Rare Imperial Woodpecker Footage

Bird Feeder

This is fascinating article and amazing to think this footage was hidden for so many years. 

"The last documented sighting of an Imperial Woodpecker took place in 1956 in the state of Durango in the high-altitude old-growth pine forest of the Sierra Madre. It was this sighting, by Pennsylvania dentist and amateur ornithologist William Rhein, that drew the attention of woodpecker researcher Martjan Lammertink and me and eventually led us to launch an expedition in March 2010 to explore the area where Rhein had filmed a lone female Imperial Woodpecker. Amazingly, the 85 seconds of 16mm color movie footage Rhein shot in 1956 is the only photographic documentation ever captured of this species in life. Yet for decades the scientific community knew nothing about it, and that might still be the case if not for Martjan’s tireless efforts. It was he who first found a mention of the film while reading through a 1962 letter in James Tanner’s personal correspondence, archived at Cornell University."  Click below to continue reading this great story.

Return to Durango

How Long For Birds To Find Your Bird Feeder?

Bird Feeder

Bill Oddie explains how timid birds can be when a new bird feeder is placed in the garden.

How long does it take birds to come to a new bird feeder?

Blue Jay Selects Peanuts

Bird Feeder

Great video showing a blue jay and a chipmunk selecting peanuts:

"It’s hard to say exactly what’s going on here since we don’t really know what goes on inside a bird’s brain, but it is likely that this jay’s behavior has something to do with food storage. Jays and other corvids cache (store) food for later consumption.  It looks like this jay might be trying to find the best peanut for its cache."

Choosing the Right Peanut

Sensory Versus Physiological Feedback For Hummingbird

Bird Feeder

Animals determine information about food in two ways: sensory input and physiological feedback.  The sensory input in this context is taste.  A hummingbird uses taste to immediately determine the caloric quality of a food.  A food that contains more calories will taste more desirable.

Hummingbirds don’t rely on taste when choosing food options

Project Feeder Watch

Bird Feeder

"We have started shipping kits for the 2011-12 FeederWatch season, which begins November 12. Be sure to sign up if you haven't already!"

Learn To Identify The Red Finches

Bird Feeder

Confused about red finches? This article will help you:

The identification of these three finches of the Carpodacus genus can be extremely difficult. Each species is about the same size and shape, each is colored red with varying degrees of brown streaking, and each is common to feeder areas. What's more, the ranges of these birds overlap quite a bit, primarily owing to the ubiquitous distribution of the House Finch. In certain areas of the West, it is possible to encounter all three species!

Which red finch is it?

Brad Storey Is Raising Money For Bird Areas Program

Bird Feeder

"Brad and Xena have already started their journey across America, stopping at Audubon Centers and Important Bird Areas along the way."

Brad Storey Journeys Across America to support the Important Bird Areas Program!

Road Scholars Help Out On Eastern Egg Rock Island

Bird Feeder

Reservations are now being accepted for the 2012 programs. Click below to read more:

On September 11-16, 22 participants in the Road Scholar session titled ‘Maine Seabird Biology and Conservation’ arrived on Hog Island for a very successful service-learning program. 

Road Scholars assist Audubon biologists to improve habitat for Maine seabirds

The 2012 Great Backyard Bird Count Dates Are Announced

Bird Feeder

The next Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday, February 17, through Monday, February 20, 2012.

Click below for the results of the 2011 Count

Participants submitted more than 92,000 checklists to the GBBC this year--the third year in a row that checklists topped 90,000. New checklist records were set in 11 states and in 7 out of 13 Canadian provinces and territories, resulting in a new overall checklist record for Canada. Altogether, participants identified 596 species and 11.4 million bird observations.

Great Backyard Bird Count Highlights

Bird Feeder Cams Show Dinner Time At The Feeder

Your Bird Feeder

Lawn-cam and bird-feeder cam views of a dinner rush on a bird feeder (and the spilled-over seeds below it).

Bird Feeder

Dinner At The Bird Feeder

Bird Feeder

Watch the various birds feeding at the bird feeders:

Dinner time at the bird feeder

Hummingbird Lands On A Hand

Bird Feeder

This poor little hummer got stranded in a garage-looks like he found a friend:

Hummingbird Landed on my hand without feeding 

Bird Feeder Featuring Sparrows

Bird Feeder

Interesting Idea-Is the technology available yet?

Audio track contains suggestion for design of a bird feeder that would distinguish between nuisance birds (sparrows, pigeons, and starlings) and native songbirds, and only dispense food to the songbirds, discouraging nuisance birds from feeding there.

Sparrows Feeding at a Bird Feeder (in slow motion)

Woodpecker At The Bird Feeder

Bird Feeder

A bit of a surprise to see a large woodpecker hanging on the birdfeeder. The nuthatch was not impressed.

H2HQ Bird Feeder

Peanuts In The Bird Feeder Disappear

Bird Feeder

Watch as the birds grab and go:

My Bird Feeder

Cardinals On The Snowy Bird Feeder

Bird Feeder

Enjoy watching the cardinals at the bird feeder while the snow falls:

Cardinals On The Snowy Bird Feeder

Time Lapse Photography Of The Bird Feeder

Bird Feeder

I'm having fun with my new time lapse camera.

Bird Feeder Time Lapse

Eagle At Parque Condor

Bird Feeder

Birds at Parque Condor, condor and bird refuge in Otavalo, Ecuador

Eagle watching at Parque Condor

Cardinals Stand Out Against The Fall Leaves

Bird Feeder

It rained a bit here yesterday and I was out with the camera when a flash of red caught my eye.  Yes, it was a male Northern Cardinal sitting in the neighbor’s Lilac bush. 

A Cardinal in the Lilac

Audubon Introduces Birding The Net Contest

Bird Feeder

Birding the Net is a great new contest by the Audubon Society.  Get all the details by clicking the link below

"Be one of the first to spot all the birds and win amazing prizes. If you're among the top 200 birders,you'll also win a complimentary one-year membership to Audubon."

Birding The Net

Make Your Garden Bird-Friendly This Winter

Bird Feeder

Harrow Garden Centre, in Headstone Lane, will start teaching visitors on Saturday, October 15, how to make their gardens bird-friendly in the colder months.

Garden centre to launch fortnight of events around garden birds

Prepare Your Bird Feeders

Bird Feeder

Still, it is not too early to get bird feeders out, cleaned and hung up. In fact, there may be a reason to do so even if feeders should remain empty for a few more weeks. I read somewhere that birds notice when feeders are put up in the fall, even if they don't have seed in them. Apparently birds plan in advance where they are going to eat when food becomes scare. This is something I am not sure I give birds credit for, but if bears can remember where feeders are, why not birds?

Time is now to hang bird feeders -- but don't fill them yet

Residents Make Bird Feeders And Bird Boxes

Bird Feeder

WILDLIFE week at a residential home will benefit its less mobile inhabitants. 
They will be able to watch birds coming and going among the feeders and bird boxes their fellow residents have made. 

Watch the birdies

Iberian Bird App Is Free

Bird Feeder

What a great app. Check it out if you are in that area:

A free app that aims to encourage sustainable tourism in the Important Bird Areas of Spain and Portugal is available for users of Apple’s iPhones and iPads. The app, Iberian Birds, will enable users to find the nearest IBA, based on their geo-location (GPS) data, and learn what birds are to be found there.

Free app puts Iberian IBAs on the map

What Are The Dangers Of Windfarms To Migrating Birds?

Bird Feeder

This article address concerns about the impact of windfarms on migrating birds. Take a look:

As they do every year when autumn approaches, a small group of bird-watchers gathered Tuesday afternoon on Poor Mountain to record the southern migration of hawks, eagles, falcons, ospreys and harriers.

Roanoke County bird-watchers worry about windmills' wake

Bird Watching Panel Discusses The Birds of Rochester

Bird Feeder

This looks like a great event:

Three local bird watchers will detail their part in "The Big Chase: Looking for Birds in Rochester and Beyond" at the event, beginning at 7 p.m.   Bob Mauceli, Randi Minetor and Dominic Sherony will also share personal stories of some of their successful searches for birds, and discuss the people they have encountered on their bird-watching expeditions. 

Bird-watching panel at Pittsford Library