Rockin’ Robin
A biome is a community of plants and animals that live together in a certain kind of climate. There are five basic types - aquatic, forest, desert, tundra, and grassland - and these five can be further divided by differences in seasons or animal and plant species. I live in a temperate deciduous forest biome. What’s yours? See: Global biomes via National Geographic.
For the next few weeks, we’ll pay attention to the many inhabitants of your biome, beginning this week with the birds.
I wasn’t always a birder. But, when the pandemic began and we were staying home most of the time, I became much more attuned to the birds in my backyard. We have a feeder there, which helps in bringing them closer. During this time, I learned of this astonishing statistic.
“A comprehensive study of bird population changes in the U.S. and Canada revealed staggering declines - nearly 3 billion breeding birds gone since 1970 - with devastating losses among birds in every biome. Forests alone have lost 1 billion birds. Grassland bird populations collectively have declined by 53%, or another 720 million birds. ~ The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
There are 30% fewer birds now than there were when I was a kid. I don’t know about you, but that makes me so sad. There are many factors that have contributed to this statistic, one of the biggest being habitat loss. Birds depend on habitats, just as we do.
A couple of years ago, I participated in a study to assess a grasslands restoration project. The bobolink and eastern meadowlark birds are endangered in my area due to loss of grassland habitat. This project to restore grasslands is a way to bring them back.
It’s currently the middle of winter where I live. The ground has been covered with snow for weeks and our backyard feeder has been buzzing with blue jays, cardinals, robins, mourning doves, sparrows, and chickadees, to name a few.
Recently, I’ve become more interested in looking at different bird species In context. Which ones cohabitate at which times of the year and why? Which birds migrate and when do they come back? When do they nest? What do their songs and calls mean? I keep track of the birds I’m seeing at different times of the year.
Practice
We’ll be noticing and listening to birds a few times this year. But, for this week, notice the birds you find right now in your yard or neighbourhood. How many different species do you encounter in a week? I’m still not the best at identifying birds, but I’m getting better, with the help of a few phone apps, especially Merlin Bird ID and ChirpOMatic.
Spend some time observing their activity and habits. How are they getting food and water? Are there particular bird species who stay close to the water?
Try bird whispering. See if you can make eye contact with a bird. How does that feel?
Share your bird sightings in the comments or on Instagram (add #seeingyourplace2022).
Resources
A delightful article about a relationship with a crow named Boxy.
A couple of years ago I read a book about dinosaur extinction and how birds are genetically similar to the giants who roamed the earth millennia ago. I also remembered being delighted last spring when birds seemed to magically appear in trees and bushes. We’ve got ducks paddling about the Don River, and I know enough about birds to be able to spot cardinals, blue jays and the occasional goldfinch in our backyard. Because I live downtown, the birds we seem to see most often are pigeons. Yes, they’re everywhere and no, I don’t feed them. Other do, and we end up with clusters of them in places we walk, both in our neighbourhood and in the downtown core. They're one of the few birds I seem able to get close enough to to watch carefully, but I've never been inclined to snap their portrait, perhaps because they're so run-of-the-mill (hmmm).
Late last week I was walking home from, well, a walk, when it suddenly seemed to snow. I realized that it wasn’t precipitation but small tufts of down as a hawk in a nearby tree was pulling apart a pigeon. I watched for a few minutes as it’s something I don’t think I’ve seen before. Because it was busy with brunch, I didn’t hear it make a sound, though I’ve been told hawks have a great screech and do voiceovers for eagles in movies because they sound better (really).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZzD_c2Lugi/
I’ve since learned that Red-tailed Hawks have a third eyelid called a ‘nictitating membrane’ that they can close to shield their eyes from wind or for protection when diving for prey. They’re co-parents, and normally quite territorial but live much closer in urban areas (a couple of blocks apart as opposed to two square miles in rural areas). I realized that I’ve spotted a Red Tailed Hawk in my neighbourhood from time to time, but this was the first time I’ve been able to watch one closely. Marvellous, aren’t they, those birds?