• NO RED OR ORANGE DYE IN SUGAR WATER!
  
  
• Only a small amount (1/4 cup or less) of grape jelly each day. Think of it as a treat, NOT a meal.
  
  
• KEEP THE FEEDERS CLEAN! CLEAN! CLEAN!
  ​
  
• Orange halves and grapes are excellent food for orioles and other birds! ​​

Ants are a very important part of the natural food web. Many bird species, like Northern Flickers, feed on ants. But ants can be problematic at bird feeders that offer sweet things. A large ant moat is a vital addition to any feeder that offers something sweet. Hang the ant moat above the feeder and fill with water. (The feeder hangs from the loop in the bottom of the ant moat.) The water creates a barrier that ants can't cross. The larger size means it doesn't go dry as quickly.

​Along with finches, owls, and sparrows, winter offers a fantastic opportunity to witness another arctic pilgrim in the lower 48,
​the Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA).

With a widespread winter range throughout the central and western US, RLHA is primarily limited to states north of Kentucky and Virginia in the east (although birds don't always conform to their range maps). With relatively few hawk species during winter in the eastern US, this large hawk is fairly unmistakable, with only one other species possessing a similar look and build: the Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA). Both of these raptors are in the genus buteo and look rather similar with a large wingspan, brown upperparts, and light underparts with dark streaking. Additionally, during winter these two species can often be found hunting the same fields and open areas, causing many double-takes as RLHA seekers carefully inspect every RTHA they come across.

For the sake of simplicity, we'll only focus this post on the type of RLHA and RTHA most commonly seen in the east: the light-morph RLHA and eastern RTHA subspecies (borealis). But it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the dark-morph RLHA as well as the numerous RTHA subspecies.

Aside from the obvious red tail of the adult RTHA and feathered legs of the RLHA, there are a few other distinguishing features to keep in mind with these beautiful buteos. 

Beak Size: Although similar in body size, the RLHA's beak is much smaller than the RTHA. The RTHA has the stereotypical large, protruding hooked-beak of many raptors, whereas the RLHA's beak is much more petite giving its face a flat or even smooshed-in look, appearing somewhat more like a falcon.  ​

Belly and Breast: At some point along our birding journey, we've certainly heard of the "belly-band" field mark for RTHA. Plumage identifiers can all vary in appearance with each individual bird, but RTHA tend to show a band of dark vertical streaks around the mid-section of their body, often with the breast remaining pure whitish or with a few streaks around the edges toward the wings. RLHA also show this same feature, but amplified. Their "belly-band" is often a solid to mostly solid dark band (depending on age and sex) with heavy dark streaks covering the breast. 

"Arms" and "Wrists": Loosely applying some of our own human anatomy terms here, in flight and on the underside of the wings there are two spots to look for to differentiate these species. On the RTHA the patagium (the leading edge of the wing between the head and outer bend of the wing) shows a narrow, horizontal dark bar (a patagial bar), a gap of white, and then a narrow, vertical dark arc at the outer bend of the wing (or the "wrist"). The RLHA lacks this patagial bar and instead has a large, almost square dark patch at each "wrist."

These are just a few of the more obvious tips to distinguish between these two exquisite raptors in the east. Other differences include tail patterning, hunting style, and preference for perching locations. But like any other identification tip, every bird is an individual and shows variability (and can even behave variably), and identification should be based on more than one feature.  

With Thanksgiving only two days away, we thought it would be interesting to focus on the focal bird of the day…the Wild Turkey. 

You may know that young turkeys are called “poult” or that the President of the United States has been “pardoning” a turkey prior to Thanksgiving, since…well, according to whitehousehistory.org the history of the first pardon is not quite clear. The practice has been attributed back to the Truman administration but didn’t firmly take hold until the Reagan administration, in 1981. President George H. W. Bush was apparently the first president to announce the pardon of the turkey, stating “But let me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy – he’s granted a Presidential pardon as of right now.” One fact that many students learn in grade school is that Benjamin Franklin wanted the Wild Turkey to be our national symbol.

Other turkey facts you may know: the “hangy” thing that droops over the turkey’s beak is called a snood, males are called toms, females are hens, and young males are called jakes. Turkeys have beards as well. Their beard is actually modified feathers that hang from the turkey’s breast and can be used to age the turkey to an extent. Did you know that 10%+ of female turkeys will also have beards?

​Here are some Turkey Trivia Giblets, er, Tidbits that you can amaze your family and friends with on your Thanksgiving Day Zoom call.

1. There are 5 subspecies of "Wild" Turkey found in the US and Mexico, and another species found in Central America.
    a. Eastern Wild Turkey- is found in 38 of the 48 continental US states.
    b. Osceola Wild Turkey- only found in Florida, named for the Osceola region in the state.
    c. Rio Grande Wild Turkey- found primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
            There is also a population of this subspecies in Mexico.
    d. Merriam’s Wild Turkey- this subspecies is found in the mountains of the western US.
    e. Gould’s Wild Turkey- resides in Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.
    f. Ocellated Wild Turkey- is a separate species of turkey found in a small area in the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and              Guatemala.

​The photo in this post is an Ocellated Turkey from Guatemala. Thanks to Rob Ripma from Sabrewing Nature Tours for providing this image of a gorgeous turkey.
​
To learn more about Wild Turkey subspecies visit www.nwtf.org/hunt/article/wild-turkey-subspecies

2. Turkeys were almost extinct in the United States. Around the 1930’s it was estimated that less than 30,000 turkeys were left and they had been extirpated from 20 states. Thanks to conservation efforts and funds from the Pittman-Robertson Act, we now have a robust population estimated to be around 6 and a half million birds.

3. Turkeys are big birds. They weigh around 15 lbs., stand around 3.5 ft. tall and have a wing span of 5 ft. They also have a lot of feathers. It is estimated that turkeys have between 5,000 – 6,000 feathers!

4. Not only are they big, they are l-o-u-d, loud. A tom’s gobble can be heard around a mile away.

5. While we typically see turkeys lazily meandering around as they forage, they can actually be quite fast. Turkeys can hit running speeds up to 25 mph. Many think that they are flightless but they have been clocked at around 55 mph in flight.

6. Turkeys have a very wide field of vision. This is because their eyes are located on the sides of their head which allows them to spot danger from in front and behind. Due to this adaption, turkeys are a very hard game bird to hunt.

7. Turkeys are named after the country Turkey. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary web page, “When the Spanish arrived in Mexico in the 16th century they encountered the already-domesticated common turkey, Meleagris gallopavo. They apparently liked the bird; turkeys were among the plunder they took back to Spain around 1519. By 1541, the birds had arrived in England. In those days the Turkish Ottoman Empire was at its peak, and the English had Turkey (with a capital-T) on their mind. The English gave the Turks credit for any number of new imports: maize was Turkish wheat, and pumpkins were Turkish cucumbers—though both were actually New World plants. To paraphrase Cindy Ott in her 2012 book Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon, if it was exotic, chances are it got a Turkish appellation. So the new bird was soon being called a turkey-cock, eventually shortened to turkey.”

We hope that you have enjoyed learning some new facts about one of our most enigmatic birds. There is still a lot to learn about Wild Turkeys. Take some time this Thanksgiving holiday to do some additional research and learn more about Wild Turkeys. Please share you turkey fact in the comment section. One thing is for sure, we should all be extremely thankful for this species.

Sources: National Wildlife Federation, Nation Wild Turkey Federation, American Expedition, Merriam-Webster.com & U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

​​With winter nipping at our heels, it's time to think about what food is best for birds in the colder months. Most of the time our feeders are more for our enjoyment than they are for helping birds. But during extreme cold and persistent snow cover, bird feeders can make a big difference for small birds.

Before we talk about store bought foods, here are a few general tips.

​1) Remember that you don't have to fill the feeders to the top! In fact, in rainy or snowy periods, it's best to only fill them to provide enough food for a day or so to avoid wet, moldy food! (And if there's too much snow and ice to get to the your feeders, you can always scatter seed on the ground!)