Medical Center Installs Window Screen to Reduce Martin Deaths

On Friday, June 21st, Nebraska Medicine had window screens installed on the glass of a skywalk at the Midtown Martin Mecca.

The unique screening was placed on the west side of the skywalk between Kiewit Hall and the Doctor's Building south.

"It is a unique privilege to have these beautiful birds stop here on their migratory journey," said Taylor Wilson, senior media relations coordinator for Nebraska Medicine. "Although we have no role in them choosing to pay us a yearly visit, we want to be as respectful of their presence as possible and to do everything we can to protect them from harm while they are here. If this covering is effective in reducing the number of strikes, we will obviously look closely at doing the same thing" at the skywalk between Kiewit Hall and Clarkson Hospital.

"Obviously, caring for our patients is our number one priority, but we really do want to make things as safe as possible for these birds," Wilson said.

Staff of Nebraska Medicine regularly monitor the skywalk. Wilson and others, "pass through the area quite frequently during the day to make sure we don¹t have any disabled birds," he said.

The window screening was installed by Mike and Nick of Renze Display. They mentioned that it is probably their first installation done in order to protect migratory birds.

The screen put in place was a custom design, digitally printed on a clear window film. "We can print "any design using the digital print process," they said.

While at the work-site, several people walking past made positive comments about the screening, with some saying it looks much better than the banners, which had been in place. One comment overheard was "that's nice" by a woman as she walked past. There was some ancillary words heard that conveyed an appreciation for doing something to help bring an end to birds striking the glass.

If properly cared for, this type of screening should last more than five years, the screen installers said.

Pictures taken during a mid-day visit to the skywalk on Friday.

Evening Visitors to the Roost

On Friday evening there were about 90 people present to watch the approximate 35,000 martins at the roost. On Thursday, there were about 75 people looking to the sky as they appreciated the spectacle of the Purple Martins.

Wildlife Official Presents at Omaha Seminar

A biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife gave a presentation on protecting wild birds at a recent sediment and erosion control seminar at Omaha.

Robert R. Harms, of the Nebraska Field Office of the federal agency gave a talk titled "Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Construction Projects" at the "Building for the Future" seminar on February 5th, sponsored by the City of Omaha.

The presentation provided "information about the conservation of migratory birds and how the Migratory Bird Treaty Act helps to ensure that migratory birds are around for generations to come," he said.

"It was an opportunity to educate a large group of people and show them how the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is relevant to them and how to maintain compliance," Harms said. "Violations of MBTA generally occur because people don’t know migratory birds are federally protected — this was our opportunity to provide some education."

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, enacted in 1918 as a federal law, prohibits "direct take" by either "intentional or unintentional means. Citations and fines can be issued, Harms indicated.

His talk gave particular points on how to avoid a violation:

• "Don't wing it, deal with it
  
• "Plan ahead
  
• "Do clearing outside nesting season
  
• "Survey during nesting season
  

  * "April 1 - July 15

  * "Qualified" surveyor

  * "Document results

  * "Take action"

Also discussed were the steps to take if a nest is found.

Harms' presentation — as given to about 300 people — and others from the seminar are available at the seminar website.

Care for Memphis Birds

Snow Feather. June 18, 1873. Care for the birds. Memphis Daily Appeal 33(170): 4.

Now, birdie fly fast through the day

To your sweet mate, e'er night is nigh

And when the sun shines over the lea

Come change your home and live with me.

Editors Appeal — Harper and other editors tell us Cincinnati has imported from Germany, and turned loose in her suburbs, fifteen hundred song-birds of different varieties. I wish we could truly report less than that number had fallen a prey to the merciless shot-guns of wanton boys in the neighborhood of Memphis, during the past two seasons almost at our door-steps. Any interference with, or protestation against such cruel sport, being met with jeers of angry words of defiance. Not only little boys but youths, and even a few grown up men, armed and equipped, with trained setter walking demurely along, looking as though heartily ashamed of "Othello's occupation," come into the immediate outskirts of town to try their skill in bringing down any bird they chance to meet. Cincinnati opens her purse, sends "over the land and over the sea" for these tiny warblers to make home beautiful; but woe to the little feathered innocents here — they are not spared, even in the springtime, when "I love and I love" is the subject-theme of their song. If an appreciation and proper valuation of all things beautiful denote the highest tone of culture and refinement, shall not our city fall behind our western sister in the one instance? We do not need to bring birds from other lands to enhance the charms of our surroundings, in themselves so lovely. We have only to note and care for the many beautiful, bright ones we have. Little "western blue-birds," sparrows and wrens bring their sweet notes and build house under our eaves. Red birds, gold orioles, gaily flash their bright wings in the sunlight. Partridges whirr by through the evening air, and their flute-like whistle rings out clear and sweet. Larks with heart-hymes to the bright sphere above, and the low, mellow "voice of the turtle melts into sorrow" which must needs die of its own sweet singing, while "love lingers list'ning near." All the livelong day mocking-birds charm and cheer; and when the lady moon "tips with silver all the fruit-tree tops," through the mystic shadow and sheen the voice of song floats out still, so thrilling in its pathos it would seem no illusion that the rose-queen opens her glowing heart to the love of the nightingale. Two or three varieties of finches, ruby-throated humming-birds, shy plovers, brown-breasted thrushes, butcher birds, graceful, gliding rain-crows, and numbers of birds besides these, are all our very own, with fit homes too, in the ever charming and varied scenes around Memphis. Green commons, sloping hills, lonely old forest trees, fruit-laden orchards, smiling gardens and flowers, whose perfection challenge all fastidiousness. The spirit of beauty in no other inanimated embodiment, so touches the heart — we all love flowers — and the birds we must care for, it we love them too. How does it happen that the Appeal, with all its vigilance, anxiety, tenderness, and wisdom, in guarding, investigating, cherishing, and directing the public good in objects great and small, seeming equal to any, and all emergencies, persists in the oversight of the bird? Play council and influence our boy-sportsmen and thoughtless youth to nobler, more manly sports, and save our beautiful birds.

FWS Action a Disgrace to Eagles

by Jim Wiegand

On April 26 the Fish and Wildlife Service released a statement that claims their Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance "fosters protection for bald and golden eagles." This is true, but so what? The carefully chosen word "fosters" is just another indication of posturing by an agency that went bad some time ago. The word foster means to encourage. How about this agency coming clean and using the words "does protect the bald and golden eagles"? The word "foster" is no better that the word "voluntary" which is used to describe the "voluntary regulations" this agency has for the wind industry.

The FWS Bald and Golden Eagle Conservation plan is a disgrace. How could any plan be developed when so many facts have been hidden? How could any plan be developed when so many fraudulent studies have been created? This plan should be called for what it really is, "the eagle extermination plan" because it is nothing but a legal shell game which allows the wind industry to legally kill bald and golden eagles. The "no net loss" criteria used by the FWS is a convenient excuse to hand out their kill or "take" permits. It all is just more of the same "encouragement" with "voluntary regulations."

With encouragement and voluntary regulations the FWS has helped the wind industry destroy the historical habitat for the California condor. If it were not for the feeding stations keeping them from the turbines the condor population would now be extinct except for in captivity.

With encouragement and voluntary regulations The FWS has allowed the wind industry to develop the central Flyway habitat with many thousands of wind turbines. This region includes the Prairie Pothole Region sometimes referred to "North America’s duck factory." Encouragement and voluntary regulations have allowed the prairie's ponds and potholes to be invaded by huge deadly turbines and no one has been told about the terrible toll.

With the encouragement and voluntary regulations the profiteers looking to score our tax dollars have nothing to stop them.

Jim Wiegand is an independent wildlife expert with decades of field observations and analytical work. He is vice president of the US region of Save the Eagles International, an organization devoted to researching, protecting and preserving avian species threatened by human encroachment and development.

New Martin House an Immediate Attraction

Within two minutes, Purple Martins used their new house that had just been erected at Levi Carter Park on Saturday April 21st, during the Earth Day weekend.

Bing Behrens of the Wild Bird Habitat Store, and myself as a tepid assistant, installed the house north of the caretaker's residence at Levi Carter Park. A fisherman stopped by to inquire about the new structure, mentioning he was glad to see this sort of thing being done in the park.

Bing pulled the rope to raise the "mini-castle" to its peak in the sky, thus establishing a new martin house at mid-day.

In the following moments, filled with sublime excitement for the birds and two watchers, martins flew nearby to take a closer look, with others immediately following to get their own view. The first pioneer sat on a perch to get a good look at the new digs.

The same birds had been "complaining" about the temporary disturbance of the neighborhood during the installation. They were always vocal, whether in flight about the scene, or sitting outside their apartment rather than sitting in their residence.

The perspective of the martins was immediately changed.

Further watching indicated the martins were obviously appreciative of the East House. Shortly, females were attracted to what was nearly recognized as a suitable place to nest. Within a few more moments, some magnificent martins were sitting on the house-top roost, landing upon a roost outside each apartment to peer within, wondering if they should perhaps move.

A few feet away at the West House, there was uncertainty. Mother martins to be had been working hard to get their nest ready by bringing in nest material. Did they want to stay, or should they move to the new place?

The behavior of the birds was readily apparent. Ignoring any anthropomorphic fallacies, there may have even been a "husband" trying to stay put while his mate kept looking to the east. Was his preening displacement behavior?

The East House certainly had unsurpassed features. Each apartment offered more room with space between each place, and had an elevated floor for cleanliness. There was an individual perch out front for the couple's use and eventually for their brood. A common-space roost was available above the rooftop. The residence was a completely new, not a cleaned out space used by many other previous tenants.

The West House has been present for an unknown number of years. The mid-day bird drama at Levi Carter Park, was because the martins didn't get a message about a new construct.

Many others did, since this effort was successful only because of effort and focused intent.

The Audubon Society of Omaha board quickly approved purchase of the house, within a day's time.

The Omaha Parks Recreation and Public Property provided a letter of approval on Friday morning. The department is "pleased to support the efforts to enhance the habitat of" purple martins in a park, according to a letter from Patrice Slavin, issued on April 20. Randy Garlip, park caretaker, was helpful in noting that he had cleaned the West House, and also helped indicate a good spot for the Eat House, out of the way of his mowing duties.

A multi-call process to the Diggers Hotline worked -- due to expressing an emergency on Friday afternoon -- to get a clearance approval, as required by Nebraska legal statutes, to break the surface of the ground. Approval is required even to plant a flower or tree, till a garden, stick a flag into the ground, break the ground surface which the kick of a heel, etc.

Focused discussions with Omaha Parks officials brought this topic into an awareness of complete amazement. The "drama-queen" at the hotline office certainly conveyed how communication to a city might end if the proper procedure was not followed. Such things happened "every day" according to her perspective. To ensure satisfaction across the board, the "registration" call was made about mid-afternoon on a Friday. Several call-back responses were received by 5 p.m., with the last one of the day associated with an onsite inspection by a utility inspection firm. A last reply was received just after 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Hours later, the installation was underway.

This martin house was needed due to an obvious bird activity first observed on Wednesday, April 18 when there were more martins than what the house could suitably provide. The birds were limited as vividly expressed in their behavior, and apparent in a single photograph where a female bird was looking for a place while sitting on the rooftop. She was not able to personally inspect the housing cube.

On Saturday morning, one female was attacked and held down by a male being protective an adjacent apartment. Two males were seen and heard tussling over one particular apartment, until one fleed, after some moments of anxiety, obvious in its open-beak behavior, as it looked back at its tormentor.

The new martin castle was up and ready for residency on mid-day Saturday. The endeavor was successful because of a common interest. Everyone involved deserves credit for their interest in helping to benefit Purple Martins, an iconic bird in the river city.

It was certainly a fine time for martins at Carter Lake! We can enjoy the results at the Martin Mecca Midtown later in the season.

The Slaughter of the Innocents

Mary Thatcher. May 22, 1875. Harper's Bazar 8(21): 338. What a poignant voice for bird conservation!

If a stranger to modern ways of doing things had strolled through our Northern cities during the last few months, he might well have asked, "Did not the birds go South last year?" For wherever he could turn, some bright-winged bird would meet his puzzled eye. In all variety of plumage, from the gaudy colors of the tropics to sombre brown and gray, these "children of the air" flit through oar streets. The scarlet tanager has forgotten his sunny Southern haunts, the indigo-bird bravely faces our icy blasts, and even those delicate little fairies, the hummingbirds, have not deserted us. But, alas! these brilliant visions have been only ghosts of birds, mute warblers, little captives deprived of life and light and song. The outspread wings have lost their magic power, and the little feet, instead of clasping some swaying bough, have been hopelessly entangled in meshes of velvet and lace. Here, there, and every where the same strange phenomenon has been visible. At least every other woman on the street has worn a hat surmounted by a bird, or by an ingenious patchwork affair which reminds one of the bug manufactured to puzzle Professor Agassiz. Tall women and short women, richly dressed women and shabbily dressed women, little girls and big girls, have decorated themselves with these spoils of the forest. Not only in the street, but in the ballroom, on head-dresses and in the hair, these feathered ornaments have been worn; so that "a fashionable lady's coiffure," to quote a recent Paris letter, " has famished material for a naturalist's study." Have the little songsters committed some unpardonable misdemeanor, that this edict of death has gone forth, or has popular opinion decreed that the groves are no longer the fitting haunts of birds, and that their proper nestling place is a woman's hat?

To be sure, the custom of wearing feathers can boast of respectable antiquity, for even the nimble god Mercury wore a cap with wings. Savages have decorated themselves with the tufts and plumes of birds from time immemorial, but they have been influenced by deeper reasons than the love of display. The battle-field had no terrors for the natives of New Guinea when they wore the skins of "God's bird" the bird-of-paradise. The American Indians believed that all the good qualities of certain birds were bestowed upon the wearer of their feathers. But a bird on a woman's hat to-day has but one meaning, and that is vanity. Wallace, in the account of his travels in the Malay Archipelago, says the natives were deeply puzzled to know why he preserved so many birds and insects. At length they arrived at a solution of the mystery, and an old man, with an air of profound conviction, exclaimed, "They all come to life again : that's what they do they all come to life again!"

I see a beautiful bird perched on the crown of a woman's hat, with bent head and outspread wings; its whole poise is suggestive of the famous blackbird in the nursery rhyme; and if the little victim before me should "come to life again" and take a similar revenge, I should not be surprised. If a woman must wear a bird, why does she not show a little taste in her selection, and choose one whose appearance will harmonize somewhat with her own? Why do meek little maidens overshadow themselves with "winged flames" from tropical wilds, and stalwart matrons affect the dainty humming-birds? Fashion delights to set all the laws of nature at defiance, but she never showed more plainly her ignorance of the fitness of things than when she took the birds from their native haunts and perched their lifeless bodies upon the heads of our mothers and sisters and daughters.

But in comparison with other aspects of the subject, the mere question of good or bad taste is of little account. That the fashion of using birds for ornament is a cruel one probably never entered the minds of most women. When our fashionable ladies or fair young girls stand before a counter covered with rich plumes and stuffed birds of rare beauty, do they pause to think how many joyous lives were sacrificed, how many happy woodland homes destroyed, how many gushes of song stilled forever, that they might deck themselves with these colors stolen from the woods and fields and shores? Unfortunately this fashion is not confined to the cities. Many young women who live in the country persuade their brothers or friends to shoot every bright-winged bird they see. These are easily preserved without the aid of the taxidermist; and when the ruthless winds blow off the head or tail of one little victim, another is ready to take its place. Yet these very women have tender hearts, and would shrink from inflicting needless pain on any creature had not love of "style" blinded their eyes. The number of birds sacrificed to this senseless custom has caused an alarming diminution of some of our most beautiful species; and in certain localities the indigo-bird, and other birds of bright plumage, are almost extinct. The apostles of dress reform might find here a worthy field for their efforts, for it rests with women alone whether this cruel custom shall be abandoned or perpetuated. The value of the smaller birds to mankind is a truth not yet fully recognized, or, if generally known, it is every where disregarded. Longfellow's poem, "The Birds of Killingworth," gives a truthful description of what has happened in many places both here and across the sea, where a "St. Bartholomew of birds" has been inaugurated only to be followed by the most disastrous consequences. Happily the days when farmers made a business of killing the winged wardens" of their orchards and grain fields have gone by. The annual shooting matches of the rural districts, when each party strove to destroy the largest number of wild creatures, have, to a great extent, been abolished; and the accounts of the immense bird hunts, like that which occurred in North Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1820, where the birds were killed off in such quantities that cart-loads of them were sold to the farmers for fertilizing the soil, seem now like some pitiful tale of fiction. Yet in all parts of the country for the last few years there has been a steady decrease in the number of birds. A speedy retribution follows when the nicely balanced laws of nature are disturbed. Those deadly enemies of vegetation, the hosts of devouring insects, are upon us, and new species are constantly appearing. If we consider the astonishing rate at which insects multiply, we shall better understand these rapid inroads. Reaumur says that one of those little pests known as plant-lice, or aphides, may become the progenitor of six thousand millions in one season. This marvelous power of reproduction may well make us tremble. A careful writer on this subject estimates the annual loss from destruction of property by insects in the United States to amount to four hundred millions of dollars, and to this devastation he attributes the high price of farm produce, and the increase of distress and want in our large cities. At least one-eighth of this loss might be avoided, he declares, by the careful protection of birds. Innumerable instances might be given of important services thus rendered by birds in different parts of the world, Michelet says one pair of sparrows carries to the nest 4300 caterpillars in a week; and, according to Audubon, a woodcock will eat its own weight of insects in a single night. A titmouse introduced into a conservatory has been known to cleanse, in a few hours, rosebushes which were infested with thousands of the aphides. If the birds are banished or annihilated, shall we not be at the mercy of these myriads of destroyers Even now what suffering is caused at the West by the ravages of grasshoppers! The devices of man are of little avail, our deadly poisons are woefully insufficient, and sooner or later we are forced to imitate our sharp-shooters in the late war, and "pick off the enemy one by one." How much more effectually the birds would do it for us! Multitudes of birds are yearly killed for scientific purposes and for public and private collections. Only a few weeks ago a gentleman returned from Arizona with a thousand bird-skins for the Smithsonian Institution. With all due reverence for science, it must be conceded that naturalists are not as scrupulous about taking life or inflicting pain as they might be. Few of them are as humane as our own Thoreau, who told an ornithologist, who insisted upon holding his bird in his hand, that he would rather hold it in his affections. Many people, who do not aspire to possess collections of birds, contrive to ornament their rooms with single specimens. Which is more painful to see a winged creature shut up in a cage, or to discover these lifeless ornaments, poor effigies of birds, perched upon the picture - frames, hidden under glass cases on the mantel, or perhaps sitting on their rifled nests, which have been transported, branches and all, to the parlor? Leonardo da Vinci bought singing birds in cages merely to set them free. In these days of cheap and beautiful pictures and statuettes, among the variety of small ornaments to be had almost for the asking, can we not emancipate the birds?

Birds are even more desperately pursued for their flesh than for their plumage. Audubon says that when he first went to Kentucky the pinnated grouse was so abundant that no hunter deigned to shoot it. Twenty-five years later the grouse had abandoned the State. Prairie-chickens are now slaughtered in such quantities at the West that there is reason to fear the shy, pretty creatures will soon be exterminated. Men hunt them with trained dogs, kill all they can, and wastefully throw away all of the bird but the breast. At a prize hunt in Minnesota last summer nine hundred prairie-chickens were killed in a day within the area of one township. The passenger-pigeon, now rarely seen in the Eastern States, once bred in Massachusetts woods, and the ruffed grouse and several species of wild-ducks were abundant in the same State. The bird laws are as stringent as the prohibitory law, and quite as effectual. The abominable snares and traps, the deadly broadsides from batteries and pivot-guns, the ingenuity of sportsmen, who by their decoys and mock-whistles lure whole flocks of birds within rifle range, have done their work, and we doubt whether posterity will ever hear of "quail on toast," or know the flavor of woodcock or grouse. Game is yearly diminishing in Europe as well as in this country, and it is only within recent years that protection has been secured there for the small birds, which have been attacked and slaughtered with ferocious zeal. Italy, whose delightful climate attracts many species of birds, has been described as " that land of song where a man no sooner hears a feathered warbler sing than he desires to shoot and eat it." It is said that a veteran Italian hunter is as proud of a string of dead linnets as any English boy of his first bag of grouse. The ancient Eomanspoor benighted heathen! feasted on flamingoes' tongues and the brains of pheasants and peacocks. But in this era of the world, in the boasted nineteenth century, man, who is a little lower than the angels, sits down to a banquet of thrushes, eats the lark which at heaven's gate sings, even devours the nightingale! Mrs. Somerville, in her Personal Recollections, speaks of a gentleman who won her heart at a dinner-party in Rome by crying out, "What! robins--our household birds! I would as soon eat a child."

Foolish superstition has caused the destruction of many useful birds, such as the chimney-swallow and whip-poor-will, which have been considered birds of ill omen. Then, too, the birds which go south often perish in large numbers on their perilous journeys. "The eagle waits on his crag; man watches in the valley." The light-houses, which save so many human lives, are terribly fatal to the birds, which are killed by flying against the thick glass of the lantern. Mrs. Thaxter tells us that three hundred and seventy-five dead birds have been picked up in one morning at the foot of the light-house tower on the Isles of Shoals.

Thus it certainly seems as if the whole race of birds were doomed. Few people besides naturalist? know what interesting and intelligent little creatures they are, how wonderfully organized, how delicately susceptible to joy and pain. "I turn this thrash in my hand," writes a lover of birds, "I remember its strange ways, the curious look it gave me, its ineffable music, its freedom, and its ecstasy, and I tremble lest I have skin a being diviner than myself." The widespread belief that birds and animals were created only for the use and amusement of man is a doctrine unworthy of Christendom. The whale, otter, and seal have been so relentlessly pursued that they are fast disappearing. In Europe an oyster famine is predicted, for that favorite bivalve has been "dredged to death." The wholesale slaughter of buffaloes on the Western plains is another instance of our folly and reckless waste of life. The penguin, which is valued for its oil, is chased by small vessels fitted out for that purpose, and these vessels take, upon an average, three hundred thousand penguins each. The pursuit of this bird is compared to that of the wingless auk, and the same fate is predicted for it--that of utter extinction. "Birds are given for the use of man," says a well-known sportsman's book, "and if they serve to supply him with food or healthful exercise, they have answered their purpose." O heartless and godless creed! Let us go to the East, and learn a lesson of heathen nations. The instinctive tenderness and reverence felt by the Orientals for life in any form is to many the great charm of the East. The Buddhists established hospitals for sick animals, and the Egyptians saw something divine in all living things. The same kindly spirit prompts the people of Sweden and Norway to place sheaves of barley and oats on high poles before the houses at Christmas-time, that the birds too may have a feast.

Millinery Trade and Bird Protection Advocacy

A fashionable accessory for women of the 1880s was a fine hat which expressed the latest in style as especially recognized by the couture mavens of New York.

Using colorful feathers plumes, or perhaps an entire skin of a bird were all the rage for milliners, responding to the demands of their women customers.

A short perspective conveys some of the details for this distinct topic associated with the known record of historic ornithology.

This account focuses on a time of change during the mid-1880s. The use of bird items was prominent. There was also a fledgling opposition.

At some unknown time, a bird feather was used to adorn a hat, placed upon prominent display in shop window. It attracted the discriminating eye of a female buyer. Her adornment garnered attention, and others wanted the same.

An early indication of feathers' importance for fashion was expressed in a perspective of current trends for the autumn millinery, from a New York City point-of-view by an anonymous author well versed in the descriptive terminology of the trade.

"Fancy feathers will be the leading feature of the trimmings of winter bonnets. Merchants call these fancy feathers because of the fanciful shapes in which they are mounted, but the feathers themselves are of natural colors — not dyed — and are plucked from rare birds. These feather ornaments combine many rich colors, and are mounted in flat pieces that conform to the shape of the bonnet. Occasionally the whole bird is placed in a natural poise on the front or side of the hat, but far oftener one bird is made to do service for two hats by being split in halves from bill to tail, and having a spirited little top-knot or some tail feathers added. The beautiful Brazilian humming-birds that glisten like jewels are more used than the larger birds. Sometimes an ornament consists of five or six of these tiny birds clustered together as if in a nest, their heads and long bills crowded as if pushing each other from the nest, and thus showing their upturned throats with their beautiful plumage. There are coronets with two heads meeting in the centre, a number of tiny wings stuck next in fan shape, and tail feathers at each end; these are to be set between the crown and brim, and will serve to trim the bonnet. The object seems to be to combine as many brilliant colors as can be massed together in one of these clusters. Sometimes an Alsacian bow is formed of birds, or else of their wings, and there are feather butterflies and foliage similar to those used last year. Golden pheasants' feathers, especially the small 'eyes' of the feather, and guinea-hen feathers on borders, are shown for turbans. Bits of tinsel, of jet, and many jet beads are added to make the feather ornaments. The pompons are in great variety; one of the prettiest is the rose pompon, with feather petals tipped with tinsel; among these are black pompons and bronze with gold edges, also amaranth, plum, white and blue. Natural gray long ostrich plumes are imported, and all the new shades are shown in the tips, demi-long and Mercutio plumes, some of which are tipped with jet, or else they are waved and curled like willow plumes. Feather fringes and borders are made of the tiniest tips closely curled. Odd little tufts of white feathers like snow-flakes are dotted about in dark feather borders. Solitary birds are mounted to show their feet, and sometimes the feet are stuck in pompons or in the flat ornaments; on other pompons a dragon-fly is poised, while still others have either black or white herons' feathers standing stiffly erect in the centre." — August 1879, Harper's Bazaar, though it was the "Harper's Bazar" when published

In 1883, a newspaper article about the latest in New York fashions, included this particular indication that the color and presentation of bird parts could create a prominent statement for a fashionable urban woman.

"Feathers are in immense demand and in every gradation from the entire hat or bonnet of them will take an important rank in millinery. Feather bands will give a coveted finish on felt, velvet or other material, a feathered crown may serve as a offset to lighter surroundings, while there is an abundant supply of wings, heads, breasts and entire birds among which swallows are particularly sought after. Grotesque little imitation birds are made up of feathers and the eye rests amusedly on such small burlesques as a rooster not three inches long, pea fowls scarce larger, displaying with natural vanity a genuine plumage, etc."

During the mid-1880s, based upon a limited extent of source material, bird advocates were very much opposed to the millinery industry use of bird parts to establish their fashion.

"The destruction of millions of birds annually results from the present fashion of wearing birds on hats and bonnets. The women who wear them, and give countenance to the fashion, have doubtless done so thoughtlessly, as regards the serious destruction of bird-life thereby entailed, and without any appreciation of its extent or its results, considered from a practical stand-point. Until recently, very rarely has attention been called to the matter, or the facts in the case adequately set forth. They have therefore sinned, for the most part, unwittingly, and are thus not seriously chargeable with blame. But the case is now different, and ignorance can no longer by urged in palliation of a barbarous fashion." — Science, February 26, 1886

These words were among a multitude expressed in a special supplement to this journal, urging the protection of birds. The newly created American Ornithologists' Union added their support.

One article entitled "Destruction of Birds for Millinery Purposes" presented facts and figures on the topic. Recognition was given to an outdoor sports publication, Forest and Stream for coverage that occurred in 1884. One South Carolina dealer had prepared more than 11,000 skins for the trade.

Cobb's Island, Virginia, was prominent as well, since an "enterprising woman" had a contract to deliver at least 40,000 birds skin to a Paris millinery firm, and would receive 40 cents for each one. Species being taken included gulls and terns.

"Similar butchery has been carried on along the sandy shore of Cape Cod ... it being reported that 40,000 terns were killed here in a single season by one party for the hat-trade."

Egrets and herons were also subjects, obviously "annihilated" in "supplying the exhaustless demand for egret-plumes." The "soft, furry plumage" of grebes, also made them a target. Among the smaller birds, the birds with brighter plumage were of particular interest, including orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks, cedar waxwings, bluebirds, meadowlarks, and flickers, as well as warblers, cuckoos and other woodpeckers.

The focused view of an "ornithological friend" provides an inventory of species represented by the "hat embellishment" of eleven women among a group of thirteen riding in a Madison Avenue horse-car. The tally was:

"(1) head and wings of three European Starlings; (2) an entire bird (species unknown), of foreign origin; (3) seven warblers, representing four species; (4) a large tern; (5) the heads and wings of three shore-larks; (6) the wings of seven shore-larks, and grass finches; (7) one-half of a gallinule; (8) a small tern; (9) a turtle-dove; (10) a vireo and a yellow-breasted chat; (11) ostrich-plumes."

This exhibition was not considered as being exceptional.

Another article in this special supplement, presented details of the "destruction" of the bird-life in the vicinity of New York. There was an especially great demand for "sea-birds of white or delicate shades of color." This included terns, and they were said to have been practically exterminated in the vicinity of Moriches, Long Island. A thousand cedar-birds have been shot by one gunner. A single New York taxidermist had 30,000 birds skins in his shop.

Spare the Birds Inscribed to the Audubon Society, New York. Yes, spare the birds in springtime, when violets paint the ground, When in the shady hollows the pink anemones abound, For then they are in sweetest voice, their souls are full of song. Their softest notes, their loftiest notes they all the day prolong.   Yes, spare the birds, the lovely birds, the birds of light and air, The little feathered minstrels, whose chants ring everywhere; Yes spare as in life's journey thou would'st be spared from death, When helms are clove and plumes are shorn and fails the gasping breath!   When now the morn salutes the air with all that's fresh and sweet, Ah! let the wine that fill they air thy quickened senses greet; Then full of joy the brown thrush sings upon the garden hedge, The swallows twitter on the eaves of the old barn's mossy edge, The speckled meadow lark upsprings upon its joyous wings, And, sweeping the salt meadows, the endless praises sings!   The sweet-voiced, gay-dressed emblems of innocence and love Are surely sent to bless us by the Creative Hand above! To charm us with their plumage, delight us with their aire, And sing away our sorrows, anxieties and cares.   The apple trees are white with bloom, a wreath of rich bouquets, The peach is pink with color, the lilac blue with sprays, These are the honied haunts of redbreast and oriole, And now they strike their silver harps and pour the liquid soul.   I do not know a sweeter gush than blackbirds' mellow strain, Whether they skim the daisies or sweep the yellow grain, But ah! the richness of the notes, the blazon of the plumes, May naught avail to rescue from the butcher's dooms!   There is a little sprite, the tern, the white gull of the main, That whistles by, that flitteth by, along the sandy plain. And yet these little spectres, as spotless as the snow, Are slaughtered - to be tossed in pride o'r snowy breast and brow!   Yet all this cruel slaughter of these children of the air, Goes on, year after year, and few to say, forbear! For long as youthful beauty will wear her bird-crown crest The sordid gold will end the life in every downy breast. Isaac McLellan; Greenport, Long Island February 25, 1886 issue of Forest and Stream

An observant Frank M. Chapman — a pioneer of ornithology during these times — gathered further specifics by a couple of walk-about jaunts through the uptown business districts of the metropolis. The "native birds seen on hats born by the ladies" were summarized in a detailed list.

Robin, four.

Brown thrush, one.

Bluebird, three.

Blackburnian warbler, one.

Wilson's black-capped flycatcher, three.

Scarlet tanger, three.

White-bellied swallow, one.

Bohemian waxwing, one.

Waxwing, twenty-three.

Great northern shrike, one.

Pine grosbeak, one.

Snow bunting, fifteen.

Tree sparrow, two.

White-throated sparrow, one.

Bobolink, one.

Meadow lark, two.

Baltimore oriole, nine.

Purple grackle, five.

Bluejay, five.

Swallow-tailed flycatcher, one.

Kingbird, one.

Kingfisher, one.

Pileated woodpecker, one.

Red-headed woodpecker, two.

Golden-winged woodpecker, twenty-one.

Acadian owl, one.

Carolina dove, one.

Pinnated grouse, one.

Ruffed grouse, two.

Quail, sixteen.

Helmet quail, two.

Sanderling, five.

Big yellowlegs, one.

Green Heron, one.

Virginia rail, one.

Laughing gull, one.

Common tern, twenty-one.

Black tern, one.

Grebe, seven.

Some of the species could not be identified, as they had been mutilated, Chapman said. Of the 700 hats noted, 542 were decorated with feathers of some kind, or more than 75 percent.

One reporter suggested that an effective measure to abandon the practice of wearing dead bodies to bedeck garments, would be enforcement of the already existing laws. "Every one of the ten thousand women in Rochester who has a stuffed song bird on her hat is liable to imprisonment for a year or a fine of $25," E.R. wrote in the Rochester Post-Express, and which article was reissued in Forest and Stream. "If the satisfaction you derive from wearing a glass-eyed bird perched in an unnatural position on your hat, is equal to the pain you would undergo in the hands of the law, ..., then, according to one of the maxims of an ancient philosopher, you may take the risk." The state game constable and city game constable were going to "prosecute a vigorous spring campaign" against the practice.

A vivid account of the feather industry of New York city was written by a representative of Forest and Stream, then printed in the March 25, 1886 issue. The most famous "feather foundry" was operated by A.H. Alexander, in West Hoboken. "Millions" of bird skins had passed through his establishment during its 35 years in business.

"It is a trade of many turns and sudden whims; but I find that it runs in a cycle say of seven years. Now it is this bird, now that. Once we had a run on seafowl, and the sea swallow, as they were called, was on every hat. Then we hunted the seashore. Then, perhaps, humming birds were in demand, and down into South America we went. Just now it is whole birds for hat fronts or set pieces for turbans. What it will be next fall the Lord only knows, I don't.. It may take a sudden turn back to ostrich. A feather fancy runs about three years. In the first year the fashion is set by the best people, who pay the best prices. There willowy aigrettes are now the fashion, and so the long, slender egret points sell for $40 per ounce. The man who foresaw the fashion and has a supply makes a fortune; the man who is loaded up with stock which is not the style cannot give it away." — A.H. Alexander

The business man said that about 10-15% of the feathers came from the United States, mostly from Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

"As the feather maker talked he drew out drawer after drawer, opened tin boxes by the dozen, drew out the wrapped skins, until every section of the earth had contributed its quota. Down below stairs were coops of ring doves, sleek and coy, and genuine white doves, too, not the ordinary white pigeon. Strutting about the yard outside were peacocks in all the glory of full strut, waiting the day when in height of plumage, a severed vertebra should give them the happy dispatch and give their feathers to the adornment of some elaborate screen. Chinese pheasants too were in other coops, and all about were evidences that Mr. Alexander was an ornithologist, and differed from the ordinary feather dealer in knowing his stock in trade; for with a single feather as a text the genial tradesman could preach of family and genera, of habitat and habits, of past and present trade history, and tell, too, of trips into every nook of the world in feather quests." — Forest and Stream reporter

An especially expressive statistic was presented by C. Burton Rouse, editor of the Millinery Trade Review. He thought that $10,000,000 per year would represent the feather trade, with about 40% of that representing the amount paid to the "bird killers."

Some of the feathers used were taken from legally hunted game birds, which at the time included the prairie chicken and sandpiper, as well as various species of waterfowl.

The story ended with an indication that the feather dealers were each in favor of protection for "home birds" that could be a success through local efforts and law enforcement.

There was an active dialogue on the topic at this time. Forest and Stream editors had garnered widespread support for creating a society to protect native birds. It was named in recognition of John James Audubon. Issues of the periodical in early 1886 included letters of support and news of efforts to reduce the use of bird material by milliners.

Taxidermists expressed their opinion. John Burroughs wrote a letter of support for the bird protection group.

Dramatic changes were underway which were an essential part of the history of North American birds, though it was a period when fashion eclipsed conservation. Wild birds had attracted numerous advocates who that would actively pursue measures for their protection and conservation of habitat.

Description of Plate.

No. 1. Black felt toque, with black velvet brim, a gauze scarf crossed behind and brought forward and tied in a bow under the chin, trimming of black velvet around the crown with bows on rear right side, drooping feather on left side.

No. 2. Velvet bonnet, navy blue shade, twist of velvet in front, with gold and steel ornament for face trimming. Outside trimming, fancy Spanish cock plume ornamented with jets; red bird and navy blue bow.

No. 3. Black velvet hat, high crown, trimmed with sulphur colored ribbon and black ostrich tips.

No. 4. Beaver hat with large rough brim. Two ostrich plumes are fastened in front with steel ornaments, and fall back over crown.

No. 5. Gray felt hat with cock feather trimming around the crown. Blue green bird fastened on front the long tail feathers falling behind the hat over the crown.

No. 6. Ivory colored beaver hat, trimmed with seal brown plush, right side trimming of cream and scarlet blossoms with chenille twigs. Fancy green bird of brilliant plumage on top of crown, strings of brown plush.

Description from Millinery Trade Review 1(12): 1. Issued December 1876. Additional images are certainly in other issues, but this year and 1889 are the only two of the period found online.

---

Reference resource available online: A Woman's Nature: Attitudes and Identities of the Bird Hat Debate at the Turn of the 20th Century, a thesis by Amelia Birdsall.

Bird Conservation Measures Included in Environment Omaha Plan

Several notable provisions to promote bird conservation are included in a "new environmental vision" plan recently released by Environment Omaha for the River City.

Particularly notable are the following items included in the Natural Environment section. One particular section pertinent to bird-strikes, is included here in its entirety, is:

"5. Minimize the impact of noise, lights, hazards, and other disturbances on wildlife in the design of infrastructure and development.

"5.1 Ensure that collaborative efforts are taken when evaluating the impact of building development and building operations on wildlife, particularly migrating birds, because of Omaha's location being directly within migratory routes of many species.

"* Guidelines for building design and management/operation should be developed and promoted to reduce mortality and injury to birds from bird-building collisions.

"* Initiate a 'Lights Out' campaign to encourage building owners and managers to minimize lighting at night, particularly during bird migration seasons."

The impact of domestic and feral dogs and cats is also addressed.

An item states: "Support feral cat management and protection strategies that are designed to protect native bird species." This item is in a section about managing "human and wildlife interaction to improve biodiversity and native species... ." and also says: "Support education and regulation toward reducing the harm that unrestricted movement of pets has on native songbirds and small animals." Included in this section is the need to provide information useful for the "management and protection" of mammals and birds, and to work with merchants in the metro area to encourage "proper bird feeding and housing that will promote native bird species."

Habitat Conservation

There are several items listed to "preserve, protect, and restore natural communities" and the related "protect and preserve lands that are sensitive to disturbance or that provide unique ecological, cultural or aesthetic features." This includes particular recognition of springs, seeps and other water-based features which occur within the city.

Two notable examples would be the flowing springs at Spring Lake Park, and the springs in the east section of Elmwood Park which create Shadow Lake.

Also pertinent: "Establish land management and maintenance practices to restore and sustain natural communities, habitats, and ecosystem processes." Mentioned as being useful for this goal, includes conservation easements, adoption of "environmentally responsible strategies," and developing information and educational resources.

For the latter item, there is a particular mention of the need to establish a "natural habitat inventory" that would identify the flora and fauna of notable localities.

The document is the result of two year's of work by thousand's of volunteers, and was developed to provide an environmental element for the master plan for the city of Omaha. There were 23 members on the Natural Environment advisory committee.

The draft plan was unanimously endorsed October 6th, by the Omaha Planning Board. It is expected to be considered by the Omaha City Council in early December. If approved, it will then become a part of Omaha's Master Plan.

Once the document review process is finalized, and if approved, various entities such as the City of Omaha, the Papio-Missouri Natural Resources District, Omaha by Design and other public/private entities or groups would be expected to implement the recommendations appropriate to their interests.

Efforts on implementation of the proposed goals are still being sorted out, according to Mike McMeekin, a co-chair of the initiative.

The entire document is available for review at the Environment Omaha website, which also provides an opportunity to submit comments.

Birdlife Within Region of Proposed KeystoneXL Pipeline, Northern Nebraska

The Keystone XL pipeline has a proposed corridor which enters north-central Nebraska in Keya Paha County, and then follows a general southerly and eastern direction. The route is proposed to cross the Niobrara River at the Highway 137 bridge at Mariaville. After going through the northeast corner of Rock County, it continues through the sandhills of western and southern Holt County, then continues into Garfield County.

This corridor goes through a region where there are many places readily recognized for their importance to native fauna, especially birds. Since only a general vicinity map could be located online, the proximity of the buried pipe could not be delimited to within a quarter-mile, so this evaluation covers a larger area which includes prominent places for wild birds within the general area of a township or two of the corridor as apparent from large-scale maps.

Near the Niobrara River crossing, there are two prominent localities in the valley which have been surveyed a few times. This includes the Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary, owned by the Audubon Society of Kansas, which is a few miles westward. Right near the bridge, to the west, is Turpin Lake, which is one of the few lake areas along this portion of the river. The privately owned Focken Marsh area - with its wonderful wetland diversity and creek flows - is just a couple of miles eastward.

Within the Holt County area, there are extensive areas of sandhill wetlands - especially prominent lakes and wet meadows - which are habitat for a large variety of bird species. During the past twenty years, there have been a variety of surveys done that readily indicate the extent of bird use. More surveys were done in the period prior to 2004, than in the past few years. The gathering of this data was done on a voluntary basis.

In order to indicate the bird diversity, an analysis was done for several townships, using the records available in the "Sandhills Database," which has details for all known and available bird sightings from the region, available from 1900 to 2010, especially since the latter 1980s.

The townships analyzed were from T13-16W and R25-28W. Summary details are given for only the most prominent locales, as indicated in the species list table. Overall there is information of one extent or another from more than 50 localities, with the number of records varying from one to 680 records, with a total of more than 3400 distinct records. All of these have been obtained by site surveys or visits since 1990, to limit the scope to the current time period. Nearly all of the records have been collected by J.E. Ducey or L.E. Blake (especially in the early 1990s, with shorebird surveys at Chain Lake in 1990 and 1991), or derived from sightings by other birders as reported in the literature or online.

A typical site survey would entail finding a prominent vantage point(s) where the area could seen, and then count each of the birds observed, with diligence given to ensure any individuals were not counted more than once. On a few occasions, this might have entailed a hike around a particular lake, such as Dora Lake.

Prominent Localities

The following are the localities for which there are more than 50 records available for comparison:

Site - Number of Records

Swan Lake - 680; waterfowl and waterbirds prevalent

Chain Lake - 678; shorebirds and waterbirds prevalent

Dora Lake - 542; shorebirds and waterbirds prevalent

Blake Ranch - 452; meadow and upland species

Focken Marsh - 237; riverine lake and marsh

Grass Lakebed - 146; wet meadow and marsh species

Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary - 117

Lambs Lake - 85; included a cattle egret colony

Overton Lake - 72

Doral Valley - 72; in the immediate vicinity of Dora Lake

Dora Lake Meadow - 64; in the immediate vicinity of Dora Lake

Atlas Block 6H04 - 59

Bruner Lake - 58; the bird history for this site dates back to 1883

Bird Diversity

There have been at least 204 species recorded in the area being considered, based on a consideration of the localities given in the following table. The value given is a combined sum of the number counted during the various surveys; a zero value indicates no information was kept on how many were seen. These numbers help indicate whether a species can be considered common, unusual or rare.

Common Name	Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary	Turpin Lake, Niobrara River	Focken Marsh	Dora Lake	Lambs Lake	Blake Ranch	Swan Lake	Chain Lake
Greater White-fronted Goose	-	-	-	-	-	-	150	132
Cackling Goose	-	1	-	-	-	-	70	-
Canada Goose	19	4	1	749	126	357	549	419
Trumpeter Swan	-	-	-	1	2	-	1	-
Wood Duck	-	-	1	28	-	38	21	-
Gadwall	-	2	-	799	50	15	97	114
American Wigeon	-	-	-	47	25	55	41	104
Mallard	2	4	0	609	57	310	296	1314
Blue-winged Teal	3	-	0	246	8	43	67	135
Northern Shoveler	-	-	-	790	29	74	878	285
Northern Pintail	-	-	-	98	-	56	73	760
Green-winged Teal	-	-	-	85	-	50	97	133
Canvasback	-	-	-	25	15	-	55	-
Redhead	-	-	-	121	15	2	252	91
Ring-necked Duck	-	-	-	-	-	203	83	23
Lesser Scaup	-	-	0	64	56	21	489	237
Bufflehead	-	-	-	16	25	9	370	17
Common Goldeneye	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	21
Hooded Merganser	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	2
Common Merganser	6	16	-	5	-	-	904	166
Ruddy Duck	-	-	-	115	7	-	156	37
Ring-necked Pheasant	0	-	0	1	1	8	1	-
Sharp-tailed Grouse	11	-	-	-	-	-	3	1
Greater Prairie-Chicken	-	-	-	7	6	52	3	17
Wild Turkey	23	1	6	-	-	-	20	-
Northern Bobwhite	-	-	1	-	-	12	-	-
Common Loon	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Pied-billed Grebe	-	-	0	1	15	1	1	2
Horned Grebe	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	10
Eared Grebe	-	-	-	102	-	-	20	2
Western Grebe	-	-	-	34	-	-	15	-
American White Pelican	-	-	0	626	31	-	202	60
Double-crested Cormorant	-	-	0	394	14	12	382	55
American Bittern	-	-	-	1	1	8	2	-
Great Blue Heron	3	-	1	35	4	1	21	3
Great Egret	-	-	-	3	-	-	1	-
Cattle Egret	-	-	0	5	115	-	7	1
Green Heron	-	-	0	-	-	-	1	-
Black-crowned Night-Heron	-	-	-	4	2	-	-	-
White-faced Ibis	-	-	-	2	1	-	-	-
Turkey Vulture	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Osprey	1	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
Bald Eagle	2	2	1	2	-	6	3	63
Northern Harrier	-	-	0	-	1	4	2	3
Sharp-shinned Hawk	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-
Cooper's Hawk	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Swainson's Hawk	0	-	-	-	-	29	2	2
Red-tailed Hawk	2	3	7	1	-	6	1	4
Rough-legged Hawk	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Golden Eagle	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-
American Kestrel	8	-	0	-	-	16	9	4
Peregrine Falcon	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Prairie Falcon	1	-	-	-	-	2	-	2
Virginia Rail	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	-
Sora	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
American Coot	-	-	0	1238	385	-	261	142
Sandhill Crane	-	1	0	145	-	13	265	12
Whooping Crane	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-
Black-bellied Plover	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
American Golden-Plover	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	6
Semipalmated Plover	-	-	-	34	-	-	3	33
Piping Plover	-	-	0	21	-	-	4	3
Killdeer	1	-	2	439	3	10	17	727
Black-necked Stilt	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
American Avocet	-	-	-	34	1	-	-	26
Greater Yellowlegs	-	-	-	32	-	13	1	6
Lesser Yellowlegs	-	-	-	247	-	8	2	102
Solitary Sandpiper	-	-	-	-	-	11	-	-
Willet	-	-	-	35	1	2	4	14
Spotted Sandpiper	-	-	0	82	1	2	7	61
Upland Sandpiper	0	-	0	82	5	-	8	5
Long-billed Curlew	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Marbled Godwit	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	6
Ruddy Turnstone	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
Sanderling	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	57
Semipalmated Sandpiper	-	-	-	130	-	-	30	351
Western Sandpiper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	42
Least Sandpiper	-	-	0	47	-	-	1	47
White-rumped Sandpiper	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	275
Baird's Sandpiper	-	-	-	119	-	-	26	333
Pectoral Sandpiper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
Dunlin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Stilt Sandpiper	-	-	-	35	-	-	5	124
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
Short-billed Dowitcher	-	-	-	39	-	-	-	13
Long-billed Dowitcher	-	-	0	55	-	-	31	90
Wilson's Snipe	-	-	1	21	1	28	4	-
Wilson's Phalarope	-	-	-	233	4	34	226	1901
Red-necked Phalarope	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24
Franklin's Gull	-	-	0	38	-	-	4	4
Bonaparte's Gull	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
Ring-billed Gull	-	-	-	87	15	-	36	67
Black-legged Kittiwake	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Forster's Tern	-	-	0	19	-	-	-	-
Least Tern	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
Black Tern	-	-	-	76	105	-	515	17
Mourning Dove	12	-	2	31	5	2	41	15
Black-billed Cuckoo	-	-	0	-	-	2	-	-
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	0	-	-	9	-	-
Eastern Screech-Owl	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Great Horned Owl	-	-	0	4	-	4	1	7
Common Nighthawk	0	-	1	18	1	508	1	2
Chimney Swift	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Belted Kingfisher	1	-	0	-	-	3	1	-
Red-headed Woodpecker	2	-	1	-	1	-	2	8
Red-bellied Woodpecker	-	2	1	-	-	2	-	-
Downy Woodpecker	2	2	2	-	-	2	3	3
Hairy Woodpecker	2	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Flicker	24	6	3	10	1	10	13	11
Eastern Wood-Pewee	0	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
Willow Flycatcher	0	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	5
Eastern Phoebe	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Great Crested Flycatcher	0	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Western Kingbird	0	-	-	3	-	3	4	8
Eastern Kingbird	0	-	1	15	2	8	12	9
Loggerhead Shrike	-	-	-	1	-	2	1	2
Bell's Vireo	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
Warbling Vireo	0	-	2	-	-	18	5	1
Red-eyed Vireo	0	-	3	-	-	-	-	-
Blue Jay	2	3	7	2	-	1	11	1
Black-billed Magpie	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	1
American Crow	172	6	78	15	-	3	38	4
Horned Lark	2	-	-	146	6	1	1	9
Purple Martin	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tree Swallow	-	-	5	85	2	-	326	1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	-	-	3	3	-	-	128	16
Bank Swallow	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
Cliff Swallow	0	-	0	25	-	-	70	-
Barn Swallow	11	-	7	188	2	1	56	13
Black-capped Chickadee	8	13	7	2	-	2	5	3
White-breasted Nuthatch	5	4	7	1	-	2	-	-
Brown Creeper	2	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
House Wren	0	-	4	5	-	4	5	4
Winter Wren	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-
Sedge Wren	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	-
Marsh Wren	4	-	3	-	10	-	54	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Eastern Bluebird	1	0	12	-	-	11	1	50
Mountain Bluebird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Townsend's Solitaire	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Swainson's Thrush	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	2
American Robin	2	44	5	23	4	11	46	13
Gray Catbird	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Brown Thrasher	0	-	0	4	-	3	5	5
European Starling	12	-	1	17	2	1	15	8
American Pipit	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	102
Sprague's Pipit	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-
Cedar Waxwing	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-
Yellow Warbler	0	-	3	3	2	13	17	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	5	5	-	-	-	14	7	2
Ovenbird	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Connecticut Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	0	-	4	2	1	9	17	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	0	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
Spotted Towhee	1	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	1	-	-	10	-	-
American Tree Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	284	11	1
Chipping Sparrow	0	2	-	-	-	60	25	6
Clay-colored Sparrow	-	-	0	-	-	23	-	-
Field Sparrow	-	2	2	-	-	7	7	1
Vesper Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	39	-	3
Lark Sparrow	1	-	8	6	6	12	15	8
Lark Bunting	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Savannah Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	11	2	3
Grasshopper Sparrow	0	-	2	10	1	8	8	1
Le Conte's Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-
Fox Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Song Sparrow	4	-	3	-	-	15	10	-
Lincoln's Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	32	3	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	8	-	-	4	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-
Harris's Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-
White-crowned Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	16	2	-
Dark-eyed Junco	8	15	7	-	-	23	1	-
Lapland Longspur	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	50
Northern Cardinal	-	5	3	-	-	-	-	-
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Black-headed Grosbeak	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Blue Grosbeak	0	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Lazuli Bunting	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-
Indigo Bunting	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Dickcissel	1	-	7	11	1	3	7	1
Bobolink	0	-	6	1	7	55	10	-
Red-winged Blackbird	0	10	12	2133	6	1	621	8
Eastern Meadowlark	2	-	-	5	-	-	10	1
Western Meadowlark	2	2	1	22	1	2	16	14
Yellow-headed Blackbird	-	-	0	20	8	8	26	-
Rusty Blackbird	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-
Brewer's Blackbird	-	-	-	-	-	221	-	-
Common Grackle	5	-	3	6	4	5	23	3
Brown-headed Cowbird	5	-	4	60	15	5	13	4
Orchard Oriole	0	-	2	-	-	1	14	1
Baltimore Oriole	0	-	2	1	-	2	4	4
Purple Finch	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
House Finch	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Red Crossbill	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	8
Common Redpoll	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-
Pine Siskin	-	-	-	-	-	33	1	-
American Goldfinch	4	-	2	3	-	2	25	8
House Sparrow	0	-	32	1	-	-	2	-

These records are indicative of the extensive use of the area habitats by a great diversity of birds of many sorts. if there were further surveys, the actual extent of bird use could be more precisely determined, but this is not happening, so information can only be derived from the records which are available.

The many waterfowl counted at Dora Lake, Swan Lake and Chain Lake indicate the value of these prominent wetlands to ducks and geese. Shoreline at Dora Lake and Chain Lake contribute additional habitat for their use by shore- and waterbirds.

Many of the unusual songbirds noted at the Blake Ranch occurred because of the presence of bird feeders.

The details given here are a simple summary, though with the many records available, a detailed analysis could be prepared to refine the presentation about the wild birds occurrence, in a manner similar for that done for the survey report issued for southern Holt County.

Shorebird Surveys

Shorebird surveys were done by L.E. Blake approximately every week during two seasons at Chain Lake. His counts indicate the number of each species on the day of the survey, with a summary of the total numbers noted in each year provided in the following table:

Common Name	1990	1991
Greater Yellowlegs	1	5
Lesser Yellowlegs	14	88
Willet	1	13
Spotted Sandpiper	10	51
Upland Sandpiper	5	-
Long-billed Curlew	1	-
Marbled Godwit	6	-
Sanderling	56	1
Semipalmated Sandpiper	13	338
Western Sandpiper	11	31
Least Sandpiper	14	33
White-rumped Sandpiper	-	275
Baird's Sandpiper	45	288
Pectoral Sandpiper	3	-
Dunlin	-	1
Stilt Sandpiper	7	117
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	6	-
Short-billed Dowitcher	4	9
Long-billed Dowitcher	38	52
Wilson's Phalarope	221	1680
Red-necked Phalarope	20	4

There are nearly 3500 bird use days indicated by the count results, with each occurrence being valuable for each particular bird, which can thus be interpreted as an economic value.

The highest counts were for the Wilson's Phalarope, with about 1000 on April 27, 1991. Semipalmated Sandpipers were the next most common, etc. The Dunlin and Long-billed Curlew were the most rare.

Summary

A wide variety and number of bird species are typical in the myriad of habitats associated with the corridor of the proposed KeystoneXL pipeline. Each of the sites in the area are distinctly unique, and this is indicated by the number of birds and species.

Construction of the pipeline could have an influence on the wetland habitats. Placing a 36" pipe underground - wherea heated oil mixture was being moved - might influence the flowing springs or otherwise alter the current flow characteristics of the aquifer water, perhaps reducing the movement of groundwater which now nourishes a lake or pond which is a known haven for some birds. One of the proposed pumping stations appears to be placed in the vicinity of Chain Lake, south of Chambers.

While looking at the documents relative to this project, there was no information apparent which directly addressed the wetlands in the eastern Sand Hills and their importance for wild birds. Little or nothing was said about the flowing wells, which are such a unique feature in southern Holt County, where a flowing well fountain is a prominent feature of Amelia, and an important part of the place's history. This is a topic for further consideration elsewhere.

Just to the south of the Niobrara Valley, nothing has been said to address how a newly created ditch in the ground might influence the groundwater flows which provide the waters which are expressed in distinct variety by several creeks on the south side of the valley, east of Mariaville. This aspect is also apparently missing from the broad-scale, draft environmental assessment.

The environmental assessment for the proposed KeystoneXL pipeline is required to consider all and any impacts on natural habitats and native fauna, and by providing this brief analysis of the birds, the prevalence and importance of sites within the area is now available for public review, and might now be considered in any evaluation of environmental concerns.

Images courtesy of Loren E. "Bub" Blake of Chambers, NE, as provided several years ago. Mr. Blake is now deceased.