Bird News Of Western Massachusetts

A Bird Finding Guide to Western Massachusetts is the essential resourcefor locating birds from the marshes of western Worcester County to thepeaks of the Berkshires. Fifty-two local birders collaborated to producethis practical guide that features stunning original illustrations byAndrew Magee and bar charts showing seasonal abundance.The guide's 83 site accounts and 85 maps cover the "otherMassachusetts," the less-populated region bounded by New York,Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont. In addition to well-knownbirding locations such as the 56,000-acre Quabbin Reservoir area just 85miles from Boston and the boreal forest of 3,491-foot Mount Greylock inthe far northwest corner of the state, dozens of lesser known butequally productive and beautiful sites are covered.Whether you are a beginning birder or an expert, whether you choosecasual walks, strenuous hikes, birding from your car, or backwatercanoeing, this book takes you from city to hilltown as you sample theregion's diverse habitats and rich bird life. A list of conservationresources provides contacts for learning about and helping to preservethe natural heritage of Western Massachusetts.

In 1974, the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife launched a five-year survey to map the distribution of all the birds that breed in the Commonwealth - the first such comprehensive effort in North America. Nearly 600 volunteers spent countless hours in the field collecting data. This landmark volume presents the results of their efforts. The book includes distribution maps showing possible, probable, and confirmed breeding areas for 198 Massachusetts nesting species on a grid of 989 tensquare-mile blocks. Opposite each species map is a summary account giving historical perspective, relative abundance, habitat, seasonal schedule, nest, egg, and song descriptions, clutch size, egg dates, number of broods, and other pertinent details. Each species account is illustrated with a scrupulously accurate, watercolor portrait by award-winning nature artists John Sill and Barry Van Dusen. The book also includes a set of six transparent overlay maps in an attached pocket that allow the reader to correlate key environmental factors with the distribution of nesting species. Introductory sections describe the atlas survey methodology, and two appe

Birds are an integral part of most freshwater ecosystems (lakes, rivers, wetlands) but their role in the trophic dynamics of these water bodies has often been overlooked. As a conspicuous part of the biota of water bodies, aquatic birds are indicators of their trophic state both in terms of species composition (quality) as well as occupancy and breeding (quantity). Birds may also influence the trophic state of a water body by importing nutrients (.e.g. resident or migrating birds feeding on adjacent watersheds or the sea). Because of anthropogenic activities, predation or their mobility, birds may not utilize otherwise suitable aquatic habitat. These factors complicate the relationship between aquatic bird production and the trophic status of habitats. As a consequence, the role of aquatic birds in freshwater ecosystems has usually been ignored. This volume contains a wide range of papers selected from those presented at the symposium and reviewed.