Partnership Project Promotes Conservation of Central Maine Wetlands

Habitats for flora and fauna within the Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc corridor of central Maine will be conserved through an ongoing effort by a partnership of local, state, and federal groups.

The project, which recently received funding from the North America Wetlands Conservation Act managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was "created by the Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc Project Committee of the Bangor Land Trust and the Orono Land Trust. The vision of the project partners is to create a continuous greenway corridor including a total of about 6000 acres of undeveloped land for wildlife habitat and public use commencing just north of the Bangor Mall and running north between Interstate-95 and Pushaw Lake to Hirundo Wildlife Refuge in Hudson."

Total funding of $2 million includes $666,566 from the federal grant and $1.4 million from Land for Maine's Future, Bangor Land Trust, University of Maine, University of Maine Foundation, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Outdoors Heritage Fund, Orono Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and Maine Audubon.

These funds will be used to acquire about 3100 acres and place a conservation easement on another 686 acres of habitats including wetlands, adjacent uplands, and "over three miles of lake, stream and pond shoreline." The acreage is spread among ten parcels within a larger 21,758 acre wetland complex.

"This NAWCA grant allows us to purchase a large parcel of 850 acres and conserve several other large parcels through donated easements and fee purchases that bridge gaps to provide much improved connectivity among parcels already conserved," said Sally Jacobs, spokesperson for the Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc Conservation Project Committee. "The two land trusts and the LMF Program had initiated this project prior to receiving the grant and had already made selected purchases in the corridor."

"The University of Maine and the University of Maine Foundation donated land and easements to be used as matching funds needed to make the project eligible for grant funding. The UM donations were combined with funds previously obtained by the two land trusts from the Land for Maine's Future Program, private donations, and Maine Outdoor Heritage funding to complete the necessary match."

The project area has "crucial" American Black Duck and American Woodcock habitat.

"The beaver-created wetlands, and peatlands, make a matrix of ideal nesting habitat within large blocks of unfragmented land that provide the isolated habitats preferred by the American Black Duck," said Jacobs. "The Penjajawoc Marsh is good brood-rearing habitat and is an extremely valuable staging area for migration of American Black Ducks and other water fowl.

"The 850 acres of the Sewall land that is being bought with NAWCA and Land for Maine's Future Funds includes early successional habitat that will be managed for the American Woodcock. The mixed deciduous/conifer forests, some in early successional stages that is being acquired are ideal nesting habitat for the woodcock and Whip-poor-will."

The area is also important other waterbirds, including the Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Ring-necked Duck and American Bittern.

"The rich maple/yellow birch, white pine/oak forests, and spruce/fir forest along with black spruce and red maple forested wetlands are important habitat to priority songbirds." Neotropic species of concern identified are the Wood Thrush, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Canada Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Olive-sided Flycatcher.

The Penjajawoc Marsh has more webless, wetland-dependent bird species than any other marsh studied in Maine," Jacobs explained. "Furthermore, as of 2001, Penjajawoc Marsh contained more endangered/special concern species than any of 106 inland marshes in the state recently studied by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife."

Wetlands types present include "emergent marsh, submerged aquatic vegetation, red maple swamp, coniferous forested wetlands, and palustrine shrub habitat" according to the NAWCA grant. "The wetlands are surrounded by northern hardwood and spruce-fir forests and provide valuable water quality protection from human development and encroachment."

The Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc corridor has been a target for conservation for about two decades, the grant summary said. The area is under intense commercial and residential development pressure due to its location in the fast-growing Bangor/Orono suburbs area adjacent to Interstate-95.

"All lands acquired through the Caribou Bog-Penjajwoc Project will be available for research and teaching," Jacobs said, "including on subjects of hydrology and sustainable forestry with a special emphasis on management for wildlife habitat. Low impact recreation also will be available.

"Proceeds from forestry on the 850 Sewall tract will be going to the University of Maine to support scholarship and research efforts in forestry and wildlife management. The proximity to the University campus make this tract particularly valuable. Students in forestry, wildlife and recreation/tourism will be using all of the lands in the corridor for their studies."

Selected wetlands in the corridor are on the Maine Birding Trail. The local Audubon Society, the two local land trusts, and Hirundo Wildlife refuge all provide tours on these lands, Jacobs said. The Penjajawoc Marsh, a primary target for conservation in the Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc Project, is an important destination along this trail.

"The Caribou Bog has been studied extensively and is considered the third most important peatland in Maine and is listed as an Exemplary Natural Community by Maine Natural Areas Program. It also has been studied extensively by researchers at the University of Maine who have found a number of endangered invertebrate species there. The entire corridor is an area of special interest to the State's Beginning with Habitat Program."

An estimated 50,000 people use the area each year for hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, photography environmental education and interpretation, and outdoor recreation, according to the NAWCA grant summary. Another 30,000 annually use the trails and the Orono Bog boardwalk with its interpretive stations that provide educational information about the wetlands.

"Many of the visitors are students who come from elementary and high schools, and the University, for guided tours by the boardwalk volunteer guides," Jacobs said.

"The project has been extremely successful in accomplishing its initial vision of guiding development into the most appropriate areas and balancing development with the preservation of large blocks of open land and prime wildlife habitat," Jacobs said. "It is exciting to see the project become a recognized part of the landscape and to see the positive effect it has had on regional municipal planning. Much of the vision has been incorporated into town planning and recently has expanded to a Trust for Public Land 13-town green-printing project.

"The project continues to move forward and is being recognized by state planning and conservation agencies as well as state-wide non-profit conservation organizations. Recently the Maine Chapter of the Wildlife Society recognized the two land trusts with an award for their visionary collaboration and their extraordinary work to establish the Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc Project: A Conservation-Recreation Corridor."

The land acquisition and easements are expected to be completed within two years.

Research to Help Understand Bird Conservation in the Arctic

Joe Liebezeit (right) and Ruby Hammond watching a shorebird reveal its nest location. Images courtesy of Steve Zack, Wildlife Conservation Society.

A research initiative sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society is developing information essential to understanding the values of coastal Alaska for a variety of wild birds.

Research is underway at the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve, and in the nearby Beaufort Sea region.

Funding is provided from a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, foundations (Liz Claibourne / Art Ortenberg Foundation, Disney Conservation Fund, the Duke Foundation) and private donors, according to Joe Liebezeit, an associate conservation biologist, with the Society.

Research is being conducted on several bird-related topics, and Liebezeit provided further details in an email interview:

What is the research mission and its methods?

"Our mission is to conserve wildlife and wild places in Arctic Alaska. Our research is centered on understanding the main threats to wildlife in the Arctic: climate change and energy development; and to identify key areas for protection. For this latter issue, our focus has been Teshekpuk.

"This season, we are finishing up a 4-year study examining the breeding success, or how successful birds are at raising young to the point where they can leave the nest. Currently, there is little information on the importance of this region as a bird 'nursery' since no other studies have examined nest survivorship of the full suite of birds that utilize this region. This study is important because the Teshekpuk region of the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska is recognized for its importance to wildlife yet it is currently threatened with oil development. The Bureau of Land Management is currently selling oil exploration bids to oil companies in this region. At the same time we are working with other non-governmental organizations to help protect key areas in this important region.

"We will investigate post-breeding shorebird abundance, species composition, and fitness in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area since so little is known. In addition to the threat of oil development, the coastline in this region is rapidly eroding. As the polar ice cap shrinks due to climate change, wave action in the Arctic Ocean has intensified, particularly in the fall during storms. Because of this, coastal erosion rates have accelerated and salt water has intruded into freshwater habitats utilized by the feeding post-breeding shorebirds. In Alaska, this intensified coastal erosion is most dramatic on the Beaufort Sea coastline north of Teshekpuk Lake with over 1 km of erosion over the past 50 years. For this reason, we will investigate how climate-mediated coastal erosion may be impacting shorebird habitat use in this region.

Joe Liebezeit flushes a Semipalmated Sandpiper (lower left) from its tundra nest.

Joe Liebezeit “rope-dragging” to aid finding shorebird nests.

"In addition to our breeding bird project, we will be initiating a new study on the Beaufort Sea coast north of Teshekpuk Lake examining the use of this area by post-breeding shorebirds. Other researchers have found that after the breeding season, vast numbers of shorebirds congregate in coastal habitats along the Arctic Ocean coastline to fatten up on energy reserves before they begin their long southward migration.

What particular species are focused upon, and why?

"For our breeding bird study, we monitor nests of all birds in ourstudy plots including about 12 shorebirds species. The most common are: Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope and Dunlin; over five waterfowl species, including the King Eider, Greater White-fronted Goose; and other birds such as the Lapland Longspur and Willow Ptarmigan. We focus most of our investigation on the shorebirds and Lapland Longspurs since they provide the largest samples sizes.

"For the post-breeding work, the main species we will focus on will be shorebirds, in particular the Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin, and Pectoral Sandpiper. We are focusing on this group of birds because they are the most numerous migratory birds in this region and some of them are of special conservation concern because their population numbers are low. Many of these species are of international importance because of their long migrations that take them to all parts of the globe.

Ruby Hammond and Joe Liebezeit “rope-dragging” to locate nests.

Joe Liebezeit measuring the angle and amount of shell floating to aid age determination in a shorebird egg.

"Methods during the breeding season (nest success study): we attempt to find all bird nests on 16 10-hectare plots. After nests are discovered we monitor them every few days until we determine whether the eggs hatched and the chicks successfully left the nest or they failed (e.g. failed due to predation, weather, etc.). From this information we can estimate "nest success" for the individual species and we will examine this with respect to other key variables that we measure (including predator numbers, habitat type, nest density) to learn which factors impact nest success the most.

"Methods during the post-breeding season: we will conduct line-transect surveys of shorebirds in key habitat types to estimate species composition, abundance, and timing of migration. We will also capture birds and individually mark them with color bands and take blood samples. The color-bands will enable us to re-sight the birds during surveys and thus estimate the 'tenure time' or how long birds stay in this area before moving on. The blood samples will be analyzed for triglyceride levels which is a measure of rate of fat gain. Birds that have a higher rate of fat gain are finding more food and thus this measure allows us an indirect measure of habitat quality."

How many years have these surveys been conducted? And what is the importance of long-term monitoring?

"We have been conducting surveys for breeding birds for four years at Teshekpuk and for six years at another site in the Prudhoe Bay region. Annual variation in the arctic is high so if we are to detect changes in populations it is important that we monitor over many years to help overcome the 'noise' of high annual variation to tease out the underlying trends."

Please comment on the importance of your survey efforts.

"The Arctic is an important region to study impacts of human disturbance (in our case via oil development) since these disturbances can be compared to nearby remote areas. Even more importantly, climate change is occurring most dramatically in the arctic (compared to the rest of the world) and so it is the most important place to investigate climate change impacts right now."

Are there any changes at your study locales which are affecting local birds?

"Climate change is impacting bird species. We have evidence that some bird species are initiating their nests up to seven days earlier than 20 years ago - a likely response to a warming climate. There is concern that this change in timing may be decoupled from insect emergence or other components of their life cycle. We have not investigated the details of this issue as of yet. Right now our main focus with climate change is investigating how climate-mediated erosion may be impacting post-breeding shorebirds."

What is the importance of the region being studied for birds,locally and globally?

"The Teshekpuk Lake Region is one of the most important areas for wildlife on the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. Internationally important populations of shorebirds, numbering in the hundreds of thousands nest and stage here, up to 20% of the Pacific flyway brant goose population molts here every summer. The 45,000 head Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd give birth to and rear their young here every year. At the same time, oil development pressure and climate change impacts are important threats in this region. "Globally, this region supports an international assemblage of migratory birds that winter and stopover in all other parts of the planet."

In addition to society reports and published findings, research results are contributed to the Arctic Birds website where findings can be readily accessed. "We post our results on the website so that our data can be shared with other collaborators and scientists," Liebezeit said. This allows different researchers to "begin to detect trends in breeding birds across large geographic regions."

Additional details indicate the importance of the Teshekpuk Lake region for birds.

"The Teshekpuk Lake area is part of a vast network of coastal lagoons, deep water lakes, wet sedge grass meadows, beaded streams & river deltas that cover almost one third of the 23.5 million acre Reserve. Thousands of freshwater lakes cover more than half of the coastal plain," according to information presented on the Northern Alaska Environmental Center website.

"The Teshekpuk Lake area sustains the largest goose molting concentration in the Arctic - with up to 60,000 geese (including the lesser Snow Goose, Canada and White-fronted Goose and up to 20% of the entire Pacific Black Brant population) congregating at once. The coastal plain of the Reserve, including the Teshekpuk Lake area, is the primary arctic habitat for threatened Spectacled Eiders and also supports the entire breeding population of Stellar's Eider."

The Teshekpuk Lake region - sprawling across 1.7 million acres - was designated in 1977 by the Department of the Interior as a "Special Area"with significant natural values that required "maximum protection," in recognition of the habitat utilized by vast numbers of nesting and molting waterfowl, and other birds that gather prior to their annual southerly migration.

"The Wildlife Conservation Society is working with diverse stakeholders including other NGOs, government agencies, and industry," Liebezeit said, "to balance protection of the most important places for wildlife in this region along with responsible development."

---

Administration Relents on Drilling Near Teshekpuk Lake

"Washington, DC, May 16, 2008 - The Secretary of Interior announced today that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would defer additional oil and gas leasing around Teshekpuk Lake in the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA) for at least 10 years. The decision came with the release of a final revised environmental statement and activity plan for Northeast NPRA, after a lawsuit blocked a controversial September 2006 lease sale in that area."

This news is from a press release issued by the National Audubon Society.

Duck Decoys Use by Native Peoples For Two Thousand Years

The use of duck decoys by native peoples in the southwest was established by the excavation of material at Lovelock Cave in the Humboldt Valley. The decoys had bodies made of tules and rushes, and were dated to ca. 2160 years before present. An additional use of duck decoys was recently located in the narrative of an historic exploration in 1852. The author was the commissioner for the U.S. boundary survey, which originated in Texas. The author was in central California when the following was written in his journal.

Caption: Interior of Indian huts, California. Note: the decoys are prominently shown on the right.

March 21st (1852)

An Indian village stood a few hundred yards from the house; and at my request Mr. Knight went out and brought me three of the most intelligent among them, from whom I obtained a full vocabulary of their language. Like many other tribes of the country, and of this region in particular, they appeared to have no name for themselves as a people. By the white people, these and all other Indians between the Sacramento and the coast, and thence through the central parts of the State, are called "Diggers," or "Digger Indians," from the fact that they live chiefly on roots, which they collect by digging. I therefore set them down as Indians of Napa Valley. We had met with several small bands, and passed a few villages on our way up; but from none could I learn that they had any name for their tribe. This fact will account for the great diversity in the names of the California Indians as given by travellers. In examining the various books on this country and articles in scientific journals, I find tribes mentioned by names which are not elsewhere to be found; and in my own inquiries I have found tribes who called themselves by names which I never heard of before. This has induced me to believe that the small tribes or bands, which abound here more than in any other part of North America, when asked to what tribe they belong, give the name of their chief, which is misunderstood by the inquirer to be that of the tribe itself.

Summer huts of California Indians.

Their houses are circular, and from twelve to thirty feet in diameter, the interior usually excavated about three feet below the surface of the ground. Within this circle posts are planted, forked at the top, upon which rest poles reaching from one to the other. The spaces between the posts are filled in with sticks or tules, against which the earth is firmly banked up outside. The roofs are dome-shaped, and, in the smaller houses, supported by a single post in the centre, on the forked top of which rest two main rafters, with their outer ends planted in the ground. From these are stretched stout poles, about a foot apart and thatched with sticks and tules, or rushes closely interwoven, and covered with a solidly pressed layer of earth about a foot thick, making a roof completely water proof in the heaviest rains. In some villages the houses have but one aperture, which is on the top of the roof, and serves for both door and chimney. This is entered by a sort of rude ladder, or by notches cut in the centre-post. Others have an opening at the side, so small as not to be entered except by crawling on the hands and knees. Around the sides of the interior are wide shelves, formed of poles and rushes resting on forked posts, which serve for beds.

In the view of the interior of one of their dwellings is seen a number of decoy ducks which they use to good advantage. Although the California tribes exhibit much skill in fishing and in trapping game, and the erection of their dwellings, they show little ingenuity in the arts of design. ...
John Russell Bartlett. Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora and Chihuahua 1850-1853.

Discovery of Piculet Woodpecker Conveys Importance of Conserving Neotropic Habitats

The recent discovery of a new species of a piculet woodpecker conveys the importance of understanding bird diversity in natural environments of the tropics.

An as yet unnamed species was recently discovered in the Cerrado region of Brazil by Professor Luís Fábio Silveira, of the Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo.

Pictures of the Cerrado Region.

All images taken by Fábio Schunck. Used with permission.

Three birds were collected during intensive studies of the regional avifauna. First a male and then a pair of birds were taken using a shotgun, using small-sized shot in order to obtain the specimens essential for documenting the species for identification and classification.

Professor Silveira, with experience studying "species of this genus, since the beginning of the field work in January of 2008, had heard an unusual voice, which certainly was from a Picumnus, a genus of piculet. The bird was not observed despite intensive searches and listening to them in several localities without being able to locate the species among the dense vegetation. After one week the first specimen, a male, was collected. Some days after that, in another locality, a pair was collected. "

With three birds having the same morphological characteristics in hand, tape-recordings of the voices and specimens from two different localities, he realized the birds were a new taxon.

Piculets are small, distinctive woodpeckers which occur primarily in South America. There are about 25 recognized species. Particular characteristics include a large head, lack of the stiff tail typical of many woodpecker species, short bills used to extract insects from decaying wood, and a habit for using the holes in tree cavities dug-out by other woodpeckers. About a half-dozen other piculet species occur in China, southeast Asia, central American and Africa.

Prof. Silveira and his students - Vitor Piacentini, Érika Machado and Fábio Schunck - are still working on the scientific description needed to recognize a new species. The name probably will allude to the place where the birds were collected, or the habitat, he said.

Map of the Cerrado region and the ecological station. Map courtesy of Conservation International.

"Discovery of a new species of bird is always exciting," Silveira said. "Birds are a really well known group of vertebrates and discover a new species is quite rare today. I've described a new species of a wonderful parakeet and now we're working hard to describe a new antwren, two new tapaculos, a bellbird and a treehunter with other colleagues from Brazil and USA. New things are coming to our attention due our intensive field work in the last few years."

Dr. Silveira's work as a taxonomist played an essential role in identifying the new species.

"If I had a limited experience with this genus I could simply fit the voice or the birds within previously known species," Silveira said. The professor and his students will conduct further studies to learn more about the natural history of the new species.

"We´re studying our specimens and preparing the scientific description, which will appear probably in the next year," Silveira said. "After that we plan to start a project to understand better its habitat requirements and refine the distribution in the region. Fortunately this species is protected in a large conservation unit and its situation can be considered quite safe."

The site where the species was find was within the Serra Geral do Tocantins Ecological Station, a 716,000-hectare (1,769,274 acres) protected area.

"The Serra Geral harbours a enormous diversity of birds, including the Brazilian Merganser, a species Dr. Silveira has studied since 1996. The Hyacinth Macaw and Dwarf Tinamou, are among other endemic or threatened species in the Cerrado area. And we were able to find jaguars and deers. This place is simply wonderful and is one of the most isolated lands that I ever seen."

Coal-crested Finch. Charitospiza eucosma.

Ruby-topaz Hummingbird. Chrysolampis mosquitus.

Guira Tanager. Hemithraupis guira.

The O Boticário Foundation, Conservation International, and Pequi-Pesquisa e Conservação do Cerrado provided funding that was essential in supporting the research that led to the new discovery.

Recent efforts by researchers documented 14 new species in the Cerrado region, including eight fish, three reptiles, one amphibian, and one mammal. Several threatened species were also documented during a 29-day field expedition, according to a news release by Conservation International.

The Cerrado's wooded grassland which once covered an area half the size of Europe - comprising about 21% of the land area of Brazil - is now being converted to cropland and ranchland at twice the rate of the neighboring Amazon rainforest, resulting in the loss of native vegetation and unique species.

"The geographic distribution of some of the species registered is restricted to the area of the ecological station; thus their survival depends on the good management of the protected area and its immediate surroundings," said Professor Silveira. "From the survey we can obtain data concerning the anatomy, reproductive biology, life cycle, and distribution of the species, all of which help us in future conservation programs."

Additional views of the Cerrado region at the ecological station.

Habitat of Wood Creek and Happy Hollow Creek Continue to be a Bird Haven

View of the Elmwood Park Ravine on 4 May 2008.

Woodland habitat along two creeks in midtown Omaha continue to be a haven for an interesting variety of birds.

Wood Creek flows through the south and eastern edge of Elmwood Park, then splits under Dodge street and continues along the western edge of Memorial Park. Happy Hollow Creek is on the east edge of Memorial Park and the Brownell-Talbot school grounds.

It was July 11, 1909 when Frank Shoemaker, a extraordinary naturalist visited the grounds of Elmwood Park and noted in his personal journals that 18 species were present.

This was the first known visit by bird enthusiasts and just the beginning of a tradition for outings to the park lands.

There were numerous visits from 1913 through the 1930s, by bird watchers such as the dedicated newsman Miles Greenleaf, sportsman Billy Marsh, and others, including members of the Audubon Society.

The history is noted in occasional articles in the local newspapers.

The educational value of birds was the reason for a bird census conducted April 29, 1916 at the park, "by Miss Alice Hill, supervisor of drawing in the schools, and Miles Greenleaf, both of the Audubon" Society educational committee. It was part of the group's "Teaching the Teachers" campaign. There were 36 species noted, including the unusual sighting, then, of a rarely seen Scarlet Tanager.

Bird records from this count can be compared to records from similar dates in the modern era.

Comparison of tally of birds at Elmwood Park - 1916 & 2008. The value is the number seen. No numbers were available for the 1916 count.

Common Name	4/29/1916	4/27/2008	4/29/2008	4/30/2008
Canada Goose	- -	- -	2	- -
Wood Duck	- -	8	2	1
Green Heron	- -	1	1	- -
Turkey Vulture	- -	1	- -	- -
Red-tailed Hawk	0	- -	- -	- -
American Kestrel	0	- -	- -	- -
Mourning Dove	0	6	- -	1
Barred Owl	- -	- -	- -	1
Chimney Swift	- -	3	- -	- -
Belted Kingfisher	- -	1	- -	- -
Red-bellied Woodpecker	- -	2	- -	1
Downy Woodpecker	0	1	1	1
Hairy Woodpecker	0	- -	- -	- -
Northern Flicker	0	1	1	1
Eastern Phoebe	0	1	1	- -
Eastern Kingbird	0	- -	- -	- -
Red-eyed Vireo	0	- -	- -	- -
Vireo	0	- -	- -	- -
Blue Jay	0	5	2	- -
American Crow	0	- -	- -	- -
Horned Lark	0	- -	- -	- -
Tree Swallow	0	- -	- -	- -
Barn Swallow	- -	6	- -	- -
Black-capped Chickadee	0	2	- -	2
Red-breasted Nuthatch	- -	2	- -	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	0	1	2	1
House Wren	0	3	3	- -
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	0	2	2	2
Eastern Bluebird	0	- -	- -	- -
American Robin	0	6	6	6
Northern Mockingbird	- -	1	- -	- -
Brown Thrasher	0	- -	4	1
European Starling	- -	3	- -	- -
Cedar Waxwing	0	- -	- -	- -
Orange-crowned Warbler	- -	2	- -	- -
Yellow-rumped Warbler	0	3	6	- -
Palm Warbler	- -	1	- -	- -
Scarlet Tanager	0	- -	- -	- -
Eastern Towhee	0	- -	- -	2
Chipping Sparrow	- -	4	- -	- -
Field Sparrow	0	- -	- -	- -
Vesper Sparrow	0	- -	- -	- -
Grasshopper Sparrow	0	- -	- -	- -
Song Sparrow	0	- -	1	- -
Lincoln's Sparrow	- -	- -	1	- -
White-throated Sparrow	0	2	3	5
Harris's Sparrow	0	- -	- -	- -
Northern Cardinal	0	10	2	4
Western Meadowlark	0	- -	- -	- -
Common Grackle	0	14	6	- -
Brown-headed Cowbird	0	- -	- -	- -
Baltimore Oriole	- -	- -	- -	1
Pine Siskin	- -	- -	4	2
American Goldfinch	- -	5	2	3

Notably absent now are the Horned Lark, Eastern Bluebird and Grasshopper Sparrow, species of open country or grasslands.

Pine Siskins at a seep area at Elmwood Park, 28 April 2008.

Tree removal was the concern in March 1919 when the park commissioner and the park foreman were removing an extensive number of trees. The writer of the editorial noted Elmwood Park was the "best public bird and nature preserve in possession of the city of Omaha."

Crows feeding at the 12 feeding stations with suet were the topic of discussion in January 1923. The wire soap-racks nailed to the trees, were filled each Sunday, according to the bird editorial in the Sunday World-Herald.

The renowned sports writer Sandy Griswold wrote about the January 1927 bird census, which included Elmwood Park. The 2.5 hour count was "taken by Mary and Emma Hillsworth, Dr. C.A. Mitchell and L.O. Horsky, members of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union. Most prevalent were the long-tailed chickadee and tree sparrow, along with the White-breasted Nuthatch, cardinals and juncos..

Bird nests were the topic of the May 1931 Bird Lore column. The big excitement was the nest of the Red Crossbill, which was destroyed by wind of a storm. A Field Sparrow nests was located between hole no. 1 and hole no. 3 on the golf course. There was also a towhee nest carefully hidden under a log, with "cigaret stubs, cigar butts, wrappers from chewing gum and all that sort of thing were all around the nest."

The Bird Lore column of the October 1931 Sunday Bee, discussed the winter birds of the park, and the expectation of the Winter Wren to be coming soon. The writer recalled their excitement of seeing redpolls, Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills.

In August 1934, there was a report of the observation blind financed for $1,500 by members of the Ad-Sell League. It was located "on a sort of peninsula just south of Dodge street between two branches of the Elmwood ravine," and the surrounding terrain was "left untouched - a wild scramble of bushes, underbrush, weeds and grass - ideal for birds." There were 33 species noted as using the water pool and feeding mounds, according to a story in the Omaha Sunday Bee-News. The blind burned down in December 1940.

History wanes during the 1940s and the following three decades. The park was apparently the destination for students of the ornithology class at nearby University of Nebraska at Omaha, and occasionally by birders.

Fledgling Wood Duck on Wood Creek, 5 May 2008. There have been no subsequent sightings of fledgling ducks in the area.

Mallard pair at Wood Creek, 9 May 2008.

The tradition got a fresh start in the late 1980s, when Clyde and Emma Johnson, moved into the neighborhood, and went on regular walks in the park, noting their birdly observations during their forays. Birders in the neighborhood continue to visit the woodland bird haven along the creeks, and document their sightings.

Overall, the results of these birders' efforts is that about 180 species have been documented in Elmwood Park, and its midtown creeks. There are more than 2800 records for these locales.

Number of species noted during particular periods shows no consistency, with values quite different based on extent of effort, number of available records, and other variables.

Time Period - No. of Species

1910s - 100

1920s - 39

1930s - 57

1980s - 87

1990s - 126

2000s - 102

Now absent, though historically present include the Northern Bobwhite, Tree Swallow, Bank Swallow, Yellow-breasted Chat, Lark Sparrow, Dickcissel, Bobolink, and both meadowlark species.

The Wood Duck is now prevalent, though it was not noted during any of the visits in the 1910s and 1920s. A greater variety of vireos and warblers have also been recorded.

Some of the species seen in the 1990s, though not seen subsequently include the Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Merlin, American Coot, Killdeer, a lesser variety of warblers, Orchard Oriole and Red Crossbill.

There have been 105 species documented along the creeks since 2000.

Tally of Elmwood-Memorial Birdlife - 2000 to 2008. The value given is the number of times noted.

Common Name	Wood Creek, Elmwood Park	Elmwood Park	Shadow Lake, Elmwood Park	Elmwood Park Ravine	Happy Hollow Creek	Memorial Park	Wood Creek, Memorial Park
Greater White-fronted Goose	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	1	- -
Canada Goose	4	4	- -	- -	- -	1	- -
Wood Duck	12	12	4	14	14	- -	3
Mallard	6	6	3	1	7	- -	- -
Blue-winged Teal	- -	2	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Wild Turkey	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Pied-billed Grebe	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Green Heron	2	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Turkey Vulture	1	4	1	2	- -	4	- -
Osprey	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	1	- -
Sharp-shinned Hawk	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	2	1
Cooper's Hawk	- -	2	- -	- -	1	- -	- -
Red-tailed Hawk	2	8	- -	4	2	3	2
American Kestrel	- -	5	- -	- -	- -	1	- -
Spotted Sandpiper	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Rock Pigeon	- -	4	- -	1	- -	2	- -
Mourning Dove	5	13	5	15	7	3	5
Eastern Screech-Owl	- -	- -	- -	- -	1	- -	- -
Great Horned Owl	- -	1	- -	- -	1	- -	- -
Barred Owl	- -	3	1	5	- -	- -	- -
Common Nighthawk	- -	3	- -	- -	- -	5	- -
Chimney Swift	- -	7	- -	4	2	10	3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	- -	1	- -	- -	1	- -	- -
Belted Kingfisher	1	3	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Red-headed Woodpecker	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	1	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	9	11	10	11	6	1	5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	- -	6	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Downy Woodpecker	8	14	8	15	10	4	8
Hairy Woodpecker	1	5	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Northern Flicker	4	12	2	11	2	3	3
Olive-sided Flycatcher	- -	2	- -	- -	1	- -	- -
Eastern Wood-Pewee	- -	2	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Least Flycatcher	2	3	2	5	1	- -	1
Eastern Phoebe	7	3	1	3	- -	- -	- -
Great Crested Flycatcher	- -	2	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Eastern Kingbird	1	2	- -	- -	- -	1	- -
Blue-headed Vireo	- -	2	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Warbling Vireo	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Red-eyed Vireo	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Blue Jay	10	18	5	16	4	7	13
American Crow	- -	14	- -	2	3	7	4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	- -	2	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Cliff Swallow	- -	2	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Barn Swallow	1	10	- -	3	- -	5	3
Black-capped Chickadee	9	16	11	14	8	6	17
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1	9	8	4	2	3	- -
White-breasted Nuthatch	8	17	10	12	4	1	7
Brown Creeper	2	10	2	2	1	- -	1
Carolina Wren	4	2	1	2	- -	- -	- -
House Wren	5	8	1	9	1	- -	1
Winter Wren	5	- -	21	1	- -	- -	- -
Golden-crowned Kinglet	3	1	2	2	- -	- -	- -
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	4	2	2	5	2	- -	1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	- -	- -	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Veery	- -	- -	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Swainson's Thrush	1	2	1	5	1	- -	1
Hermit Thrush	1	1	- -	4	1	- -	1
Wood Thrush	- -	- -	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
American Robin	12	22	17	21	16	17	16
Gray Catbird	4	7	1	6	- -	- -	4
Northern Mockingbird	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Brown Thrasher	1	4	- -	3	1	1	- -
European Starling	5	19	1	12	5	9	13
Cedar Waxwing	1	2	- -	1	- -	2	- -
Tennessee Warbler	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	3	- -	2	- -	- -	- -
Nashville Warbler	- -	2	- -	- -	1	- -	- -
Northern Parula	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Yellow Warbler	- -	3	1	2	2	- -	- -
Chestnut-sided Warbler	- -	2	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Magnolia Warbler	- -	- -	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Yellow-rumped Warbler	6	4	1	6	11	- -	2
Palm Warbler	1	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Black-and-white Warbler	- -	2	- -	4	1	- -	- -
American Redstart	1	3	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Prothonotary Warbler	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Louisiana Waterthrush	1	- -	- -	1	2	- -	- -
Common Yellowthroat	2	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Hooded Warbler	- -	- -	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Wilson's Warbler	- -	2	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
Spotted Towhee	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Eastern Towhee	- -	1	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
American Tree Sparrow	- -	- -	- -	1	- -	1	- -
Chipping Sparrow	2	8	- -	1	3	10	2
Clay-colored Sparrow	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Field Sparrow	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Fox Sparrow	- -	2	1	- -	- -	- -	1
Song Sparrow	4	6	6	2	- -	- -	- -
Lincoln's Sparrow	1	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
White-throated Sparrow	2	4	2	7	3	- -	2
Harris's Sparrow	- -	1	- -	1	- -	- -	- -
White-crowned Sparrow	- -	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Dark-eyed Junco	6	14	9	10	5	8	7
Northern Cardinal	13	18	14	20	9	7	15
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	- -	5	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Indigo Bunting	1	1	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
Red-winged Blackbird	1	1	- -	- -	1	- -	- -
Common Grackle	6	12	1	9	7	6	8
Brown-headed Cowbird	- -	3	- -	4	3	1	1
Baltimore Oriole	4	3	4	5	1	- -	2
Purple Finch	- -	3	2	1	- -	1	2
House Finch	1	7	- -	4	3	6	1
Pine Siskin	3	3	1	2	- -	- -	- -
American Goldfinch	8	12	5	13	8	7	9
House Sparrow	3	15	- -	3	1	3	2

This spring, a Hooded Warbler present among the fine trees of the Elmwood Park Ravine, was a new addition to the bird list for the locale. Other notables have been the Northern Mockingbird, Prothonotary Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Magnolia Warbler, Indigo Bunting.

Reforestation area at Elmwood park, 15 May 2008. The new sign has not yet been installed.

Wood Ducks are a common species, but the apparent demise of the one young noted, indicates a lack of breeding success this season.

Conditions for the birdlife along the creek is expected to improve with one particular change in management of a small area of the park. A tract along the upper road, along the south side of Wood Creek, is being designated as a reforestation area, instead of a meadow in the making. The change will allow tree growth to develop which will slightly increase the extent of the woodland. Park management made the change in response to the suggestion of a local resident, since little or no active management effort will be needed for trees to regrow, whereas establishing a meadow would require time and money to establish a suitable growth of grasses typical of a meadow.

There is also some consideration being given to creating some small reforestation areas along the east side of Wood Creek, in the ravine area; with the possibility of planting native shrubs and other vegetation. A small area on the west side already has a regrowth of a variety of volunteer trees.