Learn About Bird Songs and Sounds

Now that it is a more quiet season for bird songs and sounds, it is a great time to do some fun research to make yourself ready for when our feathered friends are more vocal!

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a great set of resources to help you not only identify songs and sounds, but to understand why sounds are made.  Birds communicate for many reasons, including to impress and attract a mate, declare territorial boundaries, identify family members, announce the presence of a predator and convey information about food. 

TRCs Online Auction: Delta Vacations

Though it's not our typical cold December in Minnesota, it's still fun to dream about a vacation.  In our online auction you can bid on an $800 Delta Vacations gift card!  You can choose from a world of vacation destinations, including beach vacations to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean; city stays across the U.S. and adventures to the cultural cities of Europe, the Middle East and more.  Gift card may be redeemed toward the purchase of any Delta Vacation flight and hotel package; flight, hotel, and car package; or hotel-only purchase.

Dr. Ponder's Pinzón Journal Entry #12

A juvenile female who visited the camp.

Recently we had a big cleaning day. Gail Buhl arrived to assist here (and take over when I have to leave), so this was her first big introduction - to the birds themselves and to the workload of caring for 60 of them. There is a lot of scrubbing to keep enclosures clean and the hawks are amazingly tolerant of our working within their rooms. The juveniles are especially curious and tend to hop right over to watch. One danger of cleaning in their target zone is becoming a target (of being pooped on), which happened to me as I was leaning over and scrubbing. While both Gail and I had a good laugh at that, the next hit was even better. A young bird that was sitting on a perch watching Gail scrub a wall, carefully turned around before letting go, then looked over its shoulder as if checking to be sure he hit the target. He did.





The reward for cleaning here is the ability to jump into the ocean immediately afterwards. A combination cleansing bath and great snorkeling opportunity. Today's snorkeling partners included sea turtles, sea lions, white tipped tintoreras (sharks), a penguin and many, many fish. The nutrient rich ocean currents that surround the Galapagos archipelago are responsible for much of the uniqueness of these islands. These currents, however, are cold water currents - after snorkeling for awhile, it is necessary to learn from the marine iguanas and haul oneself onto the dark lava rock to soak up some warmth.

I am excited to finally be able to share some images with you!  Gail took these with her phone and we found a way to send them. 



Sea lion pup

It is sea lion pupping season on Pinzon and we have been privileged to see a succession of new pups on the rocks every few days. Amazing to watch how well these little guys get around on the rocks from day one. Personally, if I were a sea lion, I would rather belong to a family unit that chooses the sand beaches of Rabida for home base!

Lava lizard

A view of our landscape

I'm checking fecals collected from floors
of hawk holding areas, not our shoulders!

Blood work records.  To monitor health of the
hawks, samples are periodically taken.

TRC's Online Auction is Live!

TRC's online auction is now live!  We have some wonderful packages for you to bid on this year.  There are great opportunities for you to finally get together with those friends you keep meaning to, or a fun activity for your family to do.  How about a date night to rediscover fun things about your sweetie?

Click here to see all of the experiences and items we have this year.  The bidding will go through December 12, and we can mail certificates/gift cards to make sure they reach you before the holiday.

Making homes and buildings safer for birds

A Mourning Dove left this dramatic feather
imprint after a window collision.

We would like to share some great resources with you related to making buildings and even your own home safer for birds.  Audubon Minnesota has some great information in their Project BirdSafe section, which is a joint effort to reduce the number of birds killed or injured when they collide with structures such as buildings.  Here are some links that talk about why collisions happen and what you can do.

The Lights Out project talks about how most birds migrate at night and can be drawn off course by tall, lighted structures in their flight path. Many birds are killed or injured in collisions with buildings or drop from exhaustion after circling them, reluctant to fly out of the light. Lights Out programs can dramatically reduce these collisions. 

The Minnesota Lights Out program has been ongoing since 2007. It is supported by both Building Owners and Manager’s Associations (Minneapolis and St. Paul) and by the individual building staff that makes it happen every spring and fall.

Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Paper Session Saturday December 1

Tomorrow, Saturday, December 1, the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union will hold their annual Paper Session.  It is at the Bell Museum of Natural History, east bank, University of Minnesota.  This session will present research done in the past year related to birds.  Here is a listing of the topics for this year.  TRC's Dr. Redig will present on "Bald Eagles and Lead Poisoning-Research and Progress."

Dr. Redig and TRC featured in Profiles Magazine

TRC's co-founder and Director Emeritus Dr. Patrick Redig is featured in Profiles magazine as a One Health pioneer who contributed to the foundation for the College of Veterinary Medicine’s strong veterinary public health, comparative medicine, and ecosystem health programs.


These programs are recognized nationally and internationally today. The concept of One Health has become one of utmost importance as emerging diseases threaten the food supply, wildlife populations, and the health of humans and domestic animals.

The issue of Profiles is available here.