Peoria bird rescue seeks owner of bedazzled vest-clad pigeon

10:27 PM, Nov 16, 2018

PEORIA, Ariz. - A bird rescue center in Peoria is trying to find the owner of one colorfully dressed pigeon.

Jody Kieran, the director of Fallen Feathers, said Friday that nobody has come forward to claim ownership of a pigeon found wearing a bedazzled vest.
  
The Arizona Republic reports someone found the fine-feathered friend near an intersection last week and brought it to the rescue center.
  
The organization posted a picture of the bird and the vest to Facebook.
  
Kieran describes the pigeon appears friendly and well taken care of by its owner. She says she will wait a month before putting the bird up for adoption.
  
Kieran says it's not uncommon for people to keep pigeons as pets.
 

See video and read on 

Arizona’s bald eagles expand breeding sites in 2017

Sept. 12, 2017 Arizona Game and Fish Department     Arizona’s bald eagles expand breeding sites in 2017     PHOENIX — Arizona’s bald eagle population continues to soar as the number of breeding areas expanded statewide and a record 82 young hatched during the 2017 breeding season, according to an annual Arizona Game and Fish Department survey.   While the number of hatchlings rose from the previous high of 79 in 2016, the number of young that actually fledged dipped slightly to 63 birds that made the important milestone of their first flight. In Arizona, at least 95 eggs were laid, which was slightly less than the 97 laid in 2016, and a record 85 breeding areas were identified, including two new areas.   “We continue to see phenomenal growth of Arizona’s bald eagle population,” said Kenneth Jacobson, AZGFD bald eagle management coordinator. “An increase in breeding areas and increasing numbers of hatchlings is a testament to the resiliency of these magnificent animals and our ongoing efforts to help recover bald eagles in Arizona.”   Arizona’s bald eagle populations have flourished since 1978, when 11 pairs were counted within the state and the species was listed as endangered. Today there are an estimated 67 adult breeding pairs.   Bald eagles in Arizona were removed from the federal Endangered Species Act in 2011. The department’s conservation efforts contributed to the species recovery. Nationally, the birds remain protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.   The impressive growth of the population is attributed to the continued efforts of the Southwestern Bald Eagle Management Committee – a coalition of AZGFD and 25 other government agencies, private organizations and Native American tribes – and its years of cooperative conservation efforts, including extensive monitoring by the nationally-awarded Bald Eagle Nestwatch Program.   The breeding season for bald eagles in Arizona runs from December through June, although eagle pairs at higher elevations nest later than those in the rest of the state.   Continued support from the committee, State Wildlife Grants and the Heritage Fund (Arizona Lottery ticket sales), will help ensure that Arizona’s bald eagles continue to thrive.   For more information on bald eagles in Arizona, visit www.azgfd.gov (click on “wildlife”) or www.swbemc.org.​​​​​​​     Did you know? The Arizona Game and Fish Department receives NO Arizona general fund tax dollars. We hold the state’s wildlife in trust for the public without a dime from Arizona taxpayers.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, religion, or disability in its programs and activities. If anyone believes that they have been discriminated against in any of the AZGFD’s programs or activities, including its employment practices, the individual may file a complaint alleging discrimination directly with the Director’s Office, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086-5000, (602) 942-3000, or with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Attn: Civil Rights Coordinator for Public Access, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS:WSFR, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803. Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation or this document in an alternative format by contacting the Director’s Office as listed above.       Arizona Game & Fish Dept. · 5000 W. Carefree Hwy, Phoenix, AZ 85086 (602) 942-3000 · www.azgfd.gov

Upcoming Event: Annual bald eagle event set for Flagstaff

Posted in: Wildlife News

Feb 25, 2017

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.  -- Did you know that Arizona is visited by over 200 bald eagles during the winter?  To learn more about these amazing birds and to see live eagles, the public is invited to attend the Annual Bald Eagle Celebration on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Willow Bend Environmental Educational Center at 703 E. Sawmill Road in Flagstaff.

Several programs will be offered during this year’s event, which is hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Willow Bend Environmental Education Center. The cost for the event is $5 per participant for each program or free for Willow Bend Members.

All programs, except field trip, will be held at Willow Bend. The day will also include an opportunity to see live bald eagles up close and a chance to talk with dedicated individuals from Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation Foundation.

8-10 a.m. – “Early Birds” Field Trip: Join current and retired AZ Game and Fish wildlife biologists for an early morning field trip searching for bald eagles and local waterfowl around Lake Mary. Meet at 8 a.m. at AZ Game and Fish Office at 3500 Lake Mary Road. Personal transportation is required and carpooling is encouraged. The field trip will be cancelled if there is inclement weather.

10-11 a.m. – “Eaglets” Family Presentation: A family-focused interactive program especially designed for families with young children (ages 4-12 years old). Learn about and view live eagles.

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. – “Fully Fledged” Community Presentation 1: Learn about the incredible bald eagle from an Arizona Game and Fish biologist and view live eagles up close. Presentation is open to all ages. (Please note this is the same presentation as the 1 p.m. session. Please only sign up for one presentation.)

1-2 p.m. – “Fully Fledged” Community Presentation 2: Learn about the incredible bald eagle from an Arizona Game and Fish biologist and view live eagles up close. Presentation is open to all ages.

“Educating people about wildlife, conservation and management is a goal for Willow Bend and Arizona Game and Fish,” Willow Bend Director Moran Henn said. “We are very excited to be partnering with Game and Fish and Liberty Wildlife again for this year’s event.”

Those going on the early bird field trip should remember to dress appropriately for weather conditions, and bring binoculars and bird field guidebooks. To register for one of the programs offered or for more information, visit www.willowbendcenter.org.

Arizona Game and Fish’s sandhill crane cam now streaming

For immediate release, Nov. 10, 2016
Arizona Game and Fish Department

Live stream offers viewers a unique, convenient experience

Sandhill cranes have returned to southeastern Arizona and the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s live-streaming camera is again trained on their wintering grounds at Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area.


“Now is the perfect time to watch these magnificent birds as they winter in Arizona,” said Randy Babb, watchable wildlife program manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “This live-steaming camera allows the public to have an unfiltered view of our state’s wildlife. It also allows the department to connect the public with wildlife.”


The live stream is one of two in the country that offers viewers a glimpse into crane wintering habits. Each year, sandhill cranes coming as far away as Siberia travel thousands of miles to winter in southern Arizona.


Streaming sandhill cranes
The best time to view the birds is a half-hour before and up to a half-hour after sunrise, just before they leave the roost to feed for the morning. Cranes also return to Whitewater Draw sometime in the late morning, generally before noon and remain at the wildlife area for the remainder of the day.


While the department will do its best to keep the camera focused on the cranes and other interesting wildlife subjects, there will be times it isn’t possible due to the unpredictability of wildlife. Viewers that don’t see activity when they try the camera are encouraged to routinely check back. This is especially true in the early winter, when the newly arrived birds are establishing a routine.


The live stream is offered from early November when cranes first start to arrive at Whitewater Draw, through March or early April when the birds leave to migrate to northern nesting grounds.


For those that find the live stream viewing fascinating, the department encourages a trip to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area for a full sensory viewing experience. The sight of up to 10,000 birds is impressive. More information


About sandhill cranes
Worldwide there are 15 species of cranes scattered across the globe. Most of these are found in Africa, Europe and Asia, and many are either threatened or endangered due to a variety of reasons with habitat loss being chief among them.


Two species of cranes are found in North America, the endangered whooping crane and sandhill cranes, which is the most abundant crane species on the planet.


Cranes of all species sport long necks, beaks and legs with short tails that are not visible when the wings are closed. Sandhill cranes are predominantly grey with fleshy red caps on their heads. The largest subspecies can stand nearly 4-feet tall and sandhill cranes are long-lived and mate for life.


They are wary birds that shy away from areas of dense vegetation that may conceal predators. Cranes prefer to feed and roost in open areas where potential danger can be seen from a distance. Wintering sandhill cranes often feed on agricultural grain crops but may also frequent open desert and fallow fields.


The sandhill crane live stream is supported by the Wildlife Conservation Fund, which comes from tribal gaming and the Wildlife Viewing Program. You can find out more about wildlife viewing and upcoming public wildlife viewing activities at www.azgfd.com/Wildlife/Viewing.

Environment, not distance, triggers genetic differences in 'sky island' birds

Date: July 14, 2015

Source: University of Kansas

Summary: Joseph Manthey's paper in Molecular Ecology has been hailed as a 'blueprint' for future isolation-by-environment studies.

Genomic sequencing of White-breasted nuthatches populating isolated mountains in Southern Arizona shows pressure to adapt to unique habitats prompts genetic branching among clades of the birds, rather than distances separating the "sky islands" where they live.

"Non-random gene flow is causing these birds to become genetically distinct based on certain environments," said Joseph Manthey, doctoral student at the University of Kansas' Biodiversity Institute. "As the nuthatches can fly, their ability to disperse suggested they'd either be able to move easily between nearby sky islands or not at all because of distances between them. So I was expecting a pattern of isolation-by-distance -- or that some sky island populations were genetically distinct due to isolation from other populations. "

Continued ...

Birds shake nuts to choose the best ones

May 23, 2015

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck

Cracking a nut is difficult, so how do animals make sure that they don’t waste effort on a snack that winds up being tiny or rotten?

In research published recently in the Journal of Ornithology, an international team led by experts from the Seoul National University’s Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution watched a group of Mexican Jays (Aphelocoma wollweberi) living in Arizona to see how they selected nuts from a feeder and if they had any tricks that helped them avoid getting bad ones.

They found that the birds may be able to “weigh” nuts, and possibly even “listen” to them as they handle the nuts in their beaks. The study authors spent several hours observing the behavior of the jays as they delicately broke open the shells of hundreds of peanuts, changing the contents and presenting them to the birds to see if the creatures could tell the difference.

Sound plays a role in the evaluation process

The researchers conducted a series of experiments, including one in which some of the peanuts presented to the jays were empty. Even though the pods looked identical on the outside, “we noticed that after picking them up the birds rejected the empty ones and accepted the full peanuts, without opening them,” said corresponding author Dr. Sang-im Lee of Seoul National University.

In another experiment, the birds were presented with two different nuts that looked the same, but had a one gram difference in weight. This revealed that the jays were able to distinguish between the two, and they favored the heavier nuts.

Researchers then took peanuts of different sizes and equalized their weight. The authors found that jays preferred the smaller peanuts, even though the two pods weighed the same. Researcher Dr. Elzbieta Fuszara explained that the birds could tell that the larger pods did not weigh as much as they should and rejected them on this basis.

Read on ...

Drought causes birds to nest later, reducing nesting success

PUBLIC RELEASE: 22-DEC-2014

Future of desert birds in question

POINT BLUE CONSERVATION SCIENCE

Tucson, Ariz.--A recent study suggests drought conditions are delaying nesting by two weeks or more for some Sonoran Desert bird species, such as Black-tailed Gnatcatchers and Verdins.

Despite recent rainfall, drought conditions persist in much of the southwestern U.S. Drought negatively impacts, many wildlife species, making it harder to maintain their numbers, even when adapted to a dry environment.

Newly published research from Point Blue Conservation Science (Point Blue) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) finds that increased drought frequency in southwestern North America results in increased instances of delayed nesting. This delay can push the start of nesting back by several weeks in severe drought. This, in turn, makes it harder for many Sonoran Desert bird species to successfully produce young that year, as they are more vulnerable to nest predators and parasites.

"To understand how late the delay is, it would be like if the robins nesting in your yard, who typically begin nesting in late April, did not begin to nest until nearly Memorial Day," says Chris McCreedy, Point Blue ecologist and the study's lead author.

Continued ...

HUMMINGBIRD HAVEN SAVED: Tucson Audubon keeping Paton's open for bird watchers

Posted: Sunday, August 3, 2014 12:00 am

By Cathy Rosenberg Arizona Sonora News Service

Paton’s Birder Haven in Patagonia, Ariz., is a prime destination for bird watchers from all over the world. About 30,000 people come here each year to see the birds.

Wally and Marion Paton first invited bird watchers into their backyard in the 1990s after they saw people in the street with binoculars looking in. When the Patons died, there was no plan for the future.

“It became internationally known because of particularly one species,” said Paul Green, president of the Tucson Audubon Society. “It’s really the only place in the United States that you can reliably see the Violet-crowned hummingbird.”

Read more ...

Smuggle Me Elmo: 2 parrots found in stuffed toy

July 10, 2014 1:48 pm • Kimberly Matas Arizona Daily Star

It was a case of smuggle me Elmo at an Arizona border crossing July 1 when officers found two parrots hidden in a large stuffed Sesame Street character.

The birds were found alive stuffed into the plush doll after officials at the San Luis port of entry X-rayed the toy, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The birds are conures, medium-sized parrots that are native to South America.

Officers initially stopped the California couple because they were carrying a bag of mangos. It was only then they decided to inspect the Elmo doll.

The prohibited birds and fruit were seized under the Animal Health Protection Act and the Plant Protection Act. The couple was fined $300 and released.

Continued

ENDANGERED BIRDS: Condor comeback: First eggs spotted in breeding season for endangered bird

Posted: Feb 26, 2014 12:50 AM GSTUpdated: Feb 26, 2014 12:52 AM GST

By Christopher Francis - email

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -

Wildlife workers are seeing the first signs of what they hope will be a successful breeding season for an endangered bird that was once extinct in the wild.

(Source: Arizona Game and Fish Department)

Earlier this month, workers found eggs in a wild flock of California condors in both Arizona and Utah. Eggs also turned up in a captive flock in Idaho.

Last year, four young condors hatched in the Arizona-Utah wild population, the most ever in one season.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Condor is one of the rarest bird species in the world, with less than 250 living in the wild as of last year. Poaching, poisoning and destruction of their habitat nearly wiped the bird out in the 1980's until an aggressive effort began to save it.

The first egg in the wild Arizona-Utah flock was reported Feb. 11. The adults will incubate it for about two months in their nest at a remote location in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Biologists will continue to monitor the birds from afar to confirm when the eggs hatch and the nestlings take their first flight. They will continue to observe the young birds as they are raised by their parents for about a year.

Read on

Lead ammunition banned in California and reduced in Arizona to protect condors

Arizona hunters reduce lead ammunition voluntarily

October 2013. Hunters in Arizona have proved their commitment to wildlife conservation by voluntarily working to reduce the amount of lead exposure to endangered California condors, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department is encouraging all hunters to join the effort this fall.

85-90% of hunters using non-lead ammunition

In the last six years, 85 to 90 percent of hunters in Arizona's condor range have voluntarily either used non-lead ammunition during their hunts or, if they used lead ammunition, they removed the gut piles from the field.

California bans lead ammunition

California just chose a different approach to help conserve that state's condor population. California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation on Oct. 11 mandating that hunters statewide must use non-lead ammunition.

"Every state needs to take an approach that takes into consideration its own unique needs. In Arizona, we feel strongly that a voluntary approach works better than a mandated measure while still upholding the agreements that were originally promised when the condor reintroduction program was established," says Allen Zufelt, Arizona Game and Fish's condor program coordinator. "Achieving between 85 and 90 percent voluntary participation is a clear demonstration of hunters' commitment to condor management, and they deserve to be recognized."

Read on

State tells AC rescue to surrender disabled turkey vulture

A group of wildlife volunteers hope to convince state officials to allow a disabled turkey vulture to remain at an Arizona City bird sanctuary he has come to know as home.

Arizona Game and Fish Department officials next week plan to confiscate the bird, which was hit by a car in October.

Unable to fly, the bird was hobbling near Arizona 287 when it was found by Pinal Wildlife Rescue volunteers.

“The wing was crooked,” said Betsy Lagos of Pinal Wildlife Rescue.

Each year, dozens of injured birds, mostly owls and hawks, are brought to the PWR facility in Arizona City. Most recover and are released back into the wild within a few months. Last year alone, the organization rehabilitated and released 45 birds.

But sometimes, an animal or bird is found that cannot be released. The turkey vulture found in October is one of those cases. His wing did not heal properly and the bird is now permanently disabled with little chance of surviving if released into the wild, according to Lagos.

“But other than the wing injury the bird is happy and healthy,” Lagos said.

PWR is the only fully functioning wildlife rehabilitation organization in Pinal County. It is licensed for wildlife rehabilitation and education with the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Continued