Signs of Spring Update: March 12, 2001 Today's Report Includes: Get Ready for the Red-winged Blackbird Migration! Put Your Red-winged Blackbird on the Map! Redwings in Cattail City: Challenge Question #10 Wait For the Date: Challenge Question #11 Eggs Should Be Seen But Not Heard: Challenge Question #12 Try This! Fun Field Studies Responses to Challenge Question #6, #7, #8, #9 Reminder: "The Man Who Walks With Bears" Airing March 24 Please Report "Signs of Spring" From Your Part of the World! Get Ready for the Red-winged Blackbird Migration! Photo Courtesy Peter S. Weber The migration is late this year, and we haven't seen the big push northward yet. According to records kept by Antioch Community High School in Antioch, Illinois: "This is the latest they have arrived in 8 years in the Lake County Area of Northern Illinois. It was nice to see them after our long winter here. They arrived Tuesday night, March 6th and the males were perched on their cattails early in the morning." Put Your Red-winged Blackbird on the Map! Listen to the Red-winged Blackbird's Song Wait for download; 130 K file. Courtesy of Lang Elliott Watch--and LISTEN--for your Red-winged Blackbirds to arrive. When the migration is complete, we'll post the 2001 spring migration map along with those from previous springs for comparison. Watch for these maps with our next Signs of Spring update on March 26th. Redwings in Cattail City Male Red-winged Blackbird Photo Courtesy Peter S. Weber Female Red-winged Blackbird Photo Courtesy Jim Stasz Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter Every spring as the ice in cattail marshes starts to decay (the term for soft, melting ice), Red-winged Blackbirds return to their posts, flashing red epaulets and calling "Okalee!" to defend their patches of territory. Males return first, often before any open water is available, but females bide their time farther south until the weather and food supplies are steadier. Male and female redwings look completely different. Many people have trouble believing they're really the same species! Why do you suppose males and females look and act so very different? Challenge Question #10: "Why are male redwings so much brighter and bigger than females, and why do they migrate at different times?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Wait For the Date Redwings start breeding earlier in southern marshes than in northern ones, except for a small population breeding all the way down in Central America. They won't start breeding until June in Costa Rica, even though they'll lay their eggs all the way up in Saskatchewan in mid-May! Challenge Question #11: Research the climate of Costa Rica. What is one reason why Red-winged Blackbirds wait so long to breed there?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Eggs Should Be Seen But Not Heard When little baby Wood Ducks are still inside their eggs, the babies talk to one another, making tiny peeping sounds. But redwing babies are absolutely silent inside their eggs. The only sound that you can hear with a stethoscope is a tiny scratching sound as the babies are pipping. (Pipping is the sound from inside the shells caused by the babies scraping the shell with their egg tooth to weaken a spot on one end of the egg.) You might be surprised to learn why pipping is especially important for redwing babies. You'll find clues--and more about redwings here: Welcome Back, Red-Winged Blackbirds! Read this page and come back to tell us your answer to: Challenge Question #12: "What are some possible reasons why Wood Ducks inside the egg make calls but Red-winged Blackbirds don't?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Try This! Fun Field Studies When male redwings first return, it takes a while before they work out the boundaries of their territories, and those boundaries will move. See how you can figure out a redwing's boundaries: Welcome Back, Red-Winged Blackbirds! Don't miss the page below for more about using decoy action figures and other field studies to try now, BEFORE redwings begin nesting. (Once redwings are feeding babies, it's best to leave them alone to care for their young.) Other Field Studies You Can Try Growing Fat on the Platte: Answer to Challenge Question #6 "What is the length of the Platte River in the stretch between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska?" Answer: About 60 miles. Secret Route: Response to Challenge Question #7 Photo Courtesy Operation Migration Last time we took you on "Bill and Joe's Excellent Adventure", teaching sandhill cranes a migration route using ultralight aircraft. We asked: "Why was such extreme care taken to keep the Operation Migration route a secret?" In the trip journal, pilot Joe Duff wrote: "The reason I cannot provide exact location details is because this flock of cranes was raised using a strict costume rearing protocol. As such, they have never seen nor heard a human. The crew has gone to great lengths to ensure that the birds do not have an opportunity to see people. This will greatly help them to remain as wild as possible yet still willing to follow the ultralight aircraft." High Wire Hazards: Discussion of Challenge Question #8 Our last update said that high wires were extremely dangerous to migrating cranes. We asked, "Why do you think cranes have difficulties seeing wires? How do you think little coils help solve the problem?" Cranes have trouble seeing wires because there is nothing like wires in nature. They have no idea how wide it's supposed to be, and since the ends of it are so far apart and far from them, they have no idea how far they are from it until they get dangerously close. Coils are three-dimensional, and give them a better concept of their distance from it, so they can more safely avoid smacking into the wire. Who's Who? Discussion of Challenge Question #9 Photo Courtesy Laura Erickson "Which crane do you think is the male and which is the female?" (You can't tell for sure, but the photo does give a couple of hints.) The bird on the left, nearest the corn, is probably the male. That one appears slightly larger, and also seems to be on the watch. (He looked away from the corn to peer at Laura, the photographer!) Male cranes are slightly larger than females, and more often take the responsibility to serve as lookouts. Reminder! Our January 31 Signs of Spring Report was about black bears. Are you curious to learn more about cubs and Dr. Rogers' work? Watch Animal Planet on cable TV at 8 PM Central Time on March 24, 2001 to see "The Man Who Walks With Bears." Journey North's report about black bear cubs includes a brief clip from the show: January 29, 2001 Signs of Spring Update Please Report "Signs of Spring" From Your Part of the World! Report your "Signs of Spring" sightings to Journey North. Remember to share your sightings of first frogs, earthworms, red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, emerging leaves, flowing sap, melting ice and other spring events. Your observations will be incorporated into "Signs of Spring" updates according to the schedule above. Thanks for sharing! How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions: IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message. 1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-spring@learner.org 2. IMPORTANT: In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #10 (or #11 or #12). 3. In the body of the message, answer ONE of the questions above. The Next Signs of Spring Will be Posted on Monday, March 26, 2001. Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. 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