State College Bird Club Zoom Meeting
November 16, 2022


Presiding: Doug Wentzel

Recording: Peggy Wagoner Saporito

Attendance: 45

Meeting Format: Zoom (due to Covid)

Treasurer’s report:(Karen Kottlowski):

The SCBC checking account balance is $4693.08 and saving account balance is $17573.08. A committee (Julia Plummer, Ron Crandall and Kathy Bechdel) will soon convene to conduct the annual audit of the books.

Bird Club Field Trips: (Susan Smith)

The last of the fall field trips was held on Nov 13. Thanks to Susan for arranging another great slate of field trips for us and to all the individuals who led those trips. Susan welcomes any suggestions for spring trips and/or individuals interested in leading trips. Send any ideas to Susan.

Announcements/Other Activities:

Last month, Nick Kerlin requested $360 from SCBC to fund replacement of 12 nest boxes, support poles and predator guards at Soaring Eagle Wetland and Dreibelbis Birding Area managed by Wildlife for Everyone. The original boxes, funded by SCBC 11 years ago, have successfully fledged 72 bluebirds and 186 tree swallows, a species whose population has been in decline for the past several decades. Last week SCBC Board members unanimously agreed to fund the project. Tonight, the request passed when put to a vote among members who were present.

Christmas Bird Count is coming up in mid-December. There are several count circles in the area. To see a complete list and more information check the Audubon website: https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count. Doug welcomes anyone interested in joining him on Dec 18 during the Huntingdon count. Contact Doug for more information.


Notable Bird Sightings:

(Oct 27 – Nov 16, 2022; Centre and its contiguous counties)

In the spirit of sharing during this time of Thanksgiving, Greg Grove encouraged everyone to post, in the Zoom chat, any interesting sightings or fan favorites they had within the last few weeks. A number of participants had seen evidence of the expected invasion of evening grosbeaks this winter. There was mention of a lingering eastern phoebe in Boalsburg as well as others, perhaps expected, but nevertheless, loved species of the season.

Speaker: Johanna Beam: “How Your Birding Directly Helps Science”

Johanna, a PhD student at Penn State, is studying speciation and diversification in birds, how and why new species form, which ultimately gives rise to biodiversity. Sparked by watching birds at her grandparents feeders, Johanna has already successfully launched her career in avian research. Recently, as an undergrad at University of Colorado Boulder, her studies of speciation in North American meadowlarks led to the recognition of the newly named Chihuahuan meadowlark as a distinct species from the eastern meadowlark. 

Johanna briefly reminded us of the importance of bird science including its impact on conservation policy, economic benefits, such as ecotourism, and keeping track of bird population status and trends.

For her undergraduate research Johanna described the various methods she used to evaluate populations of meadowlarks which led to her discovery. DNA analysis, from blood samples collected during bird banding, provided information about the evolutionary relationship among populations. Song analysis from field studies also helped identify differences among meadowlarks in various locations. Both DNA analysis and field studies are time consuming, data intensive and costly.

In addition to these methods, Johanna was also able to take advantage of the extensive amount of easily accessible data in ebird, thanks to the many contributions of citizen scientists who posted their sightings.  Location data, photos and audio recordings attached to checklists in this free, publicly available database, helped Johanna identify species boundaries and confirm that Chihuahuan meadowlark, a desert species found in Arizona and northern Mexico is in fact distinct from eastern meadowlark, a grassland species found in the eastern US.

Johanna focused her discussion on ebird, supported by Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO). She also mentioned the Macaulay Library with its vast and growing archive of bird photos, audio and video (also CLO) and Xeno Canto, a website of wildlife sounds from around the world which is best suited to insect studies.

Contributions by citizens to ebird include species sightings and metadata (date and location). Any photos and audio attached to checklists are extremely valuable. Although not specifically requested when submitting checklists, any information about weather conditions entered in the checklist comments section can also be helpful.

Quality and accuracy of the information entered is monitored by experts which makes ebird data a valuable source of information for anyone using it. Data in ebird are used to identify and monitor species range boundaries with exact locations, population status, vagrant and rare bird sightings.

With all of the checklists submitted to ebird over the past 2 decades, ebird has created useful maps showing ranges, movements, migration and population trends for many individual species. Johanna showed us some examples. For instance, using range maps to view migration patterns, northern parula is found primarily in the eastern US during June-July and concentrated in the Yucatan and Caribbean in Dec-Feb. Ongoing addition of checklists can track any changes in migration patterns and/or timing for many species.

Ebird population trend maps show where and how bird populations of more than 550 species are changing, either declining or increasing from 2007-2021. For example, population trend maps show that black-capped chickadees have been declining throughout much of the northeast US and eastern Canada since 2007. The tufted titmouse, though declining in much of its range, has increased in the far northern and northwestern regions, perhaps as a result of warming temperatures.

All of this data provides valuable information to a variety of users; scientists, land managers, conservationists, policy makers, educators and birders

Johanna encouraged us to contribute to ebird. Taking photos and uploading them to ebird helps confirm rare as well as common birds (even if you think it a lousy photo, it can be helpful). Photos can also identify banded birds. Record bird songs and upload these to your ebird checklist as well. All of these audio recordings and photos have contributed to the development of the Merlin app, though not perfect, can help identify birds you see and hear.

It is better to submit checklists from a limited area rather than from a large area. Frequent smaller lists are more useful than long lists from a large area. Keep your checklist accurate with location and time data. Submit sightings from your backyard, or bird feeder and when you travel. And teach others about birds. Everyone is welcome in birding regardless of skill.