News

BASIC BINOCULAR KNOWLEDGE What to know when purchasing and caring for your optics by Jon Friedman Introduction Birders, whether the backyard or in-the-field- variety, need only two essential items as the basic tools for learning about bird identification and behavior - a good field guide and reliable binoculars. (The best field guide for our area is the new Birds of Southeastern Arizona by Richard Taylor and has established itself as our best selling identification guide since its publication late last year). With just these two things, you can teach yourself all you want to know about the birds of our...

BIRD NAMES BY GROUPS You’ve heard of a “gaggle” of geese or a “murder” of crows, but what do you call a group of Finches, Jays or Woodpeckers? Generic collective nouns such as “flock fleet,” or “dissimulation” can apply to all bird species; however, there are more distinctive terms used for groups of specific types of birds that often are a reflection of the bird’s personality and/or behavior. While not all of your backyard birds have specific group names, many of them who travel or hang around in groups do so. For example, two of the most desirable birds people...

FOREST FIRES & EFFECTS ON WILDLIFE The total effects of wild forest fires upon the wildlife that typically inhabit those areas have yet to be fully determined. It may take years, possibly many years, to survey the extent of the damage and its effects both on the forests themselves and the wildlife. It is clear, though, that the fires have negatively affected the wildlife much as it has the human populations in those same areas. Humans, being the highly adaptive creatures they are, are more likely better able to deal with such catastrophes than their wildlife neighbors. We live in...

BIRD SONG You've heard it since the day you were born - a plethora of voices singing outside. Even in New York City, doves coo and falcons screech while we go about our business. Have you listened? Heard it in your mind and heart? Felt it deep in your gut? Ever wondered what's really going on out there in the palo verdes, gardens, parks or palm trees? A bird song is a consistently repeated pattern of tones. All other bird vocalizations are called calls. Songs are heard in nesting season. Calls are heard year round. Birds use both songs and...

GLUE BOARD TRAPS by Lewis C. & Janet S. Miller Tucson Wildlife Rehabilitation Council The current craze for fast, convenient, effective control of pests, such as mice. scorpions, roaches. etc., is a device called a GLUE BOARD. This is a flat piece of cardboard with one side covered with a very powerful glue. No bait is required, you just place this GLUE BOARD in an area used by the pest you are after. The main problem with them is they catch any thing that comes across them. We, as Wildlife Rehabbers, think they should not be used in outdoor areas....