Vol. 31 No. 6 March, 2020, Pg. 1 Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society-far flowing water

Grand Haven, Michigan

March, 2020 Volume 31, Issue 6

Bahama Yellowthroat 4 Common Yellowthroat 3 Galavanting Goostav 2 Programs 2

March 17 at 7:00 P.M.

All meetings are at: LOUTIT DISTRICT LIBRARY 407 Columbus Avenue Grand Haven (Lower Level)

Bulbuls, Buddhas, and Blues: Birding in Thailand

Presented by John McAree, OIAS Member

Visit OIAS: • Homepage: http://www.oias.org

• Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OwashtanongIslandsAudubonSociety

EveryoneiswelcometoOIAS’sprograms

5 Minute Program

How to ID the 5 local wrens - Michael Lombardo

Come take a bird-watching adventure to Thailand. We begin in Bangkok and visit beautiful national parks both southwest and southeast of the big city with stops at research areas and spiritual areas along the way. Then we fly to northern Thailand and visit the King's Park as well the gorgeous mountainous region along the Burmese border, seeing lots of wonderful birds as well as interesting stops at some fascinating markets and Buddhist Temples.

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OIAS welcomes the new members.

April 21 Adventures in Nature Ed Post, Nature Photographer

May 19 Potluck, business meeting Member’s digital photos

This Season’s Programs

Crosby Tompkins Former OIAS Vice-President, Dr. Edward “Crosby” Tompkins, passed away on 23 February 2020. Crosby was a valued member of the Board of Directors from 2007-2016 and served as Vice-President from 2009-2016. Crosby’s wisdom and contributions to OIAS will be missed. A complete recounting of Crosby’s full life and career as a scientist can be found at www.grandhaventribune.com/obituaries/dr-edward-crosby-tompkins/article_9297a45a-2d1c-5d7a-8ef7-7dbecb74ce05.html. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Department, www.miottawa.org/parks/donations. Michael Lombardo

If you are interested in being on the OIAS Board of Directors, please contact Michael Lombardo or any other Board member. Elections are in May.

Board Members Needed

Galavanting Goostav Where has Galavanting Goostav been since he was seen on December 3rd at the

Coopersville Goosefield by Lisa? Only it knows. To Lisa’s surprise, Goostav showed up again at the Coopersville Goosefield on February 3rd and once again left for parts unknown. Tom E. spotted Goostav again at the Spring Lake Yacht Club on February 28th. We only wonder where he is now and where all Goostav has travelled since first being spotted.

Photos by Lisa

Photo by Tom E

May 2, 2020 Field Trip Ottawa Sands County Park Details next month

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Common Yellowthroat Greothlypis trichas Common Yellowthroats are a wren-like wood warbler that have upturned tails. Most of the time they skulk low to the ground in non-forested low, dense wet vegetation in marshes, grasslands and along country roads.

Males are olive green above, bright yellow head and underside with a black facial mask bordered in white. Females are duller, have a white eyebrow, yellow under the tail and no face mask. They forage on or near the ground as well as flying out from a perch to catch their prey. They eat small insects and spiders. Some insects they eat are

damselflies, caterpillars, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, bugs, and a few seeds. Grit helps them digest the food. Wichety-wichety-wichety-wichety can be heard in the vegetation as the male announces his presence and often hard to see. They also fly around chattering and scolding. They also have a chip note. He can also be seen singing on a stalk or the top of bushes. Immature birds learn the song by hearing the parents. Some learn the wrong song from its neighbor as it perfectly mimics a Chestnut-sided Warbler’s song. They breed coast-to-coast across most of the contiguous United States, the Canadian provinces and western Mexico in reed-bed and cattail patch. The young leave the nest after 8-10 days and are fed by the parents for two more weeks. With its very short, rounded wings it is a short-distance migrant. Wintering range is from southern United States to northern South America and into the West Indies. In migration they can be seen feeding in yards. Habitat loss and degradation and draining of marshes cause the largest decline. Because they are insectivores and live in wetlands, they are also susceptible to poor water quality, pesticides, and other pollutants. Brown-headed Cowbirds parasitize the nest. Some females with build new nest linings to bury the cowbird eggs. Snakes, mice, raccoons, skunks, possums, and chipmunks are nest predators. Northern Harriers, Merlins, and American Kestrels may take adults. There are four regional groups with subtle trends in variation that make identification of individual birds difficult or impossible. “Eastern group: fairly dark brownish with medium extent of yellow, grayish frontal band Interior West group: Paler and grayer with limited yellow on throat; whitish frontal band Pacific group: Small and dark brown with whitish frontal band and extensive yellow below Southwest group: Relatively large and bright olive; can be entirely yellow below; black mask may be reduced behind auriculars with yellow throat wrapping around rear auriculars, frontal band white with yellow tinge.” [Italicized sentences verbatim from Sibley] The scientific name, Geothlypis trichas, describes the bird’s habits: Geothlypis translates to ground-bird or ground-warbler, while trichas refers to a type of thrush. While yellowthroats are not thrushes, their skulking behavior is similar to many thrushes. Common Yellowthroats are numerous but declining by almost 1% per year between 1966 and 2014 according to the North American Bird Survey. References: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Yellowthroat/id, https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/common-yellowthroat, https://ebird.org/species/comyel, Christine Loiselle (author), University of Alberta, Cindy Paszkowski (editor), University of Alberta, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Geothlypis_trichas/, Portage, Base & Whitewood Owners Association, http://www.pbwoa.org/common-yellowthroat/, eBird range map, https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/comyel/introduction

Judi Manning Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae

Male

Female

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Drought destroys food and water resources for many species Spring heat waves endanger young birds in the nest Cities demolish bird habitat and often in places birds need. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/common-yellowthroat

Bahama Yellowthroat Geothlypis rostrate The Bahama Yellowthroat is a superspecies with the Common Yellowthroat, Belding’s Yellowthroat (Geothlypis beldingi), and possibly Altamira Yellowthroat (Geothlypis flavovelata). This bird is endemic to the Bahamas and found on only six islands scattered through much of the archipelago. It is found in wooded areas, especially the understory in open pine forests and not found in damp, marshy areas. It is larger overall with a longer and heavier bill and more uniformly yellow underparts. Synopsis/excerpts from Neotropical Birds, Bahama Yellowthroat, https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/bahyel1/overview

Judi Manning

Your Dictionary defines superspecies as: A group of closely related, geographically separated species whose members have evolved from different allopatric populations of the same parent species and can interbreed and produce fertile offspring when brought into contact. https://www.yourdictionary.com/superspecies

“What do Eastern and Western Screech-Owls, Plain and Tufted Titmice, and Eastern and Western Meadowlarks have in common? They are species that diverged from one another in isolation rather recently, and have remained largely or entirely geographically separated. Taxonomists group such closely related species that are allopatric (that is, with nonoverlapping distributions) into superspecies.” There are more than 100 North American species now considered members of 53 superspecies of North American birds. For more information follow the link below. Excerpts/Synopsis, Superspecies, by Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, and Darryl Wheye, https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Superspecies.html

Superspecies

Index of /group/stanfordbirds/text/essays https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/

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SNOW POLICY: The Board will decide and notify members via email, Facebook, and the website.

10th Annual Thornapple Woodpecker Festival Date and Time: Saturday, April 25, 2020 Location: Village of Middleville Hall, 100 E Main St, Middleville MI Cost: Free to Public Events: along Paul Henry Trail 7:00 AM to Noon: paved trail will have roving guides and stationary guides with spotting scopes 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM: the paved trail will offer motored cart rides to those needing help with trail mobility

Speaker Presentations: 45 minutes each at Village Hall - Bird Identification and using eBird by Cal Lamoreaux - Bird Photography by Michael DeBoer - Michigan Bluebird Society by Kurt Hagemeister

Free parking will be available in the lot behind the Village Hall and on streets. Restrooms and a drinking fountain are available in the Village Hall.

Festival volunteers will offer visitors information about other local birding hotspots, including Maher Sanctuary, where Chris Baer will be available to aid new birders to the sanctuary and lead a guided walk.

Supporting organizations include Barry County Bird Club, Grand Rapids Audubon Club, Middleville Township and the Thornapple Trail Association. Grand Rapids Audubon Society, http://www.graud.org/promotions.html

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Male

Who am I?

Long-tailed Duck

American Redstart

American Tree Sparrow

Common Yellowthroat

Chipping Sparrow

Upcoming MI Birds Event Near You DNR Spring Birding Tour – Muskegon Waste Water: Saturday, April 11th 9am – 12pm Join MI Birds and partners from MI DNR as we tour the Muskegon County Waste Water and State Game Area, which doubles as an Audubon Important Bird Area and Michigan Wetland Wonder!

Learn more here! Registration not required.

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2019-2020 OIAS Membership Appl icat ion Date S Email:

Name Street City/State/Zip Phone How did you hear about OIAS?

Check Member Type: $18 Individual or Family $30 Contributing $100 Individual Life

My contribution to speaker fees $______________

Make checks payable to: Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society, Post Office Box 1654, Holland, Michigan, 49422

Grand Haven, Michigan

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is a publication of the Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society, Grand Haven, MI. All articles are copyrighted; permission is granted to copy any article in its entirety with author and references attached. Please contact Editor at oias@oias.org for other arrangements.

FAR FLOWING WATER

3/2020

Far Flowing Water is published eight times per year. If you would like to contribute a complete article for the next issue, please have your articles to me by April 1st

2019-2020 Dues are past due

Hummingbird Trivia Fill in the blanks: Texas has 19 species of hummingbirds, more than any other state Arizona has 15 species. California has 14 species. Nevada Utah, and Louisiana each have 9 species. Florida has 8 species. Colorado and Oregon each have 6 species. Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, and Montana each have 5 species. Alaska, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Washington State each have 4 species. How many species have been seen in Michigan 5? Reference: Hummer Trivia, Pages 179-181

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7:00 Bulbuls, Buddhas, and Blues: Birding in Thailand John McAree

Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society Judi Manning, Editor P.O. Box 1654 Holland, MI 49422 PLEASE FORWARD ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

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Mission Statement Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society

a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Corporation

Provide stewardship of local Grand River island wildlife sanctuaries owned by the Michigan Audubon Society; Achieve through education, public recognition of the value and need for protecting and preserving wildlife, plants,

soil, water and other natural resources as well as an understanding of their interdependence; Promote an interest in our native birds and as well as native flora and fauna, and their habitats because of their great

economic, cultural and recreational value; and Aid the Michigan Audubon Society in its study, conservation and research efforts.