[mou] Breeding Birds ( Long, but Important!)

[Alt, Mark]

 	Breeding birds is where it is at in Minnesota, I am coming to
understand this, and so now I want to try and explain my rationale, to
see if this view point can be spread throughout the birding community.
There are individuals that do get this and have for years, of course:
Jan Green and Bob Janssen are two that come immediately to mind. There
are others out there reporting breeding birds on a regular basis, yet
they are few in number. Breeding Bird Surveys are done, but they are too
far apart and too few in number to significantly assess bird abundance
throughout the state.

The MOU, of which I am proud to serve as a President, does little to
actively solicit breeding bird records from its members, educate the
membership on its importance, and provide the necessary methodology.
Last year, there was a single record submitted for Sedge Wren breeding
in the state of Minnesota. This sparseness of coverage for breeding
birds is absurd.

The Electronics Communications Committee of the MOU has developed the
online Seasonal Records reporting to a level of excellence, and is
working to improve it still. Breeding bird-records management is one
action item we hope to improve immediately. We can change our behaviors
and begin reporting all birds seen. We should provide details on
possible breeding behavior, probable breeding, or confirmed breeding for
every bird we see and hear. It will provide much needed data and
acquaint birders with behaviors of birds on their home range. Each
observation is an opportunity to learn, think what are the causes of
these behaviors I am seeing? Could a nest be near? Could this bird be
luring me away? Is this territorial behavior? I recommend birders
indicate observed possible breeding behaviors in the online Seasonal
Report text box for each sighting. We are well into breeding season now
-- we can't wait. Start doing this now!


Minnesota Audubon is spearheading the Important Bird Area program in the
state, a very worthwhile initiative for the conservation effect it can
have in the state, yet without the benefit of a Breeding Bird Atlas, how
can they take it all into consideration on what to conserve and why? The
IBA program in other states relies heavily on the Breeding Bird Atlas
data to help target areas of importance for birds, not single species,
but groups of regularly occurring species in specific ecosystems.  It is
our hope that Minnesota Audubon will find a source for the funds we need
for seed money. The DNR is also working to collaborate with the MOU to
build a plan for a Breeding Bird Atlas. The product of this atlas
project will be a document and database that may be used as a reference
for Breeding Bird Distribution and Abundance in the state of Minnesota.

Minnesota birding festivals schedule around bird migration. Waves of
birds come through and are gone. We should focus on the ones that stay
here. I contend that a single report of a nesting Sedge Wren last year
was more substantial, important and relevant to the study of Minnesota
birds than all the reports of extralimital species in Minnesota.
Tourists come here to see our breeding birds, so why do so many of our
festivals focus on migratory periods? The Boreal Birding Festival,
Voyager National Park, and Pine County Festival are examples of events
planned for times when birds are on territory. What an enriching
experience for birders!=20
I have participated in three state breeding bird atlases. I have learned
that birds seen in "safe dates", (when they would be normally on
breeding territory), if they are in the right habitat, constitute a
possible breeding record. A pair of the same birds seen in the same
conditions is a probable breeding record. The MOU does not record these
currently as breeding records; we require "confirmed" breeding records.=20
A few people do the due diligence to report, but we need thousands to do
this to gather the data we need!=20

I challenge you to use the MOU online Seasonal Report software to enter
specific breeding bird records. Do it at home for robins and cardinals
and House Finches, do it on weekends in the bog country or the western
prairie. Help us figure out where Common Nighthawks are in the summer,
How far south Ring-necked Ducks nest, where we can find local
populations of sparrows - LeConte's, Lincoln's, or Nelson's
Sharp-taileds? You are already seeing the birds; just take the time to
document it, in the comments field of the MOU seasonal software. I wish
you all good birding.=20

Here are some suggested behaviors to look for and document for your
sightings:

*     Bird Observed (seen or heard) within safe dates but not in
suitable habitat and/or not believed to be breeding=20

*     Bird seen or heard in suitable nesting habitat within safe dates=20

*     Territorial behavior observed=20

*     Pair (male and female) of a species observed together=20

*     Courtship behavior (ritualized display) or Copulation between two
birds observed.=20

*     Used nest of species found (only species with very distinctive
nests may be assigned this code).=20

*     Agitated behavior or anxiety calls given by adults due to observer
or predator presence=20

*     Adult bird seen Carrying Nest material=20

*     Physical Evidence of breeding condition (e.g., brood patch)
observed for birds in hand=20

*     Nest Building observed at nest site=20

*     Distraction Display or apparent Direct Defense of unobserved
nest/young=20

*     Fledglings observed (very young, dependent downy or stub-tailed
juveniles only).=20

*     Adult bird seen Carrying Food or Carrying Fecal sac=20

*     Adult bird seen Feeding Young out of the nest=20

*     Nest with Eggs of species found=20

*     Occupied Nest of species found, but exact contents unknown

*     Nest with Young of species found



 Good Birding to you all,

Mark Alt
MOU President
Brooklyn Center, MN