Overlook Circle

There have been over 250 reports of snowy owls in Minnesota this winter (unfortunately, none in my back yard.) Because of that, there has been an increase in incidents of baiting, although it’s something has been going on for a long time. Being an an avid birdwatcher and amateur photographer myself, and also volunteering for the Raptor Center (injured birds being rehabilitated for release into the wild) and Richardson Nature Center (birds in permanent captivity), I understand the motivation for baiting raptors, but my number one concern is the welfare of the bird and so I am very much opposed to the practice.

Many people apply the term “baiting” to include anything from setting up backyard bird feeders to harassing a raptor with live prey. I think it’s important to define what baiting is, how I see it as being different from other activities it is often compared to (a way baiters try to justify the practice), and why I believe it is harmful.

My definition of baiting is: actively luring an individual bird (usually a raptor) with live (or simulated live) prey, in order to provoke hunting behavior which brings the bird in close proximity to the observer, for purposes such as bird watching or photography, outside the scope of regulated activity such as falconry, scientific research and wildlife rehabilitation.

This differs from other types of bird feeding/attracting in the following ways:

1. Bird feeders (including seed, suet, nectar, fruit, live mealworms) do not target individual birds. The birds are free to come and go on their own. This type of feeding is widely supported and encouraged by organizations such as the Audubon Society, American Birding Association, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, etc.
2. Bird banding is highly regulated, done for research purposes, by qualified banders who must follow specific procedures and obtain state/federal permits to do so. Similarly, falconers are regulated and must obtain permits.
3. Hand feeding backyard birds – many people compare this to baiting. It is different because the types of birds who will come to the hand are already by nature quite tame (chickadees, nuthatches, etc.) and already coexist with humans in backyard environments. They are species that are not dependent on one type of food for their survival. One can debate whether hand feeding songbirds is itself problematic, but regardless, it is different from baiting a raptor.
4. Setting up perches near or on feeders for photography. This does not target an individual bird, nor provoke any behavior that interferes with a bird’s normal actions. And usually a photography “studio” setup like this attracts songbird species that are already accustomed to humans, or the observer uses a blind for more skittish species. There is no new human=food association that is formed as a result.

I believe baiting (as I defined above) is harmful because:

1. Raptors are very prey oriented. They are easily ritualized and become habituated to humans when they associate us with a food source. This can result in the bird swooping in on people or even cars in anticipation of being fed (it has been documented many times here in MN.) This is unsafe for birds and humans.
2. A bird that is baited is not just baited once. Typically it is baited repeatedly over a period of time by one or more photographers/birders. It often involves the bird being harassed/stressed by the behavior of those who are trying to get a closer view and can lead to illegal activities such as trespassing on private property.
3. If the bait is live, it is usually a domestic pet store mouse. This is not the natural diet of a wild bird and there is the possibility of disease that may result from unsanitary conditions that these mice are raised in. And there is the possibility that the prey may escape and that is neither fair to the mouse nor good for the environment.
4. If the bait is artificial, the the bird is wasting time and effort chasing a lure when that energy should be spent hunting. This significantly interferes with the bird’s ability to survive.
5. Baiting is often done near roadsides which puts these birds in danger of being hit by a car.
6. I am not aware of any birding or wildlife rehab organization that supports baiting. However several oppose it, including the Raptor Center, Owl Foundation, and Raptor Education Group. Also the ethical guidelines of groups like the American Birding Association and North American Nature Photography Association strongly discourage activities which interfere with a bird’s natural behavior.

For those who defend baiting, it’s interesting to ask if a) they have ever been involved with wildlife rehabilitation, and b) can they produce any statement or evidence of a birding/research/wildlife rehab organization which supports baiting as something that should be practiced by the general public. I’ve never gotten a direct answer to those questions from any baiting apologist. I think that says a lot.

Further reading:

Here is an excellent blog post by an Ottawa birder about baiting, which goes into much more detail.
Local ornithologist and author Laura Erickson on baiting: Baiting Owls

It’s been a pretty cold start to the winter. Right now we have some low temperatures forecast that haven’t been seen in about 20 years (before I moved to the midwest.) I think the coldest I’ve experienced has been -22F and I’ve been out photographing eagles when the wind chill was about -40F, and my eyelashes froze. We are supposed to get down to -25F tonight and wind chills around -50F.

Not much has been going on in the yard, no unusual visitors or anything out of the ordinary. We do have at least one overwintering flicker, and have had a red-tailed hawk hunting in the yard recently. Normally I wouldn’t expect to see one here because of all the trees, but I’ve seen it a few times now. A couple of deer have been showing up to munch on what’s left of the garden (which fascinates the cats.)

Because of the extreme cold I’ve put out extra suet and peanuts for the birds. They need as much high energy food as possible. We have two suet logs and I’ve also got a suet cake up in the top gazebo, where I have safflower to discourage starlings. In the tube feeder we have thistle and sunflower chips which the finches really like. There is a second tube feeder with the same that I have hanging on the deck railing, out of view of the camera. The juncos like to hop around under it, catching anything the goldfinches drop.

I haven’t been spending a lot of time outside (other than filling the bird feeders). It’s good weather for firing up the wood stove and settling down to catch up on some TV watching!

Summer is such a nice time in the garden. Many of the flowers are in bloom, the grasses are really starting to come in, and there is a lot of bird and insect activity. We have TONS of bees, and I’ve seen a few tiger swallowtail butterflies and a monarch (which are sadly rare this year.) I recently noticed a hummingbird moth in the garden for the first time, which was very cool. It seems to favor the native wild bergamot (monarda fistulosa), while actual hummingbirds ignore that and go to the royal catchfly, or another variety of monarda (monarda didyma) which is not locally native, originating from the northeastern US. I’m ok with that because the hummingbirds love it (I’m assuming because it’s red), and the insects can enjoy the native version (which I have plenty of.) Everyone wins! I’ve noticed varies bird families in the yard with their fledglings, such as chipping sparrows, robins, bluebirds and woodpeckers.

A year makes such a difference. Last year we were in the middle of a big drought and the garden was in bad shape (even native plants were stressed by lack of rain.) This year we’ve had a surplus and all of the plants are doing great. Unfortunately because of last year’s drought and this year’s long winter, monarch butterflies are in serious decline. I’ve only seen one caterpillar and a few adults even though we have plenty of milkweed.

I’ve spent a bit of time in the back of the yard, which I’d let become a bit more “wild” than the areas closer to the house. Unfortunately that means there have been a lot of weeds but I’ve managed to get those somewhat under control. We had a huge amount of stinging nettle and various other undesirable things. I’ve pulled much of that and also have been transplanting more aggressive natives out back where there is more room for them (mostly cup plant and wild bergamot). It’s been very satisfying to see all of the wildflowers blooming and watch the wildlife activity, where there used to be buckthorn and other invasive plants.

There is still more to do, always buckthorn and weeds to pull, but I’m very happy with how the garden has taken off this year. When I first started tackling the yard 6 years ago, I had no idea how much work it would be and how much I would learn in the process!

We still have some yellow-rumped warblers hanging around, but the feeding frenzy has died down. Fox sparrows are long gone, while other migrating native sparrows have arrived, including white-throated, white-crowned, Harris’s and Lincoln’s.

Harris’s sparrows have a cool song that can easily be reproduced by whistling, so it was fun singing back and forth with this one. There might have been two of them, because I thought I heard the reply coming from different directions. It’s a little like a white-throated song, but clearer and with more notes.

These sparrows are just passing through, probably only here for a few days, and I’ve been scattering seed on the ground for them. The Harris’s sparrow breeds in the Canadian arctic and winters in the south central U.S, while Lincoln’s sparrow is more widespread, breeding in Canada and Alaska. White-throated sparrows nest in Minnesota but we are just south of that range. Their song reminds of me of camping in the Boundary Waters, where they are quite numerous and talkative.

Besides sparrows, there have been at least four Baltimore orioles enjoying the oranges I’ve been putting out for them, and a couple of rose-breasted grosbeaks visiting the feeders. I’ve got the hummingbird feeder up too. It seems that spring has finally arrived!

Now that most of the snow has melted, robins are everywhere. They may be the most noticeable thrush around, but they aren’t the only ones. Because of the long lasting winter, other migrants have stacked up in the area, waiting for the snow to clear out. We’ve had an abundance of hermit thrushes too, which are smaller than robins and have the typical spotted breast like many thrushes. Adult robins don’t have the spots, but juveniles do. And bluebirds are another type of thrush most people are familiar with (juveniles also have a spotted breast.) They are probably the three most common species of thrush we have in this area, another one is Swainson’s thrush which I’ve also seen in my yard before. These three species were all hunting in a front yard at the end of my street, which is a large grassy area, more open than my yard. There were several robins, two hermit thrushes and one bluebird.

I took the opportunity to get some photos in the nice morning light. Unfortunately someone in the neighborhood must have thought the sight of a car parked along the road with a big camera lens aimed out the driver side window was very suspicious, because eventually the cops showed up and wanted to check my ID!