Tracking "Alfy"

Today I set out to track Alfy (short for "Alfy Alfalfa"), a cuckoo we caught a few weeks ago in a restoration plot that still has a thick bed of alfalfa on the forest floor.  He had a succesful nest that fledged chicks about a week ago, and he is likely feeding the chicks in the area.  I found his roost location aound 5:00 am this morning, then he took off for the area near his former nest, about 100 meters south of it.  After awhile I got a visual of Alfy sitting in a willow tree with a huge cicada in his beak!  Of course when I started snapping away photos, probably the best I'd had yet of any cuckoo (bands and transmitter in view), actually in good lighting, my camera informed me that I had forgotten my memory card.  So here is where I would have put the photo.  Use your imagination.

Alfy was likely about to feed one of his fledglings, who probably look quite similar to adult cuckoos right now.  However when we saw eachother, we each froze, and Alfy decided to stay frozen for the next ten minutes while I crawled away to a less obtrusive vantage point.  So, I couldn't figure out what he had planned for the cicada.  Soon a flock of cowbirds moved in and started harassing Alfy.  He flew to a few different trees with the cicada before escaping into a thicker stand of cottonwood.  I followed him but found nothing miraculous.  He never called and no other birds in the area called. 

Nearby, on a nest (of unbanded birds) that hatched a chick yesterday, we found two chicks today.  In just 4 days the first chick will make his way out of the nest!  Here is where I would have put the photo of the two fat little cuckoo chicks...

There is another pair of cuckoos at a nearby site, but we couldn't figure out what they were up to...cuckoos are acting very strange right now with breeding season in full swing, and are no longer talkative.  When they do talk, it is to lead you away from their nest and chicks.  So just when you think you've got a nest area pinned down, they fly away and start alarm calling elsewhere.  They might even enjoy watching us walk in circles, taking bearings in every direction possible.

To find a cuckoo...

Today I set out to find a cuckoo.  Any cuckoo really!  Everyone went to our site that is loaded with cuckoos to make an attempt at capturing another cuckoo and tracking down some more nests.  This site is our cuckoo hotspot and going their is a guarantee that you will see a cuckoo! 

I went to a site at Cibola NWR, where a pair of cuckoos has been heard calling together early in the morning.  So, I set up shop near the area they were last heard, and I waited, and listened.  At 4:57, nothing but White-winged and Morning Doves were calling, hundreds of them, cooing from their nests in the cottonwoods.  At 5:04, house finches started singing, followed a few minutes later by Ash-throated Flycatchers.  At quarter after five, I heard the days first Ladder-backed woodpecker, but still no cuckoos.  A few minutes later, Western Kingbirds started calling, and bats started flying low in the trees looking for places to roost.  At 5:24, mosquitos apparently woke up and started buzzing into my ear.  This was quickly followed by the sound of bullfrogs, and the sight of a green darner dragonfly patrolling his territory and snatching up bugs.  At this point it seemed like everything was active but this mysterious pair of cuckoos.  At 5:30, as a Black-chinned hummingbird buzzed by, cicadas started moving in the trees, being chased by birds.  Surely the cuckoos were up by now and chasing bugs somewhere else.  When tracking LJ about a week ago, he made his first vocal exchange of the day at 5:25, and was off his nest and contact calling in his territory by 5:40.  If there were any cuckoos here....well, there weren't any cuckoos here, at least on this side of the plot.  I set off on foot and played a few contact calls.  It took a few minutes, but a YBCU did come in and contact call.  I believe I called him from afar since it took him so long to respond.  So really, this didn't show me anything about a nest, just that a cuckoo was here and responsive, since he quickly headed back east towards where he came from when he realized I was just a human intruder.  When he got back east, he started a vocal exchange with another bird, so I headed that way about 200 meters along a trail lined with thick mesquite and an occasional cottonwood.  I got to where I thought the birds were calling from and played a call...I immediately heard a loud "KUK KUK KUK KUK KOWLP KOWLP KOWLP!" only about 10 meters away from me, showing that the cuckoo didn't really have time to fly in from anywhere, and this spot might show something important, like a nest.  Immediately the cuckoo flew in to check me out, and was apparently shocked to see a human.  He started alarm calling with rapid knocks, but stuck around for a few minutes.  To my surprise he was banded, with a bright orange band over a vivid white band on his right leg.  I knew it had to be Kicker, a cuckoo the team caught a few weeks ago at this location, but didn't put a transmitter on (since we ran OUT of transmitters!).  He let me know I was not welcomed while I recorded all of my data.  Meanwhile, another cuckoo flew in to see what the commotion was about, and both quickly started exchanging contact calls, likely discussing this horrible intrusion in their home.  This second bird appears to be unbanded, but it looks like Kicker is paired up!  I backed off to let the birds settle down, hopefully back on a nest or territory.  About 20 minutes went by before one of them contact called, so I quickly walked back to the area.  I got their quick enough to see a glimpse of the bird who called fly off towards the direction of the other birds contact call.  It looks like the pair is just checking things out; I nest searched the entire area around the area where they knocked, but found nothing but doves and baby doves in dove nests.  I think at least in a few days, they will be nesting, if they aren't already, and the nest should be relatively easy to find since the area they used today was small and easy to search.

Meanwhile, Alex re-sighted Black Annie today near one of her fledglings, and got photos of her bright yellow eye ring!  See his blog here for photos and stories.  LJ was recaptured today, and a new bird was caught and banded!

I didn't bring my camera on the cuckoo hunt today, which almost always ensures something cool will happen, like a re-sight or finding a nest.  I did however, have it when I drove past this very hot roadrunner, that couldn't even be bothered to run away in the heat.  At this time in the day it was around 105 degrees, and the roadrunner didn't mind me taking a few photos.

note cucko-like tail and zygodactyl toes

Searching for YBCU's near Yuma, AZ and Blythe, CA YBCU update

On the 23rd and 24th, Alex and I continued our surveys near Yuma.  There were no cuckoos to be found, and if they were there...they weren't talking.  As usual we kept from going into cuckoo-depression by finding some other birds at our sites. 

Abert's Towhee trying to knock down sunflower seeds

Vermillion Flycatcher

female Lazuli Bunting (lifer)

Red-tailed hawk being chased by a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds

We passed the time in town searching for bookstores, where, at Hasting's bookstore in town, we found the newest edition Peterson's Guide to the Birds of North America for just 8 dollars and had to refrain from buying multiple copies.  Even better, it was a "value" book, which meant that you could buy 2 at this value price and get one for a dollar.  So, three Peterson's for 17 dollars....what a bargain!  At a used bookstore we found a 1956 Peterson for 3 dollars, where we then passed even more time comparing the two Peterson's.  Aside from range accounts and a few species accounts, in addition to a few name changes, not much has changed!

Back in Blythe, we missed a lot of action!  Black Annie, a cuckoo that dropped her transmitter (and tail feathers) earlier in the season was spotted feeding fledgling cuckoos at a nest that Tim found a day earlier!  Even more interesting is that Black Annie now has a full yellow eye ring; when we caught her, it was all gray.  It is speculated that juvenile or younger cuckoos have this yellow eye ring, but this is clearly not the case!  Shannon says there is one account where a researcher made this observation of a full yellow-eye ring in the breeding season, but as with most theories about cuckoos, it needs more research!  Most of the cuckoos we capture have grayish eye rings, and only a few show slight yellow on the eye ring.  Alex observed another cuckoo with a bright yellow eye-ring at a nest we found about a week ago, while he tried to tape record some YBCU calls at the nest.  Also, two new unbanded pairs were seen copulating, and we will try to capture them tomorrow to band them and hopefully pin down some more nest locations!  In other news, LJ the cuckoo has abandoned his nest due to potential predation.  The last day he attended his nest was July 18th while I did telemetry on him, when he visited the nest a few times.  A chick was likely hatched, but got predated, as did the other egg in his nest.  LJ is now roaming around, likely looking for an area to re-nest.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Surveys at Imperial NWR, AZ: June 21-23

After returning from Mexico, we started our third round of surveys near Yuma, Arizona.  Alex and I surveyed our site at Imperial NWR, and had two cuckoo detections, likely of the same bird.  It is strange, though, that we detected this bird in nearly the exact same spot as previous YBCU's on previous surveys.  We didn't get to band the Imperial birds, so we don't know if this is the same bird/pair we have been seeing.  At other sites, we have detected cuckoos in the exact same areas, around two weeks apart.  These may be the same birds, or these stands of trees may just be highly attractive to YBCU's for a reason unknown to us.  This reminds me of a few Northern Saw-whet Owls in PA on a tracking project I worked on, when two owls roosted in the same exact chestnut oak tree on different nights, and each a number of times.  Another time, two owls roosted in nearly the same tree, just a few nights apart (Northern Saw-whet Owl Blog 2008) This doesn't sound that odd, but when you look at the surrounding habitat, full of similar-looking chestnut oaks and pines, or cottonwoods and willows, it makes you wonder what the birds can see that we do not. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Imperial NWR

Yellow-billed Cuckoo about to be mobbed by pair of Western Kingbirds

Later in the day while travelling home, we found this Great-horned owl sitting on the powerpole, calling into the darkness.  We also found this burro and her baby walking along in the darkness.

Great-horned Owl

wild burro female and young burro

Los Cuclillo de Pico Amarillo en Mexico

 

Staff from Southern Sierra Research Station, ProNatura, and the Sonoran Institute

endangered Yuma Clapper Rail

On the 19th of June, we arrived in San Luis, Mexico, which is literally right over the border, just south of Yuma, Arizona. I was in a car with Shannon, when we accidentally turned left where there was a sign that said no left turns. This is pretty much the first turn you have to make when on the south side of the border, and I can imagine many people make the same mistake daily. Immediately a man on a bike drove out in front of us, signaling us to pull over. Apparently this was a cop on a bike. Luckily Shannon speaks Spanish very well, and $43 dollars and 10 minutes later we were on our way. We doubt the legitimacy of this encounter with a “cop!”

We then met with staff from ProNatura, the nonprofit group who we were to teach how to survey for Yellow-billed Cuckoos, or as they are known in Mexico, Los Cuclillo de Pico Amarillo. We made a plan for the next day, which included splitting up into 4 groups with each of us (Shannon, Diane, Alex, and myself) in a group to lead the training. We spent the night in San Luis.

Early the next morning, we met with the group of people who were interested in learning how to survey for cuckoos. ProNatura has established many restoration plots, containing the same tree species as our sites in Blythe, CA and Yuma, AZ; cottonwood, willow, and mesquite. These are mostly in the early stages of restoration, but that habitat is already quite suitable for cuckoos, and will continue to get better and more attractive through time.

We were split into groups, and I joined three people from ProNatura in a truck headed for Laguna Corri and Laguna Gato. After a few minutes in the car we all realized that I couldn’t exactly speak Spanish, and they couldn’t exactly speak English. It is amazing, though, how one can communicate with few words and hand signals! I think this trip proved that I have retained about 1% of what I learned in Spanish class in high school. We had also converted our data sheet into Spanish, which helped them figure out exactly what we do on a survey.

At our first point of the survey at Laguna Corre, I understood that this was the exact spot that they had seen a cuckoo on the 29th of June, just three weeks earlier! This cuckoo was likely migrating through, but it would be possible for it to stay for breeding season, since that habitat seemed ideal, with older willow trees surrounded by mesquite and scattered cottonwoods. After 5 broadcasts of the cuckoo contact call, though, no cuckoo appeared. Many cicadas, where out however, which, in Spanish, is “Chacharro.” We managed to get about 11 survey points in on very good habitat, mostly willow. We saw similar bird species at we see at our sites, but specialties were a White-tailed Kite, Cactus Wren, and Green Heron. On Alex’s route, his team found a Western Screech Owl, Least Bitterns, and when I joined them, we found an endangered Yuma Clapper Rail!  Even better, they had three cuckoo detections.  Shannon's team had one cuckoo detection, and Diane's had none.  All of the sites are very promising and will only be more attractive to cuckoos through time.  Although the lower Colorado River will never again be in its natural state, it is amazing to see the species that “return” when the proper habitat is restored.

This area is an excellent birding destination, and ProNatura hopes that Ave-tourism will increase through time as the restoration sites attract more and more birds. If you want to plan a birding trip in Mexico, please contact ProNatura for a tour! Their guides are some of the best birders I have ever met, and they are located just over the border which makes for a close and easy trip.  Staff from the Sonoran Institue also attended the YBCU training.  Check out Alex's blog for some pictures of the YBCU's we found!

More CA wildlife, June 19th

On June 19th, I drove through Cibola NWR and a few surrounding areas looking for cuckoos.  While we have many cuckoos at a few of our sites, it is always possible that a few are sneaking around at other sites, potentially nesting.  I travelled to three different sites early in the AM, where I sat and listened for a cuckoo contact call.  Cuckoos make a contact call when they do a nest exchange or announce one, and do call from their nest, so any bearing on a call may lead to a nest.  I didn't hear any cuckoos, though, and none responded to my broadcasts, but I did find a few other good birds while out searching.

Greater Roadrunner

Bell's Vireo

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Surveys and Telemetry, and CA wildlife: June 14 - June 18

We've been busy in Blythe doing our third round of surveys looking for more cuckoos that have been deciding to make our sites their breeding territories.  While we were gone, our crew found two cuckoo nests!!!!  One had two eggs in it, while the other had two chicks in it, already a few days old! 

Photo: Diane Tracy

On the 14th, I set out to track Gilligan, a YBCU we captured a few days earlier.  Ginger the cuckoo had already left the site where she was captured for greener pastures up river.  Unfortunately Gilligan did the same, taking our transmitter with him!  Hopefully they turn up at a site near Lake Havasu, or returns to one of our sites next year and is re-sighted.  Later in the morning I tracked TGB, a cuckoo who seems to be setting up a territory near the nest of LJ the cuckoo.

On the 16th, Alex and I surveyed this same site that Ginger and Gilligan left, and found a pair of very territorial cuckoos.  Both were knocking excessively, a sign that there is or is soon going to be a nest.  We looked everywhere, and found a few potential nests with no eggs in them yet.  The site had just been flooded (this is how the restoration plots are "watered" in the desert) and bugs were everywhere, crawling up our legs trying to escape the flood! In a few days the water will be lowered again, and nest searching will be a little more pleasant!  We found a few new butterflies at the site, though, and dragonflies were everywhere.

Bordered Patch

Golden-headed sootywing

Mexican amberwing

Earlier in the day, we came across the western kingsnake that had been hit by a car.  It was the same color morph as the eastern kingsnake we saw many of earlier in the summer in Virginia.

Today, I woke up early to do telemetry on LJ, who is one of the birds with a nest.  He was on the nest when I arrived at 5:00 am, and was off within 20 minutes, foraging around his territory.  He appeared to have a few favorite foraging spots, and visited his nest a few times.  He kept in constant contact with his mate, and answered every soft contact call from the nest with a very loud one!  While I was sitting in the woods, I was also tracking TGB, who appears to be settling down on a territory and has been seen with another bird in the past few days.  I tracked him down in the same area he was yesterday with a " buddy," but neither of them knocked at me.  They are likely picking a good nest tree, and taking their time doing it!

Meanwhile, a nest with 3 big chicks was found today at the same site!!! It was near the road and it is amazing that we haven't found it yet.  Cuckoos were knocking at the site constantly, and a search of the nest revealed one fledged chick, a chick about to fledge, and a smaller chick that will take a few more days to fledge!  We banded all three and will hopefully be able to track their success, but they are very cryptic hiders and are incredibly hard to see once they fledge.

This check has fledged and is about 6 days old!

This chick is about 4 days old and was the smallest of the three, but will grow VERY quickly.

the 4 day old chick getting its color band

the 4 day old chick with a FULL belly!

This photo shows the large fledged 6 day old chick on the left in comparison to the smallest

chick of the three (4 days old), on the right.  The fledged chick's feathers are pinning out and he is

quickly starting to look like his parents!

The third chick was out of the nest when we went to retrive it for banding!  It is 5 days old.

This is it getting it's bill measured.

This is the 5 day old chick getting a metal band.  It already has quite a large leg and foot!

To hide in trees, cuckoo chicks cling on to branches with their huge feet and sit very

still and erect like a bittern would in a marsh.  This 5 day old chick is doing this pose in Shannon's hand.

The last chick (5 days old) getting its color band

This is the 5 day old chick getting weighed; the chicks were not fussy or

active at all and instead hunkered down and were very quiet while in the hand...and on the scale.

Diane holding the 5 day old chick

The chicks will all jump out of the nest in a few days and cling to nearby branches until they

are about a week older when they will look almost exactly like their parents!  Cuckoo chicks grow very, very fast.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Surveys near Yuma, AZ: June 9 - June 13

From the 9th through the 13th of June, Alex and I travelled to Yuma, Arizona to do round two of our cuckoo surveys at our sites near Yuma, AZ.  In general, we did not detect as many cuckoos as round one; migration seems to be winding down, and birds seem to be settling into their chosen breeding territories.  We had a handful of cuckoos at a few of our sites, but it was nothing in comparison to the number of cuckoos we have in Blythe. 

One day, Alex and I found this cuckoo low in some willow trees.  It then flew out over an open corn field to get to the other side of the small patch of cottonwoods and willows, a very rare behavior.  Usually, cuckoos take the more vegetated route through thick cover to get to their destination, but this one didn't mind the short-cut!

YBCU in willow

short-cut over the corn field!

Back at the house we were staying in, we found this little brown bat roosting low in a corner.  At a few of our sites in Blythe, I've had these bats fly around my legs early in the morning looking for a place to roost, and two tried to roost in the tire of our car the other morning!

At our sites in Yuma, a few of the most common birds we see are below.  These include Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Common Ground Dove, and White-winged dove.  While we didn't find many cuckoos, we have hope that our next round of surveys may point us to potential nesting areas, as a nest south of Blythe has never been found.

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Common Ground Dove

White-winged dove nest

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Capture, June 8

On our first day back to work after our trip, Alex and I joined Shannon and Diane on another cuckoo capture to put out two more radio-transmitters.  Both birds were coaxed into our nets again for another smooth capture!  We named these ones Gilligan and Ginger.

Gilligan the cuckoo, captured 7/8/10

Alex releasing Gilligan

Gilligan after release

notice yellow in Ginger's eye ring

Ginger the cuckoo, captured 7/8/10