Hi everyone, You may or may not have heard about the RustyBlackbird Migration Blitz, an effort by the International Rusty BlackbirdWorking Group, eBird, and USFWS to gather important data on the migrationpatterns of this rapidly declining species. To participate simply bird as younormally would, but keep an extra eye out for Rusty Blackbirds. You may want tovisit sites where you think they might be, their preferred habitat is wetland areas with a lot of trees or shrubs, but they can be seen just about anywhere. Keep a close eye on blackbird flocks, Rusties are often mixed in with Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. Reporting your finds, whether you find any Rusties ornot, is easy, just visit e-bird to report your sightings. The blitz website at http://rustyblackbird.org/outreach/migration-blitz/has great information such as identification hints, habitat types, and songrecordings. The best way to find them is by their distinctive squeaky call, soI recommend you become familiar with that if you are not already. Ebird canalso be a good resource to see where Rusties have been seen in your area in the past using the range maps tool. You can zoom intothe range map for the species to look at specific locations where they havebeen reported in past years. The blitz officially began March 1st and Rusties are already being reported from southern parts of the state. They should appear in good numbers in central and northern NY around mid-March and willprobably peak in late March and early April. If you have any questions feel free to contact me, as the blitz coordinator forNY and a former graduate student that spent 2 years studying these birds in theAdirondacks I am happy to answer an questions you may have. Thanks and Good luck! Melanie McCormack Keene, NY [email protected] http://adkbirdsandtrails.blogspot.com
-- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
