FIELD GUIDE FRITZ HAEG’S ANIMAL ESTATES REGIONAL MODEL HOMES 5.0 PORTLAND, OREGON

5 . N 0 O P G O RE RTLAND, O ANIMAL ESTATES 5.0 PORTLAND, OREGON

DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY REED COLLEGE 26 AUGUST–5 OCTOBER 2008

FRITZ HAEG 04 INTRODUCTION 10 IN LIVABLE CITIES IS FRITZ HAEG PRESERVATION OF THE WILD MIKE HOUCK

06 BUILD A BETTER SNAG! 14 SNAGS AND LOGS STEPHANIE SNYDER CHARLOTTE CORKRAN

ANIMAL CLIENTS

18 CLIENT 5.1 34 CLIENT 5.5 VAUX’S SWIFT NORTHWESTERN GARTER SNAKE CHAETURA VAUXI THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS TETRATAENIA CONTENTS BOB SALLINGER TIERRA CURRY 2 2 CLIENT 5.2 38 CLIENT 5.6 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH ORANGE-RUMPED BUMBLEBEE SITTA CAROLINENSIS BOMBUS MELANOPYGUS CHARLOTTE CORKRAN CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL

26 CLIENT 5.3 42 CLIENT 5.7 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER SNAIL-EATING GROUND BEETLE CONTOPUS COOPERI SCAPHINOTUS ANGULATUS CHARLOTTE CORKRAN CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL

30 CLIENT 5.4 SILVER-HAIRED BAT LASIONYCTERIS NOCTIVAGANS CHARLOTTE CORKRAN

46 FIELD NOTES

48 CREDITS

CLIENT 5.1 VAUX’S SWIFT CHAETURA VAUXI The ongoing Animal Estates lished between the man-made and the wild. initiative creates dwellings for Animals and their habitats are woven back into our cities, strip malls, garages, offi ce parks, animals that have been displaced freeways, backyards, parking lots, and neigh- by humans. Each edition of borhoods. Animal Estates intends to provide a the project is accompanied by provocative twenty-fi rst-century model for the some combination of events, human-animal relationship that is more intimate, visible, and thoughtful. workshops, exhibitions, videos, printed materials, and a temporary PORTLAND headquarters presenting an ever- In the gallery, the temporary Animal Estates expanding urban wildlife archive. headquarters features a geodesic dome The project debuted at the 2008 housing a reading library, and a video by Dan Viens on the local swifts that roost in the Whitney Biennial, with other chimney at Chapman Elementary. Evidence INTRODUCTION 2008 Animal Estate developments of past Animal Estates in New York and San located in Austin, Cambridge, San Francisco is presented, along with bulletin- Francisco, Utrecht, and Cleveland. board walls displaying maps, charts, brochures, FRITZ HAEG and other printed materials gathered from local animal experts and wildlife organizations. Animals alternately represent a wildness that The Portland edition of Animal Estates takes we are afraid of in ourselves, or a freedom that its primary inspiration from one of the most we would like to recapture. Animals were the signifi cant existing ready-made “Estates” for subjects of the earliest documented human art. animals in the Pacifi c Northwest: the snag, or In primitive cave drawings we see a reverence for dead tree. These are often removed by humans, the creatures with whom Homo sapiens shared who may only view them as useless hazards, the land. In early cultures, animals were viewed rather than the valuable resources they repre- with wonder, something sacred. Human survival sent to most other creatures. Each of the seven depended on the hunt, which required keen species selected as Portland’s animal clients observation and understanding. An intimate would happily take up residence in a snag: the bond and respect developed, which is less likely Vaux’s swift, the white-breasted nuthatch, the in today’s grocery stores full of anonymous olive-sided fl ycatcher, the silver-haired bat, the meat in Styrofoam and plastic. northwestern garter snake, the orange-rumped Humans are one of many territorial creatures bumblebee, and the snail-eating ground beetle. that occupy the planet, but we are the only A prototype for a collective model home to ones who, when establishing territory, preclude accommodate seven native Portland species is the existence of most other life-forms that we installed in the gallery. The fourteen-foot tower CLIENT 6.2 have not domesticated. Thus, most creatures not functions as a man-made snag, with the interior WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH SITTA CAROLINENSIS a part of the human plan are either considered a divided into multiple chambers built to suit the threat or a pest. As the human domination of the varying needs of each resident. At the top is planet continues, animals are alternately viewed a chimney open to the sky for the Vaux’s swift, as exotic specimens to be treated as spectacle, while the low base of stones and logs accom- cartoon characters that are anthropomorphicized, modates terrestrial species. A poster featuring friendly companions to be coddled, objectifi ed a drawing of the design announces the plan, resources to be exploited, inconveniences to be and encourages local residents to build their tolerated, pests to be eradicated, or anonymous, own interpretation of the Snag Estate, images unseen creatures to which we are indifferent. of which are posted in the gallery and online. As animal habitats dwindle daily, Animal In celebrating the snag, we acknowledge the Estates welcomes wildlife back into our daily pivotal role of death and decomposition in a lives, eradicating the strict, arbitrary, and healthy environment. obsolete boundaries that humans have estab-

FIELD GUIDE 5 Portland, Oregon. The City of Roses—city organizations, citizens, school children, artists, of bicyclists, farmer’s markets, and the Urban and theorists came together to create this project. Growth Boundary. Portland’s self-image The Estate that has been created for this edition is a meandering conduit of gentle refl ections, of the project is an instrument and a metaphor rippling across rivers, glistening beneath bridges, for the possibilities of global coexistence. And it washing across creeks and muddy puddles. It is aesthetic, never purporting to become natural. is ebullient, ever molding, verdant, and aspiring, At its essence, and in a profound respect, it is and these days, above all else, it is planned. an assertion of the naturalness of death, of the BUILD A I write these meditations on Animal Estates, and beauty and problem of decay, both as symbolic its remarkable investigations into human and representation and as biological process. animal relationships, as someone who grew up The urban and semiurban habitat nurtures in Portland and claims the license of knowing a schizophrenic attitude toward death. Within BETTER SNAG! this place. And because of this I have particu- inhabited spaces we cloak death, remove it, larly relished the opportunity to welcome this sanitizing this most fundamental aspect of our project to Portland, into this progressive, unfolding existence as we construct the natural around STEPHANIE SNYDER city that we treasure as a particular form of us, more often than not, as a representation JOHN AND ANNE HAUBERG CURATOR AND DIRECTOR, community. In its existence at the Cooley Gallery, of the natural. The snag is a victim of this DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE Animal Estates is part of a larger, ongoing schizophrenia: seen as dead, removed from investigation entitled suddenly: where we live the living like an ailing patient, it is a corpse. now (www.suddenly.org), a project inspired by But the corpse nurtures, the corpse sustains. the work of German urban planner Thomas When the dead becomes the un-aesthetic, the Sieverts and further instigated by Portland living becomes historicized into permanence, author Matthew Stadler, who enlisted me to join and the living problems of people—the in- him in thinking and reading through the history equalities of class and education eroding our and literature of the vast network of natural, culture—are increasingly cloaked by our obses- built, and symbolic spaces that we have come sion with the preservation of nature, with our to call cities. Suddenly is a set of exhibitions, fear of the corpse. Though we valiantly preserve a reader, and a series of events that we hope habitat, Portland has nurtured and supported will reawaken our sensitivity to the imaginative the development and preservation of the “park” possibilities of place; inspiring us beyond out- as a civic virtue without expending the same moded colonial narratives of permanence and care and resources toward public education and centrality; embracing art, literature, and food as social rituals. Portland’s parks developed in conduits for new social and environmental rituals; inverse relationship to the growing un-sustain- CLIENT 6.3 reinvigorating culture across socioeconomic ability of its decimated clear cuts—its “clearings.” OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER CONTOPUS COOPERI and class boundaries. We need these tools for The foundation of this city was a clearing, but understanding and utilizing the where we live now. a permanent one, not the temporary, seasonal So many Portlanders, whether native or clearing, as nurtured for millennia by the not, have moved here and shaped this place. Native Americans whose corpses too made our Animal Estates 5.0: Portland has assembled permanence possible. And these permanent a passionate group of naturalists and with clearings were condensations of wealth built their expertise devised a “multiplex” dwelling, into homes and objects that demanded a vast inspired by the “snag”—simply put, a dead network of dispersal and collection to sustain tree—in which seven animal species that have their viability. Like most cities, Portland descends been extirpated to varying degrees might only so far into its landscape memory. fi nd shelter, cohabitating comfortably. It is The snag is the shack, temporary, portable, an architectural symbiosis, and not only and both corpses can help us fi nd our way into among the animal species themselves. the future. We don’t really know what a city is any It is emblematic of architecture’s more than we know what art is, except that potential to create unlikely com- we think we know it when we see it, or buy it. munities, to conjoin as opposed to The historic, bureaucratic city, the city that divide. Animal experts, environmental organizes, absorbs, and expends our resources

FIELD GUIDE 7 because it has been architected and planned Being green meant being black, brown, and for permanence, that city is only one tiny piece of whatever else. The civil rights movement ended where we live now. We think it begins and ends, not with a bang, but with an existential little frog. automatically. The snag and the shack interrupt the Animal Estates wants to get Kermit the fuck historic city’s nostalgia for permanence. A portable out of the class pond. Animal Estates is a fl exible, commonality, they reveal origin by nature, cannot limitless methodology for building community be franchised or replicated. They are the humblest, among species, and it is in your hands now. Like most universal of singular dwellings. They are portable scaffolding or a lean-to in the mountains, the future of common space …aesthetic trading Animal Estates is a transposable fi eld guide posts—sites for the exchange of information and for a future-present in which we can turn to materials on terms of our own making. I will give you other species, and one another, and extend our three kisses for that bouquet. The snag decon- intelligence into the unfolding semiurban city, structs commerce as it crumbles the institution of temporarily overlooking ownership—thoughtfully, fi xed community, shacking up. It changes direction truthfully. Animals don’t lie; our missteps kill suddenly, as suddenly as erotic hope. Really look them. Given that we have legislated ourselves at it, bending in the wind. Find it everywhere. into the stewards of this planet, this project Enlighten your neighbor to the joy, forgiveness, reminds us in no uncertain terms that it is time to and fi ction of the snag. bear witness. If we are courageous enough here Until about a year ago, the Portland Visitors in this project to dematerialize the museum into a Association presented our city to the world snag, a shack, a tent, let us meet there and learn with the slogan “It’s not easy being green.” The together. Let’s build a better snag. phrase was accompanied by an image of a fi r tree rendered in a fl ourish of computer-generated LEFT calligraphic brushwork. It’s not easy being green. This 14-foot-tall residential tower is the Portland Kermit the Frog sang it fi rst in a melancholy pop Animal Estate, which simulates a snag, or dead tree, and accommodates seven native Portland species. ballad. In the concluding lines of the song, Kermit photo by Shawn Records sings: “When green is all there is to be, it could make you wonder why, but why wonder. I’m green, and it will do fi ne. It’s beautiful, and I think it’s what I want to be.” The song was written by Joe Raposo in 1970 and was performed during the inaugural season of Sesame Street. The song was written for the children of dense, inner-city urban habitats, more gray, more sooty than green.

CLIENT 6.5 NORTHWESTERN GARTER SNAKE THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS TETRATAENIA

FIELD GUIDE 9 THE UNTENDED GARDEN system within nature, as must every individual “The garden, left untended, had taken on a strange park and building within that larger whole.” charm. Horticulture had left, and nature returned. Anne Whiston Spirn, The Granite Garden Nothing in the garden opposed the sacred urge Thoreau’s aphorism, “In wildness is the toward life; The trees bent down to the briers, the preservation of the world,” has inspired spec- IN LIVABLE CITIES briers rose to the trees, what runs along the ground tacular successes in wilderness and wildlands had tried to fi nd things in bloom in the air, what preservation. While we should celebrate those fl oats in the wind had stooped toward plants that successes, it’s time we turned our attention IS PRESERVATION trail in the moss; trunks, branches, leaves, twigs, to what may be the most important landscape tufts, tendrils, shoots, thorns were mingled, crossed, in the twenty-fi rst century—the city. married, confused; Although the pavement of Paris Historically, there has been a great dichotomy was all around…(there were) ferns, mulleins, milfoils, between “nature” and “city.” Nature has been seen OF THE WILD the tall weeds, the big fl aunting plants with large as being “out there,” beyond the urban fringe. leaves of pale greenish material, the lizards, beetles, Humans and nature inhabit separate realms. restless, rapid insects. Nature, which frustrates Nowhere is this more vividly demonstrated than MIKE HOUCK the paltry arrangements of man and always gives in how we build our cities. In the same way that EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, its whole self where it gives itself at all, as much in traditional zoning precludes healthy mixed-use URBAN GREENSPACES INSTITUTE the ant as the eagle, to come and display itself in communities, the segregation of natural and a poor little Parisian garden with as much asperity built environments has created cities where and majesty as in a virgin forest of the New World.” environmental degradation is the norm and the Victor Hugo, Les Miserables landscape is bland and homogeneous, where What resonated most when I unexpectedly nature neither separates one community from came across Hugo’s poetic passage describing another nor interacts with the built environment. an untended garden’s ability to display a riot of life Our motto at the Urban Greenspaces Institute, was that it mirrored my own unexpected urban “In livable cities is preservation of the wild,” refl ects nature encounters here in Portland. Experiences a philosophy that well-designed, nature-rich cities like being startled by a green heron’s guttural are more beautiful, equitable, compact, and CLIENT 6.4 squawk exploding from a willow thicket; following ecologically sustainable places to live. By creating SILVER-HAIRED BAT LASIONYCTERIS NOCTIVAGANS a Cooper’s hawk’s frenzied fl ight as it chased livable and loveable cities we will reverse what for down a rock pigeon, plucked, and ate it in front too long has been the demonization of the city. of fi fteen mesmerized cyclists on downtown It’s my hope that Animal Estates will help foster Portland’s Eastbank Esplanade; or watching a a new aesthetic in urban design and catalyze a group of kayakers gawk awestruck at a young partnership with urban planners and conservation- peregrine falcon repeatedly strafi ng a bald eagle ists that will promote a new reverence for cities as we bobbed in the middle of the Willamette through great art and design. We need a new River, with the downtown skyline as a backdrop. urban ethos, one in which humans have access The fact that nature hangs on so tenaciously, to nature in their immediate radius of reach in albeit precariously, in the urban landscape makes what has been referred to as “the twenty minute nature both exhilarating and precious. It’s the neighborhood.” In such cities animals will have unexpected, the unintended, that lends poetry real “estates” at all scales, from the individual and grace to such encounters. home, offi ce, and streetscape to great swaths of habitat that penetrate into the heart of the city. THE LAST LANDSCAPE: THE ECOLOGICAL CITY URBAN WILDLIFE IS NOT AN OXYMORON “The belief that the city is an entity apart from “What is the extinction of the condor to a child nature and even antithetical to it has dominated who has never known a wren?” the way in which the city is perceived and Robert Michael Pyle, The Thunder Tree continues to affect how it is built. The city must Recently, the Oregon Natural Heritage Program be recognized as part of nature and designed remapped the Portland area to determine the accordingly. The city, the suburbs, and the region’s biodiversity index. What had previously countryside must be viewed as a single, evolving appeared to be a biological desert from earlier

FIELD GUIDE 11 three-state surveys, when mapped at a fi ner WILD ON THE WILLAMETTE, EXPLORING cormorants; peregrine falcons nesting on the REFERENCES scale, revealed an astonishingly biologically THE LOWER WILLAMETTE RIVER Marquam Bridge; Common mergansers; belted The Last Landscape, William H. Whyte, University diverse landscape inside the region’s Urban Nowhere in the region is the diversity of wildlife kingfi shers, which nest in the island’s steep of Pennsylvania Press, 2002 Growth Boundary. These fi ndings are echoed by more visible than along the banks of the Wil- banks; and red-tailed hawks. The black cotton- the Audubon Society of Portland’s estimate that lamette River, right in the heart of downtown wood and Oregon white ash forests ring with The Granite Garden, Urban Nature and Human we share the region with 289 species of birds. Portland. My favorite wildlife viewing is at Oaks a cacophony of bird songs in spring, including Design, Anne Whiston Spirn, Basic Books, Inc.1984 Of these, about 217 species are likely to be seen Bottom Wildlife Refuge and the four-island Ross black-headed grosbeaks; warbling and Cassin’s Report of the Park Board, Portland, Oregon 1903, in any one year if you know which habitats to look Island archipelago. At Oaks Bottom alone over vireos; Swainson’s thrushes; yellow, Wilson’s, With the Report of Messrs. Olmsted Bros., in, according to the City of Portland’s fi sh and the past thirty years I’ve seen over 110 species and orange-crowned warblers; as well as the Landscape Architects, Outlining a System of wildlife habitat inventories. For example if you want of birds and several species of mammals includ- occasional beaver, river otter, and sea lion when Parkways, Boulevards and Parks for the City to see white-breasted nuthatches, go fi nd a grove ing river otter, sea lions, beaver, deer, bobcat, the salmon are running. of Portland, Portland Parks and Recreation http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image. of Oregon white oak trees. On the other hand, muskrat, chickaree squirrels, raccoon, mink, and cfm?id=93560 if you want olive-sided fl ycatchers, walk the trails the nonnative nutria. CONNECTING GREEN of mixed conifer-deciduous trees in Forest Park. Recently, from the bluff overlooking the south Oaks Bottom and Ross Island represent a frac- Wild in the City, A Guide to Portland’s Natural Both the City of Portland and Metro, the only end of Oaks Bottom, our small group of birders tion of the eighty thousand acres of regionally Areas, M. J. Cody and, Michael C. Houck, editors, directly elected regional government in the country, observed several young bald eagles chasing one signifi cant fi sh and wildlife habitat Metro identifi ed Oregon Historical Society Press, 2000. Available in Audubon’s Nature Store have also conducted inventories of vertebrate another through the big-leafed maples at the in its recent inventory of the metropolitan region. www.audubonportland.org species in the region. They have found an north end of Sellwood Park and a short while later Recently, Metro, local park providers, and several astonishing variety of nonavian wildlife, including encountered fi ve immature eagles perched in nonprofi t organizations including the Audubon Wild on the Willamette, Exploring the Lower 17 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 64 mammals, and 39 a snag off Sellwood Boulevard. A few days later Society of Portland, Trust for Public Land, and Willamette River, Michael C. Houck, Audubon Society of Portland and Urban Greenspaces fi sh, bringing the total to 353 species of verte- another band of birders watched in rapt awe as Urban Greenspaces Institute launched the Con- Institute, 2003. Available in Audubon Society brate wildlife. This list, of course, is exclusive of fi ve ospreys kettled over that same snag. Just necting Green Alliance with the objective of of Portland’s Nature Store thousands of species of invertebrates—butterfl ies, before I led these trips to Oaks Bottom, I had creating the greatest regional parks, trails, and www.audubonportland.org slugs, beetles, spiders, and their kin. returned from a month-long birding expedition natural areas system in the world. I’m hopeful that As with human estates, animal estates are all in the wetlands and tropical forests of Brazil, but Animal Estates will assist in achieving that goal Metro’s Riparian Corridor and Wildlife Habitat Inventories, August 8, 2002, Appendix 1 about location, location, location…and habitat, saw nothing as exciting as when we watched by engaging artists, architects, and landscape http://www.urbanfauna.org/fi les/inventory_nar.pdf habitat, habitat. Without suitable habitat that a red-tailed hawk kiting fi fteen feet overhead while architects not yet engaged in efforts to protect meets the cover, feeding, and breeding needs an osprey and a bald eagle fought over a fi sh and restore the city’s green infrastructure, but who Portland Bureau of Environmental Services of animals, they would cease to cohabit the in the near distance. Then, there’s the constancy will bring a new perspective to urban design and Vertebrate Wildlife Habitat Inventory. urban landscape with us. There is no substitute of a male Anna’s hummingbird at Sellwood Park. interpreting nature in the city. Willamette River Natural Resources Inventory: for protection and, where needed, restoration of The brilliant red gorget and forehead from the Our greatest challenges in implementing Riparian Corridors and Wildlife Habitat, City of wetlands, stream corridors, and forested habitats. pugnacious, territorial male fl ashed from the Connecting Green’s ambitious goals are, Portland Planning Bureau, Proposed Draft That said, several species have decidedly same perch on every single Oaks Bottom visit simultaneously, leaving as much of our urban Report, July, 2008 benefi ted from artifi cial structures including this spring and summer. garden as possible “untended”, thereby encour- http://www.portlandonline.com/planning/index. nest boxes, nesting platforms, and elements of On any given day the two-mile stroll around aging integration and interdigitation of the built cfm?&c=44745 the built environment. Without nest boxes and the Bottoms will yield twenty to over fi fty species and natural landscapes; restoring degraded Ecological Landscapes: Connecting Neighborhood nesting gourds, it’s highly unlikely we’d still have of birds, depending on time of year. In winter, habitats by removing invasive, nonnative plants; to City and City to Region, Michael C. Houck and western bluebirds and purple martins in our midst. waterfowl including hooded mergansers, northern and, where appropriate, providing human-made Jim Labbe, Portland State University, Institute for The installation of thousands of bluebird nest shovelers, ring-necked ducks, buffl ehead, structures to assist in the recovery of those Portland Metropolitan Studies, Metropolitan Briefi ng boxes on Parrett and Chehalem Mountains has ruddy ducks, and green-winged teal seek species that might otherwise disappear from the Book, 2007 http://www.pdx.edu/ims/mbb2007.html also benefi ted house wrens, violet-green swallows, refuge in the shallow pond. During migration, early urban environment. tree swallows, and white-breasted nuthatches. spring, and summer, warblers, vireos, and gros- Connecting Green Vision, Metro While they frequently use natural snags, there’s beaks can be seen and heard singing along the http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/ no question that the numerous nesting platforms Springwater on the Willamette trail. A walk along id=24701 along the Willamette River are responsible for the unpaved path that runs at the base of the A Bold Goal: Connecting Green, Leaders for a the explosion of nesting osprey. And, with the bluff will yield Bewick’s, marsh, and winter wrens; Regionwise Parks Network, A Call to Action, loss of natural roosting sites, Vaux’s swifts, like black-capped chickadees and brown creepers; Metro, 2007 their East Coast cousins the Chimney swifts, downy woodpeckers and northern fl ickers; have benefi ted from the presence of chimneys common yellowthroats and song sparrows.. Greenspaces Policy Advisory Committee: at Chapman Elementary, Oregon City, Lafayette, A three-mile paddle around Ross Island Vision, outcomes, objectives and means, Metro, March, 2005 and several other locations around the region. provides an opportunity to see nesting bald eagles and great blue herons; double-crested FIELD GUIDE 13 What is a snag? It is just a dead like Chris Maser and Jerry Franklin, have found tree. But it is so much more out that a conifer tree provides more habitat for more wildlife species for more years after it dies than that, too. A tree does not than it did while it was alive! put out sticky pitch after it dies, Where are all the snags? Why don’t we see and so a snag can be a cozy these wildlife apartment houses in Portland? home for wildlife as well as a Surely snags and logs used to be a common component of the Douglas Douglas fi r forests source of food. that once covered the hills around town? And weren’t there snags in the huge stands of cot- A woodpecker can chip a hole into the snag tonwood trees that originally covered the islands with its bill, and then keep on pecking until and riverbanks? What about snags and gnarly old it has hollowed out a cavity for a nest. After the Oregon white oaks in the woodlands that were woodpecker’s babies have fl edged, the cavity so common in the Willamette Valley when Euro- SNAGS AND LOGS is free to be used by other animals. A little downy Americans arrived? What happened to all these woodpecker digs out a little cavity that can later types of snags and logs? The sad truth is that we CHARLOTTE CORKRAN be used by chickadees, wrens, and chipmunks. got rid of most of them. Snags were cut down NORTHWEST ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE The great big pileated woodpecker makes a large for fi rewood, or because they were considered cavity that may later house an owl, a duck, or a useless, or they were in the way, or they were pine marten. thought to be dangerous because they might fall Snags that are hollow inside and have a large on someone. Logs were also burned or pulled out opening at the top provide homes for other of the way to make room for houses and roads species. A colony of bees can build its honey- and farm fi elds. The old-growth forests were combs in the shelter inside a hollow snag. Vaux’s logged, and no new trees grew large. People swifts and several kinds of bats roost and raise and our developments and cities have displaced their young in these hollows. Or a black bear forests, particularly old-growth conifers, gallery can squeeze inside to spend the winter and give cottonwoods, and oak woodlands. birth to its young. But now we can help the animals that need The dead branches on a snag (or a partially snags and logs. We can provide homes for them live tree) are important for wildlife, too. Many in several ways. species of hawks use them for perches to rest First, we can work to save snags and logs and to scan the region for prey. Flycatchers and wherever they still do occur. In your neighbor- other small birds wait there for fl ying insects to hood park or open space, or even in your own come near. Ospreys, bald eagles, and red-tailed backyard, snags and logs can be kept. Talk hawks build their huge stick nests on the bare to the park managers. Talk to your neighbors. branches of snags and dead-topped trees. Tell others how important snags and logs are Besides providing homes for wildlife, snags to wildlife. Show them how beautiful they are. and logs provide the foods many wild animals If a snag is too close to a house for safety, cut like to eat. Ants and beetles, bugs and slugs, it lower, or cut it down for a log. But keep these mushrooms and truffl es all live in rotting wood. important elements of the ecosystem we live in. CLIENT 6.6 So for many birds, mammals, reptiles, and Second, we can create snags and logs from ORANGE-RUMPED BUMBLEBEE BOMBUS MELANOPYGUS amphibians, snags and logs are fully stocked some live trees. If a particular tree is shading the larders as well as bedrooms and nurseries. vegetable garden, or its roots interfere with the Snags may stand for many years, providing water line, instead of removing it make it into important habitat for wildlife. But sooner or later a snag. Cut a band of the bark off all the way they fall. Some just crumble into great piles of around the tree to kill it. You might need to wrap debris, while others blow down in windstorms copper wire around in the stripped band for a and become logs on the ground. In either case year (and then recycle the copper). While it is they make perfect habitat for salamanders and sad to kill a tree in your yard, it is very satisfying shrews and beetles. Live tree, then snag, then log to make a snag. And even more fun to watch a or debris pile. Scientists who study forest cycles, woodpecker drill a hole and nest in it, followed

FIELD GUIDE 15 by a chickadee nesting there the next year. If cavern that was the center of this snaggy giant. your snag falls or it must be taken down, a tall Mounded right up to the hole was the impressive stump can provide some habitat, and the log nest of a bushy-tailed woodrat, or many genera- can provide both a home for salamanders and a tions of them. From the large scratches below beautiful element of your native wildfl ower garden. the hole and the wavy hairs caught around the Third, if you can’t save or create a snag, edge, it was clear that an American black bear had anyone can make an artifi cial home for wildlife. climbed up and pushed itself through to hibernate Although not as valuable to wildlife as natural on the comfy bed. snags or logs, handmade habitat is friendlier A year later, I was contracted to check on the than fl at house walls and fl at green lawns. A nest wildlife leave tree program, and I got to revisit this box or birdhouse built out of scrap lumber can site. Although I had been warned that the fi re set attract native wildlife. Slabs of bark make dandy to clean up the logging slash had accidentally homes when just placed on shady the ground destroyed this majestic wildlife tree, it was still a in appropriate locations. Whether complicated, shock to see it. The cylinder was wafer thin now, ornate, plain, or simple, a habitat structure that black, and lying on the ground. Yes, it still could imitates a snag or log can be fun to build and provide some kind of shelter, for beetles and helpful to local wild animals. salamanders perhaps, but to me it looked more Sometimes I see my old photo of the giant, like a wind tunnel. The logging, the burning, the hollow cedar, and I think about the little bat. One carelessness left me angry and despairing. spring I worked on a contract to mark trees to be I pushed away, into the sprouting brush on left for wildlife in a salvage logging sale. This was blackened ground. As I climbed onto a charred in Portland’s Bull Run Watershed, after patches log to lean against a leave tree that was still alive, of trees had blown down in a windstorm. One unit my hand rested on the warm, textured bark. had immense trees, and we used an entire can Something moved, and a little dark brown bat of spray paint to mark a gnarly old cedar that took slipped out from under the bark and fl ew away all four of us to hug. The giant was dead at the on fragile wings of hope. top and completely hollow, a mere cylinder of barely living tree. Vaux’s swifts fl ew around, and we LEFT knew they were nesting inside, probably sharing An occupied snag found in Portland. the space with some kind of bats. An olive-sided photo by Charlotte Corkran fl ycatcher called out from the dead branches. Some of the branches were big enough for a bald eagle to perch on. We found a hole at eye level that allowed us to peer inside, into the mysterious

CLIENT 6.7 SNAIL-EATING GROUND BEETLE SCAPHINOTUS ANGULATUS

FIELD GUIDE 17 CLIENT 5.1 BOB SALLINGER CONSERVATION DIRECTOR, AUDUBON SOCIETY OF PORTLAND

VAUX’S SWIFT “The sight of this company fall congregations are some of the most incredible of rapidly moving birds circling spectacles seen in nature. CHAETURA VAUXI Seen up close, the Vaux’s swift is actually around a chimney like a huge a quite unassuming, drab little creature. They whirlpool, with the birds in are small, weighing only two-thirds of an ounce, the vortex dropping like plummets with grayish-brown plumage. Their bodies are into the chimney, excited much cigar-shaped with long, crescent-shaped wings. Their legs and feet are built for clinging to the interest among local bird sides of hollowed-out trees rather than perching lovers who made many trips to and are held very close to their bodies, almost watch the performance.” disappearing into their body feathers. They belong to the family Apodidae, from the Latin Gabrielson and Jewett, describing “Swiftwatching” in Birds of Oregon, 1940 word for “footless.” Their dark eyes are sunken and blend in with their feathers. People who fi nd status: injured or orphaned Vaux’s swifts often assume appears to be stable Each evening during September crowds of that they are missing their feet and their eyes. In despite the decline in people congregate on a grassy hillside beside fact, they often assume, because swifts do not available snags for the Chapman School in Northwest Portland and perch or effectively move about on fl at surfaces, nesting in the northwest turn their eyes skyward. They arrive with picnic that very much alive birds are actually dead. United States dinners, blankets, lawn chairs, and binoculars. People arriving at Audubon’s Wildlife Rehabilita- As the sun begins to set, a few bat-like birds skit- tion Center with young swifts often announce ter across the sky. Soon more birds arrive, fl ying that they have found a “poor little blind, footless in from all directions, quickly growing into num- bird that passed away on the ride to the center.” bers in the thousands and tens of thousands… They are amazed when a slight jostling of the “To live is to fl y” a giant undulating cloud of birds. They move bird triggers a cacophony of rapid, raspy calls. across the sky in random patterns, expanding However, what Vaux’s swifts lack in Townes Van Zandt and contracting, breaking apart and regrouping. appearance, they more than make up for with A peregrine falcon streaks across the sky from a spectacular set of behaviors and adaptations. the east and takes one of the birds on the wing. Vaux’s swifts are truly residents of the air. Swifts friends: The assembled crowd of humans greets the pre- fl y almost continuously except when nesting or dation with a mixed chorus of boos and cheers. roosting. They forage, drink, court, bathe, and average weight: 15 to 22 grams As the sky grows darker, the birds begin to collect nesting materials, all while in fl ight. They pileated average length: 4.5 inches long, 12-inch wingspan mass near a giant smokestack chimney protruding even copulate in fl ight, joining together and woodpeckers from the roof of the school. A few birds drop into plummeting toward the ground for a few seconds average lifespan: not certain, but believed to be up to 11 years the chimney entrance and then pop out again. before breaking apart. They are one of the home: large hollow trees The swirling cloud of birds above grows tighter fastest birds on the planet, able to fl y at speeds and tighter and begins to form a funnel. Soon of over one hundred miles an hour and migrate hobbies: fl ying…fl ying…fl ying some more a tornado of birds pours into the chimney, thousands of miles from their wintering grounds building a seemingly impossible number disappearing into in Southern Mexico and Central America to their managers fears: old-growth logging, replacement of older chimneys with modern pipes, furnaces, its confi nes. As the last light of day fades, a few breeding range, which extends from Southern Cooper’s hawks, peregrine falcons fi nal stragglers drop out of the sky and into the Alaska to Central California and as far east as chimney. The assembled crowd of humans offers Montana. They are present in Oregon from late favorite locations: Chapman School; large, old, hollow trees; a rousing round of applause and heads for home. April until early October. tolerant your chimney What bird is it that brings literally thousands Vaux’s swifts are voracious insect eaters, consuming fl ies, ants, bees, aphids, beetles, homeowners favorite foods: fl ies, ants, bees, spiders, planthoppers, of people out every year on cool fall evenings to moths, and spiders. Their camoufl aged exterior aphids, spindlebugs watch and applaud their activities? It is the amaz- ingly cool Vaux’s swift (Chaetura vauxi), and their hides a disproportionately large, wide mouth that

FIELD GUIDE 19 serves to scoop up insects as the swifts move Playing host to a family of nesting swifts is stewardship. For years, students and teachers perpetually about. During nesting season, each a wonderful thing. Swifts are not territorial, so went to class in jackets and hats so that the youngster will be fed as many as fi ve to six it is possible to have more than one family nest furnaces could be kept dormant throughout the thousand arthropods per day. An average swift in a single chimney. Nesting typically occurs month of September. In 2001, Audubon worked nest consumes more than half a million insects in late June and July, and young move from with Chapman to secure funding to replace the during a single nesting season! Swifts are truly hatching to fl ighted bird in about twenty-eight archaic heating system, allowing the chimney to the bug zappers of the bird world. days. Those willing to put up with a little noise be permanently devoted to the swifts. What truly separates the Vaux’s swift from will enjoy the magical spectacle of swifts learn- Despite the swift’s ability to adapt to human the other 209 bird species that pass through our ing to fl y around their homes and the added landscapes, their populations remain vulnerable urban landscape each year, too often unknown benefi t of natural insect control. We encourage and are experiencing long-term declines. It is and underappreciated, is this species’ penchant homeowners to close the chimney fl ue and critical for swifts and a host of other species that for substituting man-made chimneys for the large by all means avoid lighting a fi re. The nest will we protect and restore the Northwest’s ancient hollow trees in which they naturally nest and disintegrate and fall shortly after the swifts leave, forests. Urbanites have a big role to play as well. roost. When it comes to Vaux’s swifts, we not if not sooner. Identifi cation and management of signifi cant only share a common landscape; we sometimes For homeowners who fi nd a young swift chimney roost sites is critical to prevent their share a common dwelling. This is a situation that has fallen into their fi replace, we strongly removal as well as the accidental incineration of fraught with both conservation opportunity and encourage picking up the bird and reaching up swifts. Private property owners can assist swifts peril for the tiny swift. into the chimney. Even very young swifts have by allowing them to nest in residential chimneys, Traditionally, Vaux’s swifts nest and roost in amazing, Velcro-like feet that allow them to cling avoiding use of pesticides, and even constructing hollow, large-diameter trees. They enter the tree to rough vertical surfaces. They will cling to artifi cial swift towers. Property owners and land interior through broken tops or holes excavated the wall and climb back up to their parents. managers can help a host of species, including by pileated woodpeckers. Nests made of small We strongly discourage attempting to rear young swifts, by leaving snags standing. The ability broken twigs are cemented together and held swifts in captivity. There is no need to do so, and of the Vaux’s swift to substitute old chimneys for to the interior walls of the tree with swift saliva. because of their incredibly specialized life skills, large hollow trees has made it a popular and well- However, logging of the old-growth forests of the swifts are almost impossible to effectively raise known resident of urban landscapes. However, Pacifi c Northwest and removal of standing snags in a captive situation. its continued survival depends on our willingness has severely reduced the natural habitat available In the fall, Vaux’s swifts form giant communal to protect and preserve old-growth trees, and to the Vaux’s swift. roosts prior to beginning their migration south- our awareness and tolerance of its presence in Fortunately, unlike many other old-growth- ward. Throughout the month of September, swifts our urban landscapes. related species , the Vaux’s swift has been able group up by the dozens, hundreds, thousands, to exploit developed landscapes. Old brick and in some cases tens of thousands just before and masonry chimneys mimic many of the sunset and form giant fl ocks that pass the attributes of hollow trees, and the swifts have night together in large hollow trees and chimneys. taken advantage and moved in. In the spring, The largest known roost in the world, at peak Audubon receives many phone calls from exceeding thirty thousand birds, occurs at the people concerned about the mysterious critter Chapman School in Northwest Portland, but at that has taken up residence in their chimney. least ten other fall swift roosts in the Willamette ABOVE Sometimes they have observed adult swifts Valley are known to have populations of at least The Vaux’s swift making a sundown return to repeatedly entering and leaving the chimney. one thousand swifts. Scientists are uncertain their chimney Estate at Portland’s Chapman Elementary School. More often they discover the birds when they are as to why swifts form communal roosts prior to photo by Mike Houck awoken one morning by the urgent, high-pitched, migration. One theory is that there is safety in raspy, rattling, begging calls of nestling swifts— numbers and roosting communally reduces each RIGHT The top eight feet of the Portland Animal Estate a call that is so unique and disproportionately individual swift’s risk of predation. The communal tower is a hollow chimney cavity for the swifts. large that callers have compared it to chattering roosts may also help the swifts stay warm and photo by Shawn Records raccoons, howler monkeys, and space aliens. conserve energy during the cool fall nights. BOTTOM (Adults’ calls are a far quieter high-pitched rapid The communal roosts peak toward the middle of The Vaux’s swift caught in a rare moment chipping.) Lastly, callers sometimes discover September. As the days grow increasingly shorter, not airborne. their new housemates when they fi nd a young they begin to depart, and the fi rst frost sends the photo by Richard B. Forbes nestling swift that has fallen from the nest lying last stragglers southward toward warmer climes. on the fl oor of their fi replace—a not uncommon The Chapman School Swift Roost not only experience since the swift nests sometimes has inspired legions of local fans but also has disintegrate before the young leave them. served as a shining example of urban wildlife FIELD GUIDE 21 CLIENT 5.2 CHARLOTTE CORKRAN NORTHWEST ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH A cheerful, slightly burry but Among the endearing characteristics of the musical chatter is often the fi rst white-breasted nuthatch is the fact that it stays SITTA CAROLINENSIS with its mate year-round. In most species, pairs introduction to the white-breasted split up after the nesting season, but not these nuthatch. The bright white face, little birds, which are permanent residents and with the contrasting black cap do not migrate. In the middle of winter the pair “Oh we ain’t curved around far above the eye, will come to a suet feeder together, when the bushtits are in gangs of several dozen, and the got a barrel o’ gives it a surprised and eager chickadees and kinglets are all mixed together. money, maybe look. The white extending right Not that the nuthatches are antisocial with other down the throat to the breast and species. But when they join with other small we’re ragged belly distinguishes it from the birds during the winter, for mutual help in fi nding and funny, chickadees, which all have a black food and noticing predators, the white-breasted nuthatch pair stays together within the fl ock. but we travel “bib” on the throat. The white- Although the pair are together all year, the along singin’ breasted nuthatch is larger and male puts on quite a courtship show anyway. whiter than the other nuthatches He sings several new songs and displays in our song, side in the region. front of the female. He still dominates her at the feeder, but merely shoves her aside rather than by side.” knocking her away as he does with all others At a glance, nuthatches may look like miniature in the fl ock. And she knows not to fl ee like the woodpeckers, clinging upright to the trunks of other birds if he gives the alarm call near a good trees. But look again. The nuthatches are upside food source—when nothing alarming is any- status: seeking: open woodlands down. They work their way down the tree trunk where in sight. He begins to show off his ability widespread, but declining average weight: 3/4 to 1 ounce headfi rst. One leg is held out in front below them to provide for their offspring by feeding her tidbits as a brace, to keep them from sliding down the of food, or tucking them into a crevice in the friends: average length: 5 to 6 inches, but since the bill is 1 vertical wall. The other leg is held back, with the bark while she watches. He may pound the food inch and the tail nearly 2 inches, there’s toes spread to grip the rough surface of the bark. into the crevice unnecessarily vigorously, while not much bird in between; wingspan is All of the woodpeckers (as well as the tiny brown his tail feathers fl ick out with each blow. This is 11 inches metro parks creeper) hitch their way up the trunks of trees another opportunity to display his dashing black average lifespan: maximum lifespan is 10 years, and snags. These birds cling to the bark with and white tail with bright chestnut spots on the although many young only survive both feet forward or to the sides, and use their underneath feathers. Perhaps that exaggerated a few months stiff, pointed tail feathers to brace themselves pounding explains the name “nuthatch,” which against the tree trunk. was originally “nut-hatchet.” hometown: big old oaks and snags with “Quirky” is a word that readily comes to mind When the nuthatches are ready to nest, they lots of holes, nest boxes when discussing nuthatches in general and the select a knothole in an old oak or an abandoned greenspaces white-breasted nuthatch in particular. All nuthatches woodpecker hole, but they will readily use wood- hobbies: upside-down acrobatics on tree prefer to be upside down. Perhaps their brains are en nest boxes. They bring in moss and small trunks, caching food for a rainy day wired that way. They even sleep upside down… chunks of bark and then make a soft lining of fur, fears: nonnative fox squirrels, developments Some people have seen a white-breasted nuthatch small feathers, or what appears to be lint or dust that cut down all trees hold one piece of bark in its bill and use it to pry up bunnies from a human house. The female lays another piece that may have a bug underneath. fi ve to eight eggs (occasionally ten, although they favorite locations: Oaks Bottom, Oak Island on Sauvie Others have seen a white-breasted nuthatch carry don’t all hatch) and incubates them for almost downy and hairy Island, Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge an ant or beetle to its nest site and rub it next to two weeks while the male brings her bugs and woodpeckers the entrance hole, presumably to use the smell of a other food. He continues this for the fi rst few days favorite foods: acorns and suet feeders in winter, biting or poisonous insect to keep predators away. after the eggs hatch, which allows the female to bugs anytime And there are reports of its carrying its own drop- keep the hatchlings warm while giving them most pings out of its favorite roost site. of the insects delivered. The babies fl edge at

FIELD GUIDE 23 about two weeks of age and continue to be fed used the nest boxes. “No…can’t be…it is! by the parents for another two weeks. Although It’s a white-breasted nuthatch, and it’s sitting this probably increases the survival rate of the on eggs in my nest box!” youngsters, it prevents the option of a second nest in a year. THE ESTATE Habitat for the “slender-billed” subspecies Make a nest box for white-breasted nuthatches. of white-breasted nuthatch, the one that occurs Use scrap or recycled wood, 1 inch thick for in western Oregon, is open stands of Oregon insulation. The shape and style of the box is not white oak woodland. This forest type was once important to the birds, but keeping the rain out common in many areas of the Willamette Valley is important. Make sure the lid or roof extends and surrounding foothills, maintained by fi res set an inch out beyond each side and at least 2 by Native Americans. But the oak woodlands inches out to the front to shelter the entrance. were cleared for agricultural fi elds and towns, You might need to caulk the back edge of the and are still being cleared for residential and lid. The entrance hole should be 1 1/8 inches in industrial developments and freeways. The lack diameter. If it is any larger, of fi res in surviving oak woodlands has allowed introduced house sparrows will get in. Place Douglas fi r and other conifers to fi ll in the open the box as high as you safely can (12 feet up is stands of large oaks. great). Face the box entrance north or east The white-breasted nuthatch has almost so it get morning sun but is shaded from the disappeared from western Washington, and its hottest afternoon sun. Add 3 or 4 inches of wood population has seriously declined in the Wil- shavings inside the box. Then fi nd a place to lamette Valley. Because its reproductive rate is plant an Oregon white oak acorn. fairly low, reversing that trend will be diffi cult. Now there are efforts to reopen some oak stands by selectively logging out the conifers and ABOVE burning the understory, as well as by planting Spaces in the center of the Portland Oregon white oaks in areas where they can Animal Estate, about fi ve feet off the ground, serve as nesting cavities grow into woodlands. And nest boxes are being for the white-breasted nuthatch. used as a stopgap measure to maintain white- photo by Shawn Records breasted nuthatch populations until its habitat RIGHT is once again ready. The white-breasted nuthatch in typically As I leaned my trusty ladder against the unusual form, walking down the tree. trunk of the big Doug fi r, I looked up and photo by Charlotte Corkran thought I could see signs that the nest box was in use. No spider webs stretched across the entrance hole, and a little tuft of moss had been dropped nearby. “Chickadees,” I thought. “I wonder which species?” I climbed up the ladder, tapped on the box in case there might instead be yellowjackets inside, slowly opened the lid, and peered inside. A tiny bright eye looked back up at me. A black bead of an eye in a bright, white face. I stared back at it blankly. My eyes recognized exactly what bird was sitting on the nest, but my brain would not allow such a thought. “It’s a…it’s a…” Blank. By then I had lived in my nearby house for thirty years, done a lot of birding in the neighborhood, and had been monitoring at least a few nest boxes there for almost twenty of those years. I knew the birds that lived there. I knew which species

FIELD GUIDE 25 CLIENT 5.3 CHARLOTTE CORKRAN NORTHWEST ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER In its natty attire of dark jacket unbuttoned to branches. Perhaps this helps it elude poten- reveal a crisp white shirt, the olive-sided tial predators, such as the speedy Cooper’s CONTOPUS COOPERI fl ycatcher is somewhat easier to recognize than hawk. Certainly fl ying insects would not notice many of its cousins. But as soon as it calls, there it. Suddenly the bird darts out in pursuit of a bug. can be no mistaking this species. Whether it Powerful chest muscles can lift the olive-sided gives its emphatic three-note whistle, or its eager fl ycatcher straight up off the branch and keep it pep-talk sequence, it is an easy bird sound to headed straight upward. Short wings allow it to hear and remember. make midair, hairpin turns after the fl eeing insect. Its large head is mostly mouth that opens wide “The ringing call of the olive-sided to snatch the insect. Whisker-like bristles at the “ Quick, fl ycatcher, thrown out as he sits corners of the mouth feel where the insect is at the last instant. The strong bill snaps shut with on the topmost twig of a giant a noticeable click, and the bug is captured. three conifer, typifi es all that is wild and Now the olive-sided fl ycatcher glides back to free and untamed in the great its chosen perch to swallow its meal in one gulp, spire-pointed forests of spruce or it carries the insect to its nestlings. beers” The nest of the olive-sided fl ycatcher is and fi r that clothe the mountain built high in a living tree, attached with spider slopes of the State.” webs to a branch and hidden among green twigs. The nest cup is strongly woven of fi ne Gabrielson and Jewett, Birds of Oregon, 1940 “ Pep-pep-pep!” roots, dead twigs, long pine needles, and the yellow-green lichen we call “old man’s beard.” That loud voice is only heard here in the late There the female lays three eggs, or maybe four. spring and summer, and it is the sound of a Both parents bring insects to the nestlings until male defending its breeding territory, which they are ready to fl y and catch their own meals. may be well over one hundred acres. While But many youngsters starve or are captured the olive-sided fl ycatcher is not dependent on by predators before they ever learn to hunt and old-growth conifer (evergreen, cone-bearing) hide and fl ee. Although many bird species seeking: tall snags and lots of fl ying bugs status: forests, such forests are certainly a favored have two or even three broods of babies every widespread, but declining average weight: a little over 1 ounce habitat. Never seen in fl ocks or more than scat- summer, the olive-sided fl ycatcher’s beautiful tered pairs, olive-sided fl ycatchers can often nest is only used once. average length: about 7 inches, wingspan 13 inches friends: be found where natural forest fi res have left Because this species has so few young many tall snags. Other productive habitats are average lifespan: maximum is 7 years, but most per year and always occurs in low numbers, tall conifer trees next to wetlands, rivers, and it local extinctions. Scientists and citizens doing young do not survive more than a meadows. These edges between habitats are bird surveys are fi nding signifi cantly fewer olive- month or two environmentalists good because they give the birds high perches sided fl ycatchers in both short-term and long-term who save home: conifer forests with scattered tall from which to look out over areas that produce studies. What is causing the decreasing numbers? old-growth forests trees and snags insects. Even logged areas and developed Chemical pesticides are one issue, because they clearings can provide good habitat, as long kill fl ying insects needed for food, and they may hobbies: watching the scenery from a as tall conifer trees and snags are left and the cause other direct or indirect problems. Habitat high perch clearing has habitat for diverse and abundant loss is apparently a major factor. In the Portland fears: Cooper’s hawks, logging that fl ying insects. area, a few parks and neighborhoods still meet doesn’t leave snags Like all fl ycatchers, the olive-sided fl ycatcher the olive-sided fl ycatcher’s needs. But large is specialized for nabbing fl ying insects out of the conifer trees and snags next to meadows or favorite locations: Forest Park, Powell Butte, forest fi res air. It perches on the topmost branch of a snag wetlands are increasingly rare now. If large trees Oaks Bottom or the dead leader of a living tree. Its rather dull do persist, they are more apt to be next to build- colors help it blend into the pattern of the dead ings, vast expanses of pavement, or mowed favorite foods: fl ying ants, wasps, beetles; probably not beer FIELD GUIDE 27 lawns. There is still habitat in the Cascade and “May 29. The crashing thunder Coast Range forests. However, for over one sounds like the overhauling of hundred years the typical logging practice was to clear-cut forest stands, which makes it easier lumber on heaven’s loft. And now, to regenerate the Douglas fi r. In recent years, at last, after an hour of steady leaving some snags, logs, and large live trees confi nement, the clouds grow is required, but the legacy of past logging thin again, and the birds begin to continues in large areas of uniform forest stands ABOVE with no large snags. sing. They make haste to conclude The very top of the Portland Animal Estate We are beginning to fi x the habitat loss in the day with their regular evening features a six-foot-long cantilevered perch for the olive-sided fl ycatcher, angled up at the United States, but the olive-sided fl ycatcher songs (before the rain is fairly the end just to make sure she is at the very doesn’t just live here. In fact it is a long-distance over) according to the program. top and close to the bugs. photo by Shawn Records migrant. Every year it fl ies to and from as far The pepe [olive-sided fl ycatcher] away as the mountains of southern Peru. Many RIGHT South American countries do not regulate use of on some pine tree was heard The olive-sided fl ycatcher perched on the pesticides that were banned in this country years almost in the midst of the storm.” very top point a tree, waiting to catch dinner. photo by Dan Casey ago because of their environmental and human Henry David Thoreau, journal for 1857 health risks. There have been several die-offs of hawks attributed to pesticides in Central and South America, and unknown numbers and THE ESTATE species of small birds have succumbed as well. Olive-sided fl ycatchers need tall perches But the worst problem for migratory species overlooking small trees, shrubs, meadows, like the olive-sided fl ycatcher is doubtless the or wetlands. And they need a source of high- massive clearing and burning of tropical fl ying insects, like a native plant garden where rainforest by corporations exploiting cash-poor no pesticides are used. Ask your local park governments and indigenous people. manager and your neighbors about leaving It is easy to become overwhelmed by global snags and snag-topped live trees for wildlife problems, but there are easy things we can do habitat. You can create a snag by girdling a tree locally to help migratory species such as the (choose one that will not fall on anyone’s house). olive-sided fl ycatcher. Whether in parks or at You can also rescue a manageable section of a home, protecting large trees, leaving snags tree that had to be cut down, and set it upright and logs wherever possible, and planting native in concrete in the ground, preferably near a trees, shrubs, and wildfl owers that do not need pond, birdbath, or area of low but diverse chemical pesticides will have the most long-last- vegetation. A dead branch can be attached at ing benefi ts. These simple actions can provide the top by drilling a hole into the tree, whittling perches, nest sites, and an abundance of high- down the end of the branch to fi t the hole fl ying insects that the birds will eat. Not everyone snugly, and using carpenter’s glue in the hole can expect to have an olive-sided fl ycatcher before inserting the branch. Or you can buy calling, “Quick, three beers!” in their backyards. some recycled wood or recycled plastic lumber But many of us can hope to have a fl ycatcher of at the Rebuilding Center, and create your own some kind sallying out from a perch. And most structure for wildlife, with an upright perch at of us can leave—or create—a little messiness of the top for fl ycatchers and other birds. Your dead branches at the tops of tall trees, rotting structure could be shaped like a real snag, or it logs for beetle nurseries, and native plants run could be a tripod or teepee shape, or whatever wild for the sake of wildlife. shape you like.

FIELD GUIDE 29 CLIENT 5.4 CHARLOTTE CORKRAN NORTHWEST ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

SILVER-HAIRED BAT With dark brown fur tipped with white on its back, for grooming the fur, scratching an itch, and the silver-haired bat is colored like a miniature hanging right-side up to pee. The wings of LASIONYCTERIS NOCTIVAGANS grizzly bear. Like all of the bat species in this bats have no need for the feathers that birds region, the silver-haired bat uses echolocation to developed; the membranes are lightweight, fi nd its way around in the dark and to fi nd insects strong, and stretchy. for its food. It makes high-pitched sounds—too In this country, bats are often hated and “Probably high for our ears to hear—that bounce off of feared. However, in Chinese cultures the bat objects. Large ears and the bizarre nose shapes is considered a symbol of good fortune and of nothing on some species help them hear the sounds and perfect symmetry. A bat motif is frequently used determine their exact direction. Imagine being able in art forms such as lacquerware bowls and from the to hear the echo of your own voice so precisely sculpted jade pendants or talismans. that you can distinguish the shape of a mosquito Lots of people think that bats are scary. In very silly and turn in midair to capture it in the dark! truth, bats should be more afraid of us than we Silver-haired bats are most apt to roost in are of them. Only a very few people have ever opera, Die conifer or mixed forests. In bark crevices, under been bitten by a bat. But every year thousands loose bark, in woodpecker cavities, knotholes, of bats are accidentally killed by human activities. Fledermaus” or lightning scars, the bats fi nd abundant niches The silver-haired bat is no exception. Chemical in old forests with large-diameter trees and pesticides are used for killing insects in agri- snags. They roost there all day, hanging upside cultural areas, as well as in people’s yards. But down by their hind feet. After dark they fl y out pesticides kill many kinds of insects that could to search for a variety of insect prey. Like many otherwise be eaten by bats. Many of these bat species, the silver-haired bat performs aerial chemicals have other harmful effects on wildlife, maneuvers too fast for the human eye to follow too. Wind power is a good alternative to burning (even if we could see in the dark). Using its coal or building nuclear plants, but studies are super-fl exible wing and tail membranes, it can showing that wind turbines kill large numbers of scoop up a moth or other fl ying insect, then silver-haired bats and other species, particularly status: widespread, but uncommon reach down to grab it with its mouth. during migration. The blades of a turbine sweep We were late setting up camp that evening. around at up to two hundred miles per hour, seeking: a cozy, dry crevice friends: Mosquitos pestered us as we spread the rainfl y far faster than a bat can escape. Logging of over the tent. I was just attaching one corner old-growth forests has removed the large, often average weight: 1/4 ounce or less when something dashed between me and the hollow trees and snags favored by silver-haired nearly white rainfl y. Was that a bat? “Yeah, come bats. Now, they sometimes roost in open sheds average length: only 3 inches, but wingspan northern and eat some of these mosquitos,” I said aloud. and garages, the foundations of buildings, and is 12 inches fl ickers The tiny bat circled our heads, barely a foot even in woodpiles. But much of their natural average lifespan: less than 12 years away from us it seemed, and I swear there were habitat has been replaced by young forest with suddenly fewer bugs around us. We stood and few niches for bats. hometown: forests with lots of big trees watched, mesmerized by our eager new friend. and snags Now and then the little bat swooped down to “His thin red tongue licks at his the tent, and I could hear it slide across the pileated fur methodically, after the fashion hobbies: hanging upside down, eating rainfl y, and actually see a little dark dot of a bug woodpeckers of an unhurried dog; massaging huge numbers of bugs disappear from the pale surface. The wings of bats are marvels of elasticity each joint of his hand, and giving, fears: great horned owls, skunks, and functional elegance. When you look at a perhaps, that fi nal lick or two pesticides, wind turbines, halloween bat’s wing, you can recognize every fi nger of which always seems and never favorite locations: Mount Hood National Forest, your own hand lengthened to spider-leg fi neness quite is, fi nal. He may stretch and used to spread out the thin, black skin of Forest Park Bat Conservation his elastic wing membrane to International the wing. Only the thumb is free from the wing favorite foods: moths, mosquitos, fl ying bugs membrane. The thumb is used while roosting alarming proportions, even, of all sorts FIELD GUIDE 31 perhaps to putting his wing of its echolocation calls. After a second a pin- over his head umbrella-wise and point of light appeared in the night’s blackness. It rose quickly, in confi dent spirals up through pulling the membrane down as the clearing. And then the little starlet reached would a small boy playing with a the tops of the big old trees, and it carried our paper bag…He may even sneeze. lighted greetings away into the forest. Finally, he may yawn. And if THE ESTATE after such a display of rationality The best way to make habitat for the silver-haired and homeliness you still choose bat is to keep a snag or gnarly old tree. You can to relegate him to a Hallowe’n create a snag by girdling a live tree (one that will world of witches and spooks, not fall on a house). Or make a lean-to shelter then nothing I could say further by nailing a slab of bark (from fi rewood) onto a live tree or the side of a building. Nail just the top would possibly convince you to edge, leaving a cozy crevice where the bat can the contrary.” crawl up underneath and be protected from rain and wind. You can also get plans for making a Russell Peterson, Silently by Night, p. 35 small bat house from Bat Conservation Interna- tional. (www.batcon.org) Use recycled wood that Silver-haired bats roost singly or in groups is rough on the sides the bats will crawl in, and of only three to six, not at all like the multitudes paint the bat house black or dark brown. Any of certain other bat species that roost in caves. home for bats needs to be placed in a south- The silver-haired bat female has two mammae to facing spot that gets lots of sunshine, because nurse her one or two pups. While they are very bats really like to be warm. small, the female carries them clinging to her belly fur. Then they are left in a small maternity roost with several other pups while the females are out foraging at night. The pups can fl y when they are about three weeks old. Silver-haired bats migrate south for the winter, fl ying many hundreds of miles in spring and fall. Some migrate through the Portland area on their way between drier, warmer wintering places and the big forests where they spend the summer. A few stay near the city to raise their young. Welcome them to your yard by leaving a snag or gnarly old tree, or by putting up a small ABOVE bat roosting box in a sunny spot. And if your yard Louvered panels on the Portland Animal has a variety of native trees, shrubs, and fl owers, Estate tower simulate sloughing bark, accommodating silver-haired bats. The perhaps the bats will fi nd enough fl ying insects to panels are painted black and face south enjoy and they will stay. to absorb the warmth of the sun for the When the bat biologist had fi nished measuring heat loving bats. photo by Shawn Records the tiny creature, its minuscule teeth bared in fear, she tucked it into her shirt to keep it warm. After RIGHT readying the sonar recorder, she brought the little Headshot of the silver-haired bat. guy back out into the cold night air. She took a bit photo by Daniela Rambaldini of light-stick, a silly party favor, and stuck a piece on the bat’s chest with kids’ glue. There, the bat could lick it off easily when it groomed its fur. We all turned our fl ashlights off as she held out her hand to free the bat and make a recording

FIELD GUIDE 33 CLIENT 5.5 TIERRA CURRY CONSERVATION BIOLOGIST, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

NORTHWESTERN GARTER SNAKE Snakes, snails, and puppy dog tails may or may the presence of vestigial pelvic girdles and hind not be what little boys are made of, but little limbs in some species, the course of evolution THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS TETRATAENIA boys (and girls) are often drawn to garter snakes. favored the cutting-edge individuals who got Garter snakes are easily identifi ed by their striped along better without arms and legs. backs, and are known for being good-natured It would take almost every crayon in the “I have personal and nonvenomous. When one of the kids on box to draw all the color variations of the convictions to The Cosby Show brought home a garter snake, northwestern garter snake. Some people think Clair said, “I’m going to call the zoo,” and Cliff of garter snakes as plain, but like true Portland uphold. Ideals you responded, “The zoo doesn’t want it. Garter fashionistas, northwestern garter snakes prefer might say. I prefer snakes go to the zoo to see real snakes.” to be hard to defi ne. The base color of their not to kill animals. Garter snakes are real snakes, and like bodies, their background color, can best be I’m a humanist; most snakes they are unlikely to bite you. If you described as ish. As in brownish, blackish, grayish, happen to catch a garter snake in a really bad reddish, or bluish, sometimes with a bluish, I’d rather kill a man mood, its bite generally isn’t painful and is only greenish, or reddish tint. Albino individuals lack than a snake. Not toxic in the unlikely event of an allergic reaction. color altogether. Yet more often than not, north- because I love snakes Snakes fl ick out their tongues not because they western garter snakes tend to be brown. They or hate men. It is want to bite you, but because they use their are more slender than other garter snake species tongues for smelling. The two forks of a snake’s in the Northwest, and are differentiated by their a question, rather, tongue allow it to follow chemosensory trails, relatively small head, which is streamlined with of proportion.” kind of like smelling in stereo. Be forewarned, their bodies. however, that garter snakes do spray. When Northwestern garter snakes usually have Edward Abbey, handled, they release the musky contents of three beautiful stripes down their backs, a A Voice Crying in the Wilderness their anal glands, and the spray is quite smelly central vertebral stripe, and two lateral stripes and persists for hours. I once went for a quick on their sides. The vertebral stripe is usually walk in Forest Park before a job interview, and wider than the other stripes and can be orange, I picked up a young garter snake basking in the yellow, red, white, gold, tan, turquoise, green, seeking: a sunny spot near a place to hide, status: secure sun. I went to the interview smelling like, well, or blue. The lateral stripes are usually yellow, a snug burrow for winter someone who had recently handled a garter but can also be white or tan. The stripes can average weight: 5 ounces snake. Luckily it was a herpetologist position, be faint or broken, and some snakes don’t have and the smell probably helped me get the job. stripes at all. There are usually two alternating average length: 1 to 2 feet The Latin name of the northwestern garter rows of black spots between the vertebral and average lifespan: up to 10 years, but usually 2 to 5 in friends: snake, Thamnophis ordinoides, literally means lateral stripes. It is a distinguishing characteristic the wild “orderly snake that hangs out in the bushes.” that the spots do not overlap with the vertebral Thamnos is Greek for “shrub” or “bush,” and stripe. The undersides of northwestern garter hometown: meadows, clearings, edges of thickets Ophis refers to “snake.” Ordinoides is Latin for snakes can be yellow, brown, gray, or black with and wetlands, talus slopes “arranged” or “orderly,” and refers to the straight, yellow or red markings. Northwestern garter snakes to curl up clean-edge stripes down the snake’s back. snakes average a foot or two in length, with a hobbies: sunbathing, chasing frogs, cuddling, with in the winter Northwestern garter snakes are often found near record female snake who was three feet long. sticking tongue out at strangers the edge of vegetation, where they can quickly Females are generally longer than males. fears: getting kidnapped in a kid’s pocket, dive for cover if threatened. Northwestern garter snakes occur in western subdivisions and shopping malls, Garter snakes came to be known as “garter Oregon and Washington, the northwest corner raccoons snakes” because their stripes resemble the of California, and in southwestern British Columbia old-fashioned garter belts once used to hold up at elevations up to 5500 feet. They are found favorite locations: Oaks Bottom, Smith and Bybee lakes; people who aren’t afraid to pick them stockings. This name is ironic because the word in meadows and grasslands, forest clearings, very much prefers to live in the wild up for a closer “garter” is likely of Celtic origin and refers to the shrubby habitat, and on rocky talus slopes. More than to grow old stuck in a terrarium look and who are bend of the knee. Modern snakes obviously terrestrial than other garter snake species of favorite foods: earthworms, slugs, snails, salaman- nice enough to let don’t have knees, having lost their limbs long ago. the Northwest, they are only occasionally found Although snakes once had legs, as evidenced by in water. They control their body temperature ders, and frogs them go again

FIELD GUIDE 35 by carefully choosing where to hang out, the THE ESTATE amount of time they spend in the sun, their The biggest threat to this species is habitat orientation to the sun, and the proportion of their loss. You can create habitat for garter snakes bodies they expose to the sun’s rays. They also in your yard with brush piles, downed logs, absorb heat from rocks, trails, and paved sur- rocks, or other cover objects. At a tree planting faces. Unfortunately, lounging on pavement and project, I was once removing old, black weed- trails makes them vulnerable to being crushed matting from around established trees and by tires or careless feet. found a garter snake underneath almost every In winter, instead of heading to coffee shops mat. When I’m in the fi eld with teenagers they and pubs, garter snakes hibernate. Like Gold- “If you do create habitat for garter snakes ilocks, they need a burrow that is just right. in your garden, you’ll fi nd that they are good It has to be warm enough for them not to freeze, gardeners and will keep the slugs away. not too wet or dry, and adequately ventilated. To attract northwestern garter snakes to your This special spot is often under or in decaying garden or yard, take a moment to think like a logs and stumps, or the root systems of old snake. You’ll need a sunny place to bask, with trees and snags, in rodent burrows, or in rock a safe place to hide nearby and some shrubby crevices. Different snake species often share vegetation to make you feel secure. Pick a spot a winter den. After the winter rains, sunshine that gets lots of sun and is protected from the brings Portlanders out in droves, and the same wind. Where do you like to sit and read on sunny is true for garter snakes, which mate in spring- days? Garter snakes control their temperature time when love is in the air. Female northwestern behaviorally, so they need a place that offers garter snakes protect their fertilized eggs inside warmth as well as a quick getaway under a rock their bodies and give live birth to three to twenty or cover object if they feel threatened or need to young in summer or early fall. Neonates (aka cool down. Cover objects could be slabs of bark cute little teeny tiny newborn snakes) are about or wood, downed logs, old stumps, brush piles, ABOVE six inches long. rocks or piles of large, loose stones, bricks, or A pile of salvaged concrete slabs on the south Like Portlanders without umbrellas, north- blocks. Let the grass grow wild in that section side of the Portland Animal Estate provide a warm place for the northwestern garter snake to western garter snakes will forage in the rain. of your yard, and be sure to choose an area that sunbathe. Underneath there is a hibernaculum, Northwestern garter snakes eat earthworms, isn’t close to the road. a chamber for the long winter sleep. slugs, snails, and amphibians. In turn, garter photo by Shawn Records snakes are eaten by hawks, owls, and raccoons. RIGHT Even robins and jays eat young snakes. The northwestern garter snake. For a research project, I once found myself photo by Tierra Curry standing knee-deep in muck, looking for newly metamorphosed frogs as the July sun dried up their pond. I had competition. A heron on my left was seeking the same frogs. I heard rustling on my right and saw a garter snake sneaking around rush clumps, methodically taking corners like in a spy movie. The snake was stealthily checking every clump for hiding frogs, and succeeding far more often than me at fi nding them. Another time I was lucky enough to see a damselfl y riding around on the head of a garter snake that was slowly swimming at the water’s edge.

FIELD GUIDE 37 CLIENT 5.6 CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL

ORANGE-RUMPED BUMBLEBEE 20th Century Folklore (origins uncertain): within a species can vary signifi cantly throughout Use of modern aerodynamic theories prove that its range. If the orange setae appear in wide BOMBUS MELANOPYGUS bumblebees cannot fl y. They do not have the bands on the front part of the abdomen, chances wing size or wing beat frequency to achieve the are good that you’re looking at B. melanopygus. wing-loading necessary for fl ight. The biology of B. melanopygus is similar to other species in the genus Bombus. Queens “BZZZZZ “Wiser far than human seer, emerge in early spring (March/April), having Yellow-breeched philosopher! spent the winter in shallow cavities dug under- zzzzzzzz” Seeing only what is fair, ground the previous fall. A queen’s primary task is to locate a home for her future colony. As with Sipping only what is sweet human house hunters, queen bees typically visit Thou dost mock at fate and care, many sites before settling on one, seeming to status: Leave the chaff, and take the wheat. assess amenities such as size, security, proxim- abundant, although other abundant When the fi erce northwestern blast ity to resources, and how well insulated a given bee species have been known to Cools sea and land so far and fast, cavity is. In April it is common to see queens experience sudden precipitous Thou already slumberest deep; fl ying low, scanning the forest fl oor, ducking declines, e.g., the western yellow- Woe and want thou canst outsleep; momentarily into the leaf litter and investigating banded bumblebee (Bombus hollow spaces in logs, trees, and man-made terricola occidentalis Greene 1858) Want and woe, which torture us, objects such as old birdhouses. Queens also and the honeybee (Apis mellifera Thy sleep makes ridiculous.” visit early spring fl owers to feed on and obtain Linnaeus 1758) nectar and pollen to provision their nests. Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Humble-bee” Once an acceptable spot is found, she creates a nectar pot—a small, chocolate-colored seeking: small subterranean cavities, preferably already fi lled with soft cotton vessel made of wax and used for storing nectar. or dried moss/grass; recently vacated bird/mammal dens are ideal Known from the fourteenth to the nineteenth This stored nectar will allow the queen to remain centuries as the “humble-bee,” today we use in the nest incubating the eggs until they hatch. average weight: ~400 milligrams (anywhere from 40 to 850 milligrams) the less fl attering common name: “bumblebee.” For the next three to four weeks, the larvae are fed nectar and pollen brought back to the nest by average length: ~16 millimeters I doubt we’ll ever know for certain whether this change was the result of an early typo- the queen, until ultimately they build silk cocoons average lifespan: 6 to 8 months graphical error (an eighteenth-century h and and pupate. With her fi rst brood of workers about b are remarkably similar) or because after the to emerge, the queen lays two more broods hometown: throughout western North America industrial revolution, its slow, ambling fl ight knowing she’ll have workers to provide the food hobbies: garden tours, food storage, childcare seemed more “bumbling” than “humbling.” and care necessary to rear them. At this point, Nonetheless, bumblebees remain an icon of the queen devotes all of her time to constructing fears: Japanese beetle traps, cuckoo bumblebee (Psithyrus), pesticides the insect world, an insect introduced to us, brood chambers and laying eggs; foraging and favorite locations: meadows, fi elds, and fl owering shrubs/trees along with ants, butterfl ies, and dragonfl ies nest building activities are taken up by the new at a young age: “A is for aardvark, B is worker caste. favorite foods: nectar and pollen; a generalist with many hosts (fl owers from over 60 for bumblebee.” Bumblebee colonies in temperate regions are families of plants are visited by this bee); favorites include violets, clover, Bombus melanopygus Nylander 1848 , is typically small, rarely exceeding a hundred work- composites, and legumes commonly known as the “orange-rumped bum- ers, but there are exceptions to this, and some blebee.” With bright orange patches of setae (the species or exceptional colonies display much friends: technical term for insect hairs), it is defi nitely a larger populations. Some of the bumblebee’s conservationists at distinctive and eye-catching insect. Although this relatives in the Hymenoptera, such as honeybees Xerces Society is one of the more abundant bumblebees in the and some wasps and ants, maintain some, or all, organic (www.xerces.org), Portland area, it is not the only local bumblebee of their colony’s population over the winter. This is farmers gardeners a local foundation devoted to protecting species with orange setae. Like crab and lobster especially true in tropical and subtropical regions. insects and buoys, the position of the color bands can help However, all bumblebee workers gradually die off other invertebrates in diagnosing a species, but still, color patterns in the fall. As winter approaches, males and virgin

FIELD GUIDE 39 queens are also produced. Mating takes place on the wing outside of the colony, with both males and females mating multiple times with different partners. Once impregnated, the queen digs the shallow subterranean chamber in which she will retire to wait for the following spring. To encourage B. melanopygus to take up residence in your yard you need to be prepared early in the year (March/April) when queens are hunting for new homes. A number of different designs can be built, and various blueprints can be found online. In essence, you’ll need a wooden box with inner dimensions of approxi- mately 8 x 8 x 8 inches. A 1-inch entrance hole and several small ventilation holes should be drilled into the front and sides of the box. Bumblebees nest near or in the ground, so your box should be placed in partial or full shade, no higher than 10 inches off the ground and in such a manner as not to get fl ooded with rain. Fill the box with fl uff (cotton, pillow stuffi ng, or dry straw). You might wish to set out several such houses, to increase your chances of occupancy. And to increase the likelihood that queens will visit your yard while hunting for a nesting site, you might consider planting early spring fl owers REFERENCES ABOVE in the vicinity of your nest boxes. Clothier, T. 2008. Plants of interest to Bumblebees. The bottom of the Portland Animal Estate Once you have a resident hive, you can Website (viewed 22 August, 2008), contains a nesting chamber for the http://tomclothier.hort.net/page42.html bumblebee. The front door is a small bright help them out by planting native plants known magenta tube; the contrasting color to be attractive to bumblebees. A good list of attracts them. “bumblebee” plants can be found online (e.g., photo by Shawn Records

Tom Clothier 2008). The colony will need nectar LEFT all summer long, so attempt to plant a variety The orange-rumped bumblebee. of plants that will provide blooms from spring photo by Tierra Curry

through late summer. If you don’t have garden RIGHT space or a green thumb, don’t fear, bumblebees The Edwards bumblebee is a close relation, are capable of fl ying great distances to obtain food. and also might take up residence here. photo by Christopher Marshall

FIELD GUIDE 41 CLIENT 5.7 CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL

SNAIL-EATING GROUND BEETLE The sense of death is most in I was to collect them all. The Coleoptera are one apprehension; And the poor beetle, of the most diverse animal groups on earth, with SCAPHINOTUS ANGULATUS over three hundred thousand species. Even in our that we tread upon, In corporal small corner—the Pacifi c Northwest—we have sufferance fi nds a pang as great. more than fi ve thousand different beetle spe- “ Experience As when a giant dies. cies. To put that in perspective, fewer than one thousand species of birds live in the entire United the snail. William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (1603) States and only two thousand species of bees Appreciate exist worldwide. Eventually, I was forced to give “A person’s a person, no matter up the idea that I would collect them all, but even the texture. today I’m overtaken with excitement whenever how small.” I encounter a beetle species I’ve not seen before. Fresh snails Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who! (1954) Since moving to Oregon in 2005, I’ve come across S. angulatus many times in the forests of are a bit the Willamette Valley and western Washington. rubbery… Shakespeare could not have known of the peril For those who dislike formal Latin names, an to be faced today by the many tiny species native English translation yields “angle-sided boat- Enjoy their to the forests of the Pacifi c Northwest, yet his backed beetle—hardly preferable. The eloquent delicate words ring all too true. While we mourn the loss formal name refers to the back of the beetle of our own majestic giants—the very Douglas fi rs (its notum), which resembles an upside-down earthy taste.” that make up our Pacifi c Northwest forests—fewer wooden skiff (or scapha in Latin); angulatus refer- realize that along their lichen-covered branches, ences the angular sides to the pronotum (Figure How to Eat Snails, online eHow and running through their shaded understory, 1), which other species of Scaphinotus lack. http://www.ehow.com/how_2058176_ is an entire universe of creatures, which like the Whichever name you prefer, this species (and eat-snails.html citizens of Dr. Seuss’s tiny Whosville deserve of its close relatives) are fascinating creatures. our appreciation no less than the giants in whose As night falls on the Pacifi c Northwest forest, shadows they live. S. angulatus begins its search for food, a search status: abundant seeking: covered ground near shaded, Growing up in New England, I was fascinated that will continue into the daylight hours of the humid, unmanicured areas; access by insects. A short walk in a vacant, wooded next morning. The beetle’s gangly long legs and to moss-covered trees and shrubs lot near my suburban house took hours, as I special feet allow it to run nimbly over the ground and up and down tree trunks. If you’re lucky a plus stopped to explore under every fallen log. My mom stockpiled plastic containers for the week- enough to see one, you might think it resembles friends: average weight: 300 to 700 milligrams end, when I would run inside, hands cupped, a tiny hound dog in hot pursuit of some unknown impatiently asking for something in which to put scent. Truth is: it is in hot pursuit of a scent. The average length: ~22 millimeters my newly found treasure. I began a formal collec- forest is home to this beetle’s favorite foods: average lifespan: 1 year tion of insects in fourth grade, carefully preparing land snails and slugs. Although plentiful, land protectors and labeling each specimen, and placing it inside snails are not easy to fi nd when you’re the size of our forests hometown: in and near coniferous forests from a display case my father helped me build. Like of S. angulatus. A fallen tree branch is a gigantic Puget Sound area, south through the prizes once placed inside breakfast cereal, obstacle, and inspecting the leaves and branches the Willamette Valley I fully assumed that eventually I’d collect them of a small tree can take hours. But Scaphinotus all. But, one day, as I hunted for insects during is equipped. Sensitive, paddle-shaped palpi hobbies: tree climbing recess, it hit me: there were simply too many (small antenna-like appendages associated with insect mouthparts) are all the better for sniffi ng conservationists at Xerces fears: birds, racoons, and hiking boots kinds of insects to collect them all. Rather than Society (www.xerces.org), give up in defeat, I modifi ed my goal: I would out the telltale sign of terrestrial mollusks: slime. a local foundation devoted favorite locations: on the trail or running up the trunks simply focus my efforts solely on beetles. To Scaphinotus, the snail-trail is a one-way path to protecting insects and of big trees I’ve never regretted that decision, although to dinner. Feasting on snails that retreat into other invertebrates I did not know then, that of all groups to choose, their shells and slime-covered slugs requires favorite foods: escargot beetles (Coleoptera) was perhaps the worst if prominent, toothy mandibles, which are all the

FIELD GUIDE 43 better for holding tightly onto their fl eshy, slimy BEETLES AT THE H. J. ANDREWS bodies, and its unusually narrow head is all EXPERIMENTAL FOREST the better for reaching far into the snail shell to It is a common misconception that, like most extract its meal. Had Little Red Riding Hood been birds and mammals, information about insect a snail, she’d have been greeted by Scaphinotus species, including images and natural history, at her grandmother’s house. can be found online or with a trip to the local Despite a predilection for snails and a body library. In truth, only a small cadre of insects has built for it, S. angulatus will also scavenge dead been studied in detail. The most fundamental or injured earthworms and insects or even fallen step to remedying this is to inventory what fruit/berries that it encounters on the forest fl oor. insect species live here and to produce tools Ripe banana, dropped along a forest trail at night, allowing people to recognize them. is reportedly an excellent bait. But take a lesson Scaphinotus angulatus is one of about from the lowly snail: leaving behind a trail in the one hundred species of ground beetle (Family: forest can lead bigger animals, such as bears, Carabidae) known to live at the H. J. Andrews right to you! Experimental Forest (HJA) in Blue River, Oregon. Some Scaphinotus species live outside of the The Oregon State Arthropod Collection (Oregon Pacifi c Northwest, but S. angulatus is endemic, State University—Zoology) is currently working meaning it occurs nowhere else on earth (Figure with the HJA to produce high resolution images 2). Its limited range is likely due to the fact that of their insect species—including Scaphinotus it cannot fl y. This is unusual for a beetle as most angulatus. Over the last thirty years, HJA research- beetle species can fl y. However, like a penguin, ers have been depositing insect specimens at some point during its evolutionary history, this into OSU’s arthropod collection. Using these ability was lost. Without fl ight, S. angulatus lacks specimens, biology student Adam Martinez is the ability to fl y over large bodies of water or high generating webpages that include spectacular mountain ranges. To escape large-scale threats high-resolution digital images of the species ABOVE to its habitat it must crawl. S. angulatus are known to occur at the park. These images and Logs at the base of the west side of the Portland Animal Estate provide cover for the associated with forested habitats. However, with information about Pacifi c Northwest insect snail-eating ground beetle. Keeping some adequate ground cover, the species will enter species are being posted at the Oregon State snails around will also ensure that this beetle unforested habitat, such as regions of clear-cut, Arthropod Collection’s website. sticks around too. to look for food. (http://osac.science.oregon state.edu) photo by Shawn Records If you wish to make your backyard more inviting Why focus on the HJA beetle fauna? The goals RIGHT for Scaphinotus angulatus, you’ll want to have of the HJA are long-term, spanning decades. The snail-eating ground beetle. plenty of shaded areas with moisture-trapping Thanks to their long-term commitment, the photo by anonymous plants such as ferns or ground covers. Thick leaf inventory of the forest’s insect species is litter under shrubs and trees and some carefully extensive. This provides the rare opportunity placed rotten logs or even wooden boards will to monitor long-term changes in the insect provide necessary daytime hiding spots. Providing fauna due to climate change, anthropogenic their favorite food shouldn’t be a problem as disturbances (pollution or forest management), local gardeners will attest to the prevalence of or naturally occurring catastrophic events snails/slugs in the Portland area. Scaphinotus (forest fi res or fl oods). This digital imaging project angulatus is a forest denizen, less likely to be provides a valuable tool. It lends a “face” to each found extremely far from wooded areas; however, member of the extensive list of names. Monitoring a close relative, Scaphinotus marginatus (Fischer) biodiversity requires the ecologists, biologists, is common in open areas, such as fi elds. Slightly and the public be able to recognize even smaller smaller than S. marginatus, it is no less able to species. We think these images will raise aware- chase, capture, and devour snails and requires ness about smaller elements of biodiversity, such similar daytime refuges. as Scaphinotus angulatus, that so commonly get overlooked. Each image, like each voice of the citizens of Dr. Seuss’s Whosville, increases the chance that the whole community is recognized and preserved; to paraphrase: “a species’s a species, no matter how small.” FIELD GUIDE 45 FIELD NOTES

47 Credits

Fritz Haeg Animal Estates is a Gardenlab project

PS New York Graphic Design and Animal Estates identity

Haili Jones Graff copy editor

Visit www.animalestates.org for more information

Commissioned by Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery Reed College

Special Thanks to: Gregory McNaughton for his hospitality, Tierra Curry and Charlotte Corkran for their early support and inspiration, Silas Cook and Robin Richard for their excellent installation work at the Cooley Gallery

2008 Editions of Animal Estates

1.0 New York, New York 3.0 Cambridge, Massachusetts 5.4 Bat Whitney Museum of American Art Center for Advanced Visual Stud- 5.5 Northwestern Garter Snake for the Whitney Biennial 2008 / ies at MIT / established 17 April (Thamnophis sirtalis 6 March–14 August tetrataenia) 3.1 American Kestrel Falcon 5.6 Edward’s Bumblebee 1.01 Bald Eagle (Falco sparverius) 5.7 Snail-eating Ground Beetle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 3.2 Tree Swallow (Scaphinotus angulatus) 1.02 Barn Owl (Tyto alba) (Tachycineta bicolor) 1.03 Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 6.0 UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS 1.04 Purple Martin (Progne subis) 4.0 San Francisco, California CASCO, OFFICE FOR ART DESIGN 1.05 Big Brown Bat San Francisco Museum of Modern AND THEORY / (Eptesicus fuscus) Art / 6–27 July September 19–November 2 1.06 Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria)

1.07 Opossum 4.1 California Slender Salaman- 6.1: Red Admiral butterfly (Didelphus virginiana) der (Batrachoseps attenuatus) (Vanessa atalanta)

1.08 Northern Flying Squirrel 4.2 California Quail 6.2: European Kingfisher (Glaucomys sabrinus) (Callipepla californica) (Alcedo atthis) (Lynx rufus) 1.09 Bobcat 4.3 Peregrine Falcon 6.3: Common Swift (Apus apus) 1.10 Eastern Tiger Salamander (Falco Peregrinus) 6.4: European Grass Snake (Ambystoma tigrinum) 4.4 California Sea-Lion (Natrix natrix) 1.11 Eastern Mud Turtle (Zalophus californianus) 6.5: Green Frog (Kinosternon subrubrum) (Rana klepton esculenta) 1.12 Beaver (Castor Canadensis) 5.0 Portland, Oregon Douglas F. Cooley Memorial 7.0 cleveland, ohio 2.0 Austin, Texas Art Gallery, Reed College / The Cleveland Institute of Art / Arthouse / March 26 August–25 October FALL

2.01 Black Swallowtail 5.1 Vaux’s Swift (Chaetura vauxi) Butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) 5.2 White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 5.3 Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi)