Nature: Nest boxes helped bring back wood ducks

A wood duck, Aix sponsa, in Killbuck Marsh, Wayne County/Jim McCormac

Columbus Dispatch

March 31, 2019

NATURE
Jim McCormac

A male wood duck is a startling sight, resplendent in a rainbow palette artfully patched together. The bird verges on gaudy but is too elegant to merit any descriptor that hints at tastelessness. It’s as if Picasso himself had been commissioned by Mother Nature to create a feathered masterpiece.

On a recent visit to the largest inland wetland complex in Ohio, the Killbuck Valley near Wooster, I saw scores of wood ducks. Migration was in full swing, and local nesters were augmented by migrants. The colorful drakes glittered in the sun and chased brown hens.

Such an abundance of “woodies” was not always the case. Some ornithologists were predicting eminent extinction for the gorgeous species by the early 20th century. Widespread destruction of forested wetlands critical to fostering wood ducks was the major culprit in declines. The disappearance of beaver, which created great habitat, and unregulated overhunting also played roles.

Our forests have recovered significantly during the past 50 years, and forest-dependent animals such as wood ducks have gained ground. Careful regulation of bag limits has eliminated hunting as a source of decline. Beavers are once again common, and the furry engineers are busily creating wetland habitat.

A huge factor in wood duck population spikes is the erection of nest boxes on an epic scale. This duck is one of seven species of North American fowl that nests in cavities. Before human intervention, woodies used natural cavities in trees such as beech and sycamore. Old nest holes created by pileated woodpeckers were especially important breeding sites.

In 1937, biologists with the U.S. Biological Survey (predecessor to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) hit on the idea of creating artificial cavities. The wood duck nest box was hatched, and it has had an enormously positive impact on Woodie conservation. Thousands of boxes dot North American wetlands, helping to spawn legions of fuzzy ducklings.

As an aside, these boxes have promoted spikes in incidental beneficiaries. Hooded mergansers often use them, as do eastern screech-owls, great crested flycatchers and prothonotary warblers.

The ducklings might appreciate the typically low altitude of nest boxes. Within a day of hatching, the youngsters are goaded to leap from the cavity by their mother. If the nest hole is 70 feet up in a sycamore, that’s quite a plunge. Nonetheless, the downy featherweights bounce harmlessly off the forest floor and are promptly marched to the nearest water by the hen.

In about two months, the youngsters will take flight. With a bit of practice, they’ll become one of the duck world’s most extraordinary aerialists. Aided by a long rudderlike tail, wood ducks are agile flyers able to dart and weave through thickly treed woodlands and deftly decelerate to enter small nest holes.

Artistic renderings of wood ducks have graced the federal “duck stamp” three times since its inception in 1934. Formally known as the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp, purchasing a stamp is required for waterfowl hunters. Because duck stamp sales have done so much to conserve habitat, many non-hunters also buy them.

To date, duck stamps have raised about $800 million. Ninety-eight percent of this revenue goes to habitat protection, which equates to nearly 6 million acres. Much of that habitat helps wood ducks and myriad other creatures.

For duck stamp information, visit: www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp.php.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

The Essence of Spring

Spring is here with its soft pastel tones

Early pink blossom

and sparkling water on the lake.

Crocus open in the warmth of the sun

and tiny anemone grow in the moss under the trees.

My favourite poem about daffodils

Growing in the city park

and those I bring home with me to put in a vase.

Now come the tulips

growing in the gardens

Some have crinkly petals

that go so well with one of my vases

Their petals are a work of art.

The warm sunny days call us down to the lake

This was taken in Morges and it's rather hazy,

but the Mont Blanc Mountain can still just be seen on the left of the picture.

The Magnolia were just coming into bloom

Revealing their beautiful centres and sunlit, soft petals

Another day and in a place called Cully along the Lake Léman

Here is the charming port.

Tiny Aubrieta flowers were growing in very small slits and cracks in the walls.

How they find enough nourishment always amazes me.

They come in the most beautiful shades of pink, purple and violet.

I couldn't resist making a collage of these little beauties!

These lovely orange tulips had started to drop all their petals

and when I put this flower down the patterned shadows from my kitchen curtains

made them look beautiful again. 

Accidental art!

It isn't spring without Forsythia!

I love this little gate entrance which I often pass when I go shopping!

Do you remember when I showed it to you in January covered in snow!

Have a little peep here:

Bringing Colour into Winter

I hope that you are enjoying the joys and the beauty of spring.

Eastern Meadowlark

Two Meadowlarks Arrive in St. Martins

Eastern Meadowlark [Marbeth Wilson Photo]

There have been two special visitors to St. Martins for the last week.  They are not very visible but nevertheless very welcome.  The birders from St. Martins shared that they had found an Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) in tall grass near the ocean.  Soon other birders came to see and it was discovered that there actually were two individuals.  Meadowlarks are relatively rare now in New Brunswick although that was not always the case.  I remember hearing them every spring in the 1970s and possibly into the 80s as they came back to the farms in the Fredericton area.  The last one I heard was about 10 years ago in the Hartland area.  According to 'Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List', they were more numerous in the 1940s and 50s and are now a rare summer resident and migrant.  

Eastern Meadowlark [Sharon Letourneau Photo]

The Eastern Meadowlark is a ground-loving Icterid (member of the blackbird family).  It would remind you of a starling in shape but just a bit larger.  It is 24 cm/9.5 in. long.  It appears heavy bodied, has a long sharp bill and short tail feathers.  It has a brown, gray and white striped back and wings, white outer tail feathers and a brilliant yellow breast with a contrasting black 'V'.  The yellow extends onto the throat.  It has yellow lores (the area anterior to the eyes) and a black line extending posterior to the eye which contrasts to the buffy face.  The top of the head is dark brown with a median beige stripe.  The flanks are a buff colour with brown streaks.  This bird is designed for camouflage!  When this species flies what one sees is a light gray and brown streaked bird with remarkable white outer-tail feathers.  

Eastern Meadowlark

The Eastern Meadowlark prefers grasslands and old fields.  The most likely way one would see one is when it perches on a fencepost, usually to sing.  Its song is a melodious 3 to 5 descending whistle sometimes interpreted as 'see you see yer'. It is a good one to remember because one is not likely to know otherwise that the bird is present.  I remember many years ago walking along the road going through Douglas and hearing a meadowlark singing from nearly every field along the line.  I wish that were the case today.

The range of this species covers the eastern half of the US mainly with small incursions into Ontario and Quebec and into NB's western border.  It breeds north of the mid-US and winters in southern US.  In the southern part of the range many are permanent residents and do not migrate.  On several trips to South Carolina in winter we saw Eastern Meadowlarks on dikes in wildlife refuges.  They were wary birds there just as they are here.

Eastern Meadowlark [Internet Photo]

The Eastern Meadowlark makes a grassy nest embellished with pine needles and animal hair.  It is a domed structure with a side entrance and built on the ground as you would expect.  Three to seven pale pink eggs with brown and lavender spots are laid and incubated for 13 to 14 days. The male helps with the incubation.  Male meadowlarks usually have two mates and sometimes even three.  They must be very busy at nesting time!  Meadowlarks feed on seeds, berries and invertebrates.  

The Eastern Meadowlark species is very divergent with up to 17 subspecies currently recognized.  Its population has declined due to habitat loss.  We have noticed this decline badly here also because we are on the fringe of its range.  An interesting fact is its Latin name, Sturnella magna, which means 'large little starling'.  It apparently was given this name because of its similarity to starlings in shape and behaviour.  

Bill Thompson III (1962 - 2019)

A pensive Bill Thompson III gazes over the waters of Lake Erie, on the ferry from the Marblehead Peninsula to Kelleys Island. This was on September 8, 2009, and we were on a field trip for a fall warbler symposium organized by the Ohio Ornithological Society.

As many of you know by now, the birding community lost one of its great leaders last Monday night, when Bill lost a tough battle with pancreatic cancer, a battle no one wins. His diagnosis last December came like a punch in the gut to everyone who knew him, but Bill being Bill bravely faced up to it and continued with his typical productivity for as long as he possibly could.

His wife of 25 years, artist and author Julie Zickefoose, wrote an elegantly descriptive synopsis of Bill's life in the Marietta Times, and you should read it RIGHT HERE.

I could add nothing beyond Julie's thoughtful conspectus, other than to relay some of my personal experiences with Bill. In 1978, a small fact-packed and delightful magazine hit the presses - Bird Watcher's Digest. As a lad of 16 and thoroughly hooked on birds, I got my mitts on the inaugural copy and ate it up. I did not yet know the Thompson clan, who started and published BWD, but did in a way through their magazine for many years before making any personal connections.

In 1997, I finally met Bill at a Midwest Birding Symposium at Lakeside, Ohio. By then, we knew each other by reputation, and upon actually meeting, hit it off. We're only a few weeks apart in age, shared the same passion for birds and spreading the word of birds, and a similar corny sense of humor and fondness for bad jokes. Over the years, we spent a lot of time together, in leadership roles in the Ohio Ornithological Society (both of us served as president), on trips far and wide, and just hanging out. Eventually, Bill offered me opportunities to write for Bird Watcher's Digest, the magazine I had long eagerly devoured. And I still wield a BWD pen to this day - in fact, the current issue's cover story is about Wilson's snipe, and it's mine, thanks to Bill. Only a few weeks ago, he sent me a nice note about being part of the Bird Watcher's Digest family, and in spite of his struggles was still working hard with the publication he loved.

Like many of you, I have so many good memories of Bill and time spent in his company that I could write a book. Instead, I dusted off some of the numerous photos that I managed to take of our adventures over the years, and a pictorial remembrance follows. I'll miss Bill dearly, as will so many others. Again, read Julie's wonderfully written obituary for an excellent recap of Bill's life and accomplishments, HERE. Also, back on February 6, Bill and I recorded one of his This Birding Life podcasts. The wide-ranging discussion was posted on March 6, and can be heard RIGHT HERE.

My condolences to Elsa, Julie, Liam, Phoebe, Wendy, Andy, Laura, and everyone else in Bill's extended family, and I know my sympathies are shared by thousands of people around the globe who personally knew Bill.

The following photos are all just quick snaps taken with phones or point & shoots, unedited, and in no particular order. They all bring back fond memories.

Bill (L) and possibly our guide Hugo slog through a heavy downpour in a Guatemala jungle, March 4, 2008. The man was nothing if not hardcore, and had enough adventurous treks around the globe to last ten lifetimes.

I took this snap of Bill (far L) and the staff of Bird Watcher's Digest out front of their Marietta, Ohio offices on July 31, 2008. Bill served for many years as editor, and unparalleled front man.

Bill peeks through Guatemalan jungle foliage on our epic March 2008 trip to this fabulous country. We were on our way up a rickety canopy tower.

Bill points to another ornithological luminary, Jon Dunn. The glacial grooves of Kelleys Island form the backdrop. This photo dates from September 9, 2007.

This shot from the streets of Flores, Guatemala, was either right before or after Bill saw his first bat falcon. He didn't see new birds often, because he had seen most everything, and as the bat falcon is one of the world's coolest birds of prey, this was cause for special celebration. March 2, 2008.

Your narrator and Bill serve as scale models (and darn good looking ones I would be tempted to say) for an amazingly enormous palm leaf. Near Flores, Guatemala, March 3, 2008.

Bill shares a laugh with the one and only Greg Miller. We were at the offices of the Hebron (Ohio) Fish Hatchery for a board meeting of the Ohio Ornithological Society. September 16, 2006.

This is a screen cap from a presentation Bill gave at a 200+ person Ohio Ornithological Society raptor conference in Zanesville, Ohio, on December 3, 2005. Bill is a slide to poke fun at my botanical proclivities, and provide clear differentiation between birders and botanists.

This was a fun scene, and it unfolded in the Vista Real Hotel in Guatemala City on March 2, 2008. Bill, I and others were down there for a birding tour, when Julie Zickefoose unexpectedly (to Bill) showed up to join us, and surprise him.

I know when and where this was - May 4, 2011 in West Virginia at the New River Birding & Nature Festival - but I have no idea what Bill is doing with that cantaloupe or whatever it is.

Fun times, and in no small measure to the guy front and center in the blue hat, mugging for the camera. Ohio Ornithological Society annual conference at Shawnee State Park, Ohio, April 27, 2014.

Bill, in his semi-mulleted phase, enjoys the company of Hugh Kolo-Rose and Jen Sauter at an Ohio Ornithological Society conference at Mohican State Park in Richland County, Ohio. May 19, 2007.

Bill co-leads a field trip with Greg Miller (just right of the scope) at the OOS conference at Mohican in 2007. No one did field trips better than Bill.

Bill serves as emcee and resident minstrel at an Ohio Ornithological Society event in 2006. He nearly always would sing a song either before or after the main event. Sometimes he would even modify the words of a well-known song to fit the speaker he was introducing. Like so many other things, he was a one of a kind when it came to emcee'ing and entertaining crowds.

Bill sends me a signal at the OOS raptor conference in Zanesville, Ohio. December 3, 2005.

Bill takes to the lectern at the aforementioned raptor conference. Notice the expressions on the participants faces. Very typical reactions during a Thompson performance.

Bill, along with Dr. Bernie Master, present Carl Slater with a prize - Brian Wheeler's excellent raptor guide - at the aforementioned OOS raptor conference. On one epic day in May in the early 2000's, Bernie, Bill, Dan Sanders and myself set out to break the Ohio Big Day record (most species seen in a 24 hour period). We came close with 185 species (if memory serves), just missing the mark, but it was an incredible day of companionship, jokes, madhouse birding, and hundreds of miles traveled.

Bill and Peter King, OOS treasurer at the time, present a young Ethan Kistler with a check to help fund Ethan's attendance at an American Birding Association birding camp in Arizona. This was at an OOS conference in April 2005, and fourteen years later Ethan is a world call birder leading trips around the globe, and especially in Africa. Bill was HUGE into encouraging young people to engage birding, as epitomized by his book The Young Birders Guide to Birds of North America.

Hamming it up, Bill poses with Paul Kammermeier (I think) and his longtime buddy McCarthy. This was at The Wilds in Muskingum County, Ohio on an OOS field trip. December 6, 2005.

Bill is bookended by your narrator, and Peter King (the little fellow). This was at an OOS event in 2005 and we had a barrel of laughs at these things. Man, am I going to miss these times.

Bill, with hat, looms large from the fantastical birding tower that he and Julie appended to their house in Whipple, Ohio. You can see everything from up there and lots of good times were had in that aerie. This was on October 9, 2011, while we were conducting a "Big Sit" (an effort to see how many species could be recorded from an area no larger than a 15-foot diameter circle in a 24 hour period).

A photo of part of the Big Sit group, atop the tower. I'll let you guess which one is Bill.

A group shot from the Big Sit atop the birding tower. These things were a blast, in large measure due to the energy that Bill injected into them. The guy was indefatigable. I remember on a few occasions being the first one to arrive for a Big Sit at the Tower, in pre-dawn darkness. There would be Bill, his silhouette visible atop the tower, already at it and identifying flight calls of nocturnal migrants. He'd be the last one done at the end of the day, too.

Bill snuggles the legendary Boston Terrier, Chet Baker, at his Whipple estate. October 7, 2006.

A human chain forms around the buttressed base of an enormous jungle tree, with Bill on the right. Tikal, Guatemala, March 5, 2008.

Bill poses with his longtime editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Lisa White. Bill authored or coauthored many books on birds, and penned scores of articles over the years.

Bill (orange hat and lugging scope) leads a crew of birders up magical Bobolink Hill in southern West Virginia as part of the New River Birding & Nature Festival on May 5, 2006. A consummate field trip leader, Bill always strived to ensure that everyone got good looks at everything. Like thoughtful leaders do, he would carefully watch the group to see who was having troubles seeing things, and prioritize his assistance accordingly.

A renaissance man with a remarkable memory and many interests, Bill loved music and sang, and played guitar and bass guitar. He and his band - the Rain Crows and other iterations - were a staple at birding events. Here he poses with wife (also an excellent musician, and bandmate) Julie Zickefoose on the left. At this gig in West Virginia in May 2006, they played with Jesse (sorry, can't recall her last name) in the center.

Your spirit lives large, Bill, and thanks for the profound impact you had on so many lives, in so many ways.