Blogs about Birds

Birds are incredibly important to Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The museum's Section of Birds contains nearly 190,000 specimens of birds. The most important of these are the 555 holotypes and syntypes. The Section of Birds staff also cares for approximately 196 specimens of extinct birds as well as specimens of many rare species collected decades—if not more than a century—ago.

April 28, 2023 by Erin Southerland

Building Birding Skills

by Patrick McShea

*Cardinal from the CMNH Educator Loan Collection.*

Today is National Go Birding Day, a designation that prompts questions about how best to become involved in such a do-anywhere activity. As a museum educator, my general advice for anyone seeking to develop bird observational skills is to regularly visit the expansive All About Birds website maintained by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

However, when I stop to consider that many potential birders might lack regular internet access, or how my own life-long interest in birds began before I learned to read, alternate approaches gain importance. In light of these circumstances, recent advice from Nick G. Liadis, Avian Conservation Biologist, and founder of the organization, Bird Lab, has universal relevance.

“I almost always start any educational program by asking the question: Did you see a bird today? The answer is almost always ‘yes’ by most of the participants, even children as young as four-years-old. It’s a great springboard into birding/bird-related conversations. It all unfolds from there.”

Nick, whose bird research experience includes past appointments at Point Reyes Bird Observatory in California, and the Museum’s Powdermill Avian Research Center, was explaining the approach he successfully used last summer when he accepted the challenge of presenting the broad topics of birds and bird migration to the 4 – 13-year-old participants in Art in the Garden, a six-week summer camp at the Borland Garden, a community garden and green space in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood.

“We’d often talk about a bird’s behavior: If it was singing, where was it perched? Had you seen it before etc. Then I’d talk about how different species have different preferences. Some like living next to people. Some like to be on the tops of trees, and some like to be on the ground etc. This helped to reinforce the beautiful fact that birds are everywhere. That observation really resonates with people.”

Nick borrowed encased taxidermy mounts from the Museum’s Educator Loan Collection for use in some camp sessions, but magazine pictures of birds, field guide images, and especially, the taxidermy mounts of the Museum’s Bird Hall, can also stimulate discussion. Nick simply asked campers to report what they noticed about the preserved birds. “Often their observations were about the feathers. But then we’d talk about the beak and the feet. Those observations helped them to connect the bird to a habitat type or a food preference, and follow-up conversations were about how places as specific as backyards, treetops, or even tree trunks met the needs of some birds.”

*Taxidermy mounts of a male and female Scarlet Tanager.*

A story involving a Zoom call provides anecdotal evidence of how well the birding skills of some campers developed under Nick’s guidance last summer. “One of the kids in the camp was on a Zoom call with his grandparents, who happened to be outside. A red bird flew into view and the kid recognized it as a male Scarlet Tanager! He saw the bird as different from the all-red cardinals. He even noted the black wings.”

Paying attention to the number and variety of birds you notice today is a fine way to participate in National Birding Day. The electronic resources of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology will become more useful after any observations you’re able to make. More birding resources are listed below.

Three Rivers Birding Club

Audubon Society of Wes tern Pennsylvania

Erie Bird Observatory

National Aviary

Patrick McShea is an Educator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Echoes of Freedom in an Owl’s Call

by Pat McShea

“Is that owl real?” Students who approached the museum activity station at a “Dream STEAM” event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day repeated those four words to express curiosity about a 20-inch-high Barred Owl taxidermy mount. The setting was a large meeting room in the Bible Center Church’s Worship, Arts, Recreation, and Ministry Center in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. Here, during a busy three-hour morning session, small groups of students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade rotated with their adult chaperones among activities related to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) or Black History and Culture.

I was one of three museum representatives who brought the owl and other, less visually striking materials, to enhance an activity we hoped would spark greater interest in science as well as increase knowledge about a heroic Black figure in American History, Harriet Tubman.

Answers of “partially real” to student questions about the owl’s authenticity were provided first, as we shared information about the taxidermy mount’s glass eyes, wire-supported feet, interior foam body, but very real feathers, beak, and talons. Then came an explanation about how in 1849, Harriet Tubman’s expert knowledge of tides, seasons, weather, wildlife, plants, and the stars of the night sky enabled her to escape enslavement on a timber plantation on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and then safely cross more than 100 miles of forest and wetlands to reach freedom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Tubman returned to Maryland multiple times during the next ten years to safely lead a total of approximately seventy people in escape from enslavement to freedom, which could sometimes only be guaranteed in places as distant as Canada. When we recounted these courageous actions for the students, the owl assumed a prominent role in our narrative. Tubman used imitations of Barred Owl calls as a code of cautionary signals to the people she physically guided. With the aid of a battery powered bird song player, the students were able to listen to the species’ distinctive barked notes, nine booming syllables that invite translation into the echoing question, “Who Cooks For You? Who Cooks For You All?”

Imitation owl calls from the students followed, spontaneous and solicited, with both types gently critiqued by a reminder that in the dark woods of 1850’s coastal Maryland or Delaware, the skill of the call’s delivery could be a matter of life or death.

The museum’s activity station also provided opportunities for students to note owl adaptations via pencil drawings, and to examine muskrat pelts as an aid in considering Harriet Tubman’s childhood labor checking traps for the rodents in the marshes of the plantation where she was enslaved. One tabletop display that drew the attention of some students and every adult chaperone credited Ranger Angela Crenshaw, currently Park Manager for Rocks, Susquehanna and Palmer State Parks in Maryland, as the source for much of the activity’s shared information.

*Harriet Tubman UGRR State Park and Visitor Center – Ranger Crenshaw with the Bust of Tubman*

A West Virginia native with strong Baltimore roots, Crenshaw presented interpretive programs for over four years as a ranger at Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park and Visitor Center, a 17-arcre site in Dorchester County, Maryland. Last year, the bicentennial anniversary of Tubman’s birth, articles about the historic icon’s naturalist skills in both Audubon and Smithsonian magazines included quotes from Crenshaw. On May 14, a date Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey proclaimed as “Harriet Tubman Day” in the city, Crenshaw joined seven other presenters for a two-hour panel discussion on Zoom about Tubman’s legacy organized by the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

*Harriet Tubman UGRR State Park and Visitor Center – Muskrat Exhibit – MD Department of Natural Resources*

When a presenter from another organization asked about how Ranger Crenshaw became a reliable source for information about Harriet Tubman, I recalled a published interview during which she described how her earliest days at the then new park forced a deep immersion into the landscape, and lots of reading about American Slavery, the religion of enslaved people, and the Underground Railroad. Among those documents was an 1868 biography of Tubman titled The Moses Of Her People, by Sarah Bradford, and a letter endorsing the book, by another native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore who escaped enslavement, Frederick Douglass.

2022 Rector Christmas Bird Count Results

by Annie Lindsay

*Red-shouldered Hawk. Image credit: Brady Karg*

On the morning of December 17, 2022, 41 birders assembled at Powdermill Avian Research Center to receive the maps and datasheets for the sectors they’d be visiting for the annual Rector Christmas Bird Count (CBC). During the CBC, participants identify and tally every bird they see or hear within a pre-established 15-mile-diameter circle on a selected day between December 14 and January 5. The Rector count was established in 1974, but the history of the CBC extends back to 1900, when a small group listed birds in 25 count circles on Christmas Day. Now sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the CBC has expanded to include nearly 3,000 circles throughout the Western Hemisphere. The CBC welcomes birders of all skill levels and is one of the largest and longest-term community science projects.

The Rector count’s center point is just northwest of Powdermill Nature Reserve, and encompasses a variety of habitats including the ridge-top forests of Chestnut Ridge, Laurel Summit State Park, Laurel Mountain State Park, and Forbes State Forest, the mountain stream valleys and hillsides of Linn Run State Park and Powdermill Nature Reserve, two lakes that often attract migrating or overwintering waterfowl, and rolling farmland interspersed with small towns. This habitat variety means that species diversity can be quite high, and since 1974, birders have tallied 131 species in the Rector circle.

Last year, warm weather extended far into the fall, and the Rector count recorded high totals of many species that we would normally expect to spend the winter a bit further south. This year, however, the fall weather was more typical of southwestern Pennsylvania, and temperatures on the day of the count hovered around freezing as large, fluffy snowflakes fell throughout the morning. The day began early as a few ambitious birders searched for owls before dawn, finding eight Eastern Screech Owls. By dawn, all participants headed to their sectors to count diurnal birds, while an additional eight birders counted what they saw and heard in their yards and visiting their feeders. As dusk fell, CBC participants met at Powdermill for a tally dinner, an evening of camaraderie and sharing stories from the day. Although the species total was only 59, which is slightly below average, individual numbers for each of these species were typical. A few, including Wild Turkey, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Winter Wren, and Eastern Bluebird even saw new high-count records.

*Red-headed Woodpecker. Image credit: Tom Kuehl*

For the fifth year in a row, participants found Red-headed Woodpeckers during the count. This species is difficult to find in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the Rector count circle is one of the only reliable places to encounter them. A favorite of birders, this bold, color-block-patterned woodpecker always delights those lucky enough to spot one.

One of the most exciting sightings of this year’s count, and the last bird encountered for the day, was a Northern Saw-whet Owl spotted near Powdermill’s nature center just as the tally dinner ended. Northern Saw-whet Owls are found in southwestern Pennsylvania primarily during fall migration, but some overwinter here, and there is evidence that a few pairs may breed locally. Saw-whets are small and do not vocalize as readily as most of the other owls, which make them difficult to find. This fall, Powdermill’s ornithologists caught and banded 99 of these tiny owls, nearly a high fall record! As the 2022 Christmas Bird Count season wraps up, we’re already looking forward to 2023. Thank you to all participants for spending the day searching every corner of the count circle looking for birds, and to all landowners for granting participants access to their properties for a much more thorough and complete count.

Feather and Bone Connections to American History

by Patrick McShea

Within the Hall of North American Wildlife, a Passenger Pigeon taxidermy mount stands above a handful of other objects in a display case designed to spark viewers’ thoughts about human relationships with other creatures. On a text panel outside the case an eight-word statement serves to direct such thoughts:

Directly and indirectly, people and wildlife are connected.

Because Passenger Pigeons have been extinct for more than a century, reflections involving this native species are necessarily historical. An adjacent tray holding dozens of Passenger Pigeon leg bones excavated from an archaeology site in Pennsylvania’s Huntingdon County provides a helpful starting point for reflective time travel.

tray filled with passenger pigeon leg bones

The concentration of bones, which date from the years 1400-1600, is evidence of a centuries-long utilization of the birds for food by the Indigenous Peoples who lived in what’s now central Pennsylvania. Passenger Pigeons were once so abundant in eastern North America that flocks darkened the skies for hours when the birds migrated to access seasonal feeding areas and nesting sites.

Sustainable use of the birds by humans did not continue into the 19^th Century. By mid-century, Passenger Pigeons became an unregulated commodity in the rapidly expanding American economy, with the country’s growing railroad network and parallel telegraph system providing unprecedented means for sharing word of flock locations, transporting hunters to those sites, and shipping harvested birds to distant markets.

A summary statement from an exhibit about Passenger Pigeon extinction at another institution, the Milwaukee Public Museum, contains a relevant insight:

The primary factor emerged when pigeon meat was commercialized as a cheap food for slaves and the poor in the 19th century, resulting in hunting on a massive scale.

Recognizing an American slavery facet within what is commonly regarded as a natural history extinction story has never been more important. At a time when there is not consensus about how slavery should be presented as a historical topic in classrooms, the preserved remains of a once common bird have a special role to play.

In the 21^st Century, museum taxidermy mounts from the 19^th Century might serve as focal points for wide ranging discussions between the descendants of people who subsisted on Passenger Pigeon meat because they were enslaved, and those who could purchase little else because they were poor.

The exhibit described above is a component of We Are Nature: A New Natural History, an initiative that encourages a broader and deeper consideration of the human impact on our planet through a series of fifteen interpretive panels placed in and among existing exhibits, as well as a new interactive focal area where visitors are invited to record their thoughts, concerns, and hopes.

Patrick McShea is an Educator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Chimney Swift Conservation

by Patrick McShea

In urban, suburban, and even rural areas of southwestern Pennsylvania, the high-pitched twittering cries of circling Chimney Swifts create a soundtrack for summer days. The birds’ aerial maneuvers are a mix of rapid wing beats and dynamic glides, and much of the action relates to feeding. Chimney Swifts eat on the wing, using their unusually large mouths to capture up to 5,000 flying insects per day. (A summary of a Powdermill Aviation Research Center study of the birds’ diet preferences can be found here: Chimney Swift Research – Powdermill Nature Reserve.)

When observed overhead, passing swifts are frequently described as resembling “flying cigars,” a visual analogy attributable to the birds’ five-inch-long, tube-shaped bodies, comparatively long, narrow wings, and muted grey-brown plumage. Our region is part of the species’ summer range, an enormous portion of eastern North America stretching from the Gulf Coast to just north of the Great Lakes. In South America, an equally large region of the upper Amazon Basin in Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil supports the population during the winter.

The architectural reference in the species’ common name alludes to commensalism involving birds and people that dates to the European settlement of eastern North America. As a biology term, commensalism denotes situations in which one species obtains benefits from another, without harming or benefiting the provider. Historic records indicate that before colonial times the species now known to science as Chaetura pelagica used hollow trees for roosting and nesting. Accounts in New England of the species nesting in chimneys date to the 1670s, and along the Atlantic coastal plain the birds’ exclusive use of chimneys for nest sites was established by 1800.

Within hollow trees and chimneys, sheltered interior walls meet the birds’ requirements for nesting and roosting. Chimney Swifts are unable to perch. Instead, they cling to vertical surfaces with their feet, and use the stiff shafts that protrude from the ends of their tail feathers as a brace. For nests, swifts collect branch-end twigs with their feet, in-flight, then use their quick-drying adhesive saliva to construct a narrow platform with the tiny sticks on an interior chimney or tree cavity wall.

In his landmark 1940 publication, Birds of Western Pennsylvania, CMNH curator W.E. Clyde Todd summarized the species’ association with chimneys as “more than accidental and connotes a remarkable adaptation to the changed conditions brought about by civilization.” In the eight decades since, changes in the built environment of modern civilization have become less welcoming to Chimney Swifts.

The population of Chimney Swifts has declined over 70% since the 1960s. Although reductions in flying insect abundance, along with still undetermined threats during migration and on wintering grounds, appear to be critical factors in the decline, potential nest and roost sites have also decreased due to the widespread practice of capping viable chimneys and demolishing those no longer in use.

In 2013, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (ASWP) launched a regional initiative to publicize the species’ plight and address reductions in Chimney Swift nesting and roosting habitat. The 106-year-old conservation organization has since led a broad coalition of partners in an ongoing effort to construct, install, and monitor more than 150 Chimney Swift towers at appropriate locations in southwestern Pennsylvania. Although Chimney Swifts are known to fly and roost in large flocks during migration, the birds’ behaviors are far different during the breeding season. Only one pair will nest in a chimney or tower, and research indicates the same pair will return to the same nesting location in subsequent years.

The design of these sturdy towers, which mimic actual chimneys, is based upon construction plans detailed in the 2005 publication, Chimney Swift Towers: New Habitat for America’s Mysterious Birds, by Paul and Georgean Kyle. The couple are project directors of the Texas-based Driftwood Wildlife Association’s North American Chimney Swift Nest Site Research Project, an all-volunteer effort to expand public awareness about the beneficial nature and the plight of the species.

educational sign about chimney swift towers

At sites where ASWP offers regular programming, five towers were constructed of stone to enable the structures to also function as entrance signs for the facilities. In Allegheny County’s seven parks, 12-feet high kiosk-style towers constructed of lumber, shingles, and other roofing materials are now familiar landscape features. Through a partnership with Allegheny County, the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, and the Peaceable Kingdom Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, a total of one hundred towers, most bearing colorful informational panels, have been installed to make these public properties more welcoming to Chimney Swifts.

Observations of Chimney Swift activity near any of the towers can contribute to the ongoing evaluation of this regional conservation initiative. Allegheny County Park Rangers have been monitoring towers within the parks where they serve, and towers elsewhere are monitored by ASWP staff and volunteers, however wider public participation is welcome. For more information about Chimney Swift conservation, including a map of tower locations and an online form for reporting observations, please visit the website of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Patrick McShea is an Educator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Pittsburgh Launches Spring 2022 Lights Out Program to Protect Migratory Birds

Yellow, gray, and white bird on a hand outdoors. — Blackpoll Warbler

Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s BirdSafe Pittsburgh program announces the Spring 2022 Lights Out Pittsburgh campaign. Lights Out Pittsburgh, an endeavor launched in September 2021 by BNY Mellon, the Building Owners and Managers Association of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the National Aviary, and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, encourages owners of businesses and homes to turn off lights during peak migration hours, reducing bird window collisions and disorientation caused by artificial light in the night sky. Lights Out Pittsburgh seeks to build on the momentum of its successful fall campaign that recruited 75 buildings to join the movement.

More than 100,000 birds pass over the Pittsburgh region each year during fall and spring migrations, and research indicates that window collisions and disorientation brought about by bright lights are leading causes of bird fatalities. Lights Out Pittsburgh invites partners to join a growing national community of businesses and residences by turning off as much internal and external building light as possible—particularly in upper floors and lobbies—during the hours between midnight and 6 a.m. from March 15 to May 31.

Close up of a pale brown bird with a black and white striped throat. — Hermit Thrush

“Bringing a Lights Out program to Pittsburgh last fall culminated a long-time professional goal,” said Jonathan Rice, Urban Bird Conservation Coordinator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and manager of BirdSafe Pittsburgh. “Now it’s time to build on that. Eight years of research has shown us where birds collide in our city. This Lights Out program is the first step in making Pittsburgh a safer place for birds stopping over during migration, or who live here year-round.”

Lights Out Pittsburgh‘s Spring 2022 campaign will mitigate avian fatalities as migratory birds head to their summer destinations. BNY Mellon, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Science Center, Eleven Stanwix, House Building, Law & Finance Building, Point Park University, Union Trust Building, United Steelworkers’ Building, 100 Ross, 20 Stanwix, 600 Waterfront, and other buildings have pledged to turn off unnecessary lighting from midnight to 6 a.m. Others can join by visiting birdsafepgh.org.

“I am proud that BNY Mellon initiated this movement in the city of Pittsburgh,” said Christina Bencho of BNY Mellon. “Each year it becomes increasingly important that we use our reach, market influence, and resources to support environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. As one of the largest building owners in the city, this is a topic we felt passionate about moving forward.”

Since 2014, BirdSafe Pittsburgh has coordinated volunteers to monitor key neighborhoods during migration periods, collecting data documenting bird fatalities and providing care to birds with injuries caused by window collisions. BirdSafe Pittsburgh will document the Lights Out initiative’s progress on reducing bird mortalities.

The collaborative effort to save birds on their migratory journeys continues to grow as businesses and residents join the pledge to turn off unnecessary lights from midnight to 6 a.m. during peak seasonal migration periods. All are welcome and encouraged to participate. For more information about the Pittsburgh area Lights Out initiative or volunteering for BirdSafe Pittsburgh, visit birdsafepgh.org.

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BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment and wealth management and investment services in 35 countries. As of June 30, 2021, BNY Mellon had $45.0 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $2.3 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.

About BOMA Pittsburgh – Since 1919, the Building Owners & Managers Association of Pittsburgh has been helping owners and managers of commercial real estate maintain safe, efficient properties in Western PA. We do this through state and local advocacy, fostering professional connections through networking events, organizing members to serve in the local community, and training the next generation of commercial real estate leaders. BOMA Pittsburgh is proudly Federated with BOMA International, and our members operate over 31 million square feet of commercial real estate.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is among the top natural history museums in the country. It maintains, preserves, and interprets an extraordinary collection of millions of objects and scientific specimens used to broaden understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity. Carnegie Museum of Natural History generates new scientific knowledge, advances science literacy, and inspires visitors of all ages to become passionate about science, nature, and world cultures. More information is available by calling 412.622.3131 or by visiting the website, https://carnegiemnh.org.

About the National Aviary – The one and only National Aviary celebrates 70 years of saving birds and protecting habitats in 2022. Located on Pittsburgh’s historic Northside since its founding in 1952, the National Aviary is home to 500 birds representing more than 150 diverse species from around the world, many of them threatened or endangered in the wild. The National Aviary’s large walk-through habitats create an intimate, up-close interaction between visitors and free-flying birds, including opportunities to hand-feed and to meet many species rarely found in zoos. Hours of operation are 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily except for Tuesdays. For tickets and more information visit aviary.org.

About the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP) is a dynamic, nonprofit organization comprised of business and community leaders, property owners, civic organizations, foundations, and residents who provide energy, vision, and advocacy for Downtown Pittsburgh. Working collaboratively with its partners, the PDP strives to create a positive Downtown experience for residents, workers and visitors alike. The PDP’s strategic initiatives include clean and safe services, transportation, and economic development and advocacy. For more information, visit www.DowntownPittsburgh.com, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/downtownpitt and “like” us on Facebook.

Building Birding Skills

by Patrick McShea

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Echoes of Freedom in an Owl’s Call

by Pat McShea

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2022 Rector Christmas Bird Count Results

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Feather and Bone Connections to American History

by Patrick McShea

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Chimney Swift Conservation

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Pittsburgh Launches Spring 2022 Lights Out Program to Protect Migratory Birds

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