[BCNnet] Bird migration terminology - FYI

[donniebird at yahoo.com]

I spoke with Doug Stotz of the Field Museum about this.  He agrees that
birds migrate on a "broadfront" from the Rockies to the Atlantic, but that
is when they are flying long distances, and is at relatively high altitudes.
Doug points out that when they descend to rest and feed it's not everywhere,
but where there is habitat.  And habitat, especially desirable habitat is
concentrated.  We certainly have good concentrated habitat here in Illinois
and this is where we go birding because it's where the birds breed, rest and
feed, but it is largely not in agricultural areas.  Rather than calling them
'flyways' maybe it's more accurate to call them 'descend-ways' (a term that
probably won't catch on but you get my point).   

 

Thus when wind turbines are proposed in places like the lakefront and
Horicon marsh it is incumbent on birders to organize to strongly oppose
them.  However, when they are planned for areas composed largely of corn and
soybean fields it is no less important for birders to strongly support them.
For a lot of reasons that are very good for people, habitat and birds, and
causing far less harm than fossil fuel generated energy, wind generation is
a powerful force that will increasingly be part of our energy future.  We
can be purists and oppose everything that is suggested or constructive
participants by applauding their siting in appropriate landscapes.  

 

Donnie Dann

Highland Park, IL

donniebird at yahoo.com.  

 

  _____  

From: bcnnet-bounces at ece.iit.edu [mailto:bcnnet-bounces at ece.iit.edu] On
Behalf Of Randi Doeker - Chicago
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 11:46 AM
To: bcnnet at ece.iit.edu
Subject: [BCNnet] Bird migration terminology - FYI

 

At the (really great) Wisconsin Audubon conference on Friday, the keynote
speaker from the US Fish and Wildlife Service made a special point of
explaining misunderstandings that bird conservationists have regarding some
common terminology.  These misunderstandings are now having serious
consequences - and so I share his info:

 

1) "Migratory Bird Flyway"  -  this term describes only the
personnel/administrative territories for waterfowl migration. It's more
about bodies of water or wetlands than birds. But most important, it is only
about waterfowl.

 

2)  The maps that show Doppler radar shots of birds migrating across the
country show us where all the Doppler radar equipment is - not where all the
birds are. The blank spots are devoid of radar rays, not birds.

 

3) "Broadfront migration" - that's the term that USFWS uses to describe
migration for the vast majority of birds. The borders of the path IL is in
are the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.

 

It's at this point that birders start pointing out that birds do fly
reliably along certain corridors.  Yep, some species follow preferred
habitat, etc., but when looked at in total, birds can be found anywhere and
everywhere east of the Rockies. 

 

Why the misunderstanding about these terms has become a serious problem is
because the executives in the tower and turbine industries have been led to
believe that birds do fly in specific flight paths that can be mapped.  The
maps that are in bird and conservation books perpetuate this myth.  At the
conference the head of Wisconsin Broadcasting asked for a map of where birds
fly so they could avoid them. The federal employees just shook their heads
in dismay.

 

Randi Doeker

Chicago

 

 

 

 

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