Colby Magazine

Volume 89 Issue 2 Spring 2000 Article 9

April 2000

The Birdman of Colby: Eagle-eyed Professor Herb Wilson is winging his way into the hearts of students and birders alike

Robert Gillespie Colby College

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Recommended Citation Gillespie, Robert (2000) "The Birdman of Colby: Eagle-eyed Professor Herb Wilson is winging his way into the hearts of students and birders alike," Colby Magazine: Vol. 89 : Iss. 2 , Article 9. Available at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine/vol89/iss2/9

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The Birdman of Colby Eagle-eyed Professor Herb Wilson is winging his way into the hearts of students and birders alike

By Robert Gillespie

man studying turkey vultures lies next to a dead calf in the to learn how birds in the wild will respond to the made-up sound. A de ert for days, waiting fo r the birds to land on him. Is thi Maybe different syllables mean different thing , he says, or it scientific research, asks a newspaper reporter in an e-mail that may be the song itself that's important and not the individual reaches Colby's resident bird expert, or nutty obse ion? yllables in a particular order. Or certain bird "might hold a "He isn't going to have any success until he gives off ethyl syllable longer; they might drawl; they might have a different mercaptan-that's the smelly stuff, sulfur and mercury in one," pitch," he explained, making the birds sound like plain folk who Herb Wilson answered with amiable matter-of-factness-ex­ understand each other despite different regional dialects. It's plaining that vultures locate their prey not by sight but by smell. possible, he says, that the sound may be made for a mate alone In other words, the fellow has to be dead to study vultures thi rather than a non-mate. It's even possible that the birds may not way. But if he's really close to the calf, might they land on him, be interested in the made-up sound at all. too? "I uppose it's possible," Wilson said, sounding like an Whether he's teaching his ornithology course at Colby, expert witness admitting it's possible a bird can ride a bicycle. leading a group of local amateur birders to Togus Pond to spot "But it's pretty darn peculiar." osprey and bald eagles or attending a talk at a meeting of Associate Professor of Biology, ecologist and ornithologist professional ornithologists in Montana on the function of song Herb Wilson is careful not to sound elitist, but roosting in his in the red-eyed vireo, W. Herbert Wilson Jr. is whole-heartedly officein Olin 216 is some decidedly sophisticated equipment fo r taken with feathered creatures-their vocalizations, their struc­ his study of birds. The room looks like the office of a scientist in tures and diffe rences within species, their feeding habits. A a movie: prominent computer screen, spotting scopes, a video member of all four major ornithologicalsocieties, he attends at camera, directional tape recorders and floor to ceiling book­ least one meeting of each every year to check out research shelves crammed with hardback books, texts, binders of course similar to his own or to happen across an interesting talk on, say, materials and virtually complete sets of all four major ornithol­ the DNA of crows. "That's serendipity," he said. "But most ogy journal . A side door opens into his laboratory. important, it's a meeting ground for ornithologi ts-just talking "Most of what I do relie on statistical analysis, so it's based to someone over coffe e about chickadees." on a combination of things accumulated over time," Wilson Wilson was in charge last June of lining up the speakers for a said, disclaiming any sudden new wrinkle or bee in the bonnet meeting of theWi lson Ornithological Society (named for famous like turkey vultures and a dead calf. birder Alexander Wilson but no relation). One of the enlistees, To demonstrate, he swivels to his computer screen, which Rachel Zierzow Jennings '96, who presented her research on glows with what looks like a series of deep blue bar graphs in the hummingbirds in the Sonora Desert, began studying the birds in hape of horizontal hourglasses separated by snowflakes. As a Sidney Bog after she took Wilson' Jan Plan course in winter white-throated sparrow sings out, the computer program graphi­ ecology and his ornithology course the following spring. "I loved cally represents the vocalizations as sonograms, those hourglass it," said Jennings, now in a Ph.D. program at the University of and snowflake patternson the screen. Wilson sings a translation Texas at Austin. "I spent the next few summers working with him of the bird's song-"Poor Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody," the and others. He's really the person who sparked my interest." fir t two syllables slowly, then speeding up: Pooor Sammm The laboratory adjoining Wilson's office is hisown dedicated PeabuddyPeabuddyPeabuddy. Then, moving his cursor on the research lab. Each of the students doing independent re earch creen, he transposes Poor Sam and the Peabodys. The bird sings, with him has a key to enter at any time, and equipment does not "Peabuddypeabuddypeabuddy pooor sammm." Canary-the name have to be dismantled for classes. Wilson gives high marks f this program from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology­ generally to the space and equipment of the new F.W. Olin enables him to dissect syllables to try to understand what they Science Building and to the research software and assi tam the mean to the birds. He can tape the song and play an endless loop College has made available to him, all important in hi teaching.

21 SPRING 2000 COLBY He tum back to hi computer and darkmeat. "[ try to mix it up," to check an e-mail from Erin Vogel he said, "to make thecolumn inter- '9j. Did he mention, he asks, the esting and to help people learn six publi hed papers written in col- more about birds."He usually end laboration with tudents who were either with a "bird bulletin" of ummer or academic-year research sightings reported by readers or with assistant ? One of those former a request for questions. fledgling , Vogel is currently at And flock in they do, twoto 10 Y- tony Brook studying . . . letters or e-mails after every col- monkeys? Yes, Wilson says, bird umn. From all over the state he and monkeys share enough simi- � hears about sightings of 40 sharp- laritie in foraging behavior to be � shinned hawks, a northern shrike, of interest. In fact, he says, he's � a peregrine falcon, a few merlins. done more research on winter for- Professor Herb Wilson confers with students. Some students say Wilson And however many e-mail or snail aging and the ecology of chicka- inspired their own careers in science. mail questions come winging his dees and nuthatches than he has with vocalization. way, Wilson says he always rakes the time to respond. A birder who talks turkey at professional meetings about the He also gets phone queries. What was it, one mystified caller effect of food supplementation on chickadees in the Maine wanted to know-a bird flew up out of the snow literally woods and publishe papers with tides such as "The Foraging between his shuffl ing snowshoes during a moonlight trek in the Behavior of Semipalpared andpipers in the Upper Bay of woods the night before. Did he hurt the bird? Was it already Fundy: tereotyped or Prey- ensitivel" Wilson communicates injured or freezing? o, no, the bird buries itself in the snow, ju r as well with people who don't know biology from biomass. explained Wilson, describing the behavior of the ruffed grouse. He ha given talks and led outings fo r area birder since he Sometimes, he says, strangers recognize him from his picture in arrived at Colby in 1990. A column he began writing for the the column and chat him up. "It's fun," he said, a scientist gladly local Audubon ociety newsletter evolved to "For the Birds," a instructing novices. bi-weekly Waterville Morning Sentinel and Augusta Kennebec Wilson, who grew up in North Carolina, says his mother Journal column that has offered timely information fo r area claims that his first word was "bird"; he says he was 12or 13 when birder ince 1993. the family vacationed on the coast and he and his fo ur siblings One article Ia r fa ll explained how the pine siskin, an walked along the beach to see an osprey nest. "That got me mfrequent winter vi iror in Maine, hawed up in 1999 because excited about birds," he said. It may have taken something like eed crop ro rhe north were poor, fo rcing the pine siskin , which Big Bird ro catch his eye, but over his undergraduate years at the feed on eeds from spruce, hemlock and other trees, ro migrate University of North Carolina and Ph.D. work at]ohns Hopkins mto Mame and point ourh. Even rookie birders could recog- Wilson's interests tended toward smaller species-such as the n1:e th1s lmle finch (brown on top with white underparts and ong sparrows on Colby's Runnals Hill-a prime site for the yellow wmg bar ), It personality ("highly ocial") or irs call ("a sparrows, he adds, because they like a little woody vegetation. hu::y ':rceeeee' note") and di ringuish the male from the fe male. Below the main campu in observation blinds in Colby's The column rapped off with the e-mail addresses of a couple of Perkins Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary, Wilson and his students Wch '>ltc> >howmg picture of the pine si kin. watch chickadeescluster around nearbyfe eders. Sometimes the , lmcnme W1lson touche on ubjecrsof general interest-the birds are captured in mist nets, then banded with color bands. cffecrofwmJ-rower turhme on migrating birds, for instance-and When a particular bird returnsto fe ed, visit or vocalize, the bird '>tlmenmc on 'f'CCific 1 uc>, uch as why rurkeys have both light watcher usually needs only binoculars, bur the microphone and

FOR THE BIRDS

Black Oil Sunflower Seed Millet seed Attrac s blue jays, blac -capped chickadees, tufted t1tm1ce,red­ Often m1xed w1th sunflower seeds and sometimes peanut breas ed nu ha ches. wh1te-breasted nuthatches, northern hearts. Good for ground-feed ing birds like mourning doves, cardmals, 1nd1go bun mgs (summmer only), rose-breasted song sparrows, Amencan tree sparrows, chipping sparrows, grosbeaks (summmer only), red-wmged blackbirds, purple dark-eyed JUncos. 1nches, house mches, e emng grosbeaks, Amencan gold- Inches, pme s1s 1ns, common redpolls.

l l (l \ r R I L> - 22 Birds at Your Fingertips directional tape recorder or the flying insects. Nectar. You see "The World Wide Web is for the birds," according to Herb video camera also may be up and them boring into deadwood. All Wilson. He says that anybody, amateur birder or profes­ running-mechanical eyes and sorts of things." sional ornithologist, can find information on the Web, from ears helping take stock of the fre­ "The joy is to see them in Christmas Bird Count data to trackings of warbler migra­ quency of the bird's returns,varia­ tions to updates on Project Feeder Watch and other their natural habitat," said Bets tions between it and other birds volunteer bird research programs. Brown, who shares her husband's coming to the feeder, the bird's interest in birds. When Brown aggressiveness or other foraging www.birdsource.com/ was getting a Ph.D. in marine behavior. "The banding allows This site is run by two venerable organizations for the study biology at the College of Marine you to identifyan individual. Oth­ of birds, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the Studies at the UniversityofDela­ erwise you're just looking at National Audubon Soc iety. ware, Wilson came overone day chickadees," Wilson said. www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/index.htm from Johns Hopkins to conduct As the result of a ortheast Wilson recommends this site for its part in a continent-wide a seminar for graduate students, Educational Services grant, effort to assess the population changes of North American and they got talking about birds. which included funds fo r the breed ing birds. The Breeding Bird Survey offers information "Did you know about the errant blinds and for faculty who use on how various species are faring as well as identification white-fronted goose in Rehoboth the arboretum as a resource, his tips and quizzes. Beach ?" she asked. Always moni- ornithology course will visit the toring bird hot lines, of course, www.virtualbirder.com/vb irder/ area more frequently than in the This is the site for those who don't have the time for he did know, and off they went past, Wilson says. "We're seek­ birding. Each month The Virtual Birder offers a virtual tour to take a gander at the errant ing increased use of the arbore­ of an interesting birding area and tests identification ski lis. (i.e., out of its normal range) tum," he said, explaining the Recent tours have included Down East Maine, says Wi lson, goose at a pond near the coast. overall theme of the grant. Al­ who praises the site's beautiful bird photography. "That's how we discovered we though the ecology and animal were both birders," said Brown, www.mainebirding.neVpuffin.shtml behavior courses have always who has taught marine biology This is the site for puffins. The Maine Bird ing page, The used the place, and the intro­ and a women's biology Jan Plan Stanton Bird Club page and the Maine Audubon Society ductory biology course goes in at Colby and serves as as ociate page all deal with birding in Maine. for a day, he thinks new courses director of corporate and foun­ in humanities may be devised www.ntic.qc.ca/-nellus/links.html dation relations. "Real serious around the sanctuary and that Want links to bird sites? Wilson suggests this site, Bird birders chase birds all over the the humanities will profit most Links to the World, where hundreds of URLs are arranged in place." from the stipends. a clear, logical fashion. Real serious birders also go to Perkins Arboretum is home great lengths to attract birds, al­ to barred owl , downy and hairy and pileated woodpeckers, though most stop short ofdead calves. Kestrels have bred for three bluejays, American crows, American goldfinches, white and years in a box in the bam of the couple's three-acre South China, red-breasted nuthatches (they descend trees headfirst) and Maine, home-" a pretty spot to perch," said Brown-and pairs of brown creepers (they climb trees using tails as well as feet, like bluebirds and tree swallows nest in some 25 or 30 boxes located a lineman with cleats and belt going up a utility pole). The around the property and an adjacent fa rm. Wilson fills eight numbers of these year-round residents swell in the summertime. feeders once or twice a week, and in a year goes through 300-400 "You can find fifty species in a few hours," Wilson said. "What's pounds of sunflowerseed, 30 pounds of thistle seed and some suet. interesting is the diversity of the feeding types. They feed on (He still hasn't hadtime to repair twofe eders that were damaged

.... -

Thistle or Niger Seed Suet From an Ethiopian plant unrelated to our local thistles. Excellent source of energy for many birds. Readily taken Excellent food for the smaller finches (American goldfinches, by downy wood peckers, hairy wood peckers, pine siskins, common redpolls). Niger seed wi ll not germinate black-capped chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, in our climate so there is no danger of introducing Af rican wh ite-breasted nuthatches. plants beneath a feeder.

23 SPRI 0 2000 COLBY in the ice stom1 in January 199 . Maine's 43 routes in the survey. "Nter all, he' chair of the deparr- You begin a route at dawn, he ment," Brown joked.) Brown and explains, counting the numbers of

Wil on al 0 planted mountain a h each specie you see and hear in and highbush cranberry bushes, three minutes, then drive a half which retain berries all winter, to mile down the road and count again attract Bohemian and cedar wax- for three minutes and so on until wing and pinegro beaks. Fruittree you've made 50 stops in 24 1/2 on the properry entice oriole . It' miles. "The more advanced birders all simple, they agree; when you like Herb do the count by hearing know what each kind feeds on, you ! rather than sight," she said. can bring in an array of birds. Colby lore includes a treasured Just a imple is their home exampleofbirding by ear by world- equipment: binoculars kept handy Wilson fills a thistle feeder frequented by finches. Birds eat 300-400 renowned birder Roger Tory to watch what's going on outside, pounds of seed a year at Wilson's South China home. Peterson, who received an honor- and a spotting scope, a tripod with high-powered lens, to see ary degree from Colby in 1974. After the commencement farther and in more detail. From the house they have identified ceremony, Dean of Faculty Paul Jenson leaned over and politely 91 pecies, including bald eagles, hawks and owls. Although inquired of Peterson how many birds he'd identified during the birding i Wil on' vocation, at uch moments at home it proceedings. "Eight," Peterson said without a moment's hesita- remain his avocation. "He' relaxed," Brown said, "You just tion, pegging them by both calls and contours. drop what you're doing. lt' being outside, the educational side, Reminded of this anecdote, Wilson nodded; he understands that's important." another pro perfectly. "We're always listening and comparing Together Wil on and Brown are coordinators ofthe Christmas notes on anyoutdoor activity," he said. "We do it subconsciously." Bird count in Waterville, and both participate in the U. . Peterson told Jenson that his record, set when he was the speaker Breedmg Bird urvey for the U. . Fish and Wildlife Service, at a university commencement, was 12. Wil on nods at that, too, as tracking migrant and over-wintering birds. It's important to do if the bird in the bush--or the chickadee in the arboretum, the the survey for a number of years, Brown says, because the count, waterfowl below the dam near Fort Halifax,the osprey or bald eagle monitoring which birds are breeding and which are declining, is at Togus Pond-is worth just as much as the bird in hand. lfit hasn't a barometer of environmental health. Each year for the last eight already been sized up and pored over, maybe-like the white- or nine year he and Wil on each have completed three of fronted goose in Rehoboth-it's worth even more.

Tower Kills

The following is an excerpt from Herb Wilson 's column, "For towers become a lethally disorienting signal. The birds apparently the Birds, " published in the Waterville Morning Sentinel and mistake the lights on the tower for the moon. The birds fly Kennebec Journal. around the tower, sometimes flying into the tower, sometimes Human act1v1ties greatly influence bird popu lations. You can into the guy wires that help support the tower, and sometimes fmd b1rds that prof1t and those that suffer from almost any into other birds circling the tower. Some birds die from human alteration of our landscape. exhaustion as they fly round and ro und the tower. W1ndow kills are a threat to birds that frequent feeders, as The rad io signals these towers transmit may interfere with the most readers of th1s column w1ll know. A less appreciated threat ability of migrating birds to detect the earth's magnetic field. This to b1rds IS commun1cat1on towers. effect may explain why birds fly continuously around the towers. Cons1der the follow1ng examples of tower-related mortal1ty. What can be done to decrease bird-tower deaths? Beneath a 1,482-foot-tall tower 1n central Flonda, 1,592 dead First, towers should be clustered . Towers for transmitting b1rds of 37 spec1es were found shortly after dawn on September radio signals, TV signals, telephone calls and other electronic 29, 1970. On the morn1ng of October 8, 1955, approximately signals should be located in the same area to minimize risk to 4,000 b1rds of 62 spec1es were found dead below the base of m1grating birds. No permits should be issued for tower con­ a 673-foot TV tower at the Tall Timbers Research Stat1on some struction 1n areas of known high migratory bird concentrations. 20 miles north of Tallahassee, Flonda. On Jan. 22, 1998, an The type of lighting can reduce bird mortality. When Ontario est1mated 10,000 Lapland Longspurs d1ed one foggy, snowy Hydro replaced the co ntinuously shining spotlights on its n1ght 1n western Kansas from collis1ons w1th a telev1s1on tower em1ssion stacks at six electricitygenerat ing plants, bird coli isions that was "only" 420 feet h1gh. Recent est1mates 1nd 1cate that declmed dramatically. about four million b1rds a year 1n orth Amenca d1e from Deaths from tower collisions are likely to increase in the colliSions w1th human-made struc ures. commg years. Television stations conv erting to the digital Why do towers cause such b1rd mortality? Most of the tower broadcast format 1 ntend to erect more than 1 ,000 towers in the m1grat1on. Most songb1rds as well as a next mortality occurs dunng few years, each at least 1,000 feet tall. Prudent location of other birds m1grate at n1ght when the nsk of predat1on of these number towers Will help to temper their effects on birds. 1s lower and the coola1r helps keep the b1rds from overheatmg due An 1nteres t1ng Web site showing the locations of to he awesome exert1on requ1red 1n m1gratory flight commun1cat1ons towers 1n the 50 states can be found at On overcast or stormy n1ghts, the l1ghts on commumcat1ons www.towerk1ll.com

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