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Benefits of Birds

Tim Sebesta

Professor of Kinesiology

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Golden-Crowned

Kinglet

American Goldfinch

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet Eastern Phoebe

Orange-Crowned Warbler Cedar Waxwing Dark-Eyed Junco

Common Winter Birds in Houston Backyard

Gray Catbird

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

White-eyed Vireo Baltimore Oriole

Bay-breasted Warbler Magnolia Warbler Eastern Wood Pewee

LSC-Cyfair Migratory Birds This Week

Tennessee Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Benefits of Birds • Birds add joy to the lives of many

• Birds are pollinators

• Birds act as pest control

• Birds are frequently considered indicators

of the health of our environment

Benefits of Birds Nectarivores (birds that help in pollination) Pollination helps with increase yield of economically important plants. Many plants are exclusively dependent on pollinating agents for seed formation.

Birds and Agriculture

• Insect and rodent control

• Plant pollination

• Seed dispersal

Benefits of Birds Scavengers: The scavenging species of birds play an important role in nature. They help in disease outbreaks and help in the recycling of nutrients in nature. Vultures help keep the environment clean by eating up rotting animal carcasses. Vultures, kites and crows are invaluable scavengers. They speedily and effectively dispose of carcasses. Vultures kites and crows are efficient scavengers by removing dead animals.

Benefits of Birds Insectivores: A large proportion of the

normal food of the birds consists of

insects. Insects can be considered “pests”

if they damage crops or could possible cause injuries to humans.

Benefits of Birds Frugivores: (Fruit Eating Birds): These birds help in the dispersals of seeds, which helps in regeneration. Ex: Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Mockingbirds, Cedar Waxwing, Brown Thrashers, Orchard Orioles, Baltimore Orioles, Scarlet Tanagers, Gray Catbirds, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers, Eastern Bluebirds

Migration Facts

• 778 are migratory

• 300 species migrate to Latin America

• 19 species of shorebirds migrate 8,000 miles 1 way

• 34 species of wood warblers and 22 of the 29 species of waterfowl are shared between U.S., Canada, Mexico

Of the 852 bird species in the United

States:

Migration Flyways

• The major wintering areas for North

American migrating birds are the southern

United States and Central America.

• Four major flyways south: the Atlantic

flyway, the Mississippi flyway, the Central

flyway, and the Pacific flyway.

Why Do Birds Migrate?

• The reasons are complex and not fully understood. But a simple explanation is food and a safe place to breed. Birds which breed in the summer in the extreme north such as the Arctic benefit from an abundance of food as plants and insect life flourish in the long daylight hours; and because few large permanent predators can survive the harsh winter. Many birds that breed in the Arctic simply lay their eggs on the ground. Being able to fly, they can avoid the harsh winter conditions, and be the first to arrive to enjoy the summer benefits.

Western

Sandpiper

Why Do Birds Migrate?

• Behavior is inherited; however, birds will not migrate in the absence of certain physiological and environmental cues. In the late summer, the decrease in sunlight stimulates a migrating bird's pituitary gland to produce the hormone prolactin and its adrenal gland to produce the hormone corticosterone. These hormones, in turn, cause the birds to accumulate large amounts of fat just under the skin, providing them with enough energy for the long migratory flights. The hormones also cause the birds to become restless just prior to migration. The exact time of departure, however, is dictated not only by the decreasing sunlight and hormonal changes, but also by such conditions as the availability of food and the onset of cold weather.

Help Migratory Birds In Your Community

• Because many birds use constellations for guidance,

well-lit skyscrapers and communication towers

provide misleading cues and lure birds away from the

correct path. These man-made structures can

sometimes cause them to circle for hours until they

become disoriented, exhausted or stunned, leading to

predation and death. You can help prevent this

tragedy by encouraging cleaning crews, building

management and security guards to turn off the lights

in offices, especially during peak migration seasons,

and by working with others in your community to

address the proliferation of communications towers.

Help Migratory Birds – Be A Caring Consumer

• Much of the coffee we drink comes from Central and South America. Traditional plantations grow coffee under a canopy of trees, which provides habitat needed by over-wintering birds. Increasingly, however, land is being cleared to grow coffee in full sun; this habitat loss, coupled with the alarming rate of summer habitat loss in the United States, is the most significant factor contributing to the decline in Neotropical migratory birds. You can help preserve critical winter habitats for birds such as the ruby-throated hummingbird, Baltimore oriole, Kentucky warbler, and swallow-tailed kite by purchasing only shade-grown coffee and cacao.

• http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Coffee/Bird_Friendly/birdlist.cfm

Eliminate The Poisons In Your Yard

• Yet, we assume that the lawn and garden chemicals found on the shelves at hardware

stores are safe to use around birds (and people.) Take a close look at the labels. Too many

popular pesticides are lethal to birds. And while many pesticides may not kill birds on

contact, they can contaminate bird food (insects) and water.

• What are the alternatives? Mechanical and biological techniques for pest control provide

less hazardous options.

• Website http://www.audubon.org/bird/pesticides/#Insecticides

ACEPHATE (An organophosphate insecticide used in Orthene and other Products.)

BENDIOCARB (A carbamate insecticide used in Ficam and other products.)

CHLORPYRIFOS (Organophosphate used in Dursban, Dragon, Ortho-Klor, and other

products.)

DIAZINON (Organophosphate used in Bonide Diazinon Soil Granules, Knox-Out, and other

products.)

DIMETHOATE (Organophosphate used in Cygon and a variety of other products.)

BRODIFACOUM (An anticoagulant rodenticide used in d-CON, Talon-G, and other products.)

GLYPHOSATE (An alphatic herbicide used in Roundup and other products.)

Cat Predation • Americans keep an estimated 60 million cats as pets.

• Scientific studies actually show that each year, cats kill hundreds of millions of migratory

songbirds. In 1990, researchers estimated that "outdoor" house cats and feral cats were

responsible for killing nearly 78 million small mammals and birds annually.

• University of Wisconsin ornithologist, Dr. Santley Temple estimates that 20-150 million

songbirds are killed each year by rural cats in Wisconsin alone.

• Cats are a serious threat to fledglings, birds roosting at night and birds on a nest.

Research shows that de-clawing cats and bell collars do not prevent them from killing birds

and other small animals. For healthy cats and wild birds, cats should not be allowed to

roam free.

• Work with your local humane society, veterinarians and state wildlife agency to enact and

enforce free-roaming cat regulations.

Cat Collar with

Bell To Reduce

Risk

Bird-Window Collisions • Contemporary homes and modern office buildings often use insulated and reflective glass

to replace walls. These windows may be aesthetically pleasing to humans, but often they

are lethal to birds. Unfortunately, many birds cannot distinguish the difference between

real sky and a reflection of the sky in a window.

• In the United States alone, Dr. Dan Klem of Muhlenberg College estimates that each year

during migration 98 to 976 million birds fly full tilt into windows and are fatally injured.

• Dr. Klem says we can minimize these collisions by breaking up the reflection on the

outside of the window with a non-reflective window coating, window screens, flash tape

and bird netting.

• Life size animate "scares" (plastic falcons, owls and balloons) and falcon or owl silhouettes

attached to windows with suction cups are not effective deterrents.

• Planting trees and installing window awnings to block the sun from hitting the window may

eliminate some reflection. Putting a bird feeder on or within a few feet of a window helps to

slow birds down and lessen the effect of impact.

• Migration isn't the only time homeowners have trouble with bird-window collisions. Birds

may hit your windows during breeding season and in the winter too.

House Sparrows And Starlings

• Every Spring, birds that nest in cavities compete with each other for a

limited number of nest sites. The neotropical migrants that nest in

cavities - purple martins, tree swallows and great-crested flycatchers -

have adapted to competition from chickadees, titmice and woodpeckers.

• The "rules of competition" changed around the turn of the century when

we humans imported two European cavity nesting species: house

sparrows and starlings.

• House sparrows eliminate nest competitors by attacking the adults and

killing the young when they are on the nest. Starlings eliminate nest

competitors by taking over cavity nesting sites. Our native birds don't

seem to be able to defend themselves from house sparrow and starling

attacks. So, if you put up a nest box to help bluebirds, martins,

chickadees, titmice, woodpecker, wrens or flycatchers, you must monitor

the box and eliminate house sparrows and starlings.

Protect, Create and Restore Habitat • Getting involved in migratory bird conservation here in the United States or in Latin America can

be as simple as writing a check, donating equipment or picking up a shovel. Many agencies and

organizations that work to protect, create and restore breeding and wintering habitat for

migratory birds are participating in Partners in Flight. You can get involved in this international

effort by contacting any of the participants listed at the end of this booklet.

• Then think about your lawn. How much lawn do you really need?

• Survey your yard for dead and dying trees. Top them so they don't fall on your house, but leave

the standing trunks and make a brush pile with the downed canopy. Dead trees and brush piles

provide shelter, nest sites and food (insects) for migrating birds.

• Providing water can be as simple as putting out a bird bath or as complicated as installing a

pond with a creek and waterfall. Birds are attracted to water features that are shallow (less than

2" deep), clean (hosed out daily, sanitized with hot soapy water and bleach at least weekly) and

noisy (the sound of dripping water is a magnet for songbirds). Water features are most effective

when placed out in the open, where birds can see predators coming.

• If you put out bird feeders, select a safe feeder and keep it clean. Polycarbonate plastic tube

feeders are the easiest to clean. Use one kind of seed per feeder, don't use seed mixes. Wash

seed, suet and fruit feeders in hot soapy water and chlorine bleach at least once a month. If you

use a tray or bowl feeder, plan to sanitize it more often. To be sure your hummingbird feeders

do not harm the birds.

• You don't have to put out a bird feeder to provide food for our neotropical migrants. Landscape

your yard with native evergreen and fruiting trees, shrubs, grasses and vines. Design your

garden so that your plants flower and fruit throughout the spring, summer and fall.

Help Migratory Birds In Your Own Backyard

• You can make your yard a stopover for migratory

birds by providing them with some essentials: water

(even just a shallow dish), cover (evergreens and

brush piles), and berry-producing trees and shrubs

(such as dogwoods, American holly, viburnums,

American highbush cranberry, and serviceberry). To

attract the insects that birds eat, mulch your leaves in

a sheltered corner and don't deadhead flowers such

as coneflowers, marigolds, cosmos, and sunflowers.

Birds will feed on the seeds. You may also choose to

put out a variety of seed feeders during migratory

periods, along with cut or dried fruit.

• Certification will require: – At least 50% native plants

– Food for the wildlife year round,

preferably provided by plants.

A feeder alone will not be considered.

– Shelter for the wildlife, including: brushy plants, tall trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Artificial shelter such as nest boxes, brush piles, rock piles, and bat houses may also be included.

– Water in a useable, reliable form for the wildlife.

FOOD SOURCES: Natural or Supplemental

• Identify the types of plants that provide fruits,

nuts, berries, seeds, nectar and other materials

that wildlife might eat.

– Acorns from oak trees

– Fruits attract numerous birds and small mammals

– Sunflower (Helianthus) provides seeds for many kinds

of birds

– Tubular flowers attract hummingbird species

FOOD SOURCES: Natural or Supplemental

• Identify the types of plants that provide fruits,

nuts, berries, seeds, nectar and other materials

that wildlife might eat.

– Acorns from oak trees

– Fruits attract numerous birds and small mammals

– Sunflower (Helianthus) provides seeds for many kinds

of birds

– Tubular flowers attract hummingbird species

FOOD SOURCES: Natural

• Tall Trees

– Live Oak

– Red Mulberry

– Pecan

• Small Trees

– Yaupon

– Mexican Plum

– Shining Sumac

• Shrubs

– American

Beautyberry

– Texas Wax Myrtle

– Dewberry

• Perennials

– Turks’s Cap

– Cardinal Flower

– Shrimp Plant

– Firecracker plant

FOOD SOURCES: Supplemental

WATER SOURCES: The Key Ingredient

SHELTER: Natural

SHELTER: Artificial

Wildscaping Tips: ■ Use native plants adapted to your local conditions that

provide the kind of food and cover wildlife require.

■ Recycle leaves, plant clippings and kitchen scraps into compost and don’t bag grass clippings.

■ Conserve water. Irrigate in the early mornings or evenings to reduce water waste.

■ Closely follow all label instructions when applying pesticides and fertilizers, and try to minimize their use.

For more information on creating your Habitat visit:

www.tpwd.state.tx.us/wildscapes

How To Watch Spring Migratory Birds

Along The Texas Coast • Plan to arrive after April 15 and before May 15 for the best birding. Make reservations at a

central spot that will give you access to several birding areas along the coast.

• Make High Island one of your main stops. Smith Oaks, a 122.2-acre sanctuary here, is one

of the best-known migratory stopovers on the coast. Boy Scout Woods and Eubanks

Woods are other excellent birding sites on High Island.

• Consider Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Although this is better known as a wintering

ground for thousands of ducks and geese, there are good numbers of birds here year-

round. In spring, areas such as The Willows may serve as migrant traps for a variety of

warblers and other birds.

• Spend some time at the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary on the Bolivar Peninsula. This is

a great spot for regularly occurring shore birds, as well as migrants, and has been

recognized as an internationally important site by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird

Reserve Network. Bring a scope for the best views.

• Stop at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, best known as the wintering place of endangered

whooping cranes. The cranes start to leave the refuge in early April to go north to nesting

grounds in Canada, but there is still much to see here in migration.

• Visit Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. This area has plenty of varied habitats and

can be a good migrant trap in spring, especially when the weather is bad.

• Check your bird guides and maps for other birding locations on the upper Texas coast.

Those mentioned are the most visited, but there are many more birding opportunities in the

region.

Where To Go To View Migratory Birds

Texas Ornithological Society - http://www.texasbirds.org/

National Audubon Society - http://www.audubon.org/

American Birding Association - http://www.americanbirding.org/

American Bird Conservancy http://www.abcbirds.org/

World Birding Center - http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/worldbirdingcenter/

Bird Links to the World (Texas) http://www.bsc-

eoc.org/links/links.jsp?page=l_usa_tx

Houston Audubon Society - http://www.houstonaudubon.org/

Outdoor Nature Club - http://www.texasbirding.net/hog/

USGS - http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html

Enature - http://enature.com/birding/birding_home.asp

Saturday Edition of the Houston Chronicle, Star Section, “Wonders of Nature”

TEXBIRDS listserv - http://listserv.uh.edu/archives/texbirds.html

http://www.texasbirding.net/maps/wharris.htm

Sources Of Information About Migratory Birds

To keep current with efforts in migratory bird conservation, get

on the mailing list for the free

Partners in Flight Newsletter http://www.partnersinflight.org/

(National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,

1120 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 900,

Washington, DC 20036.)

TEXAS

Parks & Wildlife, 4200 Smith School Rd.,

Austin 78744