Lumen 21-11

Tame Wildlife, 2 of 2

 

Posted – October 13, 2021

 

Irrelevant tid bit – And it was determined that, while I was surely no genius, and was incapable of originality, I had a better than average mind.  I was patient and orderly, and could sort out good ideas from heaps of balderdash.

            “Slapstick or lonesome no more”  Kurt Vonnegut

 

 

This is a continuation of Lumen 21-10 on tame wildlife which discussed animals tamed by the promise of easy food; however, all tame wildlife behaviors are not caused by human feeding, in some cases animals are stressed from long migrations or other forces.  So, this Lumen includes a few non-food related tame wildlife instances and a few more food-related cases.

 

The shape of North America sets the stage for one of the most remarkable journeys made by migrating

Tired Orange-crowned Warbler

birds.  The Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico sticks out into the Gulf of Mexico funneling birds moving north from Central and South America to its northern tip.  From there 500 miles of open sea water faces the 15 gram (1/2 ounce, less than the size of one fun-sized Snickers bar) song birds (and other birds also) with the urge to move on to Canada and the United States where their breeding grounds are waiting to welcome them.  These highly motivated birds can circle the long way around the Gulf of Mexico (circum-Gulf migrants) or cross the uninviting Gulf of Mexico (trans-Gulf migrants).  On the right night, when the wind is not too strong and at their backs, millions decide to make the leap across the Gulf, taking the short cut to breeding.  They mostly fly at night because the air is frequently less turbulent, there are fewer predators such as hawks to eat them, and they can use the stars to aid in navigation.  This schedule, about 15 hours flight time, puts the migrants on the upper coast of Texas, and southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama some time the next morning.  Now another remarkable thing happens - even after this arduous trip, the migrants do not stop at the first land they see.  If the weather is good, they fly over the coast in search of their preferred habitat, frequently forests, where they can refuel eating small creepy crawlies, caterpillars are preferred, for a day or so before continuing their north bound adventure.  That is if the weather is good, but birds are not always good weather predictors.  Conditions in the Yucatan may be great when they leave, but a lot can change before reaching the U.S. coast.  If a thunderstorm or other bad weather hits them, they will quickly use up their dwindling energy reserves and land anywhere they can find – the first land they see, but also on oil rigs, boats, and other flotsam in the gulf.  When these storm-tossed birds land on the coast, they are too pooped to pop; weak and disoriented, and are commonly seen walking on people’s boots and landing on binoculars. 

 

My house in Galveston was on a normal urban lot with a few trees.  One late April afternoon, during the peak of spring bird migration, at about 4 PM a small thunderstorm crossed Galveston Island and went into the Gulf of Mexico.and into a flock of migrants.  Before dark I recorded 90 bird species in my yard; their fuel was gone and the storm made a quick stop necessary.  This is commonly called a fall-out, and is spectacular to experience.  Exhausted birds on every tree branch and bush.  Tired Wildlife.

 

Landing in Texas after a non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico is not the only time migratory birds

Hooded Warbler

get tired and hungry.  The Ohio south shore of Lake Erie is another place where birds need food before continuing their migratory trip.  The same birds that crossed the Gulf have now crossed the United States and need another boost before crossing the 50 mile wide Lake Erie.  Again, the birds are tired and concentrate on feeding to rapidly gain weight (migrating birds change their metabolism allowing them to quickly put on “traveling fat”).  This “migrant trap”, including the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, complete with a great boardwalk, and the nearby Black Swamp Bird Observatory, has recorded over 150 species of song birds including 36 warbler species. 

 

During the peak of spring migration, friends of mine found a House Wren that was upset by their presence only five (5) feet from its favorite tree (a nearby nest?), and accordingly went into its alarm call.  Birds commonly respond to other species’ alarm calls.  (Do they memorize all alarm calls or is there some characteristic of alarms calls that cues all birds of the danger?)  While my friends were only five feet away, this unhappy House Wren quickly attracted:

            Magnolia Warbler

McGee Marsh boardwalk

            Northern Paula (a warbler)

            Black-throated Green Warbler

            Black-throated Blue Warbler

            Black-and-white Warbler

            Blackpoll Warbler

            Northern Waterthrush (a warbler)

            Chestnut-sided Warbler

            Blackburnian Warbler

            Yellow Warbler

            Tree Swallow

            Red-winged Blackbird

 

What a show!  When the wren stopped sounding off, the others gradually flew away.  Hungry Birds

 

Everglades National Park is one of America’s great treasures and one sure fire highlight of this area is

American Alligator

the popular Anhinga Trail.  Paved or boardwalk along its entire 0.8 mile length, it is the best place in the park for close up encounters with wetland wildlife.  Because this trail is easy to find, short, easy to walk, and loaded with wildlife, it is one of the most popular of the park’s many attractions, which means heavy human traffic, to the extent that the wildlife has become accustomed to human disturbance and gets on with their lives showing little concern for the nearby humans.  American alligators swim right below the boardwalk and casually sun themselves in easy view from the trail.  The water birds; herons, egrets, cormorants, ibis, bitterns  and of course Anhingas; are so close that photographers often work for head shots of birds that they would usually be happy to get any image of.  Tame Wildlife.

Anhinga

 

Kakadu National Park in northern Australia has a comfortable outdoor restaurant that attracts an

Pied Heron

unusual client, the Pied Heron, who comfortably cruise the restaurant looking for food scraps.  Guess they do a good job as busboys.  Across the continent, the Sydney Opera House is a major tourist attraction, and like any good attraction has a restaurant outside in a covered pavilion on the side of the Opera House, which is home to some of the most aggressive “begging” I have seen from any animal.  It is really not begging because the Silver Gulls come right into the restaurant, diving onto any plate that is not covered.  While sitting at the table with your food directly in front of you, you have to keep it constantly covered or the gulls will dive right in front of you to haul off your meal, now their meal.  Makes for interesting dining.  Tame Wildlife.

  

Spotted Owl

In 1989 I had a training assignment with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that sent me to the northwestern states to investigate the controversy surrounding the endangered Spotted Owl and timber interests.  This marvelous assignment gave me the leeway to solicit help from anyone I thought could contribute.  The U.S. Forest Service was, and is, a major owner of old-growth timber in California, Oregon, and Washington, and this is also in the heart the Spotted Owl’s range.

 

I won’t go into the details of this issue, but it did make sense for me to seek help from the U.S. Forest Service.  They were very cooperative and I easily made a date to go into Spotted Owl county with one of their expert biologists, whose name I should remember, but don’t.  After meeting in town, he drove me on gravel roads up the forested mountains into the nearby national forest.  We stopped at a pull out and took two steps into the forest when he made an owl sound, a hoot (give a hoot, don’t pollute, oh, no, that is a different subject).  Not a series of hoots, just a single hoot.  As we walked further into the forest, I thought “This guy is really cocky.”  Before long we stopped and he took off his pack to produce several tame white mice that he had smuggled into owl country.  In just a few minutes two Spotted Owls showed up, both with heavy jewelry (bands) on both legs.  These birds knew him and he knew these birds.  Soon the very tame (and dumb) white mice were placed on the end of a short (two foot long) stick and held out for the owls to calmly take.  I don’t know how long it took to develop this close relationship, but it worked for both the owls and the biologist.  Tame Wildlife.

 

Thanks to Jean and Michael Bremermann for sharing their Magee Marsh adventures and photos.