Wilson's Snipe

To begin discussing a Wilson's Snipe one must start with its call (listen to it here). Haunting and eerie in composition, the snipe's signature perhaps reflects human feelings towards the areas it inhabits: wetlands and bogs, marshes and swamps. These are marginal areas of little apparent use, though the snipe uses its bombastic winnowing on these grounds to attract mates and scare away predators. Its call is in fact not a call or vocalization, but rather the passage of air through primary feathers as the bird swirls through its wetland residency. 

I knew the call of a snipe long before I knew that a snipe made the call. It seemed amazing that such a call could come from such a shorebird. Short and stocky, with a long straight bill used for probing invertebrates, the snipe appears diminutive and awkward. Yet once flushed, the birds zig-zag in flight and incite riotous calls from nearby Sandhill Cranes and Red-winged Blackbirds. Mallards fly from the springs where a few days ago three snipe flushed as I approached a relatively fresh deer carcass. No doubt these birds were taking advantage of the invertebrates doing the work of cleaning the deer. 

Two Wilson’s snipes stand in shallow wetlands, one with just its long beak underwater rooting for bugs. Photo by Arlene Koziol

Wilson's Snipe are named for Alexander Wilson, a famous ornithologist. The bird's Latin name (Gallinigo delicata) means “resembling a hen.” This likely refers to the heavy chest of the snipe. Huge pectoral muscles account for one quarter of the bird's weight and help it to achieve speeds of up to 60 miles per hour in flight. The etymology of the word “sniper” originates from British soldiers hunting snipe in India, where they were said “to snipe” these erratic and winnowing birds.

Here at Faville Grove, you can't snipe the Wilson's Snipe, though you can enjoy their winnowing calls if you can find them. The wet prairies offer excellent habitat for the snipe, and standing on the south-easternmost exposure of Waterloo Quartzite listening for snipe makes for an excellent spring evening as they migrate through in great numbers.

A Faville Grove wetland, complete with iconic flora and fauna! Photo by Drew Harry

During the Faville Grove summer, it’s been thought that the snipe are absent from the prairies here, moving to more northern areas of Wisconsin. However, in the past few weeks I’ve listened at the ledge on evenings as the snipe continue winnowing. About a week and a half ago, the interns and I were making our way through the wet prairie of the Lowlands South. Upon reaching an open area that had dried down from standing water earlier in the year, I noticed a short “puff ball” running along the ground. Quickly snapping pictures, my mind reeled as to the identity of the species, but a hint quickly flashed from the nearby cattails—an adult Wilson’s snipe!

The little puff ball in action. Photo by Drew Harry

Reviewing my pictures confirmed that the young fledgling was indeed a snipe. Rare nesters in southeastern Wisconsin, this is the first Breeding Bird Atlas conformation for Jefferson County, and a wonderful addition to the summer breeding birds of Faville Grove.

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Sanctuary land steward

Cover photo by Arlene Koziol

Red-shouldered Hawk Banding

June 6 was a beautiful day to spend outdoors learning about the state -threatened red-shouldered hawk and helping band young red-shoulders. We were very fortunate to have Wisconsin’s red-shouldered experts, the Jacob brothers, Gene and John, come to the red-shouldered hotspot in Columbia County to band young. http://www.raptorresearch.com/ and  https://raptorservices.rezgo.com/

The goal was to remove the chicks from the nest, place them safely in a cloth bag, and lower them down for banding and taking scientific measurements, and return them back to the nest.

Video by Arlene Koziol

Team members joining the Jacob brothers included Mark Martin, Graham Steinhauer, and Tanner Pettit (summer intern) from Goose Pond Sanctuary; Goose Pond volunteers Arlene Koziol, Brand Smith, and Bob Bennicoff; MAS board members and photographers David Rihn and Pat Eagan; local resident Cole Hollander; and Savanna Grayless from the DNR Columbia County Wildlife staff.

We began at the first nest located 53 feet high up in a shagbark hickory tree located 20 feet from the front porch of a home in the Wisconsin River forested floodplain of Portage. The brothers are very safety-oriented and spent some time analyzing how to approach the nest.  A 10-foot vine of poison ivy on the tree truck presented a challenge, however they had a 12-foot long ladder that could help them get them above the ivy.  The thick and shaggy bark also presented a challenge for climbing up the trunk. They decided to not climb the trunk but climb a rope if they could propel and position the rope over a limb about four feet over the nest. 

Red-shouldered hawk chicks in the nest. Photo by David Rihn

They assembled their fancy device, a seven-foot long slingshot, and skillfully shot a thin lead rope over the desired limb on the first try, an activity that can sometimes takes an hour to get into place.

While getting a larger rope safely secured Mark asked which of the young team members was going to climb.  John, the older brother and the oldest of everyone present, brought a smile to three of the four younger people when he said that he would climb this nest.  This was John’s first climb of the year.  Everyone was impressed and learned that it takes a strong person and someone not afraid of heights to make the climb. 

John was exhausted when he reached the nest and very disappointed that he could not reach the young and get in a better position. While at the nest an adult brought in food for the young and after noticing John began swooped around. John was wearing a hard hat but luckily the adult did not hit him. 

John approaching the nest. Photo by Arlene Koziol

It took John about one minute to descend compared to many minutes to pull himself up the rope. He stated that he was done climbing for the day.

Before lunch Gene suggested that the rope be left in place in case the second nest was not active. John stayed behind to rest and eat his picnic lunch on the front porch.

After lunch we headed to the next location about 1/3 mile away.  This nest was in a swamp white oak 47 feet from the ground and about 30 feet from buildings. Team members were helping get the safety ropes in place when someone spotted a fledgling hawk in the water below the nest. Only its head and part of one wing was not submerged. We all thought the young bird was close to death, however Brand Smith quickly called the Four Lakes Wildlife Center in Madison to see if we could bring it to them for care.

Red-shouldered hawk nestling recovering from a near drowning. Photo by Arlene Koziol

The bird was dried off and placed on a towel in the sun to recover. On close examination by John, he found the crop almost full and thought that the bird would survive without assistance. It was exciting to see the chick recover, move its wings and start chirping. John banded the bird and the young male was ready to return to the nest.

Gene harnessed up and ascended the tree, negotiating a number of limbs as he climbed. Only one young hawk was present in the nest and it was lowered down to the team who banded the bird and Gene placed both safely back into the nest.

Back at the first nest, John and Graham had been talking and John asked Graham if he would like to make the climb. Graham was waiting for John to ask him! Graham has climbing experience and with coaching from John, it did not take him long to reach the nest. He was also in a good position at the nest and three young were lowered to the ground, banded, and safely returned to the nest. Graham was pumped to be able to help out and John hopes that he will become a “raptor climber.”

Graham Steinhauer made it to the first nest! Photo by Mark Martin

Additional information:

• The banding data is used by the Bird Banding Laboratory. From their website: the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) is an integrated scientific program established in 1920 supporting the collection, archiving, management and dissemination of information from banded and marked birds in North America. This information is used to monitor the status and trends of resident and migratory bird populations. Because birds are good indicators of the health of the environment, the status and trends of bird populations are critical for identifying and understanding many ecological issues and for developing effective science, management and conservation practices.

• The Jacob brothers began studying raptors in the early 1970’s. Madison Audubon Society is helping fund their red-shoulder research that includes attaching transmitters to study migration, home ranges, and learn about the ecology of these forest raptors. John’s red-shouldered study area is in northeast Wisconsin and Gene’s study area is in central Wisconsin near Stevens Point. Note that Gene bands saw-whet owls in October at Linwood Spring Research Station. The station is open for visitors by reservation.

• DNR conducted red-shouldered surveys using calls from 2010 to 2012, however there were no survey routes in Columbia County.  Most of the surveys were along floodplain forest river systems like the Lower Wisconsin, Black River, Wolf, and Chippewa Rivers. The first year volunteers found 110 red-shoulders on 23 routes.

• On the first Breeding Bird Atlas in Columbia County only one pair of red-shouldered hawks was found and listed as “probably breeding.” Back then, we did not know how to locate red-shoulders.

• This year we decided to conduct special red-shouldered surveys for the Breeding Bird Atlas II, and Brand Smith took the lead with assistance from Mark, Sue, Graham, Bob Bennicoff, Dory Owen, JD Arnston, Bill Smith, Jane Furchgott, Nydia Klien, and Richard Staffen. Everyone has good memories of the survey days. One day team members were out and Brand and others located the first nest that we banded at. After that, some team members changed teams.  Dory was with Brand and ask what the plan was. Brand stated “we should be on the lookout for nests.” Within one minute Dory exclaimed, “There is a nest!” This was the second red-shouldered nest we banded at. Jane, Bill, and Rich surveyed the Baraboo River floodplain forest where the Baraboo enters the Wisconsin River. Their highlight was finding 10 red-shoulders and three nests.  Brand also confirmed nesting when he observed a red-shoulder carrying a frog to a nest. The Jacob brothers mentioned that frogs are a major prey item. Another day, Brand and Bob really enjoyed canoeing a mile on a road near the Wisconsin River with water four-foot deep in some areas.

• Thanks to the hard work of our atlas team we confirmed eight nests in six atlas blocks over 14 river miles and wonder how many nests were missed? Atlas volunteers have only confirmed four nests in 92 miles of Lower Wisconsin River.  

THANK YOU to Gene, John, and Graham and team members for making this a memorable day, to everyone who helped locate red-shoulders, and to the landowners for allowing us to band the young.

Written by Mark Martin and Susan Foote-Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary resident co-managers and Arlene Koziol, Madison Audubon volunteer and conservation photographer

Cover photo by Arlene Koziol

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird, a delightful bird to watch on June mornings, marks open areas with its broad tail feathers, notched at the bottom with white. To watch a kingbird is to see a bird puppeted about as it moves from a snag, hawks a group of insects, and returns to that same perch. Last year I witnessed the delightful presence of recently fledged kingbirds on a power line along North Shore Road. The parent bird went one by one and delivered food to each fledgling—a precise and delicate process.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

Kingbirds can be found in open habitats, from savannas to prairies to orchards, across much of the United States, including all of Wisconsin. Constructing haphazard nests in shrbus and trees, the birds will defend those nests and territories from nearly every intruder. Aggressiveness of breeding birds is a common sight, and dazzling aerial maneuvers often ensue. In flight, the kingbird’s tail will regularly fan out, as the bird hovers, twists, and maneuvers chaotically.

Its Latin name Tyrannus means tyrant or despot, and the kingbird lives up to this with its defense of its nest from brown-headed cowbirds, blue jays, and hawks. You can find kingbirds at Faville Grove in most open habitats with a scattering of trees. Watch for their distinctive white tail tip and kiting flights in grassy areas.

Photo by OHFalcon72

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Sanctuary land steward

Cover photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Photo by Jeff Bryant

The chestnut-sided warbler, decorated as it is with chestnut-streaked flanks, almost resembles an oak leaf. Indeed, in southern Wisconsin the breast of a chestnut-sided warbler could very well extend from a cured black oak leaf—a potential spot for finding this warbler during the breeding season.

I love the appearance of a chestnut-sided warbler: with its yellow cap it declares its warbler-ness while its messy chestnut streak resembles spilled coffee down its side. Likewise endearing is its call—the mnemonic I've come up with is “choo choo choo god-bless-you!” Unlike the eastern towhee which admonishes you to “drink your tea,” or the yellow warbler (which can have a confusingly similar song) in its braggadocios endowment of itself as “sweet, sweet, sweeter than sweet,” the chestnut-sided warbler sneezes and humbly excuses itself.  

There's more to that song than the trivial way a human remembers it, however. Ending the chestnut-sided's song is either an accented or unaccented syllable. When the accent is used, the male is attempting to attract a mate, while the unaccented song is employed for territory defense when other males are around. So, we have some idea of the language of the chestnut-sided warbler: if he's on a nest, you might expect to hear the territorial song (unaccented) while his accented ending may mean he's still looking for a mate.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

Further research into chestnut-sided warbler song has revealed that certain songs are associated with greater reproductive success. It turns out, in chestnut-sided warblers, high-pitched and steady wins the race. Males who sing with a high and steady pitch and consistent timing are more likely to have a successful breeding season. If you hear a chestnut-sided warbler in the woods that's mapping new vocal territory with each song, it's not as likely that a female will choose this variable warbler.

When I've encountered chestnut-sided warblers it's been in oak barrens areas in northeastern Wisconsin, where the bird is common north of Marathon County. It's uncommon in central Wisconsin, and a rare breeder in southern Wisconsin where I've seen it in regenerating oak scrub in the southern Kettle Moraine. While this bird's preferred habitat is rather rare in Wisconsin (oak savanna and barrens), the advent of large-scale logging operations proved a great benefit to chestnut-sided warbler populations. These birds will readily occupy cut-over land, and as such they have a secure population in northern Wisconsin.

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Sanctuary land steward

Banner photo by Arlene Koziol