The Song Sparrow
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THE SONG SPARROW A somewhat surprised owl alertly checks out the banders at the MBO. Read about the MBO’s fascinating Nocturnal Owl Migration Monitoring Program in this issue. Bird Protection Quebec Protection Bird Simon Duval How BPQ Supports Important Bird Research Richard Gregson, Chair: BPQ Research Committee Every year, BPQ gives financial support to longer-term investigations such as the multi-year individuals and groups carrying out research into studies of bird migration conducted at many under-investigated aspects of Quebec birdlife. establishments such as the OOT, the Migration The article that follows, written for us by Pascal Research Foundation and the McGill Bird Côté, the director of the bird banding station Observatory. It is remarkable what is still not known (OOT) at Tadoussac, describes one such project that and what is yet to be learned. has been enabled by support from BPQ. Please read his report – it is truly fascinating. Our work in these fields is little known outside the scientific arena and so we hope that Pascal’s The scientists who carry out these important article, describing just one such project, will The Song Sparrow studies often find it hard to obtain funding for their demonstrate to all our members and partners that work. There are many reasons for this, as you can the work of BPQ is of considerable importance in The Newsletter of Bird imagine in these days of stringent budgetary extending our knowledge of birds and their Protection Quebec restrictions, and so it all the more essential that behaviour. We are proud and fortunate to be able to charities such as ours are here to offer what we can facilitate studies such as these – all thanks to your Editor: Jane Cormack and make sure suitable studies can go ahead. Often support and your valued donations. Vol: 53-3 the projects we are involved in are performed by December 2010 PhD students at one of the Quebec universities but Follow Pascal’s article on Page 3: more and more we find ourselves working with Layout: Richard Gregson Content Highlights Proofreading: 2 President’s message 12 Bicknell’s Thrush Jean Bacon, Averill 3 Banding at Tadoussac 15 Meeting Reviews Craig, Réjean Duval, 4 Nocturnal Owl Monitoring 18 Field Trip Reports Alain Goulet, Fréderic 8 Equipment review 20 Forthcoming Field Trips Hareau, Jean Harwood 9 Bird Views/Parlons oiseaux Gregson, Zofia Laubitz 1 The President’s Column Winter is fast approaching. I must admit that it is not my favourite time of year. After all it is more difficult to get around and birdlife is considerably scarcer than in any other season. That said I greatly look forward to two events on my late fall and early winter calendar: the annual Bluebird box cleaning at Mount Royal Cemetery and the Montreal and Hudson Christmas Bird Counts. Mount Royal Bluebird Box Program Bluebird boxes have been part of the landscape at the cemetery for many years. Perhaps the initial placement was the result of the discovery that the Mount Murray area in the cemetery attracted nesting bluebirds. To my knowledge the Mount Royal BIRD PROTECTION QUEBEC Park complex, including the cemetery, is the only place in downtown Montreal where they breed. A few years ago, Helen Meredith took on the responsibility to manage the approximately 70 boxes there. Under Helen's capable management we now have a small group of dedicated helpers who have mapped all the boxes, check them annually to record nests, and clean them to prepare for the next breeding season. Our knowledge of nesting success has been greatly assisted by Chuck Kling who visits the cemetery regularly to photograph and observe nesting. This year, thanks to a donation from Mark Brenchley of Brentech (514-489-9578), we now have small plastic number plates which we have affixed to all the boxes. This will make it easier to identify the boxes and record any nesting activity taking place. This year our annual cleanout took place on November 6th. About a dozen people in four groups identified the nests of four species: Eastern Bluebird, House Wren, Black-capped Chickadee and Tree Swallow. We are now fairly comfortable with our program. With four years’ data to work with we hope next year to move some unproductive boxes to new locations where Chuck has observed bluebirds. If you are interested in getting involved with our bluebird box program please contact Helen evenings at 514-369-2778. Eastern Bluebird nest found in box #26. Mount Royal Cemetery November 6, 2010. Montreal and Hudson Christmas Bird Counts (A second unhatched egg was discovered on the ground when the egg was removed. It I like Christmas Bird counts because they offer a really good reason to seems certain that the same pair raised four spend the whole day in the field with lots of other people, whatever the young in box #29 a little later in the season.) weather. My participation goes back to the early 1970s in Ottawa. I have Photo by Chuck Kling. been participating annually ever since in Ontario, Newfoundland, and now in Quebec. What started off one hundred years ago as an alternative to the annual Christmas bird “shoot” has captured the imagination of successive generations of North American birders. The annual Christmas bird counts now provide an important long-term data source on early winter bird populations. They also provide an interesting snapshot on the ups and downs of various resident and migratory species and record the northern expansion of the populations of southern species which in our area include Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal and House Finch. This year the Montreal count takes place on Saturday, December 18th. The Hudson count, managed by Alison Bentley, will take place on Sunday January 2nd, 2011. This year will be Alison's last as compiler as she will be moving to the Laurentians to take over the management of Camp Tamaracouta. We owe her a great debt for many years of service and wish her well! If you have not been a participant in our counts please consider getting involved. We conclude the Montreal count with a social and compilation in the welcoming atmosphere of the Montreal West Curling Club. You can get more details from me. The Hudson count finishes with a compilation and get-together at the Bentley’s. For more information, please contact Alison at 450-458-4428. Jeff Harrison Tel: 514-486-4943 email: [email protected] 2 Suivi migratoire printanier à Tadoussac : des résultats surprenants! par Pascal Côté, directeur de l’OOT En ornithologie, le printemps est toujours synonyme d’excitation. Des millions d’oiseaux provenant des États-Unis, d’Amérique centrale ou du Sud arrivent progressivement sur leurs territoires de nidification, laissant sur leur passage des ornithologues émerveillés. Quel beau sentiment que celui de partir en randonnée par une journée du mois de mai et de découvrir des dizaines d’espèces de parulines, viréos, grives et moucherolles s’alimentant dans les bosquets et les arbres d’un boisé du sud du Québec. Pour l’observateur contemplatif, ce spectacle est savoureux; pour le chercheur, il s’accompagne néanmoins d’un BIRD PROTECTION QUEBEC pincement au cœur. En effet, ces passereaux néotropicaux migrent de nuit, ce qui rend les suivis migratoires classiques (baguage et relevés visuels) peu efficaces pour établir des tendances précises sur l’état des populations. En fait, bien que ce groupe d’espèces ait fait l’objet d’un nombre grandissant d’études, aucun suivi à long terme n’a encore été entrepris à une échelle suffisante pour évaluer avec précision l’état des populations. Ceci est particulièrement vrai dans le cas de 80 espèces d’oiseaux terrestres dont l’aire de nidification se situe largement au nord du réseau routier et se trouve par conséquent peu accessible pour y effectuer des inventaires. Parmi ces espèces, on retrouve entre autres la Paruline rayée, la Paruline tigrée, la Paruline à calotte noire et la Paruline obscure. Il existe bel et bien des outils qui permettent d’étudier les migrations nocturnes, et notamment les systèmes bio-acoustiques et les radars météorologiques, mais ces derniers ont leurs limites. Ces systèmes offrent en fait deux alternatives : obtenir une bonne approximation du nombre de migrateurs sur un périmètre pouvant atteindre plusieurs kilomètres, mais sans pouvoir identifier les espèces détectées (radar), ou identifier les espèces migratrices, mais uniquement sur un périmètre très limité (système bio- acoustique). De plus, pour le moment, il n’existe aucun programme informatique permettant d’analyser rapidement et avec précision les cris en vol enregistrés par les systèmes bio-acoustiques, rendant donc cette technique peu efficace. Idéalement, pour assurer un suivi migratoire adéquat, il serait nécessaire de réunir des conditions permettant d’identifier les espèces de migrateurs nocturnes tout en les dénombrant. L’Observatoire d’oiseaux de Tadoussac (OOT) semblait offrir un site réunissant de telles conditions. Depuis quelques décennies, plusieurs observations faisaient état de mouvements migratoires diurnes de passereaux néotropicaux pendant la migration printanière en Haute-Côte-Nord. Selon les rapports d’observation, certains mouvements massifs comptaient des milliers de migrateurs. Afin de mieux comprendre ce phénomène, l’OOT a entrepris au printemps 2009 un projet pilote entièrement bénévole d’une durée de 12 jours (du 11 au 22 mai). Ce projet comprenait une station de baguage ainsi que des relevés visuels. Les résultats obtenus ont dépassé les attentes. L’OOT a pu confirmer que la Volunteers gently extracting birds from the mist nets at the Tadoussac Bird Observatory (OOT) for banding 3 migration printanière des passereaux dans la région de Tadoussac s’effectuait du nord-est vers le sud-ouest et pouvait parfois être caractérisée par des mouvements massifs de courte durée (de 4 à 5 heures) de plus d’une trentaine d’espèces.