You are currently browsing the daily archive for March 11th, 2007.
Baby Bald Eagles
In the 1960s, there were fewer than 500 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states. That’s why this symbolic bird was placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1978. Today, eagle numbers are estimated at 7,066 pairs. What a comeback! In fact, this is one of the greatest wildlife success stories of the last 25 years! It means the Act is working the way it was intended.
Because of these encouraging results, the Department of the Interior (DOI) is expected to remove the bald eagle from the endangered species list this June. National Wildlife Federation supports the delisting of the bald eagle…
…but we have one major concern.
The Act requires that before the bald eagle is de-listed, the DOI must ensure a plan is in place to prevent the bald eagle population from backsliding. But incredibly, just the reverse is true. Biologists say the government’s plans for protecting more than 14,000 bald eagles after they leave the list are inadequate (click here for more information).
After years of successful work by so many dedicated scientists and volunteers to save the bald eagle, critical safeguards would now be forgotten and trashed. And developers would ride rough-shod over the bald eagles’ essential nesting sites…and the downward trend would start all over again. What a tragedy this would be!
| Weather and Effort: March 1 and 2, 2007 | |
|---|---|
| When did you watch your feeders? | Day 1: morning afternoon Day 2: morning afternoon |
| Estimated cumulative time: | 1 to 4 hours |
| Daylight temperature: | 1 to 10° C (33 to 50° F) low 11 to 20° C (51 to 68° F) high |
| Daylight precipitation: | Rain 1 to 3 hours |
| Total depth of ice/snow cover: | None |
Checklist for FeederWatch California Region Birds
Wild Turkey 5 Confirmed
Band-tailed Pigeon 1
Mourning Dove 5
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Steller’s Jay 5
Western Scrub-Jay 10
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3
Oak Titmouse 2
Spotted Towhee 1
California Towhee 2
Fox Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow 9
Dark-eyed Junco 12
House Finch 18 (0 with eye disease)
American Goldfinch 1 (0 with eye disease)
| Weather and Effort: February 22 and 23, 2007 | |
|---|---|
| When did you watch your feeders? | Day 1: morning afternoon Day 2: morning afternoon |
| Estimated cumulative time: | 1 to 4 hours |
| Daylight temperature: | 1 to 10° C (33 to 50° F) low 11 to 20° C (51 to 68° F) high |
| Daylight precipitation: | Rain 3 to 6 hours |
| Total depth of ice/snow cover: | None |
Checklist for FeederWatch California Region Birds
Wild Turkey 2 Confirmed
Mourning Dove 4
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Steller’s Jay 2
Western Scrub-Jay 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
Oak Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Spotted Towhee 1
California Towhee 2
Fox Sparrow 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow 8
Dark-eyed Junco 14
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Brewer’s Blackbird 1
House Finch 6 (0 with eye disease)
This is a very informative site to help you identify your backyard birds. Not sure what call belongs to what bird? This site gives audible bird calls of each bird.
Let’s Play “Name That Bird.” Wild Birds Unlimited now has a way to identify those feathered strangers you see from time to time. It’s new! It’s the online field guide that makes identifying unfamiliar birds easy. It’s rightbird.com!
You provide information about the unfamiliar bird you’ve seen by selecting from a menu of attributes such as color, wing shape and size; rightbird will do the rest. You will instantly see illustrations of birds that match the attributes you’ve selected. The more characteristics you know, the narrower the search is for the “right bird.” And with rightbird’s audible bird call samples, you can also hear the sounds made by your stranger. At Wild Birds Unlimited, we’re happy to take the mystery out of birdwatching. Visit rightbird.com today
