When we think about World Migratory Bird Day, we often think about providing for their needs with water, bird feeders, and native plants, and hopefully we are keeping cats indoors and taking steps to prevent the lethal danger of window-collisions.
We may even think about the importance of sponge city landscaping and beaver dams to slow and store snowmelt runoff, but it is the Mountain Lion which has the unique distinction of being a keystone provider ranked as the top vertebrate feeder of birds - in fact they “feed more mammals and birds than any other predator, increasing the number of animal interactions - the links in food webs so essential to maintaining ecosystem resilience. And they are ecosystem engineers on top of this as well.”
Researchers have found that large carcasses create essential habitat for carrion-dependent beetles - these are not just food for beetles, but the very places
beetles spend their lives, hiding from predators, seeking mates, raising young and morphing from larvae into adult forms which disperse in search of the next carcass to begin the cycle all over again.
The food web gets to the very heart of bird migration, and the very real challenge of ensuring a future in which people and birds can thrive with dwindling habitat resources essential for survival.
Consider the Yellow-billed Cuckoo [koo-koo], one of the World Migratory Bird Day Ambassador species, to highlight the importance of water and riparian habitat for birds.
A long-distance migrant, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo breeds in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and migrates through Central America to reach its wintering grounds in South America.
It seeks wooded habitats with water nearby, where it feasts
mostly on insects, especially caterpillars, during the spring and summer, transitioning to a more fruit and seed-heavy diet in the fall and winter.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo was selected for this year’s World Migratory Bird Day campaign to help shed light on the decline of riparian habitats along our rivers, streams, and freshwater lakes, particularly in the American West, where species that rely on these areas are experiencing population declines and are in possible danger of extirpation from some states.
These western riparian species include Summer Tanager, Yellow Warbler, Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Loss of native forest to farmland, housing, and other development has led to significant population declines in
these species, especially in the case of the Cuckoo, which relies on large patches of streamside forest for breeding.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is becoming an increasingly rare bird in the American West. We need to increase awareness and encourage decision makers to explore ways to protect riparian areas, remove invasive species, restore habitat and conserve water.
World Migratory Bird Day 2023 aims to contribute to these efforts by highlighting the importance of water conservation and habitat management for migratory birds, and by providing resources to help promote these important issues.
Bird Day is every day, but especially mid-May and mid-October. Learn more at migratorybirdday.org, and learn more about how to conserve water for sustaining bird life!
I’m Hilary Shughart with the Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I am Wild About Utah!
