HNPNC members took the final meeting of the 2013-2014 season outdoors on Tuesday evening (June 10th) with a walk through Scotsdale Farm. While we were there we checked several of the nest boxes that we installed on May 19th.
To our delight we found that 50% of the nest boxes were occupied even though we put them up a bit late for the nesting season. Most of the occupants were Tree Swallows but one box appeared to have been claimed first by an Eastern Bluebird and then taken over by a House Wren.
Thanks again to Kim Dobson for making the boxes and overseeing the installation. Thanks also to the hardy members of the Halton/North Peel Naturalist Club and our guests from Friends of Scotsdale Farm, who braved hungry mosquitoes for a walk through this beautiful property on a lovely June evening.
Guided Monday evening walks will continue throughout the summer in partnership with the South Peel Naturalist Club. HNPNC’s next official meeting will be September 9th at Saint Alban’s in Glen Williams – mark your calendars!
Left to right: Jeff Cassidy, Emily Dobson, Bill McIlveen, Ramona Dobson, Ian Jarvie, Fiona Reid, Sandy Gillians, Kim Dobson.
Several members of the Halton/North Peel Naturalist Club met this morning to install bird boxes around the hay meadows and old fields of Scotsdale Farm in Halton Hills. The fields are home to Eastern Bluebirds, several species of swallows, and threatened grassland birds such as Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark.
Several more boxes were installed on the grounds of St. Alban’s church along the Credit River in Glen Williams last week.
HNPNC raised funds for the bird boxes through donations from attendees of a reptile workshop held January 12th this year. Many thanks to HNPNC member Emily Dobson (who is also Ontario SwiftWatch Coordinator for Halton) for moving this project forward, and to Kim Dobson for building the boxes and supervising the installations.
The chimney swift is a pretty remarkable species of bird when you consider its rapid adaptation over the last century. Historically, these birds inhabited old growth forests, using cavity trees or snags (standing dead trees) with large hollows for roosting and nesting. However, the European settlement and logging practises occurring into the 1900s saw the destruction of forests across North America, and with it, the loss of vital habitat for many animals including chimney swifts.
Figure 1. Chimney Swift range map, with wintering habitat in South America, and summer habitat in eastern North America. Source: “Chimney Swift range” by America_Federal_Provincial_y_Departamental is licensed under CC BY 3.0
As forests were rapidly disappearing, they were being replaced by farmland, barns, churches and houses heated using woodstoves. Conveniently, the swifts would migrate back from the Amazon basin in South America to eastern North America in late April through mid-May (Figure 1). By this time, the chimneys in these structures were no longer being used, providing artificial habitat for the aptly named birds to settle at night- time and to nest in.
The reason the chimney has served as a good alternate habitat for swifts is because of both its size and texture. The size of the chimney must be large enough for many birds, as they roost in groups that may be as large as thousands of individuals (Figure 2). This group strategy is beneficial as it provides protection (i.e. from predators) and allows the birds to maintain their body temperature during cool nights. Chimneys with brick interiors create rough vertical surfaces that allows these birds to rest against with a “fork” on their tail. Additionally, nesting birds will use chimneys for breeding, using their glue- like saliva to create half-cup nests within the chimney, with one pair of birds per structure (Figure 3).
Figure 2. Chimney swifts circling a chimney before funneling in and roosting for the night. Source: “Chimney Swift From The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds” by America_Federal_Provincial_y_Departamental is licensed under CC BY 3.0
Despite their rapid adaptation to man-made structures, the Canadian population of chimney swifts has drastically declined by 95% since 1968 (COSEWIC 2007). There are several explanations that may, together, contribute to these significant declines.
For starters, over the last 50 years, North Americans have further developed their heating systems, and instead of using woodstoves with chimneys, gas fireplaces or central heat are instead the norm. New buildings are no longer being built with chimneys, and buildings that have unused chimneys are being capped, lined or removed, to dissuade other creatures, like raccoons from wreaking havoc and making noise. Combined with deforestation, habitat is becoming more limited.
Figure 3. Chimney swift nest. Source: “ChimneySwift23” by United States National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park
Mortality along their migration route may also be a factor. Significant declines are caused when hurricanes occur during migration, forcing them to re-route, or reducing food sources essential to their survival. If climate change increases the frequency of storm events, declines may continue, further reducing population sizes.
Changes in food supply may be impacting survivorship of chimney swifts. These birds are aerial insectivores, meaning they catch their prey while flying. They are in flight almost continuously throughout the day, causing them to expend a large amount of energy. Therefore, if food availability is low it can greatly impact their survival.
So what are we doing to help? Well for starters, the chimney swift is listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Species with a threatened status receive habitat protection, and for the chimney swift, this means any repairs, modifications, maintenance, replacement or demolitions to chimneys that are suitable for habitat require certain conditions, including the following:
The work must be registered with the Ministry of Natural Resources prior to commencement.
Disturbance to the species must be minimized.
Often, new habitat must be created and maintained for chimney swifts.
Records of ongoing monitoring of the created habitat must be kept and reported.
Bird Studies Canada is conducting a long-term monitoring program, called SwiftWatch, with the goal of continuing to monitor known roosts, to find new roosts, and to raise awareness about this species at risk. The 2014 National Roost Monitoring Program is a continent-wide effort to study this species, and will be taking place May 21, 25, 29 and June 2. If you are interested in volunteering with the Halton SwiftWatch Program, or would like to know more, please use the contact form with the subject line, “Emily Dobson – SwiftWatch”.
References
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). 2007. Chimney Swift.
Chimney swifts are beginning to arrive in Ontario for the breeding season after a long journey back from the Amazon basin. These iconic birds have declined by an alarming 30% in the past 14 years, and the Halton/North Peel Naturalist Club is seeking dedicated volunteers to join us in the Bird Studies Canada SwiftWatch Program. Our goals for the 2014 season are to continue monitoring known roosts, to find new roosts, and to raise awareness about this threatened species at risk.
The 2014 National Roost Monitoring Program is a continent-wide effort to study Chimney Swifts on May 21, 25, 29 and June 2. Our club will also host a Swift Night Out (date and place to be announced), where the public is invited to join us in observing the beauty of swifts gathering to roost in the evening.
If you are interested in volunteering with our Halton SwiftWatch Program or would like to know more, please contact Emily Dobson (put “SwiftWatch” in the subject line). To report sightings, please record your observations using the Online Data Form, available on the Bird Studies Canada website.
Check out this amazing video of chimney swifts in action:
Are you a birder? Are you good at identifying grassland birds by ear?
Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) needs your help on a one-day breeding bird survey or ‘blitz’ of meadow habitat in CVC’s middle and upper watersheds. During the blitz volunteers will gather information on the location, abundance and nature of the habitat that these birds require for breeding.
CVC is looking for people who might want to participate in this one-day event. The Bird Blitz will take place in June, with a 2 hour training session ahead of time. Volunteers will conduct surveys – in teams – from roadsides via a ‘point-count’ method.
If you’re interested in participating in the Bird Blitz, please complete the CVC’s online questionnaire. This questionnaire will help them set up the best dates for training and staging the event.
If you have any questions, please call Annabel Krupp at CVC, 905.670-1615 x 446
About the Grassland Bird Recovery Program
Local populations of grassland birds are finding it increasingly difficult to locate suitable habitat for breeding, nesting and resting. Species like the Eastern Meadowlark and Bobolink are declining and are now considered provincially at-risk, according to ecologists at Credit Valley Conservation (CVC). In an effort to better understand the issues affecting these species and take action to begin addressing their decline, CVC has instituted a pilot 3 year Grassland Bird Recovery Program. The program has received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources’ Species at Risk Habitat Stewardship Fund.
by W.D. McIlveen – Halton/North Peel Naturalist Club
The 23nd annual Christmas Bird Count that took place on December 27, 2013 will be a most memorable one. The outstanding feature of the Count will be remembered not so much for the count results as for the weather that occurred a few days earlier. That weather included freezing rain that amounted to at least three cm of ice over all exposed surfaces. The consequence of the ice was extensive breakage of tree branches and electrical power outages that were still happening in parts of the survey area. Overall, there were 23 participants that took part in the field observations or checked their feeders.
Generally, the Count produced close to average results based on comparisons with previous counts in the case of numbers of species reported – 49 species on count day vs. 50 species for the long-term average. By contrast, the total numbers of birds seen was 5239 – slightly over half of the average of 9760. The results for the individual species are presented in the attached table. A new species for the Count was a Turkey Vulture that was reported to the OntBirds website. Only one species, the Red-bellied Woodpecker was present in record high numbers with 15 birds seen. Many species were reported at low numbers, both below average and at new lows. The new low numbers were noted with Mallards (26), Black-capped Chickadees (243), American Tree Sparrow (55), and Northern Cardinal (22). No Black Ducks were observed. Wild Turkey (50), Hairy Woodpecker (26), Blue Jay (171) and American Robin (95) were noted in above average numbers but not in record high numbers. The species that made it onto the Count Week list were Snowy Owl and Snow Bunting.
The impact of the ice storm that appeared to generally lower the observed bird populations cannot be assessed with any certainty. In part, the lower numbers of ducks and geese might also be correlated with early freeze-up of local water bodies. This would not explain the lower numbers of the more-terrestrial species. Only time will tell whether the decreased numbers are merely a blip or part of a long-term trend.
Our party of two had a great outing to this urban park. It is closer than Leslie Street Spit, with a lot less walking and some really good wetland and lakeshore habitats. Our first bird of interest was a Gray Catbird near a small pond. On the pond shore we also saw a young Black-crowned Night Heron and some Shoveler and Gadwall. Up ahead a Hooded Merganser caught our eye. On the lake were many ducks and grebes, and we had excellent views of a nice male Harlequin Duck! On our way back we saw many signs of Beaver (we had already seen a Muskrat swimming) and then we saw a Northern Mockingbird that has been residing in the area for some time, according to local birders. I hope we can return with more club members in future.
