With The Time That Is Given

Mexican Jay-a common Jay found around Southern Arizona

Where do I begin?  My treks around the US have been life changing.  Sometimes exhausting but always worth the effort. In my 40 some years of life, I never thought I would be living this incredible dream of exploration.   The birds take me to some of the most amazing places around this planet. 

With my dear friend Sydney at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

I have a rule when seeking out birds.  My goal in this life is to find as many of our planet's birds while I still can.  It sounds quite simple but I assure you, it can be complicated.  Before any trip, I research EVERYTHING!  Places, birds, reports......you name it. 

Orange-breasted Falcon

 Several birds that become my priority are the endemics and endangered species. One of the birds of Florida that is an endemic is the Florida Scrub-Jay.  I thought it to be numerous having heard several birders tell me it was a "trash" bird(a bird found EVERYWHERE).  Turns out the Florida Scrub-Jay is not only endemic but endangered!  Within our lifetimes, this bird could go extinct.  When I read reports like this, I am saddened.  It is very difficult for me to accept that we, as humans, are accelerating their extinction.  My friend Gordon said to me that this Jay should be my priority as its numbers continue to diminish.  When he told me this, I sat up the entire night reading.  It broke my heart.  How many birds will I see in my lifetime go extinct?  Today I have seen several birds, like the Orange-breasted Falcon and California Condor, that are critically endangered.  When one of these birds is observed in the wild, a tear forms in my eye.  

California Condor

  As I got more into birding, a wise old birder gave me some good advice that I cannot shake.  She puffed on her cigarette and in her no-nonsense-way told me to go after the birds that face extinction first.  It hit me hard.  Birding is a thrill for me.  While finding an endangered bird is exciting, it also is profoundly moving. After an outing with a find like that, I sit at a private table with a drink and just watch the world pass me by.  And I think about humanity as a whole. I wish I could change the world.  

Florida Scrub-Jay

So when I went to Florida, I knew that this bird was important for many reasons.  People continue to move to Florida.  The human population continues to increase.  Construction continues.  Roads are widened and created to get to those new subdivisions.  And more and more, the Florida Scrub-Jay is now locked into protected areas which is concerning because it limits the genetic diversity within their populations. Another major factor to the demise of this bird is caused by automobiles on the road. Because there are so many road mortalities, in populations of Florida Scrub-Jays near roads, the number of breeding adults that die each year is much greater than the number of offspring they produce each year. This creates what is known as a population "sink," where the population can't sustain itself without a constant influx of newcomers.

So on this day after weeks of study, I was granted one of the most wonderful gifts possible......a close encounter with the Florida Scrub-Jay.  And it was a very special moment that I won't forget anytime soon.  I hope that the state of Florida can reverse the declining population trend of these magnificent birds. 

I am linking to Wild Bird Wednesday. Here is my buddy Kathie's story about her own experience with the Florida Scrub-Jay.  Las Aventuras continues.....

The Condor Corridor

Pics courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Over a two week period, we did some truly intense road tripping.  While it was fun and educational, it was also exhausting.  Tomorrow we'll be visiting the Grand Canyon and taking a look at this natural wonder of the Earth. Today's post is really a continuation on nature from yesterday's write on endangered/extinct animals.  And there is hope for the California Condor.  During our trip to the Grand Canyon, we went to an outdoors lecture on this extremely large and ugly scavenger:) In 8th grade, I remember learning that this bird was extremely endangered at around 22 birds left in the wild and I remember feeling really depressed.  The first time I heard the word "extinction" was from a class in kindergarten during a kid discussion on dinosaurs, but I didn't think it still happened in the world....until 7th grade.  That's when I felt the sadness and eventual anger from its meaning.  I remember it all too well during a talk on pesticides affecting bird eggs and how humans caused ALL of it.  The California Condor was the central topic and I truly felt there wasn't any hope at all for these incredibly ugly birds.  I sat making projections on the birds with my child mind and I got depressed because it all looked hopeless.  Fast forward to the future 30 years later.....

Note the tags on the wings of the condor.  This helps identify with the population study.

And the news is positive and the conservation efforts are looking great.  There are two genetically diverse populations now in both California and Arizona.  Why is it called the California Condor and not the Arizona condor?  Simple.  The last condor in the wild, at the time, was caught in California thus carrying the state's name. The last of the 22 condors were captured and placed into different areas to begin their breeding efforts.  As previously mentioned, condors produce 1 egg every year, but a researcher discovered that if you take the egg from the nest, the condor will lay another egg.  If you take that 2nd egg, the condor will lay another.  And if you take that 3rd egg, it WON'T lay another:)  Understanding this pattern helped increase the condor population quicker.  Two eggs would be held in an incubator and raised by human hands while the 3rd egg would be left for the parents to nest upon.   Egg shells at the time were extremely soft and had to be treated with extreme care.  The Condor program also had to create Momma and Daddy condor puppets to feed the new hatchlings.  Today the wild California Condor population stands at 356.  Two genetically diverse populations exist both in California and Arizona where their populations continue to grow undisturbed.

There are still breeding programs at several zoos in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Portland.    Today the condors still face lead poisoning along the northern rim of the Grand Canyon where hunting is permitted.  They also are treated occassionaly for "detoxification" and released back into the wild.  You may ask like we did, "How are they still being poisoned in such a natural and pristine area?"  The hunters use lead in the bullets.  When a bullet is shot and hits the target, the lead ball breaks up and scatters throughout the carcass of the animal killed.  Condors, being scavengers, eat the leftovers and absorb the lead from the animal.  The solution?  Conservationists and researchers now mandate copper bullets along the rim.  Condors are interesting birds because they will follow the hunters knowing that there is food awaiting them:)  They live in the sky caves along this immense canyon.  And here's one more thing that I thought was interesing about the scavenger bird community.....and a Pocahontas moment....the web of nature if you will and how they all connect together.  The Grand Canyon is home to so much life.  When something dies, the Raven finds the carcass.  The Turkey Vulture follows the Raven.  And the California Condor follows the Turkey Vulture.

Our presenter was fun and interesting.  I love success stories and I hope the conservation efforts continue for this incredibly beautiful part of our state.  I forgot about Phoenix and our embarrassement of a governor and thought....yes, we do have something positive that can make an Arizonan proud! I left this presentation with a smile on my face knowing that our condor friends were in good hands. More tomorrow....