Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/birds/page/9/)
Clearing an invasive plant choking Lake St. Clair Metropark yielded impressive dividends: Rare birds and plants have returned. Next up: Diversion and treatment of stormwater that has closed a nearby beach.
Sandhill cranes have been spotted in record numbers this year at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary near Chelsea, Mich. The Michigan Audubon Society reported 8,177 cranes gathered in the sanctuary Monday, November 19, the most birds ever seen there since the 1900s. Once on the verge of extinction, sandhill crane populations have been on the rise across the United States for the past decade, according to Audubon Society spokesperson Mallory King. “They were almost extinct at the beginning of the 1900s, their feathers were in high demand and they were being overhunted,” King said, “That started to turn around as environmental legislation was passed starting in the 1930s and 40s, and now they’ve been steadily recovering.”
The birds return to their birthplace each year to find a mate. “We’re seeing so many birds here because the sanctuary has the right habitat for them and because enough of the cranes born here last year survived to return,” King said.
All photos taken at Kensington Metropolitan Park in Milford, Mich.
Michigan officials are asking residents to help shoot and kill 13,500 mute swans.
A proposal to build a wind farm on the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario has created an uproar among people worried about birds and wildlife.
A birder and Michigander tells the story of a rare, endangered bird species in his new book, The Kirtland’s Warbler: The Story of a Bird’s Fight Against Extinction and the People Who Saved It.
Scientists are finding more Great Lakes birds with high levels of mercury in them. A recent report says the increased levels are particularly found in songbirds that rely on insects for food.
A journey to visit Martha, the last of her species – passenger pigeons.
Martha and other endlings reside in museums from Washington D.C. to Nukus, serving as humbling reminders of human impacts on biodiversity.
Michigan officials listened to the sweet songs of Kirtland’s warblers throughout the state in June — and the chorus was a positive one. The population of the endangered birds remains steady, according to the annual survey by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. Officials surveyed in mid-June when the birds defend their nesting territories. Birds are detected by listening for their songs — as their singing can be heard for up to a quarter mile. Since only males are belting out songs, populations are estimated by doubling the number of singers
The 2011 survey documented 1,805 singing males, which is approximately what the population has been in recent years. The bird made a strong comeback after singing male populations hit a low in 1974 and 1987, when only 167 were observed. Warblers nest on the ground in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario —but most prominently in northern Michigan’s jack pine forests. The population declined rapidly as modern fire suppression stopped the natural wildfires that provided the barren landscape and young jack pines that warblers love to nest in. State and federal officials now harvest and replant approximately 3,000 acres of jack pine trees a year to mimic natural processes. Large prescribed burns aren’t safe or economical in northern Michigan, according to the state officials.
It’s time to break out the brass band because trumpeter swans are back.
Standing up to 4-feet tall with up to an 8-foot wingspan, trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl in North America. Their Great Lakes range includes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New York and Ontario.
Early settlers hunted these birds nearly to extinction in the 1800s — using them to make powder puffs and feathered hats.