Corkscrew
Swamp Sanctuary
Along the
Boardwalk
April, 2010 www.corkscrew.audubon.org
Annual dinner recognizes volunteers
The Corkscrew volunteer recogni-
tion dinner, held in the Blair Center on
March 25, honored volunteers for 2009
service hours and Sanctuary programs.
Volunteers reaching 500 service
hours were Jim Chatham, Tom
Cormier, Derek Day, Helen Day, Bruce
Froysland, Stu Hosler, John Orr, Bill
Pease, and Pat Woolley. Each had a
name plate added to the volunteer rec-
ognition board in the Blair Center.
Volunteers reaching 1,000 hours
were Bob Bauer, Nancy Brown, Marcia
Leider, Bill Maltby, Steve Nellis,
Murray Yost, and Bill Young. Each had
one star added to his or her name plate.
Phil Nye and Jack Wheeler became
just the third and fourth volunteers to
reach 5,000 service hours and each had
a third star added to his name plate.
Volunteers were also recognized
for helping with Sanctuary programs.
Youth education: Bob Bauer, Dick
Brewer, Jim Chatham, Derek and Helen
Traps set along C.L.A.S.S. boardwalk
Anyone who happens to venture
out on the CLASS boardwalk trail may
notice some purple contraptions hang-
ing from a few trees.
These are ash borer traps recently
deployed by Florida Department of Ag-
riculture. There is also one suspended
Ghost Orchid buds, blooms for spring show
While the Ghost Orchid’s heaviest
blooming month is usually July, it may
bloom any time from April to August.
This year, Rod Wiley photographed
a bud on March 10, right, and the bloom
appeared on March 26. The long green
things are seed pods.
Nesting prospects
dim for wading birds
Day, Ann Gallagher, Alex Orr, Mark
Schlacter, and Kay Woolley.
Adult programs: Bob Bauer, Edie
Blair, Maureen Bonness, Lois
Borgman, Nancy Brown, Derek and
Helen Day, Kelly Ducham, Marcia
Leider, Harriet Lickhalter, Bill Maltby,
Bob Mohl, Barry Novakoff, Phil Nye,
Rick Piper, Susan Schumann-Skehan,
Diane Shanley, and Pat Woolley.
Blair Center: Nancy Brown,
Bruce Froysland, Bill Gutmann, Harriet
Lickhalter, Bob Mellor, and Sydney
Oberle.
Boardwalk checks: Galen Boyer,
Derek and Helen Day, Joan Dunn,
Marcia Leider, and Barry Novakoff.
Nature Store: Susan Schumann-
Skehan, Kay Woolley, and Dee
Ambrozy.
Two other volunteers were honored
for their participation in and support of
multiple Corkscrew activities and pro-
grams: Joe Ambrozy and Dick Brewer.
funnel trap designed to capture red bay
ambrosia beetles.
It is not known if either of these
exotic/invasive insects is at Corkscrew,
but traps have been deployed for moni-
toring throughout the upcoming year.
Please do not disturb them.
Corkscrew is not alone in noticing
a lack of wading bird nesting activity.
Cold temperatures in January and Feb-
ruary and rising water levels have af-
fected wading bird nesting throughout
South Florida.
Environmental scientists for the
Everglades Division of the South
Florida Water Management District re-
port the smallest number of nests initi-
ated in recent history.
Aerial surveys in the fresh and
brackish water regions of the Ever-
glades on March 15 confirm that there
is little or no nesting going on.
An aerial survey at Corkscrew on
March 25 confirmed that there was no
nesting of any wading birds here.
Theories explaining the lack of
nesting activity focus on the frequent
cold conditions in January and Febru-
ary that caused wading birds to allo-
cate their energy towards maintenance
rather than towards reproduction.
Rising surface water from uncom-
monly heavy winter rains may also
have failed to trigger nest initiation in
egrets.
“The response by Great Egrets is
particularly impressive,” said Peter
Fredrick, one of the Everglades scien-
tists. “They typically begin nesting in
February almost no matter what condi-
tions prevail, and are usually fairly bul-
letproof through March.” He added that
the other really consistent group is the
Tri-colored Herons, who typically ini-
tiate in mid to late March.
Mark Cook, Senior Environmental
Scientist, noted that a fly over of the
northern Everglades region also re-
vealed that the approximately 400 stork
and egret nests that were noted in the
February survey had been abandoned,
and that there was no sign of White Ibis
nesting activity.
“Water levels were fairly high and
foraging activity was limited,” said
Cook, “suggesting that an increase in
nesting activity is unlikely in the im-
mediate future.”

Limpkins returned to the north lake, foraging for
the plentiful Apple Snails (March 19).
In Case a Visitor Asks
When birds sing and call, are they actually saying anything?
Song birds have two different types
of verbal communication: a “song” and
a “call.”
A song is well-developed and is
often partly or entirely learned. Songs
not only identify the species of the
singer but identify an individual within
a species. Most songs are performed by
males. Because the songs are learned,
each male’s song is unique.
T e r r i t o r i a l Where are you
songs of males have going with the
toy phone?
two functions: the
song warns other
males to stay out of
the defended terri-
tory, and it invites
females to come in.
In selecting a
mate, a female may use the size and
complexity of the song repertoire to as-
sess the male’s overall potential “fit-
ness” as a partner. In some species, the
increased complexity and size of the
repertoire also correlate with measures
of territory quality.
Males can discriminate between
songs of neighboring males with estab-
lished territories and songs of strang-
ers trying to establish a territory. The
song of an established neighbor may be
answered with a song or may be ig-
nored; the song of a stranger requires a
vigorous response, physically and vo-
cally, in order to defend the territory.
The ability to recognize neighbors
by vocalizations alone has not been
March Sightings
An Eastern Screech Owl appears at its cavity to
get some Vitamin D from the sun (March 19).
found in species that nest in dense colo-
nies. This is true even for species such
as the Laughing Gull which recognizes
its young or its mates by vocalizations.
Male Cardinals, and occasionally
females, sing vigorously to defend their
nesting territories against real and per-
ceived strangers. When a Cardinal sees
its reflection in a shiny surface, the song
increases in volume and often tempo.
Out in the What are
woods. You
can come
you going Try some
to do? bird calls
along if
you’d like
Reflections that do not leave in re-
sponse call are attacked.
Generally, calls serve specific func-
tions, they are innate rather than
learned, and they are shorter than songs.
One type of call is a contact call,
used among members of a flock or be-
tween mates to indicate the location of
the caller. Upon waking, paired Barred
Owls call each other to establish loca-
tion.
Another type of call is nestlings
calling for food from parents.
A third type of call is the alarm call,
which alerts all that danger is present.
Alarm calls are similar among groups
of birds so one species can recognize
the alarm call of another species.
A Yellow-throated Warbler takes wing after
gleaning insects from bark crevices (March 5).
For some species, the alarm call
goes out to neighboring birds to alert
them of a nearby predator and possibly
incite a defensive mob attack against
it. Birds can also shift the acoustic di-
rection of their alarm call toward the
foe as a warning to it that it has been
spotted, its element of surprise is gone,
and it might as well leave.
Chickadee alarm calls have been
extensively stud-
ied. Two very dif-
ferent alarm sig-
nals are given in re-
sponse to preda-
tors. For flying rap-
tors – birds of prey
such as hawks,
owls and falcons –
chickadees produce a soft, high-pitched
seet call. But when they see a station-
ary or perched predator, the birds use a
loud, wide spectrum chick-a-dee-dee-
dee alarm to recruit other chickadees,
as well as other bird species, to harass
or mob the predator.
Analysis of recorded chickadee
mobbing calls indicated that the acous-
tic features of the calls varied with the
size of the predator observed. Most
typically chickadees change the dee-
dee-dee note at the end of the calls,
sometimes adding five, 10 or 15 dees.
When the recordings were played back
to other chickadees, they responded
according to the size and threat pre-
sented by the potential predator.

Three subspecies of Common
Grackles exist, distin-
guished by the color of the
back, tail, belly, and to a
lesser extent, head.
Q.q.quiscula, known as the Florida
Grackle, is a year round resident from
southeastern Louisiana east to southeast-
ern North Carolina, and south through
Florida. It’s the one at Corkscrew. The
back is typically dark greenish-black, the
tail blue-green, the head purple, and the
belly purple-blue.
Q.q.versicolor, a.k.a. the Bronzed
Grackle, breeds westward from the Ap-
palachians and is highly migratory, win-
tering to south Texas and east to South
Carolina. It has a uniformly brassy
bronze back and belly and a purplish tail.
Q.q.stonei, a.k.a. the Purple
Grackle, is found between the ranges of
the other two and into southeastern New
York and Connecticut. Its back and belly
are purple and its tail usually blue-green.
The Florida Grackle is a year round
resident but there is seasonal migration
between wintering and breeding sites
where large numbers collect.
Flocks of migrants begin arriving at
most breeding locations between mid-
February and early March. Males arrive
on breeding grounds about one week
before females. Pair formation begins as
soon as females arrive and involve mu-
tual displays and flights between a single
female and multiple males.
Once amassed, grackles communi-
cate with body motions as well as with
sounds. Males, which are slightly larger
than females to begin with, stand tall and
are noticeably larger than the females.
They have three types of physical com-
munication that are observable.
• The Bill-Up Display is a threat dis-
play and consists of upward
movement of the head so that the
bill is almost vertical. It is given by
a male in response to the approach
of another male. Occasionally the
Bill-Up Display is given to mem-
bers of the opposite sex early in the
breeding season when individuals
are unmated. Paired birds never per-
Profile
Common Grackle
Quiscalus quiscula quiscula
form this
display to
one another.
• The Song-
Spread Display is
given with the song by males and
females by raising contour feathers
and spreading the tail. It is more in-
tense early in the breeding season,
and the male Song-Spread Display
is more intense when given in re-
sponse to another male.
• The V-Tail Display is most often
given by a male when approaching
or leaving another male and is also
performed after the Bill-Up Display.
This display consists of spreading
the tail feathers into a keeled V with
exaggerated flapping of the wings.
Vocal displays are equally distinctive
and fall into one of five categories.
• CHACK is a harsh, sharp call given
by both sexes, often when alarmed
or when arriving or leaving any
event. It is also used to maintain vo-
cal contact.
• CHAA-CHITIP is another harsh call,
but more prolonged It is often given
by the female when taking flight or
approaching another grackle.
• BRRT is a distinctive call with a na-
sal quality, given only by males.
• SEE is a prolonged, high-pitched
clear whistle that accompanies both
male and female precopulatory dis-
plays.
• READLE-EAK is the basic song but
is highly variable among individu-
als. It is often described as sound-
ing like a rusty gate. Each bird cre-
ates one individually distinctive
song type, perhaps to establish the
singer’s identity.
The male sings most around the date of
the first copulation; then, singing de-
creases steadily
through incubation.
As the pair
nests, the male remains close
to the female by perching nearby, fol-
lowing her, and participating in mutual
displays. In short, he guards her.
This attentiveness remains high
throughout nest building and egg lay-
ing, but it decreases during incubation.
In Florida, egg laying may begin as
early as the first week in March or may
be as late as July. From one to seven eggs
are laid and the female incubates for
about two weeks.
Eggs hatch in succession but feed-
ing begins when the first egg hatches.
Both sexes feed young by forcing food
into their mouths.
Young typically depart the nest
around two weeks after hatching but re-
main near the nest for several more days.
Adults continue to feed the young for
several weeks.
Grackles are very flexible in feed-
ing behavior. The diet is about 70-75%
plant seeds and fruits during non-breed-
ing. Insects and other animal foods be-
come dominant during the breeding sea-
son. Fish are locally important foods
when nesting occurs near bodies of wa-
ter, and grackles will wade into shallow
water to catch live fish. They will also
consume eggs and nestlings from other
passerine nests.
Adults respond to predators in nest-
ing areas by mobbing, chasing, or div-
ing at the predators, including humans.
Primary predators are squirrels and rac-
coons which eat eggs, rat snakes which
eat nestlings, and domestic cats which
eat the young. Remains of grackles have
also been found in the stomachs of
Northern Harriers, Cooper’s Hawks, and
Great Horned Owls.
FAST FACT: Common Grackle fossils
have been dated to the Pleistocene era
and been found from Florida to Ontario.