Saturday, July 23, 2011
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Wrong. One bird we caught never seemed to pair up and unsurprisingly vanished a few days later, only to re-appear and then vanish again, seemingly for good this time. The other bird appeared to find a mate, as it was observed several times in the close company of another bird, often in the same tree. A nest seemed imminent, and we would be sure to find it. And then, one day, no signal. Gone, into thin air. Soon, the tail began playing out all over our study sites. Birds that had stuck around for weeks, appearing to set up territories and attract mates are MIA.
Soon all 6 birds had seemingly departed from one of our plots, leaving behind countless White-winged Doves and Western Kingbirds, but no cuckoos. Or so we thought, until today when another cuckoos appeared, not 100m from where our happy pair had once staked a claim. Not one of our telemetered birds, we could only shake our heads and wonder; where did you come from, and where will you go? North, to cooler forests and wider rivers? South, to valleys passed over weeks ago that now look more inviting than the LCR? East or West, searching for greener lands outside the burning desert? Or do you just wander aimlessly, not knowing what you seeking but seeking it nonetheless?
We may never know. But if this is your destination, if you've found what you're looking for, will you do us a favor? Will you build yourself a nest, strong and sturdy and well shaded? If you do, you can bet we'll be looking for it. And wherever you're going, I hope you find what you're looking for.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The 'Cuckoo-Finder' in Action!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Survey and Telemetry (at Cibola)
Three days ago, I radio-tracked a bird that has been jumping around one of our sites, named GRE. It was caught near a known nest that was being sat on by DG, another transmittered bird, so there was potential that it was DG’s mate. I sat near the nest in some camo, but of course DG figured out I was there and I had to reposition in the thick willows where he couldn’t see me as I radio-tracked. With my view of the nest obstructed, I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but it sounded like GRE was very nearby DG’s nest after she had come off her roost about 200 meters away. The birds were doing vocal exchanges, and switching places near the nest quite a bit, so it looked like GRE was probably on the nest. DG is very smart though, and very territorial, so I had to be super sneaky and quiet under my camo; because he knew I was there, he didn’t go very far away.
Eventually when it seemed like DG left the nest area, GRE came back in. It really sounded like GRE was on the nest, so I walked in for a better look since DG seemed to be out of earshot. Sure enough, a bird with a transmitter was sitting on it, and GRE’s signal was coming right from the nest; DG was at least 150 meters away! Within minutes, DG arrived, as if he somehow knew an intruder was near his nest. He started knocking (a cuckoo alarm call), so I backed off and let them figure things out. DG took GRE’s place on the nest (as if to say “I’ll do it you nincompoop!”), and GRE went off foraging. It really looks like DG is the more territorial of the two birds, and spends much more time on the nest than GRE. There is one other nest with unknown ownership, so sitting by it may be the best option to find out if any of our other telemetry birds are sitting on it. Cuckoo telemetry is very tricky. You have to stay far enough away so that you aren’t disturbing the bird, but close enough to understand what is happening. The best thing to do is to find a small open area in good cover (like the short/dense willow!), and stay there as long as possible. As long as you aren’t moving, you can get a good sense of the places your cuckoo is visiting/re-visiting, or sitting for long periods of time. Of course, this is easier said than done, and just when you feel like you get into a great position, your cuckoo books it. If a cuckoo re-visits its roost location a few hours after getting off roost, chances are it is returning to a nest. Or, if it doesn’t seem to be doing much at sunrise, it may be taking over a nest-sitting shift.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Field Work...My first 2 days in Blythe, CA
On our first day of work, Alex and I joined Shannon and two other technicians for banding. We help set up the net, but then Alex and I just roamed around in the distance, on call incase any birds needed to be flushed into the net. We ended up catching 3 cuckoos! I didn't stick around to take pics, because I was kind of antsy to start looking for cuckoos. I ventured to the infamous "Black Annie" territory, a cuckoo we banded last year. She'd been recaptured this year, but not given a radio-transmitter, as she had the year before. She is clearly faithful to her territory, so any resight is very valuable information. Unfortunately a Yellow-billed Cuckoo is just about the hardest bird to resight color bands on. They sit low on branches and crouch over their feet, hiding their brightly colored bands..so, you have to be looking at the bird *as* it lands, or *as* it takes off, or as it scrambles around a tree trying ti hide from you. Black Annie nested last year, but we couldn't capture her mate. I was hoping to see the pair, but only got a brief glimpse of a cucko near her old nest. It could have been her, her mate, or a fledgling from last year. Nearby, a fledgling from last year was recaptured and given a radio-transmitter, showing natal site fidelity! (this bird is nicknamed "Fuzzy Jr." since his dad was named "Fuzzy." Even though these sites are small, we are learning a ton of information about cuckoos because of them. I was also able to check on a nest found a few days ago by Shannon that miraculously has 4 eggs in it (Yellow-billed Cuckoos typically have 3). Here is a picture of the bird on the nest. Despite having caught 2 birds near this nest, neither seem to be associated with it (one of them is "Fuzzy Jr." and the other was a cuckoo that migrated out of the site last night).
!
CUCKOO SCOOP IS BACK!!!!
Thanks!!!! Anna
Friday, August 20, 2010
Three generations of yellow-billed cuckoos banded at CVCA
About a week later Screech started nesting, and 15 days after that we banded his 3 nestlings each with a yellow band on one leg and a gold band on the other leg. Here is Screech Junior, estimated to be 5 days old.
We never saw any of them again, and weren't sure if they had even made it, until July 31st this year, when Screech Junior (the oldest of the 3) flew into our mist net. He still had his gold band, but his yellow band had fallen off. (Diane was very happy to see him again). We gave him 3 new color bands and attached a transmitter to him as well….
…and soon discovered that he was nesting, just 135 meters from his birth place! This shows that at least some cuckoos have high natal site fidelity. On August 14th we banded his 3 nestlings, and they all successfully fledged by August 18th. Here is his nest high in a cottonwood.
Hopefully next year they will all return to breed, and we will be waiting for them!
Friday, August 13, 2010
TGB Recapture
TGB's head profile, straight on. (photo by Alex Lamoreaux)
TGB (photo by Alex Lamoreaux)
Underside of TGB's wing. (photo by Alex Lamoreaux)
For more photos by Alex Lamoreaux of cuckoos from this season, visit this Picasa Web Album.