Tag: bird conservation

The Bird Banter Podcast #179 with Dr. Abby Darrah Additional Info.


Thanks for listening. I had a blast talking with Abby, and learning about her work with Black Skimmers and Least Terns in the gulf beaches of Mississippi.

Here are some Black Skimmers Ken Brown and I saw after our trip on the Searcher, the trip I recommend to Abby.

You can read about the trip on the Searcher on my trip report on the BirdBanter.com site in my birding notes section.
Least Terns are the other species Abby talks about in detail on the episode. This photo was from a beach near Cape Hatteras N.C.

You can follow Abby on Facebook and contact her at the Audubon Delta contact page.
Black Skimmer Rynchops niger is an incredibly cool bird, one of my favorites. This is an excerpt from the Birds of the World monograph.

“The buoyant flight of this bird, coupled with its dog-like barks, prompted R. C. Murphy (1) to describe Black Skimmers as “unworldly…aerial beagles hot on the scent of aerial rabbits.”

Its elongated wings and graceful flight pattern are captivating: the bird appears to almost flutter, languidly, yet is simultaneously agile and efficient. This long has captured the notice of naturalists, even of Charles Darwin, who, in observing skimmers foraging on a lake in Uruguay, described their flight as “dexterously managed” while they “ploughed up small fish with their projecting lower mandibles, and secured them with the upper half of their scissor-like bills”( Gould 1841).”
Here are links to some of the podcast episodes I mention on the podcast intro.

The Bird Banter Podcast #170 with Holly Garrod
The Bird Banter Podcast #129 with Jackie Lindsey and Charlie Wright of COASST
The Bird Banter Podcast #70 with Peter Hodum
The Bird Banter Podcast #26 wioth Tim Larson

Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!

The Bird Banter Podcast #162 with William McLean Greeley Additional Info


Learning about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and about the champion behind the act, Senator George McLean, Birdman of the Senate, has been both enjoyable and eye-awakening for me. It is always inspiring to hear about how one individual can make such a difference in the course of world events. As I mentioned in the episode Snowy Egret, along with many of our other spectacular waders, was one of the birds I saw and was in awe of on my first day of birding in the Everglades.

Will McLean is the author of a biography on his Great-great Uncle, Senator George McLean he titles

    Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: SEnator George P McLean. Birdman of the Senate.

I’m reading the book now and am leaning a lot abouot the late 19th adn early 20th centuries, as well as about the man himself.
You can buy the book on Amazon, or atthe RIT Press site at the links here. Check out Will Greeley’s web site here.

Learn more about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act on the US Fish and Wildlife Website here. Since the initial act with Canada and England in 1918, treaties were signed with Mexico in 1936, and Russia in 1976. Here is a list of the species and families of birds protected by the act.
I also learned about the “Supremacy Clasuse” in the U.S. Constitution.
Article VI, Clause 2:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Will talks about how by making the protection of birds an international treaty the issue of states rights was overcome.
Here is a link to a Field and Stream article about the first commercially successful pump shotguns which became popular in the 1890’s, and at a time with no game limits and plentiful wildlife, as well as a booming trade in feathers, having more than 2 shots with a double-barrel shotgun was wildly popular.
I hope you have enjoyed the hearing Will’s story, find his book a great read, and until next time, good birding and good day!