Category: Birds

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Fall Frost

Frost on a Hairy Leaf
Copyright © 2012 Andrea Liberatore

Frost on a Leaf
Copyright © 2012 Andrea Liberatore

Frost Damage on a Tomato
Copyright © 2012 Andrea Liberatore

Evergreens take hardiness
to the Extreme
Two-needle Pinion Pine
Copyright © 2009 Linda Kervin

Fall has descended in earnest across Utah. Leaves have flashed their colors and dropped to the ground. Juncos have replaced the flycatchers on my backyard’s best perches, and my garden has been cleaned up and tilled under. As I watched the fall weather affect plants in my vegetable garden, I began to wonder about the different reactions they had to the changing temperatures. My tomatoes and squash turned brown and wilted at the merest suggestion of cold temperatures. Other plants, like kale, carrots and onions are still bright and fresh, even after an early snowfall. What is it about some plants that allow them to withstand frost, while others succumb right away?

Frost occurs when the temperature of an object – in this case a plant leaf – falls below the dew point of the air. Moisture from the atmosphere collects on the surface of the leaf and freezes when temperatures drop below 32 degrees. Just seeing frost on a plant doesn’t necessarily mean it will die – it’s the internal tissue temperature that counts. Like humans, plants are made mostly of water – upwards of 80-90% in an herbaceous plant like lettuce. When temperatures drop, the water inside plant cells expands as it freezes, tearing cell walls and causing irreparable damage.

The amount of harm done to a plant depends on many different factors and is generally referred to as a plant’s hardiness. Species or individuals that are more compact will incur damage at a lower temperature than others due to their reduced surface area. Those growing close to the ground are more protected by their proximity to the warm earth. Plants with darker colored leaves such as the deep greens of spinach and chard may be hardier because their leaves absorb and retain heat better than lighter-colored leaves. Fuzzy or hairy leaves also fend off cold temperatures better than their smooth counterparts.

Perhaps the best defense of all is found in plants that protect themselves with natural antifreeze. When frost hits these plants, the relatively pure water in the space between leaf cells freezes first, which in turn draws more water out of the surrounding cells. The remaining cellular fluid contains a high concentration of sugars and other molecules, which reduces the fluid’s freezing point and protects the cell’s contents from ice.

Evergreens, of course, take hardiness to the extreme, utilizing a number of different tactics to remain alive and photosynthesizing throughout the winter. These tactics include compact leaf size, a thick leathery consistency, and a waxy coating that both insulates and prevents water from escaping into the dry winter air.

Frost damage to less hardy plants can be postponed by human interventions such as covering with blankets, but as the cold spells get longer and more frequent, damage is inevitable. Everything has its season, and now is the time to harvest the last of those hardy fall greens and tuck the garden in for the coming winter.

For the Stokes Nature Center and Wild About Utah, this is Andrea Liberatore.

Credits:
Images: Courtesy &
            Copyright 2012 Andrea Liberatore
            Copyright 2009 Jim Cane
Text:     Andrea Liberatore,
            Stokes Nature Center in Logan Canyon.

Additional Reading:


Savonen, Carol (2012) Some plants make natural antifreeze to cope with winter’s wrath. Oregon State University Extension Service. Available online at: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/node/847


Frost And Your Plants: What You Need To Know, Farmer’s Almanac, November 17, 2021, https://www.farmersalmanac.com/frost-temperature-outdoor-plants-9788

Huber, Kathy (Feb 16, 2002) What Happens When a Plant Freezes. The Houston Chronicle. Available online at: https://www.chron.com/life/gardening/article/What-happens-when-a-plant-freezes-1635570.php

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Sunflowers, the late summer feast

Sunflowers, the late summer feast: Click for a larger view of the sunflower garden. Image courtesy and copyright Jim Cane
Stand of ornamental sunflowers
in Cache Valley
Image courtesy and Copyright Jim Cane

Click for a larger view. Image courtesy and copyright Jim CaneHoney bee foraging at sunflower
Image courtesy and Copyright Jim Cane


Click for a larger view. Image courtesy and copyright Jim CaneMale Melissodes bees and a skipper
butterfly sleeping on a sunflower at dusk
Image Courtesy and Copyright Jim Cane

Now, in late summer, the sunny golden blooms of sunflowers adorn gardens, roadsides and wild places across much of the United States. Utah is home to five sunflower species, four of them annuals. You are most likely to see Helianthus annuus, the aptly named “common sunflower”. Early domestication of common sunflower by Plains Indians led to the major oilseed crop that the world enjoys today.

Humans are not the only species seated at the sunflower dining table, however. The grub of one specialist weevil bores in sunflower stalks; as do larvae of 2 long-horned beetles. Another weevil hollows out the seeds. A third decapitates the flowerhead before ovipositing. One moth’s caterpillar gnaws the roots; several cutworm species topple seedling sunflowers, and several more kinds of butterfly caterpillars skeletonize sunflower leaves. In your garden, though, sunflowers generally escape pestilence. Chickadees and both American and Lesser Goldfinches cling to the ripe seed heads to pluck out the nutritious seeds. Listen for the plaintive call of the Lesser Goldfinch which is very distinctive.

[Lesser Goldfinch, Audio recording courtesy Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections: Songbirds of the Southwest Canyon Country]

All those sunflower seeds are the direct result of pollination by bees. In the American West, more than 200 species of native bees visit sunflowers for nectar or pollen, a remarkably large fauna for any flower. None is more charming than the male of the bee genus Melissodes. They are discernible by their extra long antennae. Melissodes males dart among sunflowers all day long, seeking willing mates. Come sunset, the males bed down on the flower heads to snooze. They become drowsy enough to pet with your fingertip, and being males, have no sting. So if you have sunflowers at hand, chances are you have Melissodes bees around too. Look over your sunflowers this evening, and you may be lucky enough to find these dozing bachelor bees with their extra long antennae.

This is Linda Kervin for Bridgerland Audubon Society.

Credits:

Audio: Courtesy Kevin J. Colver, 7loons.com and On Amazon.com
Photos: Courtesy and Copyright Jim Cane
Text: Jim Cane, Bridgerland Audubon Society

Additional Reading:

LeBuhn, Gretchen, Greenleaf, Sarah, Cohen, David, The Great Sunflower Project, Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, https://www.greatsunflower.org/

Charlet, Larry D., Brewer, Gary J., Sunflower Insect Pest Management in North America, Radcliff’s IPM World Textbook, University of Minnesota, https://ipmworld.umn.edu/chapters/charlet2.htm

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A Modern Day Phoenix

“Phoenix,” an immature Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Courtesy Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah (WRCNU.org)

Elk Bath
From a 2000 fire in the
Bitterroot National Forest in Montana

Courtesy Wikimedia &
USDA Forest Service
John McColgan, Photographer

Hi, I’m Holly Strand.

You may have heard about the golden eagle nestling that was badly burned during a recent Utah wildfire. Its nest was totally destroyed, but the little eagle had fallen to the ground and survived. After the fire, he was found by Kent Keller, a volunteer for Utah’s Div. of Natural Resources, who had banded the young eagle a month before. The eagle was dehydrated—his feathers, face, and feet were badly burned. So Keller obtained a permit from wildlife officials to intervene. Now in the care of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah the eagle is recovering rapidly. Even so, it will take a while for the damaged feathers to be replaced by healthy new ones. Phoenix–as is he was aptly named–won’t learn to fly for at least another year.

With this and other fire-related stories in the news, I‘ve been wondering about the fate of animals caught in wildfires. Scientific observations of animal behavior during fire events are rare. But by conducting post-fire surveys, and comparing results with unburned areas, some researchers have been able to piece together an idea of who survives, who dies and who thrives.

Obviously, faster and more mobile animals have the advantage. Birds can fly away and most mammals can outrun the spreading flames. Spring fires can be disastrous, destroying birds who haven’t fledged –like Phoenix– or mammals who are still too immature to escape. Fortunately, fires are more frequent in mid to late summer when little ones have matured.

If a fire moves through an area quickly, without superheating the ground, dormant animals or those hiding in burrows can survive. The surrounding soil provides plenty of insulation. Soil also protects most soil macrofauna and the pupae of many insects.

Animals that live their lives totally or partially in the water may not suffer at all during a fire. However, smaller bodies of water, such as streams, can quickly heat up fairly quickly. Oxygen loss is a problem as well. And fire-fighting chemicals dumped from the air can end up in water, killing fish, frogs and other animals.

Indirectly, the alteration of habitat by fire can also restructure animal populations. Interestingly, there are quite a lot of animals that benefit from post-fire habitats. For example, the insect population above ground may plummet during a fire, but then increase above pre-fire levels when fresh young plants start to grow back. Burned trees are attractive to certain beetles as breeding sites. An increase in beetles is a windfall for the woodpeckers that devour them. Swallows and flycatchers use burned dead trees as perch sites. They survey from on high and then swoop to catch their insect dinner. Seed eating birds like Clark’s Nutcracker, gobble up conifer seeds when cones open in response to fire.

Among mammals, ground squirrels, pocket gophers and deer mice generally increase after severe fires. Even large herbivores such as pronghorn or deer may benefit from the increased food and nutrition on recent burns. In turn, predators of these creatures enjoy a bumper crop as well.

For images of Phoenix the recovering golden eagle and a link to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah go to www.wildaboututah.org.

For Wild About Utah, I’m Holly Strand.

Credits:

Images: Courtesy Wikimedia, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Gavin Keefe Schaefer and Dave Menke, US FWS images.fws.gov
Text: Holly Strand

Sources & Additional Reading:


Baker, William L. 2009. Fire ecology in Rocky Mountain Landscapes. Washington, DC: Island Press.https://islandpress.org/ip/books/book/islandpress/F/bo7019409.html

Bradley, Anne F.; Noste, Nonan V.; Fischer, William C. 1992. Fire ecology of forests and woodlands in Utah. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-287. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr287.pdf

Hutto, RL. 1995. Composition of bird communities following stand-replacement fires in northern Rocky-Mountain (USA) conifer forests in Conservation Biology Volume: 9 Issue: 5 Pages: 1041-1058 https://www.fsl.orst.edu/ltep/Biscuit/Biscuit_files/Refs/Hulto%20CB1995%20fire%20birds.pdf

Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah https://wrcnu.org/

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Looking for Nightjars

Looking for Nightjars: Click to view the larger image of Common Poorwill (front) and Dusky Poorwill. Courtesy Wikimedia and Louis Agassiz Fuertes (artist, 1874-1927), US Copyright expired
Common Poorwill (foreground)
Phalaenoptilus nuttallii
Dusky Poorwill
Phalaenoptilus nuttalli californicus
Courtesy Wikimedia and
Louis Agassiz Fuertes (artist, 1874-1927)
US Copyright expired

Click to view the larger image of Common Nighthawk. Courtesy Wikimedia and Gavin Keefe Schaefer, PhotographerCommon Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor
Courtesy Wikimedia and
Gavin Keefe Schaefer, Photographer
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Click to view the larger image of Common Nighthawk. Courtesy US Images.FWS.gov and Dave Menke, PhotographerCommon Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor
Courtesy US FWS and
Dave Menke, Photographer

Hi, I’m Holly Strand.

Citizen Science networks are proliferating across the globe. These networks conduct important research that could not otherwise be accomplished –And they do it using nonprofessional, mostly volunteer labor. An army of civilian data collectors can capture more data over a larger area at a relatively small cost. Aside from collecting data, participants can generate ideas, and help coordinate various aspects of a particular program. Many citizen-driven networks collectenvironmental data at prescribed locations. Wielding Smartphones with GPS receivers, anyonecan instantaneously and accurately determine their geographic coordinates to submit along with their observations.

The Audubon’s Society Christmas Bird Count is one of the oldest and most successful examples of citizen science networks. Since 1900 volunteers have been collecting information about local populations of birds. More recent examples include FrogWatch USA (for observing frogs and toads) Project BudBurst (for observing the leafing and flowering of plants in relation to changing weather patterns) and the World Water Monitoring Challenge (for observing water quality indicators).

One project that recently piqued my interest is the US Nightjar Survey Network coordinated by The Center for Conservation Biology in Virginia.

“What in the world is a nightjar?” you might ask. “Is it something you take camping so you don’t have to get out of the tent?” No. A Nightjar is a medium-sized plump-looking bird withlong wings, a broad head and a very short bill. Nightjars have short legs in relation to their bodies. So they aren’t great at walking. They are exceptional fliers though , catching moths and other insects in mid-flight.

Nightjars are very hard to see because of their camouflage plumage and because they are mostly active after sunset and before sunrise. Thus, you’d want to memorize their very distinctive calls if you are going to try to find them.

Two nightjars breed regularly in Utah. We have the common poorwill which sounds like this…[INSERT 3 CALLS OF POORWILL] . That’s the eastern whippoorwill without the whip. Another Utah breeder is the common Nighthawk which sounds like this …[INSERT 3 CALLS OF NIGHTHAWK].

The nightjar survey for Utah and other northern states begins June 27 and runs through July 11, 2012. Individual surveys are easy to perform and do not take more than two hours to complete.Surveyors work at night, when the moon is at least half full. You need to drive, stopping at 10 points along a 9-mile route. At each point, you count all Nightjars seen or heard during a 6-minute period.

To participate in a survey you can sign up for a Pre-existing route or design your own route. There are still many routes left in all parts of Utah.

For pictures of these extremely interesting birds and a link to the remaining Nightjar Surveyroutes go to www.wildaboututah.org

For Wild About Utah, I’m Holly Strand.
Credits:


Images: Courtesy Wikimedia, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Gavin Keefe Schaefer and Dave Menke, US FWS images.fws.gov

Text: Holly Strand

Sources & Additional Reading:


Cleere, Nigel. 2010. Nightjars: A Guide to Nightjars, Nighthawks, and Their Relatives. Princeton University Press. https://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300074574

National Geographic Education Encyclopedic Entry: Citizen Science. https://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/citizen-science/?ar_a=1

[Accessed June 21, 2012]

Woods, Christopher P., Ryan D. Csada and R. Mark Brigham.2005. Common Poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: https://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/032

United States Nightjar Survey Network (Center for Conservation Biology), https://www.nightjars.org/about/center-for-conservation-biology/

Utah Nightjar Survey Routes (Center for Conservation Biology), https://www.nightjars.org/about/center-for-conservation-biology/

Bird Song Recordings:


Common Poorwill links from WildSoundscape.org recordings collection at the University of Utah

Common Poorwill Phalaenoptilus nuttallii : Nathan Pieplow, XC11631. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/11631

Buff-collared Nightjar links from WildSoundscape.org recordings collection at the University of Utah 3 selections

Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor ; Andrew Spencer, XC14400. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/14400