Alabama Coastal BirdFest Oct. 3-6

Birders from around the world will flock to Alabama Gulf Coast for 14th gathering
Birders from across the United States, Canada, and abroad will be flocking to the Gulf Coast for the 14th annual Alabama Coastal BirdFest, October 3-6. This is one of the area’s prime bird- and wildlife-watching opportunities during fall migration.
BirdFest includes boat and walking trips each day to prime spots, including the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and Forever Wild Grand Bay Savanna. There are some new additions this year, including a trip to the Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve, which is more than 900 acres of pristine forest, creeks, and beautiful lakes owned and maintained by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Also new is a Sunset Kayak Cookout on Justin’s Bay in the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta, a walking tour and birdwatching in various habitats on Forever Wild property in Saraland, and a Beach Bird Bonanza Workshop for children.
Other options include trips focused on seeing alligators, dolphins, and wildflowers, evening speaker events, a new advanced birding workshop, a hummingbird workshop, and the free, family-friendly Bird and Conservation Expo on the Coastal Alabama Community College campus in Fairhope on Saturday, October 6.
Tickets for trips, evening events, and workshops range from $20 to $100 and require advance registration. For more information or to register, visit AlabamaCoastalBirdFest.com.
Since 2004 Alabama Coastal BirdFest has raised more than $100,000 to help preserve and protect vital coastal wildlife habitat and raise awareness about the great biological diversity of the Alabama Gulf Coast.
“The birding potential on the Alabama Gulf Coast is phenomenal and fall migration is the best time to enjoy it,” John Borom, event founder, said. “More than 370 bird species have been counted at various locations along the Alabama coast.”
A Gulf Shores event during the fest is the guided bird tour of Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge on Ft. Morgan Rd. from 7:30-11:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 5. The fee is $35
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge on Fort Morgan Peninsula is a prime birding location. Guides and naturalists from BSNWR will take you down trails through woods, coastal marsh, and sandy beaches to seek birds in a variety of habitats.
For more info festival info, call 251-625-0814 or visit alabamacoastalbirdfest.com.

Pictured: Clapper Rail.

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A yard full of native plants is a yard full of well-fed birds

By Kathi Borgmann
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Taking in the beautiful purple blossoms as the scent of lilac floats on the air seems like a pretty idyllic backyard setting, but new research shows that not all plants are equal. That pretty lilac, porcelain berry, fragrant bush honeysuckle, and ruby red Japanese maple in your yard might look nice, but non-native plants like these consistently have fewer caterpillars than native plants, according to new research published in July in Biological Conservation. And that means less food for birds.
And while fewer insects may seem like a good thing to some, Desiree Narango, a graduate student at the University of Delaware and lead author of the study, found that where there are more non-native plants, one of our common backyard birds, the Carolina Chickadee, stays away. Non-native plants don’t have enough caterpillars, the chickadee’s primary source of food during the summer months, to feed them.
Narango and colleagues from the University of Delaware and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center studied Carolina Chickadee foraging behavior, monitored chickadee nest success, and counted caterpillars in the backyards of homeowners in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area participating in Neighborhood Nestwatch during the summer months in 2013 and 2014.
Their research also showed that Carolina Chickadees raise more baby chickadees in yards with lots of native plants. But in yards with more non-native plants, the chickadees didn’t fare so well. In yards mostly consisting of non-native plants, baby birds didn’t survive because there wasn’t enough for them to eat.
Native shrubs in this Habitat Network yard include red chokeberry, common ninebark, Virginia sweetspire, redosier dogwood, fragrant sumac, and American hazelnut. Photo by plants4wildlife.
“The plants that you put in your property matter and they are not all the same,” says Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware and coauthor of the research.
“Native oaks, elms, and cherries are phenomenal food producers for birds,” says Narango. But some native plants are better than others. Tulip trees for example, are native, but researchers found that they support about 8 caterpillar species whereas an oak tree can support over 530 different species of caterpillars. If you were a bird, where would you go to get your next meal?
Urban and suburban habitats are increasing around the globe, but that doesn’t mean they can’t also provide homes for wildlife. In fact, Tallamy, says, “Now more than ever we need to create functional ecosystems in our neighborhood. It’s no longer an option.”
Pictured: Carolina Chickadees find more caterpillars in backyards with native vegetation, according to a recent study. Photo by Doug Tallamy.

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How do birds prepare for migrations?

As days shorten at summer’s end, photoreceptors in their brains trigger hormonal changes that stimulate many birds to molt into new feathers that will stand up to the rigors of a long flight. Their hormones also trigger a huge appetite, and they start eating voraciously, gaining significant amounts of weight.
Many insectivorous species supplement their diet with fruits, grains, and other items that can be converted to body fat, which birds burn efficiently for energy. These hormonal shifts make birds increasingly restless, especially at nighttime.
Suddenly, one day it’s time to go!
Pictured: A female Black-headed Grosbeak starts her summer-to-fall moult that will give her nice strong feathers for migration. Photo by Sandy Stewart via Birdshare.