Division of Bird Habitat Conservation

Birdscapes: News from International Habitat Conservation Partnerships

In an Eggshell

Legacy Image

Johnnie A. Johnson worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1952 until his retirement in 1978. He passed away in 1995. We are fortunate that wildlife photography was his hobby. His daughter, Jenny Fenske, offered to share a small piece of his photographic legacy with us: ducks and geese on Tule Lake, California, 1956. Thank you, Jenny.

North American Conservationists Convene in Mexico

More than 100 biologists and managers from Canada, Mexico, and the United States convened in April in Mexico for the 7th Meeting of the Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation and Management. The Trilateral Committee assists the three countries with development and coordination of cooperative conservation projects. Eight working groups met: Executive, Shared Species, Biodiversity Information, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Protected Areas, Migratory Birds, Law Enforcement, and Wildlife without Borders-Mexico. A priority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has the U.S. Government lead, is to coordinate with Mexico for the transfer of California condors from the United States to Northern Baja California, Mexico, for a proposed September release. The meeting unexpectedly culminated with a hatch of olive ridley turtles on the beach near the meeting site. As if to remind themselves why they were there, the entire delegation poured out of a late evening meeting to help the turtles to the water.

Susan Jewell, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(703) 358-2416, susan_jewell@fws.gov

Just the Facts: Baldcypress

The next time you are slogging around in a bottomland hardwood forest with friends and want to impress them with your knowledge of the baldcypress, call these facts to mind:

Growth:
The baldcypress grows 70 to 100 feet in height with a diameter of 3 to 5 feet. It is pyramidal in shape, with a heavy straight trunk and branches that are distinctly horizontal. The tree becomes flat-topped in maturity. The cypress often grows in pure, almost circular, stands. Its distinctive "knees" are above-ground root extensions that occur when growth conditions are very wet. Research has found no physiological function for the knees, but combined with a buttressed, widened base and a massive root system, the knees might add stability to the tree. Even winds of hurricane force rarely overturn a baldcypress.

Sites:
The baldcypress typically is associated with water and swamps, growing in very wet or even submerged soils. Nevertheless, it grows quite well on well-drained upland sites.

Range:
It extends along the coastal plain from Delaware southward to Florida and westward to southeastern Texas and northward in the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys to southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana.

Human Uses:
In its natural range the baldcypress is an important timber tree. Because of its heartwood's resistance to decay, it is used for heavy construction, including docks, warehouses, boats, and bridges.

Tree Trivia:
This tree has been in existence for quite some time—preserved baldcypress has been found in sediment dated 4 to 7 million years old.

Heather Lowe, MeadWestvaco Corporation
(843) 871-5000, hslowe@meadwestvaco.com

Birding and Hunting Stats

Birdwatching is a popular American activity. One in five Americans (20%)16 years or older are birders. Newly released findings from the 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, conducted and published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, found that 46 million Americans birdwatch. Most birders observe around their homes (88%) but a large number (40%) also take trips of at least 1 mile from home for the primary purpose of observing birds. Birdwatchers are certainly avid about their hobby. On average they spend 120 days a year observing birds around their home and 17 days taking birdwatching trips. However, it is unclear how advanced their identifications skills are. The survey found that only 26% of birders can identify 20 or more birds.

The number of migratory bird hunters has held steady over the past 10 years, but the kinds of birds they are hunting is changing. According to new data from the survey, 3 million Americans (16 years of age and older) hunted migratory birds in 2001, the same amount as in the 1991 survey. Among these 3 million hunters, duck hunting appears to be gaining in popularity, dove hunting less so. The number of duck hunters increased from 39% in 1991 to 54% in 2001, whereas dove hunters decreased from 61% in 1991 to 49% in 2001. The survey also found that migratory bird hunters spend a fair amount of time and money on their sport. In 2001, they went hunting 10 days a year on average and spent $1.4 billion on trip and equipment purchases—an average of $470 per hunter.

Genevieve Pullis, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(703) 358-1854, genevieve_pullis@fws.gov

Are You a Bird Brain?

Ready to test your bird knowledge? Go to http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/trend/birdquiz3.html for a little fun. Hosted on the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site, you will have the opportunity to prove, once and for all, how good a birder you really are. There is a test for the beginner birder and one for the advanced. You'll have the option of testing yourself by identifying the species from a photograph, from the breeding and wintering distribution, and by song. If any of you pass with 100 percent correct in all categories, let your Birdscapes' editors know.

More on Hunters

As a group, hunters are more interested in wildlife issues and contribute more to conservation efforts than the general public, according to a recent study. In a nationwide telephone poll, Americans were asked about their participation in hunting, their interest in wildlife, and their contributions to non-governmental conservation groups. Those who identified themselves as hunters indicated a higher interest in wildlife and higher participation in efforts of conservation groups.

Hunters were more than three times as likely as non-hunters to participate in organized wildlife conservation efforts. Only 15 percent of non-hunters said they were a member of or donated to any organization dedicated to the protection or conservation of wildlife. But 51 percent of hunters said they belonged to or donated to such an organization. When asked how they would gauge their interest in wildlife, 77 percent of hunters answered "high" compared to 61 percent of non-hunters.

Hunters were identified as those who said they had been hunting in the last 12 months. Survey results are based on a random sample of 1,000 Americans 18-years-old and older. The sampling error is plus or minus 3 percent.

Eric Keszler, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
(901) 758-3937, ekexzler@ducks.org

Totally for the Toad

Cooperative work continues to save one of North America's endangered amphibians, the Wyoming toad. In 2000, a Population Habitat Viability Analysis workshop was held that included participants from federal and state agencies as well as local landowners. They evaluated, discussed, and prioritized research needs. Three of the top 10 needs include a basin-wide chytrid survey, captive facility water-quality assessment, and captive diet research.

Work in these areas was conducted this summer. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is collecting amphibians throughout the Laramie Basin to determine the extent of the deadly amphibian fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus was identified in 1999 at the only current release site, Mortenson Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The Service also will be assisting the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division with a preliminary monitoring project. The information collected during this project will assist the Service with implementing an improved method for surveying the toad and determining the size of the population.

Michelle VanVleet and Dee Dee Roberts, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(307) 772-2374, michelle_vanvleet@fws.gov

NWTF Scholarship Program

The National Wild Turkey Federation takes its future seriously and has determined that it lies in the hands of kids. So, the Federation created a scholarship program to support college-bound students who are dedicated to wildlife conservation and the hunting tradition.

A teenager begins the program's process by applying for a $250 local-chapter scholarship. The Federation takes it from there. Those receiving local scholarships have their applications forwarded to state/provincial-chapter presidents to compete for $1,000 scholarships. State/provincial chapter winners' applications are forwarded to the Federation's national headquarters to compete for the $10,000 national scholarship. The winner is asked to attend the Federation's national convention the following year to be recognized at the awards banquet.

Applicants are judged on their scholastic achievements, leadership abilities, community involvement, and commitment to conservation. For more information on the scholarship program's eligibility requirements and selection process and to get an application, go to http://www.nwtf.org/jakes/scholarship.html. Opportunities await.

Natalie Fox, National Wild Turkey Federation
(803) 637-3106, nfox@nwtf.net

Sucker

Be honest, how many of us first heard of a yellow-bellied sapsucker from one of Yosemite Sam's tirades? Here's a bit of information about the sapsuckers that Sam may not have sputtered. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers use their strong beaks to peck a precise grid of holes in a tree. The holes need to be deep enough to reach below the bark, into the phloem layer through which the sap flows up the tree. The sap will collect in these wells, providing the sapsucker with a sweet, high-energy food. The sapsuckers will use the fine, hair-like process on the tip of their tongues to soak up the seeping sap through capillary action, and they'll also eat some of the insects this sweet feast attracts.

Jack MacRae, Chicago Wilderness Magazine
(847) 965-9275, editor@chicagowildernessmag.org