Auburn Birdbanding Research Station

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Thank you Steve Vincent for the Photos of the Week!  Click Here

 Read Mr. Blazis' daily updates   CLICK HERE

5/15/08 (Today's update)

To all my team-mates:
 
The exit of the dreadful storm/bad winds was like a cork popping out of a bottle.  The last two days have had good numbers of migrants, despite winds not being optimum.  Wednesday was good, especially considering the ten inner-city kids who were mesmerized by birds in their hand to release.  For most of them, this was the first time in their lives they made contact with a wild creature.  Russ Anderson, their environmentally inspired teacher, is opening up a new world for them, taking advantage of this resource.
 
Today, Thursday, was cool and cloudy, with showers prematurely ending the day's banding in late morning.  But we had constant activity throughout the banding period.  Keith MacAdams, Gary Hetel, Mary Sharkey, Ken Dion, Lois Kolofsky, and Joan Sharkey worked the station, capturing good numbers of red-eyed vireos, yellow-throats, warbling vireos,  and orioles, among other species. 
 
The capture of several red-eyed vireos was of interest and brings up the important concern with our carefully examining and learning eye color and how it affects our ability to age particular species.  Red-eyed vireos are found wintering all the way down the northern two-thirds of South America east of the Andes.  The birds we captured today likely flew an incredible three or four thousand miles for the privilege of breeding  in our forests, and eating our abundant, high-protein/high-fat caterpillars (perfect for feeding their young). It's thought that there is a resident, non-migratory population of red-eyed vireos down there in South America, virtually indistinguishable in the field from our breeding bird, that is a totally different species from our North American breeding birds.  Red-eyed's have a huge breeding range in North America.  They may be the most abundant bird of the eastern deciduous forest.  You can't miss them once you learn their incessant, monotonously repetitive song:  "Here I am...Where are you?...Here I am... Where are you.?"  often repeated over a thousand times per day.  This is one beautiful bird that we don't have much to worry about, in terms of danger to it by virtue of habitat destruction because it is so widespread.  They like canopy, though, where we hear it all day long, singing in May; so it always surprises me when we capture them in our low, 8 ft. high nets.  The adult birds are well-named, and it was advantageous for all of our banders to see the rich, ruby-red eye, which will serve as a standard of comparison for the hatching-year birds, born later this year, that can be tough to age in August and September.  (Those young birds will have a much-less-rich-red eye, and it sure helps if you've seen/absorbed this standard of intensity of color.)  Like many species we capture (like gray catbirds and several species of sparrows, for example), eye color gets richer and deeper as the bird ages.  The rich dark eyes of the adult catbirds captured now will similarly be much different from the murky/muddy eyes of the juveniles later observed this summer and early fall.  We need to carefully look at the eyes of a lot of species for accurate aging, especially during fall migration.  Many species of sparrows will present this same challenge, and even first-time visitors to the research station who have perfect color vision can be of assistance in aging tricky birds.
 
Once again, we found the importance of analyzing the primary wing coverts, which in these adults were truncated (flattish-tipped, rather than arrow-pointy),   with  obvious, light edging.  You've got to learn bird anatomy and know what feathers to specifically look at to get all the information we need.
 
Speaking of which, Eastern Kingbirds, which we observed by the thousands in Ecuador this past April during our research there, as they were massing in Amazonia to migrate north from their wintering grounds in Argentina, are singing all around the Auburn Sportsman's Club trout pond.  Bird watchers never see one interesting feature on them:  the sexually dimorphic difference in their primary feathers.  The male has indentations in those flight feathers that are very different from the wing feathers of the female, and we can only speculate that they help produce a signal to other Kingbirds, perhaps subtly auditory, like the wing-sounds from a woodcock (but far less obvious), helpful either in mate acquisition or territorial display.
 
We caught many yellow throats the last two days and we analyzed them carefully.  The moment was a great time to make an important distinction.  We're anticipating the eventual capture of a species we've not yet banded at the station, but should be ready for:  the orange-crowned warbler (most often seen along the coast during autumn migration, but coming down from Canada and definitely passing through our region).  We could get one this spring (more likely in September/October), and it would be a shame if we missed it because we confused it with a juvenile common yellowthroat.  1.  It will have DARK legs (as opposed to light legs that yellow throats have), as Gary Hetel points out.  2.  It will have SUBTLE, BLURRY STREAKING down its breast; 3.  a subtle eye-line. 4.  It will NOT have a faint, yellow throat.   Forget about seeing the orange crown, or even needing to see it for the identification.  
 
We're already over 400 captures, thanks to the dedication of our core research team.  With any luck with the weather, we should surpass the thousand mark when we around the tenth of June.  (At that point, all of our migrants will have passed through and be on their breeding grounds.)
 
Try not to miss the next ten days of migrations and all the lessons they afford.
 
Mark Blazis

From Keith 5/14/08

Greetings All,
 
    Great day today. 28 new bird & 17 recaptures. American Red Start, Magnolia Warbler, Common Yellow Throat Warbler both sexes, American Gold Finch, Northern Waterthrush, Black Capped Chickadee, Warbling Vireo, Swamp Sparrow, Red Wing Blackbird both sexes, Gray Catbird, Baltimore Oriole both sexes, Northern Cardinal, White Throated Sparrow, Eastern Tufted Tit-mouse, Song Sparrow, Blue Jay, and American Robin.
    We also had the pleasure of sharing our morning with another group of sophomores from Worcester Vocational Technical High School & some of the home schooled children from Elm Street.
    Those persistent beaver have been back and built there dam back up again. I wonder how long they will keep at it.
    After banding as no one was using the rifle range, I installed the 30 foot net on lane 19.
    My bad! I am informed that the All Method Fishing Derby this weekend is Sunday, not Saturday, as previously reported. The kitchen will be open for good food at reasonable prices. 
 
See You in the Morning at "The Club"?
 
    Keith

Only 51 weeks until David Sheridan's Birthday!

Auburn Bird Banding

Research Station

for

 Migratory and Medical Studies

Mark and Helen Blazis admire a rare Lawrence's Warbler

Under the tutelage of dedicated teachers,  Mark and Helen Blazis, the students of Auburn, Massachusetts have been given a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with many species of migrating song birds.  Mr. Blazis,  a recently retired Science Teacher at the Auburn Middle School, is a former National Science Teacher of the Year.  Students from the Auburn schools assist Mr. and Mrs. Blazis, and several other volunteers, who have included Dr. Richard Weagle, Keith, Kim, and Garrett MacAdams, Dr. Larry, Marcy and Sarah Reich, Bill and Jorden Straub, Gary and Jill Hetel, Jim, Pauline, Brian and David Sheridan, the late Tom Donaldson, Stephanie Donaldson, Lois Kolofsky, Stephen and Audrey Vincent, John Paul Livingstone, Mattie VandenBoom, and the Sharkey sisters, Joan and Mary in banding over 2,000 birds a year.  The children are taught to respect, identify, and process birds.  The processing of these birds include weighing, measuring the wing chord, and placing a sequentially numbered metal band around the captive bird's leg.  The bands are supplied by the United States Geological Survey to Master Banders across North America.  Mr. Blazis, one of only approximately 500 Master Banders in the United States, Outdoorsman and Naturalist, frequently refers to the captive neo-tropical birds as "jungle jewels."  Truly this is no exaggeration.  The many different species of birds including warblers, wrens, towhees, flycatchers, sparrows, and kinglets, shine in the morning sun, much to the delight of all the volunteers.  Occasionally a rare find, such as the Lawrence's Warbler, sends everyone scrambling for their cameras.  The banding station consists of picnic tables set up on the porch of the Sportsman's Club and mist nets set up on the grounds of the Auburn Sportsman's Club.  The Club graciously and generously allows these volunteers to use their facilities and grounds in support of the team's research.  This banding station is unique in this country, being on the Sportsman's Club land, it is a free, open-classroom for the students of the entire community, as well as for environmentalists.  This is what sets the Auburn Bird Banding Program apart from every other program:  sportsmen and environmentalists, working together for the benefit of kids, schools, town, wildlife, and ultimately the preservation of open space.

 

Auburn Birdbanders - Banding Together.

Photos of the Week

 

Click to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page.

Photos by Steve Vincent

Submit responses to auburnbirdbander@aol.com

  If you have any drawings or photos you would like to be considered for the Photo of the Week, please give them to Myrt or e-mail them to her at cmorin@allegromicro.com.

Photo of the Week Archive

Our Photos

Mary Sharkey's Website,   Click Here

Tom Donaldson Memorial Page Under Construction (including photo's by Tom and and Steph) Click Here.

Gary Hetel's Photos, including the handsome guy himself, Click Here.

Mattie VandenBoom and Jorden Straub's photo's, Click Here.

Joe's (Carlos) photos, Click Here.

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Steve Vincent has some very cool photos.  Click HERE to view these photos.

John Paul Livingstone's Photos, Click HERE.

Raptor Informational Session, Click HERE.

 

Weird Bird Fact

The Pine Warbler is one of the first warblers to return to the North in spring, arriving as early as February in areas just north of the wintering range. It is one of the earliest breeding warblers too, starting in late April or May in the northern part of the range.

Weird Bird Fact Archive

 

About us

Banding Team Members

Auburn Bird Banding Brochure

Our Records

2006 Captures

Archives

2005 Captures

2004 Captures

2002 Captures

2003 Captures

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Our Research

Exciting info concerning our tick research from Mr. Blazis: 

We're back to heavy-duty research, now that we have re-established ties with scientists who have the capability of sophisticated analysis of Lyme disease-causing bacteria, which we can provide through our captures.  For newcomers, I first thought there might be a connection between migrating birds and the rapid spread of Lyme disease way back in the early '90's when I was banding alone.  I began by sending my specimens to Dr. Peter Rand at the Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, which back then was one of the only tick-bird research centers in the world.  Their focus was on disease-causing agents affecting people in Maine, so, although they worked with me, I knew it would be best to involve scientists in Massachusetts to work with me on the project.  I contacted Dr. Richard Pollack and his research team at Harvard University's School of Public Health, and we began a collaboration that lasted for several years, with me providing tick specimens both from birds and from native wild mice.  Harvard School of Public Health has a world-wide focus, and my specimens sometimes were not as important as an outbreak of Ebola in Africa, for example.  I chose to contact the most local scientists, for whom the relevance of my research would be even more important.  Consequently, for several years, now with Auburn assistants, I provided specimens to Dr. Steven Rich of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.  The collaboration was a natural, until Dr. Rich left for other research opportunities.  We continued, during this hiatus, analyzing which species of birds carry the ticks, and in what proportions.  With  new partners fully capable of sophisticated genetic analysis of the pathogenic bacteria, Dr. Maria Duik-Wasser and Dr. Anne Gatewood, Yale University,  we are once again resuming our original and primary focus. 

Lyme Disease Studies

BIRDBANDING MEDICAL RESEARCH RESUMES IN AUBURN (written September 7, 2007)

                  by     Mark M. Blazis, Research Director 

This weekend and each weekend before the hunting season starts and mid-October, the Auburn Sportsman's Club, on Elm St. in Auburn, is the focus of an intense, pioneering birdbanding study of potentially national significance, capturing neotropical migrants as they fly back to their jungle, winter homes in the tropics of the Caribbean, Central, and South America.  The Auburn Birdbanding Research Station collaborates with Dr. M.A. Diuk Wasser from the Yale School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.  Together, we are concerned both with bird populations and the spread of Lyme disease.  Our focus is the spread of ticks, especially different strains of one particular species, Ixodes scapularis, that will attach to and parasitize brush, shrub, and grass-inhabiting birds.  Very little is known about the genetic make-up of the different strains of bacteria (Borrelia bergdorferi) in these ticks.  Our research team carefully extracts the immature ticks, usually from the birds' skin around their eyes and the corners of their mouths, preserving them in alcohol to later be microscopically and genetically studied at the Yale Medical School labs.  Not all species of ticks are dangerous.  The species which is dangerous in our region has a very distinct, cork-screw, sperm-like tail.  Certain strains of this particular bacteria may prove more frequent in birds than those in mice, for example.  Some strains may prove to be more dangerous/pathogenic to humans, and if so, this study could prove very relevant to public health up and down the East Coast.  Students and members of the community are welcome to visit the research station beginning at 7:30 each weekend morning, when opportunities to observe, photograph, hold, and release processed birds is possible, under the supervision of federally-permitted staff.  Staff has taken promising students and adults, teaching them research protocols and involving them in the actual research project.  The opportunity is a valuable one for anyone in the community looking to become involved in serious scientific/medical research and the study of migratory birds.    

 

Captured Birds with Ticks:  Listings and Percentages

What is Lyme Disease?

West Nile Virus Research:  In conjunction with the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine

Saw-whet Owl Project

Favorite Birding Links

Audubon   

Audubon:  Birding Basics 

Backyard Bird Count: www.birdsource.org

Bird Banding Lab at Patuxent

Bird Banding Chatter on the Net

Birding on the Net

Central Mass Recent Sightings

Cornell Lab of Ornithology   

eNature  (Natural Wildlife Federation)

Forbush Bird Club

Holiday Beach 

The Institute of Bird Populations  This is Pyle's site.

The Massachusetts Birding List

Massachusetts Bird Observer

MassWildlife (Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife)

Macaulay Library

NABCI’s All-Bird Bulletin  

Powdermill Banding Station

SORA (Searchable Ornithological Research Archive)

Voice of Audubon

Articles and Publications

Hello All,

Ever wonder how a deer tick can stay embedded in a host for a week while at the same time evading the immune system?  Well, some research folks did some thinking about this quandary – and they made a very interesting discovery.  The bad, nasty, disease bearing deer tick may actually have a useful, good side to it after all.  There is a protein in its saliva (yuck) that helps it evade the immune system.  Turns out that this protein also may prevent the HIV-1 virus from binding to certain immune cells, called T-cells.  This discovery may provide the basis for a new and effective prevention and treatment for HIV-AIDS.  Read on if you are interested in learning more about this discovery. 

Steve

Protein In Deer Tick Saliva Prevents HIV-1 From Attaching To T Cells

ScienceDaily (Feb. 19, 2008) — The HIV-1 virus cripples the human immune system by targeting white blood cells called T cells that form the body’s first line of defense in fighting infections. A recent study by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that a protein found in the saliva of deer ticks prevents the HIV-1 virus from attaching to the surface of T cells, which is the critical first step in the virus’ attack strategy. 

Since the protein suppresses the action of T cells, it may also prove to be an effective treatment for autoimmune diseases like asthma and multiple sclerosis caused by an overactive immune system that mounts an attack against the body’s own cells and tissues, and it could be useful to suppress the immune system to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs.

When the HIV-1 virus enters a human host, it attaches to the surface of T cells before fusing with the cell membrane and injecting its DNA into the nucleus. “This allows the virus to use the machinery of the T cell to copy itself and multiply,” says Juan Anguita of the UMass Amherst department of veterinary and animal sciences. “Deer ticks, which are carriers of Lyme disease, produce a protein that can interfere with the initial attachment of the HIV-1 virus, which could lead to new treatments that stop the infection process before it begins.” Additional members of the research team include Ignacio Juncandella, Tonya Bates and Elias Olivera of veterinary and animal sciences.

Deer tick saliva contains the protein Salp15, which stops T cells from activating by binding to a specific site on their surface called the CD4 receptor. Since T cells initiate the body’s immune response to invading viruses and bacteria, this strategy allows the tick to evade a host’s immune system as it feeds for up to seven days. As it turns out, the CD4 receptor is also the site used by the HIV-1 virus to attach to T cells.

“Salp15 binds to proteins in the CD4 receptor that are furthest from the cell membrane in both mouse and human cells,” says Anguita. “This region overlaps with the binding region used by a protein on the envelope of the HIV-1 virus called gp120, making Salp15 one of several potential molecules being studied as entry-targeting inhibitors.”

Laboratory studies showed that the presence of Salp15 could inhibit the attachment of HIV-1 by almost 70 percent at the highest concentration tested. This effect may result from changes in the shape of the CD4 receptor caused by the binding of Salp15. Additional studies showed that Salp15 was also able to bind gp120, making it unable to attach to the CD4 receptor.

Since gp120 can only attach to one site on the CD4 receptor, and its shape has to fit exactly into the receptor’s proteins, this interaction is as specific as opening a lock with a key. Salp15 changes the shape of the key and the lock, preventing the system from working.

Anguita and Juncandella were also part of a study performed in cooperation with the Vermont Lung Center and the University of Vermont showing that Salp15 inhibited the development of asthma in mice. The researchers induced asthma in a group of mice that also received Salp15 and compared them to a control group. Mice that received Salp15 had airways that were less reactive, and showed lower levels of several biochemical markers that indicate a T cell response. Results were published in June 2007 in The Journal of Immunology.

“The activation of T Cells is necessary for the development of allergic airway disease in mice, which shares many features of human allergic asthma,” says Anguita. “Effectively controlling the activities of these cells could be a panacea for asthma therapy.”

Anguita believes that Salp15 may lead to treatments for HIV-1, transplant rejection and autoimmune diseases with fewer side effects than traditional medications like steroids and protease inhibitors, partly because its action is so specific. “HIV-1 and transplant patients are on powerful medications for life, and most of these have secondary effects like nerve damage and liver problems, says Angiuta. “This makes the development of new treatments an important area of research.”

Results were published in the February 2008 issue of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst

 

Article on Alaska, on the lookout for Avian Flu, submitted by Dr. Reich

Worcester Sunday Telegram and Gazette:  A Merry Band

Audubon:  State of Birds USA 2004

Extinction may claim Hawaiian bird

Reuters:   Lights-Out Policies in Cities Save Migrating Birds

CNN:  Why Do We Band? 

Reuters:  As Ice Thaws, Arctic Peoples at Loss for Words 

Worcester Telegram and Gazette Article on the Sturbridge Christmas Bird Count. 

Worcester Telegram and Gazette Arcticle:  Vets Find Lyme Risk is Great in Dogs

Telegram & Gazette, Jill, Sarah, and Dan, Sub-Permitees!

Sunday, June 18th, 2006 Article starring Mark and Helen!   Click here to read

June 2005 issue of All Bird Alert

New York Times:  The Amazon at Risk

New York Times:  Ivory Billed Woodpecker Found in eastern Arkansas!

From the National Biological Information Infrastructure’s Spring 2005 newsletter:   It’s Easier Than Ever to Follow the Birds

Check out this link to NPR that Dr. Reich submitted.  There are several articles on the Galapagos Islands being under threat.

Click here: NPR : Galapagos, Under Threat

Dr. Reich sent in some really great articles.  Click HERE to read about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and hear a recording and click HERE to read about Global Warming and the path to extinction.

Check out the newest edition of the Audubon Newswire:  CLICK HERE

Study: Hummingbirds refuel in mid-flight   Click here

New Bird Discovered  Click Herehttp://www.abcbirds.org/climatechange/birdwatchersguide.pdf

 

Quizzes, Games, & Random Info

Mattie's Quiz (If you don't find this challenging enough, try identifying the hand holding the bird!)

Check out this quiz that Mattie found:  http://www.a2z4birders.com/4/matcher/index.html 

We've all heard "gaggle of geese" or "murder of crows"  but have you ever heard of a "charm of goldfinches?"  Common Bird Group Names

How far can you hit a penguin?   (click on Bob for the penguin to drop and click on Bob again to swing the club)  New Record on Penguin Hitting:  Jim Judicki from Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. broke the old record by .5!  The new record is 323.5

How far can you hit a penguin on steroids?  (a new twist to the old game)

Are you a good matchmaker?  Try this game:  Noah's Ark

The answer to the 30 year old question "What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?" is:  Flight speeds of birds are difficult to measure and verify, Estimates for maximum speed of swallows is probably 40 to 50 mph. (Terres. Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds)

 

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