Bird is soon to be the word in Butler County
Birds are about to descend on Butler County like a dam ready to burst.
“Birds like to be early,” said Gene Wilhelm, a Bartramian Audubon Society member and retired Slippery Rock University professor. “If you're up early around dawn, you can see these birds falling out of the sky and landing into the trees.”
The Bartramian Audubon Society is participating in the Pennsylvania Annual Migration Count May 11 in Butler County. Count participants go out and identify and count all the birds they can find on that day. People can prepare their yards for the birds who will make their return to Butler County.
May 11 is the peak of migration for the area, Wilhelm said.
Last year's count drew about 75 people, he said. This year the society expects 100 people.
Birders are up at dawn and stay up into the late hours of the following day, which makes birding an almost 24-hour task, Wilhelm said. Birds are nocturnal migrants, which means they travel at night and use the day to feed.
Between the first day and the end of May hundreds of millions of birds will migrate at the same time, Wilhelm said.
In its beginning stages, migration has been ongoing for about two months when water fowl and overwintered birds moved south to their breeding grounds, said Chris Kubiak, the director of education for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Most of the birds seen in May are land birds, which vary from warblers to orioles, Kubiak said. Baltimore orioles and scarlet tanagers are several birds that will travel the long distances from South America and the Caribbean to this area.
About 90 percent of the birds come from Latin America, Wilhelm said.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds cross the Gulf of Mexico to return in the first 10 days of May, he said. They travel 300 to 400 miles until they get back to the place they were born the previous year.
“Birds always return to where they are born,” he said about their built-in global positioning system. “They have a map in their little brains and know exactly where to go.”
Weather is one factor that could determine what the birds passing through will do, Wilhelm said. Rain can sometimes force the birds to move.The ideal situation would be to have a cold front at the birds' tails because it helps them move faster, sometimes doubling or tripling their normal flight, he said.Migration never stops, Wilhelm said. As days go by, migration becomes heavier though the spring and summer months.The goal for the migrating birds is to make it to the northern part of Canada and Alaska to have a six- to seven-week “summer,” he said. In that period, they will settle in, breed and turn around and go back before the weather falls on them.For people who want to stop and see the birds, visit a migrant hotspot, a place known for its topography or the food it provides for birds, Kubiak said.Moraine State Park, Todd Nature Reserve, Glade Run Lake and the State Game Lands Number 95 are examples of migrant hot spots.“Keep an eye on your own backyard,” he said, which is another spot birds could congregate.The most important tip for people who want to attract migrating birds is to have a habitat rather than lawn desert, Kubiak said.Plant native plants and trees, which are plants that birds have evolved with that provide insects and nectar, he said. The key to attracting different migrant species is to increase the biological diversity.A hummingbird feeder will also attract birds, he said. Insect eaters, such as warblers, will be attracted to water features or bird baths.People usually focus on feeding birds when only a certain number eat seeds, he said.Kubiak said the best time to bird is early morning, similar to fishing.“Go outside and take in all the awesome bird songs and bird calls and colorful species,” he said.
At least 4,000 bird species are regular migrants, which is about 40 percent of the total number of birds in the world.Bar-headed geese are the highest-flying migratory birds, regularly reaching altitudes of up to five and a half miles above sea level while flying over the Himalayas in India.The Arctic tern can fly more than 49,700 miles in a year, making a round trip between breeding grounds in the Arctic and the Antarctic, where the birds spend their winters.The northern wheatear travels up to 9,000 miles each way between the Arctic and Africa, giving it one of the largest ranges of any songbird.The award for fastest bird goes to the great snipe: It flies around 4,200 miles at speeds of up to 60 mph.The bar-tailed godwit can fly for nearly 7,000 miles without stopping, making it the bird with the longest recorded nonstop flight.Source: Audubon.org
WHAT: Pennsylvania Annual Migration Count with the Bartramian Audubon SocietyWHEN: May 11FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call Gene Wilhelm at 724-794-2434 to be placed in a group and for the meeting place and timeNOTE: Take water and binoculars and a bird book if you choose. Dress according to the weather.OTHER EVENTSThe Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania hosts free, naturalist-led Birds and More walks every week at 9 a.m. Thursday at Succop Nature Park and Friday at Todd Nature Reserve.Bartramian Audubon Society meetings are at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of the month at the Jennings Environmental Education Center, 2951 Prospect Road. The public is welcome.
