THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407050220
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD WOODS LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
It is cemetery-quiet at the edge of the line of trees. Darkness is fast losing its grip as the sun rises. Although it is early, a thick heat hangs invisible in the air.
It is shortly after 5 a.m.
Light gently nudges the darkness offstage, and from deep in the trees, there is music. Warblers, mockingbirds and bobwhites are waking the world with song.
For humans - from bird lovers to suburbanites - the sound in the trees is a joy.
Nags Head Woods Director Jeffrey Smith DeBlieu and a small army of volunteers at Nags Head Woods are part of a five-year national project aimed at keeping the song alive - and the song birds in the trees.
The conservationists are particularly interested in preserving neo-tropical song birds that winter in Central America, South America and the Caribbean - and summer in North Carolina.
The effort, known as Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship, or MAPS, is a cooperative venture between government agencies, private organizations and individuals working to collect data on various birds. Volunteers in Nags Head Woods are recording information about vireos, wood thrushes, various species of warblers, the orchard oriole, the indigo bunting and other birds that frequent the rare, maritime forest.
``These are not your typical backyard variety song birds,'' Smith DeBlieu said last week. ``Some of the birds we'll catch are quite common around here. Birds like the downy woodpecker are common here. But birds like the Acadian flycatcher usually winter in the tropics and Latin America.
``We want to band these birds so that we'll be able to monitor their breeding and migration habits.''
Several volunteers, retirees as well as college students, are collecting data for the five-year project. Ten nets made up of fine, weblike material are used to catch the birds, which are then brought to a central location to be banded. The birds also are checked for gender, size, age, and to determine whether any breeding activity has taken place. After their release, they will be monitored over the length of the entire project.
``We have seven nets off the trail, and three nets on the trail,'' Smith DeBlieu said. ``The little birds like the Carolina wrens are hard to get out of the net, because they tend to be aggressive in trying to get out.''
The project will help identify birds that are thriving in Nags Head Woods, an Outer Banks preserve that is owned by the Nature Conservancy.
``This is an exciting project for us,'' Smith DeBlieu said. ``Right now, we don't know where these birds are breeding successfully. Hopefully, as this progresses, we'll find out that they are coming back here and breeding.''
Shortly after 7:45 a.m., the first bird, a tiny Carolina wren, is caught in one of the nets. ``Hey, honey,'' volunteer Jane Hannon says as she gently frees the bird from a small net bag. About 2,500 volunteers like Hannon are at work across the country.
While most people at this time of day are watching a morning newscast or drinking their morning coffee, Hannon has a different mission.
``You have to give something back,'' she says.
Songbird populations in some areas are dwindling. The work going on in Nags Head Woods - and similar projects at almost 300 locations throughout North America - could help keep a song in the trees.
``I think a lot of people think the cause of songbirds' population decline is deforestation and increased development of unspoiled lands,'' Smith DeBlieu said. ``Most birds need large, unspoiled tracts of land. If the forests remain undisturbed, we believe it will help the birds' ability to breed.''
The MAPS program began in 1989 with less than 20 stations. The program at Nags Head is in its first year.
``At this point we're in the early stages,'' Smith DeBlieu said. ``One of the biggest things is to gather more information about what's happening in the forests. If we gather information that certain species are breeding well here that aren't breeding well elsewhere, that's helpful.''
Besides gathering evidence about the effects of deforestation, Smith DeBlieu said there is something larger at stake.
``Apart from gaining more knowledge about forests, it helps us build a case for protecting forests such as this,'' he said. ``A bird isn't just a bird. And a forest isn't just a forest. By protecting the birds and the places they breed, we can continue to build a case for biological diversity. That's our mission here at Nags Head Woods: to continue to build that case.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
A wren awaits tagging and measuring while trapped in a mesh bag at
Nags Head Woods. Volunteers are catching and tagging song birds in a
nationwide effort to learn more about the birds' migration and
mating habits.
David Leake examines a male cardinal at the Nags Head Woods
preserve. Volunteers are out in the forest at dawn to capture and
tag the song birds. Once released, the birds then will be monitored
during the five-year project.
Graphic
BIRDS IN THE WOODS
Some of the species that the Nags Head Woods song bird project is
studying:
WOOD THRUSH
Color: Upper body plain cinnamon, brightest on the crown and
nape. Underparts white, extensively and evenly marked on the breast
and sides and flanks with large roundish black spots. The tail is
olive brown.
Length: 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches
Voice: Call is a sharp rapid pit, pit, pit sound. Song is a
three-syllable flute-like eee-o-lay.
SWAINSON'S WARBLER
Color: Upper body olive brown, with reddish-brown wings and
crown. Under parts yellowish white.
Length: 5 inches
Voice: Call is a clear, ringing chirp. Song is a clear, pleasing
and often ventriloquial emission consisting of two parts, the first
a series of repetitive phrases, the second a single phrase cheer,
cheer, cheer cheer/teetsowheer.
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Color: Head, breasts and sides are a brilliant yellow orange.
Back is olive. Tail is black and gray with some white areas.
Under-tail feathers are white. Rump and wings are blue-gray.
Length: 5 1/2 inches
Voice: Call is a clear, metallic tink. Song is a loud, emphatic
zweet zweet on one pitch repeated five to nine times or more. Males
occasionally give a sweet, canary-like flight song while hovering.
PARULA WARBLER
Color: Underparts blue-gray. Yellow patch on back. Band of black
and orange on male on upper chest. Female has dull color and lacks
band on chest.
Length: 4 1/2 inches.
Voice: Call resembles yellow warbler's chirp. Song is a wheezy
or buzzy high-pitched ascending trill ending abruptly with a loud,
exploding final note.
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
Color: Yellow breast. Underparts olive green. Belly and
under-tail feathers are white. Head has white spectacles and black
lores.
Length: 7 1/2 inches
Voice: Song is a series of assorted clear, alternating scolds,
whistles, mews, grunts, rattles, cackles and squeaks.
by CNB