Tag Archives: Adirondack Almanack

Winter and the Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Winter and the Golden-Crowned Kinglet

It’s simple physics. In a cold environment, small objects lose heat at a faster rate than large objects. This is why most warm-blooded animals that reside in a northern climate tend to be large in size. Yet, for every rule, there is always an exception and when considering birds, the golden-crowned kinglet is a perplexing anomaly.

The golden-crowned kinglet is the smallest perching bird to inhabit the Adirondacks, as this delicate, olive colored creature is not much larger than a hummingbird, (which is classified in a group that is related to the swifts rather than the perching birds.) However, unlike our other small birds, like the warblers, vireos and wrens, the kinglet often remains in the Adirondacks throughout the dead of winter, traveling in small, loosely knit flocks in dense evergreen forests.

The yellowish-green plumage of the golden-crowned kinglet makes this tiny bird a challenge to see against the backdrop of pine, spruce, fir and cedar boughs as it flits through the canopy in a constant search for food. Yet because the kinglet frequently emits an audible “teez, teez, teez” call as it forages, its presence can be easily noted by a perceptive individual, especially at this time of year, when the sound of the wind through the branches is the only noise that breaks the silence of the deep woods.

Read the whole article

 

Decline of American Kestrels

American Kestrel“One autumn day, 15 years ago, I found myself perched on a ladder that was leaning against a highway sign on Interstate 89 somewhere in Vermont. There was a wooden box clamped to one of the sign poles at least 15 feet off the ground, although fear may have exaggerated that memory. I was providing a little autumn house-keeping for one of those nest boxes so it’d be ready when the kestrels returned to breed the next spring,” writes guest blogger Madaline Bodin in Adirondack Almanack.

“The box was one of 10 kestrel nest boxes then deployed along the interstate by the Vermont Agency of Transportation, or VTrans. It’s a feel-good project started in 1995 with $40, some scrap wood, and plenty of volunteer hours from VTrans employees, who built the boxes on their own time. Since then, about 90 kestrels have fledged and four orphaned young were fostered in the boxes. That’s a lot of bang for the buck, or rather, a lot of birds for the box.

“The American kestrel – found in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire (and throughout North and South America) – is the smallest falcon in North America. They are tiny for a raptor – about the size of a blue jay – but are fierce predators…..

“Fifteen years ago, three of the highway nest boxes hosted breeding kestrels. There was hope that more of the boxes would be used as kestrels discovered them. They haven’t, but that may be because there just aren’t enough kestrels around to use them. Kestrels are in slow decline in much of North America and have been for over 30 years, but are currently listed as a species of “least concern” on the endangered species list….”  Read whole article here.

photo by John Picken

Peregrine Falcons — The Outside Story

When asked to name the fastest animal on earth, many people will respond “cheetah.” But it is the peregrine falcon – a cliff-dwelling raptor –that holds that title with the ability to reach speeds of 200+ MPH as they stoop (dive) in flight. (The cheetah tops out at a mere 70 MPH).
Equally remarkable is the fact that this speed demon of the skies was nearly wiped out 50 years ago; its recovery ranks among the great success stories of conservation biology and endangered species management.
Historically, the eastern peregrine falcon population was centered in New England and the Adirondack Mountains, ranging south along the spine of the Appalachians to western Georgia. In 1940,the population was estimated at 350 pairs; by the mid-1960s, the species was completely gone from the region, a victim of the devastating pesticide DDT…..
Read the complete article by Steven D. Faccio from The Adirondack Almanac
Photo credit   USFWS Headquarters