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Migration Flights Test Bird Stamina

Editor — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:29:30 +0000

It has long been known that migrating birds embark on particularly long and grueling journeys when they cross the oceans. What hasn’t been known for sure is whether or not they somehow stop along the way – until now that is. A Bar-tailed Godwit has been bestowed with the title ‘endurance champion of the animal kingdom’ after completing his epic 7,200 mile flight across the Pacific Ocean nonstop.

It’s no secret that Bar-tailed Godwits undertake an annual migration from Alaska to Australia and various islands in the southern hemisphere each year to breed. What scientists really wanted to know was if they made pit-stops along the way. That was the goal behind a recent study wherein nine Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica baueri) were fitted with electronic tags before setting off into the sunset on their mammoth migration flights. The birds flew between 4,355 miles and 7,258 miles, depending on which route they chose to take, with their journeys lasting 6-9 days correspondingly. What makes the research particularly interesting is that the flight paths reveal the birds were unlikely to sleep during the time and even more significantly – that they did not feed along the way. That means that their wings did not stop flapping from their point of departure to their point of arrival! This makes their journey even more remarkable, since it sets new precedents for endurance in animals. According to scientists, the energy required to complete this sort of migratory journey is the greatest in the animal kingdom.

The international scientific team, under the leadership of Bob Gill of the US Geological Survey, has said: “These extraordinary nonstop flights establish new extremes for avian flight performance and have profound implications for understanding the physiological capabilities of vertebrates.” According to Theunis Piersma of the University of Groningen (Netherlands) who worked on the study, the energy requirements of the birds was the greatest known energy requirement in the animal kingdom. During their week-long, non-stop journey, the birds would have been consuming energy at around eight times their resting basic metabolic rate (BMR). This is in sharp contrast with other measurements, such as a professional cyclist who may manage to function at around five times BMR for just a few hours. Piersma appropriately summed up the results with this remark: “There is something special going on here. For a vertebrate this kind of endurance is just extraordinary.”

Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival

Editor — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:15:21 +0000

Each year the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival gives bird lovers the opportunity to become better acquainted with various bird species. This year will be no different and the festival theme for 2008 is “Shorebirds as International Ambassadors: Connecting Birds, Habitats and People.”

The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival takes place each year in Homer, Alaska, where more than 25 species of shorebirds make their migration to Kachemak Bay in time for the arrival of spring. Here they join thousands of resident waterfowl, woodland birds and seabirds. This abundance of birds provides the perfect setting for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. The festival is family friendly and caters to beginner, intermediate and advanced birders and even non-birders and the focus is on a fun, nature-orientated weekend celebration.

This year’s festival will give birders an opportunity to expand their knowledge of birds in both Kachemak Bay and in other places around the globe. If you are excited at the prospect of birding elsewhere in the world, you may be able to book your place in a birding trip to Bolivia or Taiwan. However, if you are only planning to keep it local, you will certainly not miss out! Birders attending the festival will be treated to speeches by a variety of expert naturalists, birders and guides, who will share their extensive knowledge and also guide you through the various field events and workshops. Presentations and boat tours will also be on offer, and participants can choose between shorebird viewing stations, hiking, guided bird walks, nature writing worships, kayaking, an educational workshop on optics and digiscoping, courses on shorebird identification through sound and sight, live bird presentations and tours of Homer’s Hot Spots.

But the fun and entertainment doesn’t end there! Once you have taken in all the sights and sounds of nature, you can settle down, relax and enjoy an evening of great entertainment. Live concerts, fashion shows, an art and education fair, multimedia performances, beer bashes, bird calling competitions, poetry readings and solo singing performances are just some of the great evening entertainment on offer at the Kachemack Bay Shorebird Festival. The 2008 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival will take place from 8 to11 May, so book your spot now and make the most of this impressive bird watching festival.

Alaska Bird Conference 2008

Editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:16:33 +0000

The 2008 Alaska Bird Conference will be the thirteenth conference since its establishment in 1982, as the conference is held every two years. The very first Alaska Bird Conference was held in Anchorage, and this year the West Fairbanks Hotel and Conference Center, in Fairbanks, will host and accommodate the hundreds of scientists and bird specialists who will be attending. Not only will the conference dazzle those in attendance with new information, but it falls within perfect timing to watch the breathtaking Northern Lights perform their spectacular dance in the skies of Alaska.

With every conference, the Alaska Bird Conference attracts approximately two hundred people from the birding community, including researchers, educators, students and birding professionals. At this avifauna event, everyone has the opportunity to discuss various issues concerning the birds of Alaska, research results, future projects and any wildlife concerns they might have that influence the existence of bird species in Alaska. It is a vital event in the conservation of birds and the Alaska Bird Conference receives support and sponsorship from various businesses, organizations and agencies.

This year, the conference will be held from the 4th to the 7th of March 2008, with the key guest speaker of the conference being Scott Weidensaul. Weidensaul is the author of “Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds”, “The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking and the Search for Lost Birds”, and “Of A Feather: A Brief History of American Birding”. His published work, including articles in the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine, and the admiration he has received in regard to his knowledge and understanding of wildlife and conservation, make him a leading expert, and he will be hosting two presentations during the conference.

Sharing knowledge and working together to raise conservation awareness and to protect the avifauna of Alaska, is the aim of the Alaska Bird Conference. Through research and the tireless work of biologists, scientists and everyone involved in the protection of birds, the Alaska Bird Conference has become a vital tool in forming relationships and bonds between different agencies and broadening the horizon for all who attend.