November 2011 An Eagle’s Eye View of The Klondike Gold Rush Joe Shepard will be the guest presenter at the No- vember 21st meeting of the Oklahoma City Audubon Society. Joe has always had a keen observer’s interest in na- ture and the outdoors. His life’s work, however, was in the data processing area until 1988 when he quit his job and operated a military surplus store until 2006. In 2004 he vacationed in Alaska for a month and his soul was captured by Skagway. While visiting Skagway he asked how to get a job as a tour guide in his retire- ment and was told to call when he was ready. He called in 2006, was hired, and according to Joe, has been “paying annual ransom for my captured soul by working as a tour guide there for 6 years. My servi- tude there will fortunately last forever!” His presentation will include discussion and slide show of the stunning beauty of Alaska’s Inside Pas- sage, its historic importance to the Klondike Gold Rush, and its amazing wildlife including bald eagles. Come out and bring a friend for a good evening of ca- maraderie and birds and great refreshments. Our Photo © Terri Underhill meetings are held September through June on the third Monday of each month. They begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Will Rogers Garden Center, I-44 and NW 36th Street. Visi- tors are always welcome. Upcoming Field Trips: November 19: Fort Reno in El Reno. Jim Bates will be leading the Fort Reno trip on Nov 19. We will meet at 8AM at the McDonald’s in El Reno. The McD’s is at Country Club Road and I-40. December 3: Scouting for Oklahoma City Christmas Bird Count. Leader John Shackford ([email protected]). Meet at the east side of the dam at Lake Overholser at 7:30 am. December 17: OKC Christmas Bird Count (CBC). See page 7 for more details. President’s Perspective help in raising the young. The songs of some species in- By Bill Diffin cluding members of Turdus, Myadestes, and Catharus, are among the most beautiful in the avian world.} How long has it been since you heard: "Sing a song of The foregoing description is no surprise to anyone who sixpence, a pocketful of has spent some time observing the habits of robins or rye. Four-and-twenty black- bluebirds, but as it turns out, the entire family, Turdidae, birds baked in a pie..."? 175 species strong, fits the same description. Of course, Ever wonder what species there is some variation. For example, in comparison to of blackbird the rhyme re- American Robins, bluebirds nest in holes and tend to feed fers to? The origin is Eng- more like flycatchers, especially in the summer, swooping lish, so an icterid blackbird down from low perches to capture insects on or near the like the ones we see here ground. in Oklahoma can't be the answer. The family, Icteri- If we look at a list of the families of passerine birds such dae, is confined to the New World. as can be found in "Bird, The Definitive Visual Guide" (Audubon, DK Publishing), we are likely to feel Matt Jung recently showed me a photo he had taken overwhelmed. The 94 passerine families contain over in Europe of a Common Blackbird. This is almost cer- 5,000 species, many with names which are utterly unfa- tainly the blackbird species of the rhyme. It is a miliar, Broadbills, Asities, Pittas, Manakins, Tapaculos, thrush, scientific name Turdus merula, all black in the Pardalotes, Berrypeckers, Wattle-eyes, Batises, and so male except for an orange bill and yellow eye ring. on. Is there some way to penetrate the cloud of passerine The female is dark brown with a duller bill and no eye diversity and get an organized understanding of the fami- ring. There is a Wikipedia article on the Common lies? Perhaps the example just given of the American Blackbird which can be summarized by saying that Robin lights the way. We can match up the groups which the bird is quite similar in its habits and size to the science provides with one or more representative birds American Robin, Turdus migratorius. The Turdus ge- which we already know something about. nus, the "true thrushes," has representatives on every continent except Antarctica (see Wikipedia, True (continued on page 5) thrush). Quoting from Wikipedia, "There are about 65 species of medium to large thrushes in the genus Oklahoma City Audubon Society Turdus, characterized by rounded heads, longish pointed wings and melodious songs." So it turns out Officers 2011 that if we know about the American Robin, we know something about a good-sized group of passerines, President Bill Diffin 722-3778 the 65 species of true thrushes, one of which we Vice President John Shackford 340-5057 could encounter almost anywhere in the world. Ex- Secretary Nancy Reed 799-1116 tending this line of enquiry to the next higher taxo- Treasurer Nancy Vicars 732-9885 nomic level, we note that the genus, Turdus, is in the Parliament Ted Goulden 354-3619 Programs Warren Harden 364-3491 family, Turdidae, the "thrushes." The thrush family Recorder Esther M. Key 735-1021 incorporates 21 genera and includes species like the Conservation Larry Mays 392-2131 Swainson's Thrush in genus, Catharus, the Eastern Field Trips Jimmy Woodard 365-5685 Bluebird in genus, Sialia, and the Townsend's Soli- Newsletter Editors: taire in the genus, Myadestes. Paraphrasing from the Pat Velte 751-5263 Wikipedia article, Thrush (bird): Carla Brueggen 495-3259 Publicity Doug Eide 495-8192 {Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to me- Historian Nealand Hill 388-6759 dium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas and often Refreshments Jim Vicars 732-9885 feeding on the ground. They are insectivorous, but Webmaster Pat Velte 751-5263 most species also eat worms, land snails, and fruit. Many species are permanently resident in warm The Oklahoma City Audubon society is neither a chapter of climes, while others migrate to higher latitudes during nor affiliated with National Audubon. summer, often over considerable distances. Thrushes build cup-shaped nests, sometimes lining them with For Oklahoma City Audubon news between newsletters mud. They lay two to five speckled eggs, sometimes and meetings, be sure to log onto: laying two or more clutches per year. Both parents OKC-Audubon.org 2 eggs, but sometimes 1 or 3, on mounds fashioned into Bird of the Month a nest from debris. For finer material, according to By John Shackford Bent (1964), it will scrape up debris only from as far away as its bill will reach while a bird is sitting on the There is one bird on our lakes nest. that really stands out this time of year—the American White Peli- Bent (1964) also discusses the European White Peli- can (Pelicanus erythrorhynchos). can, now called the Great White Pelican (P. onocrota- If you have someone who is get- lus), I believe. The Great White is found in Europe, ting interested in birds, you could Asia and Africa (where there are some nonmigratory do a lot worse than to take them populations). It is believed that the American and to Lake Overholser and look at Great White Pelican were once one population that the pelicans there. Huge, strik- inhabited the shores of the Artic Ocean when climates ing, simultaneously beautiful and were much warmer; but since then the populations ugly, interesting, and easily-identified birds. The have become isolated and now are separated by some wingspan of a white pelican is 9 feet, one of the 8,000 miles. If climate change continues, perhaps one largest of any North American bird. They day these two popu- are massive and beautiful in flight. The lations will once primary and outer secondary wing feath- again be reunited in ers are black and breeding birds have a the Arctic (I’m not pale yellow crest, but otherwise the bird saying this will be a is white. Examination of the face shows good thing, at least a certain ugliness or humor for its weird- for humans). ness—a huge orange bill with a huge orange pouch forming the bottom of the In recent years the bill; in breeding season, adults have a white pelicans are large hump on the top portion of the bill. much more common in winter in our vicin- Unlike the Brown Pelican the American ity than only a few White Pelican does not fish by diving into years ago, now the water; they scoop up water in the showing up almost large pouch while floating on the surface. every year on our The birds then strain the water out of the Christmas Bird pouch hoping they have caught a meal of Count. It is becoming fish. Often, while fishing, these pelicans evident through such form a line on the water and move for- things as Christmas ward together, which no doubt increases Bird Counts and the odds of an individual pelican catching Breeding Bird Sur- supper. One question is raised by Bent veys that many popu- (1964, Life Histories of North American Petrels and lations of birds are shifting northward, apparently due Pelicans and their Allies): do the pelicans catch to warming temperatures. large fish? Bent mentions that there are only re- ports of small fish seen being caught, but large fish heads sometimes appear around a nest. Perhaps Cookie Patrol this question has been answered in the years since Refreshments for the November meeting will be pro- Bent published his life history of the Pelican.