BirdWalk Newsletter 5.6.2018 Walks conducted by Perry Nugent and Ray Swagerty Newsletter written by Jayne J. Matney Cover Photo by Guenter Weber Obtaining the Grace for Take-off and Landing Now that spring has been upon us for a few weeks, the Great Egrets are beginning their baby bird caring while the Great Blue Heron and Anhinga parents are now handling adolescent young. The parents will begin to show these youngsters how to adventure out away from their nest. These teenagers will first hop around the edges of the nest and the branches nearby. They will be testing their bravery and their wings! The parents will instruct the young ones by demonstrating how to leap off the nest or branch and then do a small circle back to the nest. For the youngsters, sometimes these leaps are a bit awkward, and the landings well, let s just say there may be a few crash landings before the technique is perfected. Technique is directly proportional to their use of aerodynamics and finding the right place to launch and land. Some birds, for example the American Coot and the Common Moorhen, are famous for not having the ability to lift off or land directly. They tend to use a water runway of sorts. Other birds have the ability to lift off or land more vertically. Some birds can even hover to aid in the techniques.
Lift and drag come into play for these birds. To read about the physics of aerodynamics and wings, go to the 1.21.2018 newsletter, Wings: Aerodynamics, Shapes, and Abilities. Birds will use winds for both take-off and landing simply because the process is much more in their control that way. Air speed on the undersurface is needed for proper lift. More drag is what they will use to slow themselves to land. Either way this is accomplished using air flow. Take-off: Large water-oriented birds, such as the Canadian Goose, that are taking-off will need a long runway along the surface of the water to build enough speed and lift to get their big bodies and larger weight to travel upward. They also use their webbed feet to get traction on the water s surface. Large woodland birds, such as the Bald Eagle, choose to use perches high up in tree tops to allow increased air speeds to occur while dropping off the branches- as well as using the winds. Large ground birds will synchronize their run along the ground with wing beats to aid them in lift. Small passerines, such as the sparrow A Water Runway Photo by Jo Frkovich and wren, can get lift much more easily because of having less mass/weight. Take-off is much more immediate and vertical. Using everything it has to get lift-off! Photo by Guenter Weber
Once the prey bird leans into the wind and releases the branch, it may drop a bit before it achieves lift as with this Barred Owl. Photo by Guenter Webber The Great Egret has perfected the graceful take-off with their amazing wing span. Photo by John Nickerson Broad-winged Hawk readying for take-off Photo by Guenter Weber
A Butter-Butt showing how the small passerines will hop up and fly from a more vertical angle. Photo from Guenter Weber Landing: The secret to a good landing is getting the landing gear (legs and feet) in the correct position while the wings regulate the lift and drag for the best transition. Again, a face wind is the best option for controlling the tempo and positioning. Some birds, such as the hummingbird, have an advantage in landing due to their ability to hover. Perching birds need exceptional dimensional eye-sight in order to gauge their fast flight with their desired perch. Large birds may start the landing by using a dive in the air, then raising their bodies erect, spreading their wings, and producing a high amount of drag for zero air speed to land. Different feathers in the wings, such as the wing fingers, provide drag as well as the entire lower surface of the wing when the front surface is tilted upward. Water birds tend to approach parallel to the water surface and hydroplane to a stop. Wading birds will glide in and slow themselves down with approaching legs and adjustments in long spanning wings for drag.
The hovering ability of the Osprey allows for more control when coming in for a landing as this photo shows. Photo by Guenter Weber Leg and feet positioning is vital for grasping the branch when coming in for a landing. Notice how large the feet are and the strong talons used to grasp the branch. The wings work hard to regulate and make last minute adjustments. Photo by Guenter Weber
Great Blue Heron with feet thrown forward and legs extended while wings are accomplishing drag Photo by Jo Frkovich Coming in for that landing Photo by David Goltra MD On May 6 th, 2018, 8 participants took advantage of a beautiful morning to walk along the trails at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Highlights: Some highlights of the walk include spotting both the Indigo Bunting and the Painted Bunting. They were spotted in the Audubon Swamp on the cabin side. In addition, the Blue Grosbeak and the Prothonotary Warbler were also identified in the Audubon Swamp. Two Red-throated Hummingbirds were seen as well! Some of the first Yellow-billed Cuckoo were seen and heard in two different locations- the garden area and the Ravenswood Pond area. A nesting pair of Orchard Orioles
were seen carrying nesting material through the trees. Mississippi Kite are being seen regularly these last few weeks as well. They are being observed high in the sky circling within some air thermals. Summer Tanager and an Orange-crowned Warbler were seen near the Indian mound in the morning. Not seen on the walk but reports are coming in that the Black-necked Stilts seen last year have come back and with this pair are two others. We don t know yet if this is another nesting pair or possibly the offspring of last year. Either way, we are excited to see them taking advantage of the boat impoundment and preserve again this year! Glossy Ibis are also being reported in this same area. Ravenswood was a good place to see Great Blue Heron, Anhinga, Great Egret, Wood Duck, Cattle Egret, Little Blue Heron, and Common Moorhen. In the Woodpecker family, the Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, and the Pileated Woodpecker made themselves known. A bird not seen in numbers as expected, but were seen, were the Summer Tanager seen this morning Photo by Marc Regnier Carolina Chickadee. A Black-throated Blue Warbler made this list in the gardens, and a Brown Thrasher was spotted near the office building. A group of Chimney Swift was seen over the field and the house. Scattered through-out the property were Redshouldered Hawk, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler, Pine Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, and Common Grackle. Above the picnic table and field areas, Killdeer and Wood stork were fly-by species. Finishing the list were: Mourning Dove, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Laughing Gull, Greatcrested Flycatcher, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, and Brown-headed Cowbird.