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A Surprise visit with Cache Valley’s distant bird relatives

A Surprise visit with distant relatives of Cache Valley's birds: Peafowl Chicks, Courtesy Wikimedia, This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Creative_Commons and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Peafowl Chicks
Courtesy Wikimedia, This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Awhile back, I was riding my bicycle along country roads in Cache Valley, when suddenly 6 unusual looking chicks ran across the road in single file right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes just in time as the chicks disappeared down the farmhouse driveway on the other side of the road.

I got off my bike and ventured partway down the driveway. Suddenly I found myself face to face with a fully grown peacock. This distant relative of Cache Valley’s native birds seemed quite at home in the shady backyard. As I glanced around, I realized it was his home. From where I was standing I could see at least ten more peacocks and peahens.

Peacock Courtesy Pixabay, Anrita1705, Contributor
Peacock
Courtesy Pixabay, Anrita1705, Contributor

Peahen on Tractor Cab Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer Peahen on Tractor Cab
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer

Peacock and Chickens Courtesy US NPS, Bent's Fort National Monument, New Mexico Peacock and Chickens
Courtesy US NPS, Bent’s Fort National Monument, New Mexico

Peahen Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer Peahen
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer

Then I noticed the farmer sitting in his truck at the end of the driveway. He beckoned me over and gave me the whole story.

Many years ago, he had gone to Idaho and purchased a peacock and a peahen. The peahen ran off, so he went back and got another pair. This time it worked. The pair produced a nest full of eggs which the peahen diligently sat on for four weeks. She then tended the baby chicks for the week it took them to learn to fly up into the relative safety of the trees in the yard. The small family made itself at home, settling into a routine of spending their days on the ground and their nights in the trees.

Occasionally an owl or a racoon would take their toll, but these hardy birds proved they could not only survive but thrive. Knowing that these birds originally came from India , I was amazed that they could withstand the bitter cold of Cache Valley’s winters. Perhaps it helped that the farmer had a kindly wife, who would throw out some cracked corn, an occasional cup of cat food, and – on very special occasions- some hot dogs.

Peafowl are omnivores, and on this sunny day I could see them pecking away to their heart’s content in the adjacent grain fields. Luckily this band of birds avoided the fate of the six peacocks who used to free roam the zoo in Logan’s Willow Park. The zoo birds caught the bird flu virus in 2022 and all of them died.

I told my new friend, the farmer, that I was surprised how the females didn’t look the least bit like the males. The peahen is much smaller and is a rather drab brown. He explained that the peahen needs good camouflage because she lays her eggs on the ground and then has to sit there for four weeks with absolutely no help from the male.

The farmer invited me to take as many pictures as I wanted. So I pulled out my cell phone and stepped closer to the birds. That’s when I found out just how fast they can run. They stepped away and out of sight almost before I could blink. Peacocks have been clocked running as fast as 10 mph.

It wasn’t mating season, so the peacocks weren’t fanning out their tails and trying to impress the females. But I was already completely impressed to simply find out there are 200 feathers in the peacock tail. On top of that, the peacocks molt. Each year all 200 tail feathers fall out, and the peacock has to regrow them. No wonder the colors stay so bright!

This is Mary Heers and I’m Wild about all the birds who make themselves at home in Utah.

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer, US NPS, Pixabay and Wikimedia
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman.
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah, Mary Heers’ Postings

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Winged Bullets of Beauty

Adult Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) mid-air, passing food to a juvenile Courtesy Pixabay, Premek Hajek (hapr80), Contributor
Adult Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) mid-air, passing food to a juvenile
Courtesy Pixabay, Premek Hajek (hapr80), Contributor
My morning outing was bedazzled by masters of their aerial universe. Their agility is beyond imagination, capturing their prey with a gaping maw while flying at maximum speed, winged bullets ripping through the air. The swallows and swifts are truly marvels of aerodynamic design, with a pilot whose abilities know no bounds. They rival bats and dragonflies in their ability to capture insects while in flight: barn swallows, tree swallows, cliff swallows, violet green swallows, bank and rough wing swallows, white throated swift, all found in our beautiful Utah.

I watch them drink while in flight, as I have hummingbirds, another remarkable aerialist, skimming the water surface with beak scooping in. If you rarely see them on the ground, they will be resting on their stomachs, lacking abilities to stand, hop, or run. Their legs atrophied from spending most of their lives on the wing.

Barn Swallow Nest with Chicks and Feeding Adult Courtesy US FWS, Lee Karney, Photographer
Barn Swallow Nest with Chicks and Feeding Adult
Courtesy US FWS, Lee Karney, Photographer

Cliff Swallow Nest with Chicks Courtesy US FWS, Jacob W Frank, Photographer Cliff Swallow Nest with Chicks
Courtesy US FWS, Jacob W Frank, Photographer

Bank Swallows Flying Over Bank Nest Cavities Courtesy US FWS, Lee Karney, Photographer Bank Swallows Flying Over Bank Nest Cavities
Courtesy US FWS, Lee Karney, Photographer

Tree Swallows in Flight Courtesy US FWS, Ron Wrucke, Photographer Tree Swallows in Flight
Courtesy US FWS, Ron Wrucke, Photographer

Annas Hummingbird (Calypte Anna) Courtesy US FWS, Robert McMorran, Photographer Annas Hummingbird (Calypte Anna)
Courtesy US FWS, Robert McMorran, Photographer

Two species of swallows construct elaborate nests from mud. If you visit a bridge, you may find a long row of cliffs, wallow gorge-shaped nests attached to the bridge underside above the water. The nest opening is near the same diameter as the bird’s girth. Young birds may be slightly larger than adults, making their maiden flight a bit difficult as they squeeze through the narrow exit. Their mud nests are made of 1000s of BB-sized pellets glued together with a mix of bird saliva and mud. Both add plant fiber, strengthening their adobe nests. Barn swallows construct cup-like nests on flat surfaces, oftentimes above a door, which makes it a bit tricky to avoid getting nipped by a parent as one passes through.

Swallows engage in elaborate aerial courtship displays to attract and bond with a mate. The male will pursue the female in flight, often performing swoops, dives, and glides to showcase his flying skills. If interested, the female may reciprocate by mirroring the male’s maneuvers. The pair may continue these synchronized flights throughout the breeding season to strengthen their pair bond.

Swallows hold significant cultural symbolism in various native traditions, often representing renewal, hope, and transformation. They are featured in numerous myths and stories, reflecting their importance in spiritual and ecological narratives.

Beyond swallows, incredibly important natural pest control, their presence is also a key indicator of environmental health, reflecting the condition of wetlands, grasslands, and open habitats.

Swallows by day, bats by night, both critical for controlling insect populations. With our crashing insect numbers due to insecticides, habitat loss, and a rapidly changing climate, my concern for the future of this specialized bird family continues to rise.

Climate change, with rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events, are disrupting ecosystems. This impacts the availability of food and nesting sites, altering the timing of insect emergence, potentially creating a mismatch between the availability of insects and the breeding season of swallows. As temperatures rise, suitable habitats may shift northward, forcing populations to relocate or face extinction.

This is Jack Green for Bridgerland Audubon Society. I’m wild about these winged bullets of beauty.

Credits:
Winged Bullets of Beauty
Picture: Courtesy Pixabay, Premek Hajek (hapr80), Contributor
Additional Images Courtesy US FWS, Photographers noted for each image, Jacob W Frank, Lee Karney(2x), Ron Wrucke, and Robert McMorran.
Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/
Swallows Nesting in Nuisance Locations, Division of Migratory Birds and Habitat, Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, https://www.fws.gov/story/nuisance-swallows

Barn Swallow, Natural Pest Control, BirdNote, https://www.birdnote.org/show/barn-swallow-natural-pest-control

Barn Swallow:
Barn Swallow, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow/id
Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica, Profile, UtahBirds.org, Utah County Birders, http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/Profiles/BarnSwallow.htm
Barn Swallow, Migration and Annual Cycle, JourneyNorth, Arboretum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, https://journeynorth.org/tm/swallow/News.html

Bank Swallow:
Bank Swallow, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bank_Swallow/id
Bank Swallow – Riparia riparia, Profile, UtahBirds.org, Utah County Birders, http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/Profiles/BankSwallow.htm

Cliff Swallow:
Cliff Swallow, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cliff_Swallow/id
Cliff Swallow – Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, Profile, UtahBirds.org, Utah County Birders, http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/Profiles/CliffSwallow.htm

Tree Swallow:
Tree Swallow, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tree_Swallow/id
Tree Swallow – Tachycineta bicolor, Profile, UtahBirds.org, Utah County Birders, http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/ProfilesS-Z/TreeSwallow.htm

Violet-green Swallow:
Violet-green Swallow, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Violet-green_Swallow/id
Violet-green Swallow – Tachycineta thalassina, Profile, UtahBirds.org, Utah County Birders, http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/ProfilesS-Z/VioletGreenSwallow.htm

Northern rough-winged Swallow:
Northern rough-winged Swallow, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Rough-winged_Swallow/id
Northern rough-winged Swallow – Tachycineta thalassina, Profile, UtahBirds.org, Utah County Birders, http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/ProfilesL-R/NorthernRoughWingSwallow.htm

Purple Martin:
Purple Martin, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Martin/id
Purple Martin – Progne subis, Profile, UtahBirds.org, Utah County Birders, http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/ProfilesL-R/PurpleMartin.htm

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Connecting Classroom Learning to the World

Birding-Class-Families Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Birding-Class-Families
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Ever since I started centering my entire 2nd-grade classroom instruction around a bird theme, one of the most important benefits I’ve seen is how learning at school suddenly becomes important and valuable to students outside the school walls, and because of that, students become advocates for learning to their families.

Male Bullocks Oriole (Icterus bullockiorum) Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Male Bullocks Oriole
(Icterus bullockiorum)
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer

Female Belted Kingfisher-(Megaceryle alcyon) Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer Female Belted Kingfisher-(Megaceryle alcyon)
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer

My birding classroom goes well beyond a few fun birding crafts or cute bird stickers. My students study a bird each week with reading passages, complete bird-related math activities, go on weekly field trips to find birds while keeping an ongoing writing journal about those experiences, and create their own birding guide over the course of the year about the birds they’ve studied.

Students can also send in bird sighting photos from home, and then we as a class, try to identify what bird they saw. Here points to one piece of evidence that kids are engaged outside of the school walls, with their families, in a special way. Just this year I had over 500 bird photo submissions from my 25 students. Each of these submissions in an independent, outside of school action that kids take – necessitating technological support from family – to make a connection from nature to the classroom. This type of connection is magical and indicative that learning at school is spreading beyond its walls, and that the students involve their family in the process.

Additionally, I receive emails from parents of students in my class saying things like “…ornithology prompted likely a lifelong love for birds in Jasmine, and has spread to our whole family. She even takes her little sisters on birding walks around the block to see what they can find.” or “Denis brought the whole family up Logan Canyon this weekend so we could look for birds!” Never before in all my years of teaching did I have families sharing how the work we did in class directly impacted the engagement of the family with nature outside of school. Now, kids are advocates to their families for engagement in the natural world.

Finally, you know something special is happening when families sacrifice their precious time outside of school and work hours to engage in learning. One hectic Monday in April, I sent out an impromptu email to my families that said “Let’s go birding! Meet at 5:00 PM on Thursday at Maple View Park, bring your family, and let’s see what we can find!” In my mind, a few of my passionate little birders would show up for the adventure. In reality, over 30 students, adults, and siblings, bustled into the parking lot ready for their binoculars and for the exploration! The group consisted of dads with spotting scopes, a family dog named ‘Tate,’ and lots of eager and inquisitive minds thrilled to look for birds in a new environment. The two hours went by in a flash, and nature didn’t fail to stun with the bright orange, black, and white of a Bullock’s Oriole; and the chattering Belted Kingfisher, frustrated that we had disturbed his evening fishing routine.

In the end, centering classroom instruction on this real-world theme of birds has made classroom learning something that is no longer bound within the school walls. It has become something that students need, use, and apply to the world around them in their everyday lives. Furthermore, their eagerness to make these classroom-to-world connections quickly draws their families into the same type of engagement. As a teacher, I could only ever hope that my impact would have such a reach, where kids go back to their families and become advocates for learning, advocates for awareness, and advocates for nature.

This is Dr. Joseph Kozlowski, and I am wild about outdoor education in Utah!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer, Used by Permission
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections/kevin-colver and including contributions from Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman.
Text:     Joseph Kozlowski, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University https://edithbowen.usu.edu/
Additional Reading Links: Joseph Kozlowski & Lyle Bingham

Additional Reading:

Joseph (Joey) Kozlowski’s pieces on Wild About Utah:

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Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Caddisfly Larvae - Hydropsyche Courtesy USGS
Caddisfly Larvae – Hydropsyche
Courtesy USGS
Today’s Wild About Utah is in both Spanish and English. The Spanish version is read by Carlos Ramos and can be found online or you can listen to the Spanish version this Wednesday evening between 9:01-9:06pm.

I love people who love bugs. I love how quickly these fine folks can turn a creature you have to squint to notice into things to fear, love, or be in awe of. You can imagine then, that I jumped at the chance to host an outreach event at Stokes Nature Center with Dr. Katy Stemmler. As an Aquatic Ecologist and Postdoctoral Researcher at USU, Katy loves all types of bugs that live in the water and on a late July Saturday, she brings me and some thirty-odd attendees into the amazing world of aquatic macroinvertebrates.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are what scientists like Katy call all sorts of bugs that live in the water and don’t have a backbone like us humans. This group includes aquatic worms, leeches, beetles and some of Dr. Stemmler’s favorites-the mayflies and caddisflies.

As these bugs live on the river floor bottom-or the benthic zone, collecting them requires kicking up rocks and sediment while holding a net downstream to catch any critters that get kicked free but letting any fine sediment through. Once you transport what gets netted to a shallow bin of water you can now watch these beauties up close. At first, our water samples from the Logan River don’t reveal much, maybe some algae and some worms. However, Katy points to what appears to be just a tiny tube, about 1/2in in length but barely an ⅛ of an inch wide. Soon two legs and a head poke out of this tiny stick. Dr. Stemmler tells us this is a caddisfly larva and she points to her earring where there is a similarly-small brown tube hanging in the middle of a gold hoop.

Katy excitedly tells us that in their aquatic-living and larval form, some caddisflies spin silk to build protective cases around their body like this one we’re looking at. The silk is used to connect rocks, plant material, and even sand to their body to keep them safe from predators. Sometimes caddisfly larvae don’t spin cases but instead use their silk to form an underwater net to catch food that’s flowing in the river.

Katy tells us that eventually, this caddisfly we see on this day will transform and leave its protective case to become an adult, where it will take on a whole second life. As an adult it will look almost moth-like and will fly above the water, leaving its benthic life behind.

Just after Katy finishes describing the caddisfly, one of the other participants huddled around the water bin asks why there’s a winged insect acting like its trying to wiggle out of a too-tight pair of pants “Oh Great!” Katy exclaims and explains we’re watching a mayfly emerge as an adult. She points to her shirt where the same species of mayfly is artfully drawn and explains that this mayfly is entering its first and possibly last day of adulthood as this group only lives as an adult for a few hours to a few days.

I love learning about bugs, but I especially love learning about bugs from people who love bugs. At the end of the talk, it’s clear Dr. Stemmler could talk for many more hours about her beloved benthic macroinvertebrates, but it’s also late July and the sun is strong. Even in the chilly water of the Logan River we’re sweating and I find myself wishing I could be swimming along the river bottom hopefully avoiding any caddisfly feeding nets.

My name is Kate Hunter, Director of Education at Stokes Nature Center, and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:
English Version: Kate Hunter, Education, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Spanish Version: Carlos Ramos, Facilities, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Images: Courtesy USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/caddisfly-hydropsyche-sp
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/, Courtesy & © Friend Weller, https://www.upr.org/people/friend-weller
Text: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Wild About Utah Pieces by Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

Friday 5: Caddisfly Case Diversity, Chris Goforth a.k.a. The Dragonfly Woman, February 24, 2012, https://thedragonflywoman.com/2012/02/24/caddisfly-case-diversity/

Hamrsky, Jan, Net-spinning caddisfly larva (Trichoptera, Hydropsychidae), Flickr Account – Jan Hamrsky, https://www.flickr.com/photos/janhamrsky/5979065987/in/album-72157631612158714

Larese-Casanova, Mark, Aquatic Insects, Harbingers of Health, Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/aquatic-insects-harbingers-of-health/

Larese-Casanova, Mark, Watershed Wildlife Field Book, Utah Master Naturalist Program, Utah State University Cooperative Extension, rev 2014, https://extension.usu.edu/utahmasternaturalist/files/course-materials/watershed-wildlife-pages.pdf