This week in birds - #17

The sentinel of the backyard - the raucous Blue Jay - is always on the alert for passing hawks or cats and is the first to cry an alarm.

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Remember the young Whooping Cranes, raised in Wisconsin last year, who were being led to wintering grounds in Florida by an ultralight last fall when their journey was interrupted in Alabama due to a dispute about flight permits? Ultimately, the ten cranes were trucked to a wildlife preserve in Alabama to spend the winter. There was concern that their migratory instinct and sense of direction might have been inhibited by that trip by truck. Apparently, there was no reason to worry. Mother Nature is one smart lady and when she told the birds to get up and go, they got up and went and in the right direction, too. Indeed, one of the birds, a female, had broken away from the group and had made her own way to Florida. Now, she has also made her way back to Wisconsin! The remaining nine birds are following the route on which they were led south and are now crossing Illinois, heading back north.  

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Today is the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf that resulted in the biggest oil spill in the nation's history. The good news is that the ecological recovery has been much faster than was feared. The bad news is that many species, including common seafood such as shrimp, have been found to be suffering gross abnormalities as a result of exposure to the oil and to the chemicals that were used to disperse it.

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The oldest known breeding Osprey has returned to a Perthshire preserve in Scotland where she has nested for at least 22 years. She has laid a egg in her nest there.

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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials estimate that at least 10,000 birds have already died this year at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in California and Oregon, known as "the Everglades of the West," because of a reduced flow of water there. They fear that the final total may be close to 20,000 birds if water is not released to the area.

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Did you know that arsenic is an ingredient in some chicken feed? Well, neither did I, but apparently it is. Now Maryland has become a trailblazer by passing a law banning arsenic as an ingredient.

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There is new evidence that ravens, some of the smartest birds around, are able to memorize relationship bonds and affiliations and that they can differentiate individuals based on past interactions. In other words, if you irritate a raven, he's most likely going to remember it and you, so watch out the next time you meet him!

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Mute Swans are big birds that are highly aggressive, especially during the breeding season. They are known to attack humans. Even so, this story is incredible. In Illinois, a swan knocked a man out of his kayak and then kept him from swimming to shore, causing him to drown. The death was investigated by the police and apparently the facts were confirmed.

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Where have all these frogs been hiding? A total of 36 previously unknown species of frogs have been discovered in a Madagascar forest.

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And in Saskatchewan, a previously unknown species of prehistoric bird was discovered by scientists. It was a big toothy creature that looked a lot like a loon and it splashed around in waters in the area while Tyrannosaurus Rex lumbered around on land.

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(Male Short-tailed Albatross and chick picture by USFWS.)

A bird once thought to be extinct and now known to exist in a small area of Japan may be colonizing the Hawaiian Islands. At least ten Short-tailed Albatrosses have shown up at various sites in the islands.

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Around the backyard: The voices of baby birds are being heard in every corner of the yard. The chickadees have hatched, as I showed you on Wednesday. So have the Northern Cardinals. I'm unable to look inside their nest but I hear several strong voices coming from the tangle of vines and shrubbery behind my garden shed. Elsewhere, I see the Northern Mockingbirds carrying insects, although I haven't quite discerned where their nest is located.

The Eastern Bluebirds have finally settled on a nesting box and the female is busily preparing a nest to meet her exacting specifications. 

There is new life and soon-to-be new life everywhere. What an exciting time to be a backyard birder!