News: Waterbirds & Waterfowl

[The Peregrine Chick]

Yes I agree does seem unusual. Someone said they are good nest sites. I thought once the eggs hatch, the mother wants to lead them to water. This is fine if they can waddle to the water but they definitely can't do it from a roof top. 

There are Canada Geese that nest on the roof at Oak Hammock and the building management lay out multiple little ramps to help them work their way down to the ground.  When they have nested in other higher-than-ground level situations sometimes they just jump (like from the haystack goose in Alberta a couple of years ago - or heck woodducks do it on purpose) - depending on the surface at the bottom, the chicks can bounce quite successfully.  On even higher locations, building managers or wildlife managers risk the parents ire to scoop up the goslings and their parents and taken them down by stair or elevator - that kind of egress is a bit hairy for everyone involved but quick and effective when done by folks that know what they are doing.  I don't the spot they were nesting on this year (not at all) so I can't propose possible scenarios, I can just tell you a couple I know have been done elsewhere.

[Linder]

I thank you for your explanation, but I still have a problem with how they plan to get these goslings from the 3rd floor from the MB Hydro bldg to the nearest river with the parents in tow. Sounds like a very difficult thing to do. Maybe they should put a swimming pool up there until the goslings are ready to fly.   

[jadoo]

...no need to worry now, I guess you missed the previous postings - the female goose died, and the nest has been abandoned...maybe next year...

[msdolittle]

that wouldn't be good either.  If a peregrine eats a pigeon that it'self has just eaton Pigeon poisen .....

[The Peregrine Chick]

Stop panicking about the City - they have an anti-poison policy for wildlife problems - the City has consulted us about using poisons and other toxicants in the downtown area.

And we try to keep in touch with private pest control companies to keep them up to date on the peregrines and many of them prefer not to use poison as it is just too difficult to be absolutely sure nothing will happen.  And besides, it doesn't solve the problem - kill the <insert species name here> and more move in because now there is a space for them in the environment.

[Ellie]

Just thinking....could a peregrine have taken the idea that this goose was an intruder and much too close?  If they take ducks for food .........possibly a nesting goose??

[pmg]

Bid to save sandpiper at risk of extinction in Russia

an interesting article from the BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13627796

[The Peregrine Chick]

The Green Page: Researchers concerned as whooping cranes still flying through oilsands
Bob Weber, The Canadian Press  - 10 July 2011 - Winnipeg Free Press
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/125308823.html

Oilsands threatens whooping cranes: endangered birds migrate through Alberta region, data shows
Bob Weber, The Canadian Press - 12 July 2011 - Winnipeg Free Press
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/oilsands-threatens-whooping-cranes-report-125398948.html

[allikat]

Thank you for posting this Tracy!  

Wooping Cranes are absolutely magnificant birds to watch!  I call them graceful wings of the sky!  

Sometimes, it just feels like we can never do enough.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Child Abuse in Birds: Study Documents 'Cycle of Violence' in Nature

Science Daily (Oct. 3, 2011)

For one species of seabird in the Galápagos, the child abuse "cycle of violence" found in humans plays out in the wild.

The new study of Nazca boobies by Wake Forest University researchers provides the first evidence from the animal world showing those who are abused when they are young often grow up to be abusers. The study appears in the October issue of the ornithology journal, The Auk.

"We were surprised by the intense interest that many adults show in unrelated young, involving really rough treatment," said Wake Forest Professor of Biology Dave Anderson, who led the study with Wake Forest graduate student Martina Müller. "A bird's history as a target of abuse proved to be a strong predictor of its adult behavior."

In Nazca boobies, traumatic abuse of developing young significantly increases the chances those maltreated individuals will exhibit the same maltreatment later in life as adults, Müller said. She is now at the University of Groeningen in the Netherlands.

The ocean-going seabirds live in colonies in the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Among Nazca boobies, victimization by adults on other birds' chicks is widespread. They raise solitary nestlings on the ground and frequently leave their offspring unattended while foraging at sea. So, there is much opportunity for adult birds to bully and beat up neighbor nestlings.

The abusive adults patrol the breeding colony, searching for unguarded chicks. They frequently bite and peck the chicks, and even make sexual advances, sometimes leaving the chicks bleeding and stressed. Female adults show more aggressive behavior than males do, on average.

The young birds nest years later in the colony where they were born, making them ideal models for studying the effects of "chick" abuse on lifelong behavior.

The researchers collected data during three breeding seasons documenting which nestlings suffered abuse or neglect, then several years later evaluated their behavior as adults in the same colony. They tracked the birds and identified them using leg bands.

The findings shed important light on animal behavior. "This is not some contrived experimental situation with freaked out captive animals. This is an animal in a natural situation experiencing natural stressors when young. And, the outcome is their behavior later is influenced by the social stress they experienced," Anderson said. "As we determine how similar the physiology of this response is to the human situation, we may find opportunities for research on this stress response that are not possible to do with humans."

Co-authors on the study included Wake Forest graduate students Elaine T. Porter, Jacquelyn K. Grace, Jill A. Awkerman, and Mark A. Westbrock and technicians Kevin T. Birchler, Alex R. Gunderson, and Eric G. Schneider.

The Wake Forest team of researchers is already exploring physiological responses to abuse and have found a dramatic increase in corticosterone, the primary avian stress hormone, after a chick has experienced abuse. The surge in stress hormone may influence adult bird behavior. The study, led by doctoral student Jacquelyn Grace, was published recently in the journal, Hormones and Behavior.

"It's fascinating that what many would consider an extremely complex human phenomenon is also occurring -- perhaps through the same physiological mechanism -- in Nazca boobies, which are more closely related to crocodiles than mammals," Grace said. "Both studies suggest Nazca boobies might be a good model system to begin understanding the mechanisms underlying the cycle of violence in humans."


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111003132454.htm

[The Peregrine Chick]

Not a new story but still news - the geese and some ducks are back at OHM - skating rather than swimming but given that we are suppose to hit double digits in the next couple of days they will be swimming soon enough!

[msdolittle]

That explains the geese I heard yesterday!

[pmg]

We saw and heard geese yesterday too, sitting outside and trying to not get a sunburn

[Rose]

Some of the local geese are back, saw a pair on the ice of the pond just south of Richmond avenue and two small flocks (8 to 10 in each flock) flying low around this area.The snow is almost all gone in this area.

[Kinderchick]

I actually cheered in my car on my way to school this morning when I saw my 1st pair of geese standing in a nearby park!