Ornithological Literature

BABY BIRD PORTRAITS BY GEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON. COLLINS ILLUSTRATED CHECKLIST: BIRDS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. BIRDS OF AFRICA: FROM SEABIRDS TO SEED-EATERS. By Chris and Tilde Stuart. HARMONY AND CONFLICT IN THE LIVING WORLD. By Alexander F. Skutch. HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS. By Christopher Cokinos. STURKIE’S AVIAN PHYSIOLOGY. Edited by G. Causey Whittow. STARLINGS AND MYNAS. By Chris Feare and Adrian Craig. BIRDING IN THE AMERICAN WEST. By Kevin J. Zimmer. TAKING WING: ARCHAEOPTERYX AND THE EVOLUTION OF BIRD FLIGHT. By Pat Shipman

Ornithological Literature

BABY BIRD PORTRAITS BY GEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON. COLLINS ILLUSTRATED CHECKLIST: BIRDS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. BIRDS OF AFRICA: FROM SEABIRDS TO SEED-EATERS. By Chris and Tilde Stuart. HARMONY AND CONFLICT IN THE LIVING WORLD. By Alexander F. Skutch. HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS. By Christopher Cokinos. STURKIE’S AVIAN PHYSIOLOGY. Edited by G. Causey Whittow. STARLINGS AND MYNAS. By Chris Feare and Adrian Craig. BIRDING IN THE AMERICAN WEST. By Kevin J. Zimmer. TAKING WING: ARCHAEOPTERYX AND THE EVOLUTION OF BIRD FLIGHT. By Pat Shipman

Beware the Boojum: Caveats and Strengths of Avian Radar

Radar provides a useful and powerful tool to wildlife biologists and ornithologists. However, radar also has the potential for errors on a scale not previously possible. In this paper, we focus on the strengths and limitations of avian surveillance radars that use marine radar front-ends integrated with digital radar processors to provide 360° of coverage. Modern digital radar processors automatically extract target information, including such various target attributes as location, speed, heading, intensity, and radar cross-section (size) as functions of time. Such data can be stored indefinitely, providing a rich resource for ornithologists and wildlife managers. Interpreting these attributes in view of the sensor’s characteristics from which they are generated is the key to correctly deriving and exploiting application-specific information about birds and bats. We also discuss (1) weather radars and air-traffic control surveillance radars that could be used to monitor birds on larger, coarser spatial scales; (2) other nonsurveillance radar configurations, such as vertically scanning radars used for vertical profiling of birds along a particular corridor; and (3) Doppler, single-target tracking radars used for extracting radial velocity and wing-beat frequency information from individual birds for species identification purposes

Through a Bird’s Eye – Exploring Avian Sensory Perception

For too many birds their environment includes airfields and aircraft. Knowing avian sensory abilities, researchers can design experiments and develop new devices and techniques to deter birds from aircraft on and away from airfields. How birds perceive the world about them determines many choices, including foraging, predator avoidance, and flight. Most experiments to investigate the sensory abilities of birds have been developed and analyzed using only human sensory capabilities, which often differ markedly from those of birds. My objective is to review and synthesize what is known and what is unknown about avian sensory capabilities. Compared with humans, birds can distinguish more colors and detect ultraviolet and polarized light directly. Their range of auditory sensitivity is narrower than humans but some species can hear sounds at least as high pitched as humans. Their chemical sensitivity is similar to humans in most cases but varies seasonally and can approach that of rodents. Avian vestibular sensitivity appears to be similar to other vertebrates but has received little investigation. There is a great deal we do not know about avian sensory perception that we need to know to make aircraft more obvious to birds and improve the effectiveness of dispersal techniques for individual species of birds

ORNITHOLOGICAL LITERATURE

BIRDS OF THE SOUTHWEST. By John H. Rappole

Mechanisms of Magnetic Orientation in Birds

Behavior and electrophysiological studies have demonstrated a sensitivity to characteristics of the Geomagnetic field that can be used for navigation, both for direction finding (compass) and position finding (map). The avian magnetic compass receptor appears to be a light-dependent, wavelength-sensitive system that functions as a polarity compass (i.e., it distinguishes poleward from equatorward rather than north from south) and is relatively insensitive to changes in magnetic field intensity. The receptor is within the retina and is based on one or more photopigments, perhaps cryptochromes. A second receptor system appears to be based on magnetite and might serve to transduce location information independent of the compass system. This receptor is associated with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve and is sensitive to very small (\u3c50 nanotesla) changes in the intensity of the magnetic field. In neither case has a neuron that responded to changes in the magnetic field been traced to a structure that can be identified to be a receptor. Almost nothing is known about how magnetic information is processed within the brain or how it is combined with other sensory information and used for navigation. These remain areas of future research

What Can Birds Hear?

For bids, hearing is second in importance only to vision for monitoring the world around them. ./\vim hearing is most sensitive to sounds from about 1 to 4 kHz, although they can hear higher and lower frequencies. No species of bird has shown sensitivity to ultrasonic frequencies (\u3e20 kHz). Sensitivity to frequencies below 20 Hz (dasound) has not received much attention; however, pigeons and a few other species have shown behavioral and physiological responses to these low frequencies. In general, frequency discrimination in birds is only about one-half or one-third as good it is for humans within the 1 - 4 kHz range. A problem that birds suffer that is similar to humans is damage to the auditory receptors (hair cells) from loud noises. The sound intensity that produces damage and the amount of damage produced differs depending on the species. Buds residing in the active areas of airports might be constantly subjected to sound pressure levels that damage their hearing. Thus, to effectively disperse birds using sound, auditory alerts must be at frequencies that can he detected by the damaged auditory receptors. Although some if not all species of birds have the abhty to repair damaged hair cells, continued exposure to loud noises would prevent recovety of their hearing. In this paper I review what is h o w about avian hearing and compare that to the operational charactenstics (frequencies, intensities, duration) of techmques and devices to disperse buds

3-D Radar Sampling Methods for Ornithology and Wildlife Management

Avian Community Sampling Visual techniques Auditory techniques Migration monitoring Visual Sampling Techniques Fixed radius, fixed time sampling Fixed radius, variable time sampling Unlimited radius, variable time sampling Incidental observations Trained observer can identify species Auditory Sampling Supplement to visual sampling techniques Aid to species identification Used in conjunction with migration sampling for species identificatio

THE USE OF RADAR TO AUGMENT VISUAL OBSERVATIONS IN WILDLIFE HAZARD ASSESMENTS

Assessing wildlife hazards to aviation in the airport environment is typically initiated by conducting a Wildlife Hazard Assessment (WHA). Ecological relationships between wildlife populations and habitat are usually discerned through observations during the course of one annual cycle. Although proximate hazards, on the airport, are well defined during the WHA process, off-airport features also can attract wildlife. Wildlife species can transit airport property traveling to and from habitat attractants. During a WHA, common wildlife sampling techniques are employed to determine species, their approximate numbers, and through association an index of potentially attractive habitat. Continuous observations could provide a more complete picture but would require greater sampling effort. Radar is a tool that has demonstrated efficacy to automatically monitor wildlife at greater distances than can be achieved through traditional techniques. Modern systems also have the ability to record a variety of spatial and temporal variables simultaneously and processed data streams can be further analyzed. In association with GIS software, these data can be queried to provide hazard and risk mapping on the airfield and in the approach/departure corridors, as well as the air traffic pattern. The use of radar in combination with traditional wildlife observation techniques could significantly increase the amount of information available for analyses during a WHA. At MCAS Cherry Point we used radar observations to document winter waterfowl movements at night (including migration departures) as well as diurnal bird movements. These movements included incursions into the approach/departure corridors and the initial location of the waterfowl presenting the hazard. Although radar has its benefits, such as detecting wildlife at night and greater distances than can be accomplished visually, it also has its shortcomings. These include reduced sensitivity during heavy precipitation (e.g., X- and K-band radars) and the inability to identify the species of the birds detected