Urban Bird Treaty City
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A publication of Detroit Audubon • www.detroitaudubon.org Summer 2017 • Vol. 2017, Issue 2 Fostering appreciation and conservation of birds and the environment we share. MYSTERY BIRD Can you figure out what kind of bird this is, just from this enlargement of the area around SWIFT NIGHT OUT SEPT. 23-24 its eye? (See answer on page 18.) Be amazed! Witness the spectacle of up to SUPPORT GROWS FOR 50,000 Chimney Swifts swirl around like a BLACK TERN PROJECT tornado at Swift Night Out September 23 and 24, 6 PM to sunset. by Erin Rowan Join us at the Swift Sanctuary and Historic We are pleased to announce that our Black Signers (L-R) Joel Howrani Heeres, Detroit Director of Sustainability; Michigan DNR Director Keith Creagh; USFWS Region 3 Winery Building, 31505 Grand River Ave., Director Tom Melius; Detroit Zoo Chief Life Sciences Officer Scott Carter; and Detroit Audubon President Jim Bull. Tern Monitoring project at St. Clair Flats Farmington, MI, just west of Orchard Lake is entering its 5th year in 2017! As a staff Road. This is likely THE largest roost of Chimney member of Detroit Audubon, I can now be in URBAN BIRD TREATY CITY DESIGNATION FOR DETROIT by Erin Rowan Swifts in North America! the field two days per week, searching for and monitoring nests, and capturing and banding Detroit Audubon is thrilled to announce that Detroit has become the 29th Urban Bird Treaty City in the USA! The Urban Bring a lawn chair to watch this incredible Black Tern adults and chicks. We hope to band Bird Treaty Program is a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and cities across the country to create bird- show! There will be a band, refreshments, more adults this year than ever before! friendly cities and connect citizens, especially youth, to nature and the outdoors through birding and conservation. Other a raffle, games, books on swifts for adults notable Urban Bird Treaty Cities include New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago. and children, and exhibit tables to add to In addition to having more time to devote to the festive atmosphere. For those into the the project this year, we have also received The Urban Bird Treaty program has four focal areas: habitat conservation (through invasive species control, native plant restoration and research), hazard reductions (through bird-safe building design and Safe Passage or Lights Out programs), spookiness of the season, after the swifts incredible support from our partners and have gone into rest for the night, tickle your volunteers! We have so many volunteers this citizen science activities (such as Safe Passage, Christmas Bird Count, and Project Feeder Watch) and education and outreach (through birding, field trips with the public, and in-class visits). spine if you dare by walking through the year that we have backup volunteers! I’m never winery’s haunted house, acclaimed as one without a helping hand! The Metro Detroit Nature Network (MDNN), of which Detroit Audubon is a proud member, submitted the application and of SE Michigan’s best. Proceeds from the Our partners at Audubon Great Lakes and agenda for the Urban Bird Treaty City Designation for Detroit in March of this year. Detroit Audubon’s Research Coordinator, haunted house go for chimney repairs and National Audubon have provided us with Erin Rowan, and former Program Coordinator, Terra Weiland, were among the four main authors of the agenda, along with maintenance. ArcGIS and ArcGIS technicians, so we can Tom Schneider from the Detroit Zoological Society and John Hartig from the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. This document outlines dozens of conservation, education and outreach efforts being done by MDNN partners and others This event will help raise funds for the collect our data from smart devices in the field! expensive upkeep of this historic chimney and This has helped streamline data collection (non-profits, state and federal agencies, municipal agencies and academic institutions) in the 7-county region surrounding Detroit. It’s inspiring to see how much wonderful work is being done in the Metro Detroit area! to help support the Live Cam and research/ and provides us with instant satellite maps educational efforts of Detroit Audubon. of nest locations, which allows us to easily Detroit Audubon was honored to be a part of this process, and thanks the Metro Detroit Nature Network, John Hartig and re-visit nests throughout the breeding season Tom Schneider for all their hard work on this great achievement! In 2017 over 250 people gathered each night and update their status. We also receive staff at the historic Winery. The Urban Bird Treaty Agenda will be up on our website soon for you to review. support from Audubon Great Lakes/Michigan Last year, after the band finished playing, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Bird Learn more about the Urban Bird Treaty Program here: https://www.fws.gov/birds/grants/urban-bird-treaty.php Detroit Audubon President Jim Bull welcomed Conservation Coordinator Caleb Putnam, To learn more about the Metro Detroit Nature Network and how your organization can become a member, go HERE. Continued on page 3 Continued on page 4 Read Detroit Audubon President Jim Bull’s remarks at the signing event on page 2. 1 BULLY PULPIT SUMMER 2017 By James N. (Jim) Bull, Ph.D., President Taken from remarks by Detroit Audubon President, Dr. Lake Erie Metropark and Point Mouillee constitute one of the three best places in North A publication of James N. (Jim) Bull on the signing of Detroit’s Urban Bird America for watching hawk migration—with a spectacular record of over 555,000 Detroit Audubon Treaty, May 22, 2017. broad-winged hawks coming through this area in just one day back in September 4605 Cass Avenue Detroit is known as the Auto Capital of the World, and for 1999. We even have western Golden Eagles flying over this area! Detroit, MI 48201-1256 the Motown Sound; but today with the signing of this Detroit Audubon has been promoting the enjoyment and protection of birds 313-960-3399 [email protected] treaty, we hope that Detroit also becomes known in this area since 1939. Our Program Coordinator Terra Weiland and our www.detroitaudubon.org also as a “Bird” City—A Mecca for birds and other wildlife. You don’t have to Research Coordinator, Erin Rowan did much of the writing and editing of the Program Coordinator: go Alaska, or even to northern Michigan to see a Bald Eagle anymore—it isn’t application and the Detroit Area Bird Conservation Plan that is culminating in Jac Kyle unusual to see Bald Eagle flying up or down river, or even over downtown this designation of Detroit as an Urban Bird Treaty City. I thank them for their Detroit. Once driven to the brink of extinction by the pesticide DDT, today Bald efforts, along with Tom Schneider, Curator of Birds at the Detroit Zoo, and Research Coordinator: Eagles have 28 nests in SE Michigan, several near or on islands in the Detroit John Hartig, manager of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, who Erin Rowan River. Peregrine Falcons, also almost was the catalyst for this whole project. Both of our staff members work part-time and driven to extinction by DDT, now nest are often out of the office conducting programs Detroit Audubon moved back to on buildings, the Ambassador Bridge, Detroit in 2015, with our office now in or research. They will return calls/emails as and the Detroit Zoo water tower. And on soon as possible, but there may be delays. Midtown. We have been honored to Sunday, May 21, Detroit recorded its first take our place in helping to shape the Flyway Editors: migrating Kirtland’s Warbler, Michigan’s renaissance of Detroit as a green city Jim Bull, Jac Kyle, and Erin Rowan endangered comeback bird, on Central since our return to the city. We have Layout: Tana Moore Avenue on Belle Isle. been playing our part through our Flyway is published four times a year (one We just celebrated Endangered Species education, conservation and research print issue, three digital issues) for 5,000+ Day on May 19, and we now know of programs and projects. National Audubon Society members in three endangered bird species that have Through our EDUCATION programs Southeastern Michigan. come back spectacularly, due to the we are helping to open the eyes of city Opinions expressed by the authors and editors Endangered Species Act. All three spend dwellers to the birds that they share this do not necessarily reflect the policy of the some or all of their time in or near city with, to encourage them to become Detroit Audubon Society. Detroit! citizen scientists, and to nurture the Articles that appear in the Flyway may be There is good reason for birds to stop or live here year ‘round. We are at the next generation of conservationists. To that end, we sponsor 25-30 birding field trips reproduced freely as long as Detroit Audubon intersection of two major flyways—the Atlantic and Mississippi—and the Detroit per year, including many in the city of Detroit including Elmwood Cemetery, Rouge is credited. River is a natural north-south flight corridor for migratory birds. Natural areas along Park, Belle Isle, Milliken State Park right next door; pheasant walks in various places, the river provide important stopover habitat where birds can refuel. Over 350 species and school programs for students in the city and suburbs. With more support that Original articles, photos and of birds live some portion of their lives here—at least 150 of which breed here; of that will flow out of this treaty, we hope to reach many more students of all ages, from artwork are welcome.