Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (WFVZ) (Camarillo Bird Museum)

Our Collections Manager Renè Corado was featured on VC Reporter's People of Ventura County 2021 issue highlighting profiles of locals that inspire us with their creativity, commitment and community spirit. Read the article here: https://vcreporter.com//rene-corado-collections-manager-w/

Easily recognizable by its long bill and gray throat pouch as an Old World relative of the Brown and American White Pelicans in North America, the Pink-backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens) is among the smallest of the eight pelican species in its family, the Pelicanidae. It is a resident breeding species in swamps and shallow lakes in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Arabia. With stable populations widely distributed across the African continent, it is currently listed as a sp...ecies of Least Concern by the IUCN. The plumage is pale gray (not white) with darker gray (not black) wingtips, and these plus its smaller size help differentiate the Pink-backed from the Great White Pelican whose range overlaps. The pink is not always evident and, when present, is restricted to the back and rump, where it is actually made from the oily secretions of the preen gland to help waterproof and protect the feathers. Compiled by WFVZ Staff from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22697595, https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org, and cited sources. Please consider making a donation to WFVZ in support of our work so we can continue our programs in bird conservation, student education, and avian research.

One of fifteen species in its genus, the Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutata) is endemic to islands in the western Indian Ocean, including Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, and Mayotte. It is part of the Old World and Pacific Island family of monarch flycatchers, Monarchidae. Males are both sexually dimorphic, with long tail plumes that are absent on the females, and polymorphic, occurring in red and white forms. Due to its large global distribution in a number o...f different vegetation types in Madagascar, the IUCN lists the Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher as a species of Least Concern, although its numbers appear to be declining in some areas. Compiled by WFVZ Staff from cited sources and https://birdsoftheworld.org, https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org, https://ebird.org/species/mapfly1, and https://www.mobilewiki.org//Madagascar_paradise-flycatcher Please consider making a donation to WFVZ in support of our work so we can continue our programs in bird conservation, student education, and avian research.

First proposed as early as 1934, the Bernieridae family of bird species is endemic to Madagascar and went unrecognized for decades and unnamed by ornithologists until 2010. The members were formerly classified in up to nine genera in three different families (bulbuls, Pycnonotidae; babblers, Timaliidae; and Old-world warblers, Sylviidae), but all of the taxa in the genera Bernieria, Crossleyia, Cryptosylvicola, Hartertula, Oxylabes, Randia, Thamnornis, and Xanthomixis now c...omprise the single family. Exhibiting a variety of bill shapes, wing and tail proportions, and tarsus lengths, they represent another example of adaptive radiation, much like Hawaii’s honeycreepers, Darwin’s Galapagos finches, and the vangas, also from Madagascar. The Bernieridae evolved from a single founding population of warbler-like birds into a variety of forms adapted to various niches that are occupied in other parts of the world by completely different bird families, which they have come to resemble through convergent evolution. Thus arises the confusion when these taxa are classified by morphology alone. Recent molecular research by Younger and colleagues (2019) not only confirms the earlier works grouping these birds together, but explores cryptic diversity within the group, identifying a potentially new taxon, and suggesting that additional species may still be discovered through further research. Bernieridae as the result of adaptive radiation (2001): https://web.archive.org//refer/files/cibois_et_al_2001.pdf Historical review of the taxonomic classification of the related genera (2010): https://www.researchgate.net//285694056_Bernieridae_Aves_P A more recent look at the newly named family (2019; Available via license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0): https://www.researchgate.net//336954368_Diversific/figures Compiled by WFVZ Staff from sources cited in text and image captions and from https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org.

The International Children's and Youth Reading Fair of Central America (Feria Internacional de la Lectura Infantil y Juvenil de Centroamérica, FILIJC) is an annual educational event sponsored by The Artistic, Cultural and Educational Association, Danta Guatemala. This year the FILIJC received support from the Central American Integration System (Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, SICA) an economic and political consortium of Central American states. Each year Danta G...Continue reading

One of the survival tactics animals have evolved over many millions of years is camouflage. In the bird world, we’d vote potoos among the masters of disguise. Potoos, found only in the Neotropics, are nocturnal birds in the family of Nyctibiidae, which contains only 7 species. They are in the order Caprimulgiformes, related to nightjars, nighthawks, and frogmouths. Potoos hunt by sallying from an exposed perch, in the manner of flycatchers, and gathering prey into their mout...hs. By day, they rest motionlessly on the end of a stub, blending in very well to resemble a broken-off branch. An alert potoo remains perched in an upright freezing posture with its neck stretched, bill pointing toward the sky, and eyes closed. Though the eyes appear closed, their upper eyelids have slits or so-called magic eyessmall folds along the upper eyelidsso that they can still detect movement in their surroundings. They leave the perch only when directly threatened. Potoos do not build nests, but will lay a single egg in tree hollows or in top a depression in a tree branch or stump. Potoos cannot survive without trees to shelter and camouflage them. Though populations are currently stable, potoos are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction and deforestation. One species, the Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus) sings a plaintive descending whistle that has been phoneticized as poor, me, all, alone and described as one of the most hauntingly beautiful sounds of the American tropics. Listen to the vocalization of the Common Potoo: https://www.xeno-canto.org/544726 Video of Common Potoo sitting on a tree: https://youtu.be/pBKCsV3UbJo https://www.researchgate.net//324789554_Use_flexibility_of http://www.noorwhite.com//8/4/74845011/costa_et_al_2017.pdf Compiled by WFVZ staff from cited sources.

The only woman to receive a graduate degree working with Aldo Leopold at the University of Wisconsin, in 1940, Frances Hamerstrom (19071998) became the first woman to earn a master’s degree in the then-new field of Wildlife Management. A noted ornithologist, falconer, and author, she is best known for her work on the Greater Prairie Chicken in Wisconsin, undertaken with her husband Frederick, as well as for research and publications on a number of species of birds of prey (n...otably Northern Harriers and Golden Eagles). Along the way, she was the recipient of numerous awards including the Josselyn Van Tyne Award in Ornithology, the Chapman Award of the American Museum, the August Derleth Award for adult nonfiction (three times), the Edwards Prize, the National Wildlife Federation Award, and many others. Less well known is the Hamerstroms’ humanitarian work on behalf of German colleagues after World War II. These efforts were largely unknown or forgotten, even in the immediate family, until discovered by Hamerstrom’s granddaughter, Lita Judge, following Fran’s death in 1998, when she found a trunk full of traced outlines of children’s feet (to fit shoes) and related correspondence. Judge wrote a children’s book (One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II, Hyperion Books for Children, 2007) about her grandparents’ efforts to provide assistance to German civilians suffering in the economic vacuum following the war. Please see the links below for additional information on Fran Hamerstrom’s life, career, and publications. https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/frances-hamerstrom/ https://images.library.wisc.edu//econatres.pp60n04.rrosenf https://www.raptorresearchfoundation.org//Hamerstrom_obit_ For more information about One Thousand Tracings from Lita Judge’s website: http://tracings.litajudge.com/people.html Compiled from cited sources by WFVZ Staff Image: Fran Hamerstrom with her falconry-trained Golden Eagle. Downloaded from USFWS History Facebook page: https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net//91008917_25642234338

One of only five species in the endemic family of ground-rollers in Madagascar (Brachypteraciidae), and one of only two species in its genus, the Rufous-headed Ground-roller (Atelornis crossleyi) was first described in 1875 by R. Bowdler Sharpe in Contributions to the Ornithology of Madagascar, published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: The discovery of a second species of Atelornis is an event of great interest, particularly when it has so little rese...mblance to the previously known representative of the genus. The rufous head and curiously striped throat patch of the present bird distinguish it at once from A. pittoides. Feeding on a range of terrestrial prey including ants, beetles and their larva, caterpillars, butterflies, and cockroaches in the dense vegetation beneath the eastern rainforest, it nests underground in a burrow up to 20 inches deep in an earth bank, much like its relatives the kingfishers. Occurring in a number of protected areas, it is still listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN because it is vulnerable to habitat loss due to forest burning for charcoal production and slash-and-burn agriculture, in addition to being hunted for human consumption. Compiled by WFVZ Staff

Around the world, our beautiful feline friends unfortunately kill billions of wild birds, reptiles, and small mammals each year. This includes even our beloved housecats. However, new research published this past week shows that in addition to keeping our cats indoors as much as possible, we should also feed them a diet with more animal protein, and play with them more during the day. Cats will be happy to hear these new suggestions, and it will help the wild animals we love so much too. A win-win finding! https://www.cnn.com//play-meat-cat-hunting-scli/index.html Read the the original paper about easy ways to get cats to stop killing birds and other wildlife here: https://www.sciencedirect.com//artic/pii/S0960982220318960

The Wire-tailed Manakin (Pipra filicauda) is a sexually dimorphic Neotropical passerine in the family Pipridae. It is found in the western Amazon Basin and in neighboring northern Peru, eastern Ecuador and Colombia, and southern and western portions of Venezuela. Widely studied for their complex lek social breeding system where multiple males perform group dances for females, researchers suggest that the manikins may select leks on the basis of food availability. They also suggest that climate instability effects on fruit production may ultimately negatively influence bird population numbers, another impact of climate change on species in a manner that we need to be aware of. https://royalsocietypublishing.org//full/10/rspb.2015.2314 Compiled by WFVZ Staff

We just finished our Southern California Winter Bird Identification Course this week with a lot of positive feedback. Thank you to everyone who attended the course! If you're up for the next one, we will be having our Winter Raptor Identification Course on February 17th, February 24th, and March 3rd with our Science Education Coordinator Paul Grindrod. Space is limited, so please sign up to reserve your spot! We hope to see you there!

The Staff and Board of the WFVZ extend good wishes to everyone this holiday and winter season. It has been an immensely challenging year, especially for those who have lost loved ones, jobs, housing, or are displaced from their country. We hope that those of us who are more fortunate can remember all of those who are in need this winter, and reach out a helping hand however we can. We look forward to a brighter and healthier future in 2021.

The Madagascar Jacana (Actophilornis albinucha) is an endemic Malagasy shorebird species in the family Jacanidae, one of eight living species in the family that typically colonize tropical and subtropical freshwater wetlands. Jacanas are identifiable by their greatly elongated toes and claws that enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes and ponds that make up their habitat, giving rise to the nickname lily-trotters in some places. Madagascar Jacana females are significantly larger than males, suggesting thatlike the six other jacana species with reversed sexual size dimorphismthis species may follow a polyandrous mating system. However, for this understudied species there is insufficient breeding data to be certain. Written by WFVZ Staff

First named to western science in 1873, the tiny, poorly studied Swinhoe's Rail (Coturnicops exquisitus) is the smallest rail species in the world. It is one of three specieseach occurring on a different continent (Swinhoe’s Rail in Asia, Yellow Rail in North America, and Speckled Crake in South America)in a genus that gets its name from the members’ resemblance to quail, called Coturnix in Latin. Like other rails, Swinhoe’s only thrives in healthy wetlands and it is listed... as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to habitat loss. Historically known from only a pair of widely separated breeding locations in eastern Russia and China, search efforts using playback of recorded vocalizations identified a third breeding population midway between the others. See the links below for stories from the field and a summary of the published results of a study confirming the identity of the birds through genetic analysis, as well as additional photographs and recordings of the vocalizations obtained by researchers. https://birdingbeijing.com///the-search-for-swinhoes-rail/ https://www.cambridge.org//64F63FE168B10C8760B10BC619CF5D75 https://www.researchgate.net//319103684_Mysterious_calls_f Hear vocalizations of Swinhoe’s Rail at xeno-canto: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Coturnicops-exquisitus Compiled from cited sources and avibase.bsc-eoc.org by WFVZ Staff

The Ross's or Lady Ross's Turaco (Tauraco rossae) is 1 of 23 species of turaco in the largely frugivorous family Musophagidaethe banana eatersthat also includes members called go-away birds and plantain-eaters. As brightly colored as parrots, turacos uniquely possess pigmented feathers as opposed to reflective feather coloration. The reds and greens of their plumage are the result of naturally occurring copper-based pigments in the feathers that are somewhat soluble in ba...sic solutions. The red pigment, turacin, in particular, will leach out in even slightly alkaline water turning the water pink! The species was named by John Gould in honor of Sir Patrick Ross, the Governor of the island of Saint Helena, whose widow brought the bird to Gould’s attention. She had a captive specimen that was brought to the island from an unspecified locality in West Africa. The species is still common and widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa in woodland, open forest, and riparian habitats in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is the largest Neotropical raptor species and among the largest eagles in the world, capable of capturing full-grown sloths and monkeys weighing up to 14 pounds. Resident in tropical to subtropical lowland rainforest, it formerly ranged from northern Argentina, throughout the Amazon basin, and into Central America and southern Mexico, with credible scattered records north through eastern Mexico. It is now listed as a Near Threatened species, w...ith human persecution and deforestation resulting in an estimated 40 percent range loss, and posing the leading threats to its survival. Harpy Eagles have been the focus of captive-breeding and reintroduction efforts by the Peregrine Fund (https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-spe//harpy-eagle), among other organizations, in addition to ongoing research and conservation projects such as this one recently featured by National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com//saving-worlds-larges/ Compiled by WFVZ Staff

Pesquet's Parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus) looks like a creature from folklore; it is eerie, beautiful, and charismatic at the same time. With a head that resembles a vulture, this bird is also known by other names, including Vulturine Parrot, or more frighteningly, Devil’s Parrot and Dracula Parrot. It is a relatively large bird, measuring about 18 inches in length and weighing between 1.5 and 1.75 pounds. With rich black feathers and a scarlet red underbelly, it has all the co...loration of Count Dracula's signature cape. It is endemic to the highland rainforest of New Guinea, not Transylvania. Despite its name, this Dracula is not bloodthirsty at all. It is a highly obligate frugivore, specializing in just a few species of figs (Mack and Wright 1998*). Some researchers believe that just as vultures lost head feathers to adapt to feeding on bloody carcasses, the Dracula Parrot lost its facial feathers in response to its diet of sticky figs (Forshaw and Cooper 1989**). Classified as vulnerable on the IUCN's Red List, Pesquet’s Parrot numbers are declining due mainly to habitat loss, as well as poaching. Poachers go after their feathers as they are highly prized trade items and for ornamentation among the many ethnic groups of New Guinea. Another distinctive feature of the Pesquet’s Parrot, making it an appropriate Halloween bird, is its primary vocalization: a harsh, repetitive, rasping, growl: https://www.xeno-canto.org/593058. *Andrew L. Mack and Debra D. Wright (1998). The Vulturine Parrot, Psittrichas fulgidus, a threatened New Guinea endemic: notes on its biology and conservation. Bird Conservation International, 8, pp 185-194. **J. M. Forshaw and W. T. Cooper.1989. Parrots of the World, 3rdedition. Blanford Press, London, UK. Compiled from cited sources by WFVZ staff.

Today, Friday! Join us for an evening of inspiration and autobiography with Collections Manager, René Corado for a tale of grit, persistence, and humor focusing on his inspiring and amazing life story! René will speak about his challenging childhood in Guatemala, and about immigrating to the US and eventually becoming the manager of the WFVZ's avian materials. Get your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-bird-museums-october-semin

Members of the genus Limosa, comprised of four species of godwits in the Family Scolopacidae, are long-legged wading birds with long slightly upturned beaks that they use to probe for food in shallow water or exposed mudflats. The genus name is derived from the Latin word limus, meaning mud. While all four species are migratory, one of them, the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica), makes the longest-known non-stop flight of any bird species, as well as the longest journey ...undertaken by any animal without pausing to feed. In September 2020, a Bar-tailed Godwit set a new record for non-stop bird flight when researchers with the Global Flyway Network satellite tracked it from its breeding grounds in Alaska to New Zealand in eleven days! https://www.theguardian.com//jet-fighter-godwit-breaks-wor Compiled by WFVZ staff.

Illegal shooting of non-game birds occurs more often than thought, reports a new study released today in the journal Conservation Science and Practice. The study, conducted from 2013-2019, found that as much as 33% of long-billed curlews were shot on the study area in Idaho. One Idaho population of long-billed curlews affected by illegal shooting, on the ACEC, has declined by more than 90% in four decades. Wild snakes were also illegally killed, and these snake species sim...ilarly show widespread declines in the study area. For additional information, see the report: https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com//e/10.1111/csp2.279 and the story on the article: https://www.boisestate.edu//study-finds-illegal-killing-o/. In addition, in California, if you see or suspect illegal killing of native wildlife, visit CalTip to anonymously report your observations: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Enforcement/CalTIP

Breeding only in the Galápagos Islands, the Swallow-tailed Gull (Creagrus furcatus; Family: Laridae) is the only species in its genus. With large eyes for improved night vision, it is the only nocturnal gull. This adaptive behavior likely helps with two problems facing breeding pelagic birds: predators are more abundant during the day so it keeps these gulls near the nest to protect their eggs and young; and hunting for prey is competitive during the day, so they hunt in the dark when there is less competition and their prey is both closer to the surface (doing its own nocturnal feeding higher in the water column where there is more food) and more visible at night due to bioluminescence. Written by: Paul Grindrod, WFVZ Science Education Coordinator.

The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a beautiful bird that lives in forest and woodlands from Mexico to Panama. The quetzals inhabiting Costa Rica are more widely studied than their relatives elsewhere in Central America, but a dedicated group of professional conservation biologists have been studying the species in Guatemala to learn more about their habitat usage, movements, diet, and breeding biology. The WFVZ’s Collections Manager, René Corado, has establis...hed a relationship with these researchers, and the WFVZ hopes to assist with their important work to conserve this species. The presentations below (in Spanish) are from the Second Symposium about conservation of the quetzal that was held in Guatemala on 11 and 12 of November. El Quetzal Resplandeciente (Pharomachrus mocinno) es una hermosa ave que vive en selvas y bosques desde México hasta Panamá. Los quetzales que habitan Costa Rica son más ampliamente estudiados que sus parientes en otras partes de Centroamérica, pero un grupo dedicado de biólogos profesionales de conservación han estado estudiando la especie en Guatemala para aprender más sobre su uso del hábitat, movimientos, dieta y biología de reproducción. El Gerente de Colecciones de la WFVZ, René Corado, ha establecido una relación con estos investigadores y la WFVZ espera poder ayudar con su importante trabajo para conservar esta especie. Las presentaciones a continuación son del Segundo Simposio sobre conservacion del quetzal que se llevó a cabo en Guatemala el 11 y 12 de noviembre. Michelle Bustamante, que ha estudiado el Quetzal Resplandeciente, y Rene Corado habló sobre diferentes aspectos de nuestra comprensión de la especie. https://youtu.be/tiBsTwLgR-U https://youtu.be/EZVtYB_ElJQ

The Delalande's, or Snail-eating, Coua (Coua delalandei), is an extinct species of terrestrial, non-parasitic cuckoo that was endemic to Madagascar. The last verified sightings occurred in the early 19th century (18301835), as evidenced by the collection dates on the few museum specimens in existence. All specimens with good locality data are from the island of Nosy Boraha (formerly known as Île Sainte-Marie) off the northeast coast of Madagascar. Although many early natura...lists believed that there were Snail-eating Couas in the contiguous rainforest on the main island of Madagascar, none were ever located. Deforestation, believed to be the main cause of the disappearance from Nosy Boraha, along with hunting for food and feathers, has also been extensive in eastern Madagascar, making it highly unlikely that even a small population survives anywhere some 185 years later. Remarkably though, it is the only bird species other than the elephant birds known to have gone extinct in Madagascar in the modern era. Roughly crow-sized, it was the largest of the 1012 modern Coua species or sub-species, but smaller than two fossil species that have been discovered. As the common name suggests, the principle food was snails and other land-dwelling mollusks. Delalande’s Coua as illustrated in Histoire physique, naturelle et politique de Madagascar, 1876. Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library (www.biodiversitylibrary.org), contributed by the Smithsonian Institution.

Today Tuesday, December 1st, is #GivingTuesday a global day of giving and generosity. At a time when the world is experiencing so much uncertainty, generosity... is bringing people together. Your #GivingTuesday gift is more important than ever for the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. It will help us provide local students with Free online STEM tutoring, at a time when their parents and teachers are overburdened with so many challenges. Our new tutoring program is available to any children (and their mentors), grades K-12, who are struggling with the sciences and math. This year, please Give Hope, Give Science, Give Big! Visit our website www.wfvz.org or click this link to donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate/ No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Every penny counts! Thank you for your support!

Women in science and medicine: They haven't always been allowed. The WFVZ encourages EVERYONE to participate in the Sciences. Science has room for all people with curiosity about how the world works, and with a desire to make the world a better place. The Sciences benefit from diversity of thought, perspective, culture, and training. Please join us!

The Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) is a most unusual wader with regards to many anatomical and behavioral traits. It is so distinctive that it is classified as the sole species in its own family (Dromadidae), and clarifying its relationship within the order that includes the other plovers (Charadriiformes) requires further study through modern genetic techniques. Breeding in underground colonies, the Crab Plover lays one large white egg in a deep burrow, and it is unique among ...waders in making use of ground warmth to aid in the incubation of the eggs. A good runner with its long legs, the Crab Plover is also able to swim. It breeds along the northern and western coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and disperses in winter in large flocks throughout coastal areas to Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka; less commonly to Bangladesh and Southeast Asia; and in eastern Africa as far south as Mozambique and Madagascar. The Crab Plover feeds on marine invertebrates, especially crabs. See more

Just a reminder that #GivingTuesday is almost here! Tomorrow, we invite you to join the movement by donating to WFVZ. This global day of giving is a chance for people to support causes that are important to them. Your #GivingTuesday gift is more important than ever for the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. It will help us provide local students with Free online STEM tutoring, at a time when their parents and teachers are overburdened with so many challenges. Our new t...utoring program is available to any children (and their mentors), grades K-12, who are struggling with the sciences and math. Give a gift donation via Paypal on our website at www.wfvz.org. or https://www.paypal.com/donate/ Thank you for your support!

The Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), a member of the Mimidae family, owes its common name to its dependency on sagebrush (Artemesia sp.) vegetation during the breeding season. It is the only species in its genus and is likely more closely related to the mockingbirds of the genus Mimus than to thrashers in the genus Toxostoma (Reynolds et al.1999). True to its scientific name, which translates as mimic of the mountains, the Sage Thrasher imitates other birds that share ...its habitat. Often depicted as shy birds, preferring to run and forage on the ground or fly low and directly between dense shrubs, Sage Thrashers if disturbed will often run with tails cocked up rather than fly. It is a short-distance migrant using shrub-steppe habitat throughout western North America. As something of a habitat specialist, the Sage Thrasher’s main threat is habitat loss from the alteration, degradation, or reduction of sagebrush due to agriculture, strip mining, and residential development. Reynolds, T.D., T.D. Rich, and D.A. Stephens. 1999. Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus). In The Birds of North America, No. 463 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

This is why Rene and I were working so hard in Guatemala from 2003 to 2012 to document this trash issue and it's effects on birds... And why Rene keeps trying to inform Guatemalans about this issue...

The only species in the genus Elanoides, the Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus; Family: Accipitridae) is the largest of the American kites. Breeding in swampy lowlands and marshes in the southeastern US, they require large trees for nesting with nearby open areas for foraging. First described in English by Mark Catesby in 1732 and formally named by Linnaeus, they are often described as among the most graceful flyers among the raptorial birds. Migrating early in the fa...ll, they can be seen in significant concentrations at raptor migration lookouts along the Gulf Coast as they make their way to their winter range in northern South America. See the Audubon article The Secret Lives of Swallow-tailed Kites for more information about the breeding biology and conservation of these beautiful birds from a long-term study in Florida: https://www.audubon.org//the-secret-lives-swallow-tailed-k Compiled by WFVZ Staff

Yay for conservation science and our partners at Stillwater Sciences!!

from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved. Charles Darwin November 24 marks the 160th An...niversary of the 1859 publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, better known today simply as The Origin of Species. On a related note, a group of Ventura County Darwinians has generously donated a bust of Darwin to the WFVZ. It will become part of a larger exhibit on evolution, but for now graces the lobby in homage to the man, the Origin of Species, and his intellectual legacya reminder of his profound influence on how we, as scientists and science educators, seek to explore, understand, and explain life on Earth and our relationship to it. 1st image: Charles Darwin 2nd image: Illustration of four of the uniquely adapted beaks of Darwin’s Galapagos Island finches (15 species in 6 genera; tanager family, Thraupidae) from the 1890 edition of Origin of Species. 3rd image: Ventura County Darwinians with the Darwin bust.

It’s Fall again, and bird migration is well underway! Have you noticed that some species have left yards and parks, and others have shown up? For example, in Ventura County, Townsend’s Warblers and Western Tanagers are coming through, and White-crowned Sparrows have just arrived to stay for the winter! Such beautiful birds, but so challenged by so many human-caused factors! Fires have been burning in our mountains since August, food is in shorter supply just because of the ti...me of year, and resources around and in cities are dangerous for so many of these fragile creatures. Just one example is city lights, which can lure birds into cities. Attraction and disorientation resulting from light pollution concentrate migrant birds in cities where an estimated one billion U.S. bird deaths occur annually from collisions with buildings and structures. The National Audubon Society has been working with city groups for years to create Lights Out! campaigns to help prevent bird deaths during migration. A study by the Field Museum in Chicago found that turning off the lights at one downtown high-rise reduced migratory bird deaths there by 80 percent. But did you know that Los Angeles doesn’t have a program in place? Seems like a great project for all of us to do to help our birds. Let’s get LA to turn its lights out during fall and spring migration! See these links to information below. https://youtu.be/08ET47-b13o https://www.audubon.org/conser/existing-lights-out-programs Male Western Tanager. Photo credit: By http://www.naturespicsonline.com/ - http://www.naturespicsonline.com/, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=973994

Birds’ nests have inspired great curiosity and fascination for their skilled construction, delicate beauty, and functionality, and many birds exhibit artisan-like craft skills in their nest-building. The bowerbirds are tasteful decorators, weaver birds are skillful architects and weavers, the horneros are excellent engineers, and don’t forget the oropendolas with their impressive pendulum nests! In addition to those other great nest builders, there are potters in the bird wor...ld. The White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos) builds a large bowl-shaped mud nest that looks like it has come right off of a potter’s wheel. Built on a horizontal branch it may take several months to build, since each layer of mud must harden before fresh layers are added (Rowley 1978*). The birds may also use cattle or emu dung if there isn’t enough mud available to them. The White-winged Chough is a large, almost completely black bird that, from a distance, may be confused with one of the crows or ravens. Native to Southern and Eastern Australia, it is, in fact, one of only two surviving members of the Australian family of mud-nest builders, Corcoracidae, and is the sole representative of its genus. *Rowley, I. 1978. Communal activities among White-winged Choughs Corcorax melanorhamphus, Ibis 120, 178197. Compiled from avibase.bsc-eoc.org and cited sources by WFVZ Staff

First named to Western science by Linnaeus, the Hook-billed Vanga (Vanga curvirostris) is one of sixteen bird species in thirteen genera that collectively are called vangas; fifteen species are restricted to Madagascar, the sixteenth (Blue Vanga) also occurs on the nearby Comoro Islands. Classified in the family Vangidae with the closely related Helmetshrikes, Woodshrikes, and Flycatcher-shrikes, the vangas represent a stunning example of adaptive radiation (like Darwin’s finches), evolving from a single founding population of shrike-like birds into a variety of forms adapted to various niches that are occupied elsewhere in the world by completely different avian families. Written by WFVZ Staff

The Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) is a slightly smaller and paler Old World relative of the Great Blue Heron that lives in the United States. Both are long-legged wading birds in the Genus Ardea and Family Ardeidae, having diverged from a common ancestor an estimated two million years ago. A vagrant Grey Heron recently made its way to Nantucket, Massachusetts, to the delight of local birdwatchers, prompting discussions of possible range expansion for the species. https://www.nationalgeographic.com//gray-heron-sighting-u/ Compiled by WFVZ Staff