Research
Songbird Banding
During the Punic Wars, Roman officers tied threads on the legs of birds to carry messages. By the Middle Ages, European falconers marked birds with bands to show ownership and in the 1800’s in North America, John James Audubon conducted banding experiments with phoebes. By the 1900’s, bird banding began to resemble the system in place today, with modern studies serving different purposes and providing a useful tool in the study of wild birds.
During the 2018 Songbird Banding, ten volunteers met under the direction of Rick Schmid at the Preserve’s White Pines site. Each of the seven sessions began at dawn and lasted six hours. The team banded 103 birds from 60 different species and recaptured 26. The Turkey Creek Preserve Bird Banding Program averages 300 volunteer hours per season.
Rick Schmid explained the bird handling process at Turkey Creek Preserve, “From a 20-acre plot on the White Pines site, volunteers set up 10 mist nets, selecting locations that blend the mesh into the surroundings. Each net measures 12 meters long by 3 meters high. After the bird banding session is completed, all nets are taken down.
We monitor the mist nets at all times, alert for birds that fly into the nearly invisible mesh. Here, a female rose-breasted grosbeak is carefully separated from the fine netting. Once removed from the mist net, each bird travels to the banding station in an individual breathable bag.”
Following prescribed procedures, each captured songbird undergoes a careful inspection by a trained specialist.
The information collected includes species, gender, age, weight, wing length, molt status, and breeding conditions.
Turkey Creek Preserve submits the data to the Bird Banding Laboratory in Maryland, run by the US Geological Survey, Dept of Interior. The data also goes to the Institute for Bird Population, a California nonprofit organization that operates the Monitoring Avian Production and Survivorship (MAPS) program.
Rick Schmid described the banding process. “After data is recorded, each bird gets a uniquely numbered band for identification. Using special pliers, the professional attaches a tiny aluminum band displaying an etched nine-digit number to the bird’s foot.
The part that looks like a leg to us is really the bird’s foot. A bird’s leg is farther up in its body and mostly covered by feathers. The part that looks to us like a knee that is bending the wrong way, is really the bird’s ankle.”
When Amy West opens her hand, the newly banded bird flies off into the sunny summer day. If the bird is recaptured, the 9-digit number provides identification of where and when it was banded. This increases the knowledge about a species longevity and migration patterns.
Bat Survey
For 52 million years, bats have lived on Earth. As these mammals of the night flew down through the centuries, folklore and poets gave them various traits, symbolizing intuition, illusion, dreams, rebirth, and journeying. Legends described them as guides through the darkness, seeking passageways to healing. Perhaps because of sharp-toothed faces, other myths tied them to vampires. Another oft-told tale warns of small bats entangled in human hair, countered by studies of echolocation that directs bat flight. In fact, small bats use acute powers of perception to maneuver better than most birds and in dim light, see better than humans. Contrary to negative stories, these small, shy creatures are nurturing and highly social animals that share food and form strong family ties. Through their squeaky verbal communication, they exhibit sensitivity to members of their own group. Their extensive role in nature earns bats the name “friends with wings” as they help control flying pests. A diet of over a thousand insects a night is reason enough to welcome bats as valuable contributors to our ecosystem.
“My research focuses on ecology, natural history, and the conservation of mammals. With the help of undergraduate students from UNO, I have been conducting studies on the natural history of bats in the Great Plains. The goal is to learn more about our local bats, which will help in developing effective conservation strategies for these fascinating creatures. In 2006, a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome (WNS) was found on bats in eastern North America. The disease, which affects bats while they hibernate, began its deadly spread across the continent and in 2015, the fungus was discovered on bats in a mine in southeastern Nebraska. By 2017, bats were dying from white-nose syndrome in Southeastern Nebraska, and the fungus advanced to northeastern parts of the state. Millions of bats have been killed by the disease thus far in North America. The northern long-eared bat, hit especially hard by WNS, is now listed as a federally threatened species.”
“In the summer of 2015, we conducted a baseline survey of bats at Turkey Creek Preserve using both acoustic and capture methods. Our team measured and examined three species at the Preserve, including the northern long-eared bat.
We documented the echolocation calls of four other species with acoustic detectors. The Turkey Creek Preserve study provides important baseline data for future comparisons and adds to the excellent natural history information on bats in Nebraska compiled by past researchers.”
Butterfly Count
“To see a kaleidoscope of butterflies dancing across a field is a wonder that needs to be shared and preserved. Turkey Creek Preserve does just that. Since 2012, we’ve participated in the 4th of July count of the North American Butterfly Association.* In 2014, NABA recognized Turkey Creek Preserve as a monarch waystation. Through the years, because of continental range degradation and habitat loss, the NABA count of monarch butterflies has resulted in a wide variation of numbers. Below is the table for the Nebraska count from five natural areas. To further TCP’s goal of restoring and enhancing our natural habitat, we’ve added to the diversity of forbs and grasses, planting several types of milkweed and nectar-producing native perennials. The results of our program show a dramatically improved number of monarchs stopping here. Turkey Creek Preserve continues to have the highest monitored monarch count in Eastern Nebraska.”
NABA Year & Count from Five Nebraska Natural Areas
2012: 15 2013: 7 2014: 97 2015: 140 2016: 97 2017: 46 2018: 102 2019: 183 2020: 231
In the fall of 2019, Turkey Creek Preserve introduced a tagging program to further the data collection of monarch migration.
Volunteers and UNO students tagged 58 monarchs on their way to the Mexican overwintering site. Because of their long, broad migration corridors, monarchs are susceptible to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate fluctuations. Data collected through the Monarch Watch tagging program helps to understand how monarchs weather all these hazards.
It is rare for monarchs to be resighted, but this monarch that was tagged at Turkey Creek Preserve was photographed in Mexico in October. Monarch Watch used the photo in a research article on monarch migration.
*The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) formed in 1992 is, by far, the largest group of people in North America (Canada, United States and Mexico) dedicated to butterflies and to conserving the spectacular migrations of monarchs in North America. The program has amassed the largest database of butterfly occurrences and abundance in the world. This data is increasingly used by scientists to study butterfly population trends and to answer questions about butterfly biology. Source: NABA Home Page
Christmas Bird Count
During the 19th Century, hunters participated in a tradition known as the Christmas Side Hunt, a competition to shoot birds and wildlife in a selected area. Alarmed by the declining bird populations, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman proposed a Christmas Bird Census in 1900 to count the birds rather than hunt them. The idea took hold and continues to this day under the auspices of the National Audubon Society. Throughout North America, volunteers gather annually between December 14th and January 5th to count the birds. Results of the annual count provide information on species distribution across the country and population trends since the early 1900’s. At Turkey Creek Preserve volunteers count the over-wintering birds as part of the DeSoto Christmas Bird Count.
Blending into the tree bark, a white-breasted nuthatch rests before flying off to forage for seeds or insects. Through Nebraska’s harsh winter months, many songbirds remain at Turkey Creek Preserve rather than join less hardy friends headed to warmer climates.
Winter birds survive the cold in different ways. Birds may preen, spreading a protective waterproof coating onto their feathers. A few birds cuddle to contain the warmth. Other birds fluff their feather, insulating their bodies from the cold. Small birds like chickadees drop their body temperature in a controlled hypothermia to save energy. Sometimes birds shiver by contracting opposing sets of muscles to raise their metabolic rate and generate heat. The temperature of birds’ feet stays above freezing through a countercurrent heat exchange system. As blood moves toward the feet, the warmth of blood in the arteries passes near the blood in nearby returning veins. Heat is not lost from the feet and more returns to keep the body core warm.
