The government will be taking steps to help protect migratory birds. Five
billion birds migrate from North America to the tropics every year. Land
development is threatening the birds’ stopover habitats. Kyle Norris has this
story:
Transcript
The government will be taking steps to help protect migratory birds. Five
billion birds migrate from North America to the tropics every year. Land
development is threatening the birds’ stopover habitats. Kyle Norris has this
story:
The new policy announced by President George Bush will include habitat
improvements for migratory birds. The improvements will happen on national wildlife refuges and in some
urban areas. The US government will collaborate with Mexican officials to
create habitat programs in Mexico.
Greg Butcher is the Director of Bird Conservation for National Audubon
Society. He says birds are an excellent indicator of the environment:
“Birds have many of the very same needs that people have. So they need
clean air, they need clean water. They need good healthy habitats that are
productive. And so when good things happen to birds, good things are happening
for humans at the same time.”
The government will also offer financial incentives to private landowners in
the US. Who either make their property more habitable to migrating birds, or
who agree to not build on their land.
The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). (Photo by Mike McDowell)
The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). (Photo by Mike McDowell)
The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). (Photo by Mike McDowell)
Despite the cold weather… there are some dedicated wildlife
watchers taking notes, taking photos and enjoying the outdoors. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Ed Janus recently joined
four people in the snowy woods and fields to watch them as they watched
birds. He brings us this audio postcard:
Transcript
Despite the cold weather… there are some dedicated wildlife watchers taking notes,
taking photos and enjoying the outdoors. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Ed Janus
recently joined four people in the snowy woods and fields to watch them as they watched
birds. He brings us this audio postcard:
Noel Cutright: “There’s something happening 365 days a year. Whether it’s in June, in
the height of breeding season here in Wisconsin or in the depths of the winter, you
can
find birds just about anywhere.”
(bird song)
“I think people when they think about going birding in the tropics, they’re always
looking
for the new birds that we don’t have here in Wisconsin. And I was kind of surprised
at
how moved I was when I started seeing some of our birds down there.”
(sound of Bald Eagle)
Mike McDowell: “One way to get people who aren’t really interested in looking at birds
is watching something as lovely as a Bald Eagle. A good place to see them would be
Sauk City, along the Wisconsin River. One time I had a bald eagle there fly right
up into
a tree right next to me. Just a gorgeous view of it in the sun. You can watch them
fly
down from the trees and fly over the water and scoop down and grab a fish and bring it
up to a tree and eat it.”
NC: “Well, we’re starting up a bike trail here in downtown Port Washington. Very
protected. Very close to the lakeshore. I hear a chickadee calling here as we get
started.”
(sound of chickadees)
Delia Unsom: “We used to go out for walks a lot, and one day we were out and saw this
red-tailed hawk circling. And so, you know we were watching that but it was so far
away, so I went out and bought this little, tiny pair of binoculars…”
Chuck Heikkinen: “For twenty bucks.”
DU: “For twenty bucks. And then you start seeing birds up close and then before I
knew
it, Chuck had his own pair of twenty dollar pair of binoculars.”
CH: “Once you get really close to a bird with binoculars, you start to see things
you’d
never imagine.”
DU: “Like birds that we would just totally ignore before – for example sparrows.
Sparrows look so plain, but once you really get into birding, there are certain
sparrows
that are just beautiful.”
(sound of goldfinch)
NC: “Goldfinch flying over. They say ‘potato chip’ when they fly. ‘Potato chip,
potato
chip.'”
“Sometimes if you’re quiet and go out and sit in the woods or along the shore and
birds –
and you’re quiet and don’t make a lot of movement, you can get close to birds. Just
sit
down some place and let the birds come to you. It’s a good way to see them up close…”
(sound of Cooper’s Hawk under)
NC: “There goes a Cooper’s Hawk.”
DU: “Seeing birds is one thing, but hearing birds is another thing.”
CH: “After learning the songs of the birds, it’s almost like being in a symphony.
It’s just
incredibly beautiful sound. Almost like hearing the heart beat of the planet.”
(sound of cardinal under)
NC: “Single note call of a Cardinal. Northern Cardinal – just flew across the path
there.”
CH: “What it does, what it’s done for us I think has pulled the whole state into our
life.
Just all corners of the state we’re pretty well acquainted with because of birds.”
NC: “There’s a White-breasted Nut Hatch I just heard. Yank, yank, yank. Yank, yank,
yank.”
(sound of Nut Hatch under)
DU: “It’s easy to get obsessed with birds, you know? It really is easy. But think
about it:
it’s a great thing to be obsessed about. You know, if you’re going to have an
obsession,
why not something beautiful that gets you outdoors, it brings you out into nature, you
know that makes you happier. There’re just some gorgeous, fantastic days. You know,
in the past we wouldn’t have been outdoors. Now we’re always outdoors.”
MM: “Really all they need is a pair of binoculars and a little bit of time and it’s
great
exercise and why not?”
(bird song fades out)
HOST TAG: “Noel Cutright, Mike McDowell, and the husband and wife team
of Chuck Heikkinen and Delia Unsom watch birds in their home state of Wisconsin. Ed
Janus produced that audio postcard for the Great Lakes Radio Consortium.”
