Rural Missouri - January 2014 - 16

For the birds
O U T D O O R S

Dana Ripper, right, introduces Ginny Frey of Washington, Mo., to one of the birds that frequents her feeders.

Wild birds beneﬁt from the work of the Missouri River Bird Observatory
the feeders and note which birds return.
"This gives us actual data on the habits of
backyard birds," says Ethan, the observa*
n a quiet city street in Washtory's assistant director. "Also, it's a great
Marshall
ington, Mo., four people work to
way to connect people with birds."
Backyard banding is just one of many
stretch gossamer nets around a
projects Ethan and Dana undertake
backyard bird feeder. Their work
with help from their paid assistants
done, they retreat to a porch and wait for
such as Alie and Nic and volunteers.
the nets to do their jobs.
On any given day, you can ﬁnd them
They wait. And wait. And wait some more.
deep in a marsh on the trail of the elusive black
The culprit is a Cooper's hawk, a known neighrail, stalking saw-whet owls late into the night, traborhood bully who likes to sit on the feeder and
versing prairies listening for the boom of a prairie
occasionally turn an unwary songbird into a puff
chicken or monitoring the ﬂight of migrants using
of feathers. Warning calls go out from robins, nutthe Mississippi Flyway.
hatches and chickadees, and the birds stay away.
Five years ago, the couple grew weary of their
Patience, it seems, is one of the chief requireconstant travels to parments for those working
ticipate in research projects
for the Missouri River Bird
around the country. The
Observatory. This day turns
two moved to Marshall hopout to be a bust, with just
ing to take a break.
one tufted titmouse caught
"Ethan and I did what
in the nets.
is very common in our
Dana Ripper, Ethan Duke,
ﬁeld, which is to travel
Alie Mayes and Nic Salick
around a lot and work on
take the lack of birds in
other research projects for
stride. It's all in a day's work
universities and non-govfor these avian researchers.
ernmental organizations,"
On this December day,
says Dana, the observatory's
they are at the home of
director. "For instance,
Russ and Ginny Frey, one of
Ethan spent three seasons
about 80 places where more
with the University of Tenthan 1,500 birds have been
nessee studying a bird called the cerulean warbler. I
banded in the observatory's Backyard Banding prospent three years in Colorado with the Rocky Moungram. The idea is to capture birds that frequent the
tain Bird Observatory."
couple's feeders and afﬁx them with brightly colored
Settled in Marshall, some friends asked the
plastic bands.
researchers to help with an ornithology class at
The Freys and others in the project then monitor

Above: Ethan Duke, assistant director of the Missouri
River Bird Observatory, keeps watch for birds during
one of the group's Backyard Banding projects. His
extensive knowledge of bird songs is especially useful in
identifying birds. Right: Tiny plastic bands in a variety
of colors are afﬁxed to the legs of birds to help homeowners track individual birds visiting their feeders. This
information is shared with other researchers worldwide.

by Jim McCarty
jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop

WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

http://WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Rural Missouri - January 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - January 2014