I love them. Going back in my Grinnell journal species account, I calculated that here in the Lehigh Valley urban area, the third largest in Pennsylvania, in the suburbs, out of 44 Wood Thrush, they prefered small woodlots by 10%, medium by 50%, and by 40%, large woodlots. Though this was 1991-2006, they still are very prevalent here because of even more mature trees with more littler. Small urban areas may be the last stronghold eventually after the trend of deforestation continues to make them flee to suburban private preserves and city and county parks. Plus wioded mountaintops can only be developed here so much because of the slate, granite, and limestone rocks and lack of infrastructure. In Pennsylvania, Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanagers, and Kentucky Warblers are the big three songbirds in decline and have been, having more than 50% of the global population of Scarlet Tanagers. Along with the Kentucky Warblers, the Hooded Warblers are in decline because here and in New Jersey they occupy the same habitat, tall, mature forest with tall understory. One last bastion for them is the Delaware National Receational Area. They prefer to nest in invasive Japanese Barberry there for protection.
I'm a new reader and first commenter after reading your wonderful column for a while which I found by Googling your name. We spoke on the phone about Professor Daniel Klem and bird window-collisions a while ago. I don't know if you remember me, but no doubt you remember him. He may be up in years, but he's not showing it. Still teaching in Allentown at Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania, he's still touring the country educating people about the threat of window collision and it's mitigation. BTW, I loved 101 Ways to Help Birds by you after you told me about it. Hope this wasn't too long.
I'm sorry. 11.6% of Scarlet Tanagers breed in Pennsylvania. Still is a significant number given the size of their summer range. People interested in finding out more about bird window-collisions and how to stop them can see Dr. Klem's work at aco.muhlenberg.edu, and search for "Birds and Windows".
Yes! I'm still a member. The annual meeting of the Wilson Ornithological Society (WOS) last year was here in Allentown. He is frantically preparing for this year's meeting in Peoria later this month, I believe, and I can't get in edgewise even to say Hi!, lol. For those who don't know, Alexander Wilson was a Scottish immigrant, peddler, and weaver who discovered birds from William Bartram, a colonial ornithologist, and in the early 1800s wrote the three-volume American Ornithology. He was dubbed the father of American ornithology traditionally, not his more famous contemporary John James Audubon. Both were great American backwoods avian naturalists, with contemporaries George Ord and Charles Bonaparte. WOS, formed in 1888, is honored and humbled to be named after him. Also named after him are four birds, Wilson's Storm-petrel, Wilson's Phalorope, Wilson's Warbler, and Wilson's Snipe.
By the way, Dr. Klem and colleagues have a new figure for total window collisions per year in the United States alone: 1.28-5.19 billion. Wood Thrush are frequent victims. And the International Panel for Climate Change (ipcc.ch) of the UN has declared that the planet has warmed by 2° Celsius. At that rate, the National Audubon Society's Survival by Degrees report says Wood Thrush have probably lost 29% of their range predicted by the program's computer model.
I love them. Going back in my Grinnell journal species account, I calculated that here in the Lehigh Valley urban area, the third largest in Pennsylvania, in the suburbs, out of 44 Wood Thrush, they prefered small woodlots by 10%, medium by 50%, and by 40%, large woodlots. Though this was 1991-2006, they still are very prevalent here because of even more mature trees with more littler. Small urban areas may be the last stronghold eventually after the trend of deforestation continues to make them flee to suburban private preserves and city and county parks. Plus wioded mountaintops can only be developed here so much because of the slate, granite, and limestone rocks and lack of infrastructure. In Pennsylvania, Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanagers, and Kentucky Warblers are the big three songbirds in decline and have been, having more than 50% of the global population of Scarlet Tanagers. Along with the Kentucky Warblers, the Hooded Warblers are in decline because here and in New Jersey they occupy the same habitat, tall, mature forest with tall understory. One last bastion for them is the Delaware National Receational Area. They prefer to nest in invasive Japanese Barberry there for protection.
I'm a new reader and first commenter after reading your wonderful column for a while which I found by Googling your name. We spoke on the phone about Professor Daniel Klem and bird window-collisions a while ago. I don't know if you remember me, but no doubt you remember him. He may be up in years, but he's not showing it. Still teaching in Allentown at Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania, he's still touring the country educating people about the threat of window collision and it's mitigation. BTW, I loved 101 Ways to Help Birds by you after you told me about it. Hope this wasn't too long.
I'm sorry. 11.6% of Scarlet Tanagers breed in Pennsylvania. Still is a significant number given the size of their summer range. People interested in finding out more about bird window-collisions and how to stop them can see Dr. Klem's work at aco.muhlenberg.edu, and search for "Birds and Windows".
Hey, Grant! I DO remember you! And all the info about Wood Thrushes out East, in the heart of their range, is really interesting.
By the way, Dr. Klem is currently the president of the Wilson Ornithological Society. He's VERY active!!!
Yes! I'm still a member. The annual meeting of the Wilson Ornithological Society (WOS) last year was here in Allentown. He is frantically preparing for this year's meeting in Peoria later this month, I believe, and I can't get in edgewise even to say Hi!, lol. For those who don't know, Alexander Wilson was a Scottish immigrant, peddler, and weaver who discovered birds from William Bartram, a colonial ornithologist, and in the early 1800s wrote the three-volume American Ornithology. He was dubbed the father of American ornithology traditionally, not his more famous contemporary John James Audubon. Both were great American backwoods avian naturalists, with contemporaries George Ord and Charles Bonaparte. WOS, formed in 1888, is honored and humbled to be named after him. Also named after him are four birds, Wilson's Storm-petrel, Wilson's Phalorope, Wilson's Warbler, and Wilson's Snipe.
By the way, Dr. Klem and colleagues have a new figure for total window collisions per year in the United States alone: 1.28-5.19 billion. Wood Thrush are frequent victims. And the International Panel for Climate Change (ipcc.ch) of the UN has declared that the planet has warmed by 2° Celsius. At that rate, the National Audubon Society's Survival by Degrees report says Wood Thrush have probably lost 29% of their range predicted by the program's computer model.