Last Chance Audubon Society
Promoting understanding, respect, and enjoyment of birds and the natural world
through education, habitat protection and environment advocacy.

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Christmas Bird Count
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Bird of the Month
Bohemian Waxwing - The Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) is a member of the waxwing family of passerines. A sleek bird, 18–21 cm long with a pointed crest, it travels in large, nomadic groups with a strong, direct flight. It breeds in coniferous forests throughout the most northern parts of Europe, Asia and western North America. The Bohemian Waxwing is the only member of this family whose range circumnavigates all the continents just below the sub-Arctic latitudes.

Its name refers to the bright red bead-like tips of the secondary feathers on its wings, which look like drops of sealing wax, while 'Bohemian' refers to its (presumed) origin from Bohemia (at the time, a relatively unknown but "distant, eastern" place). It is larger and greyer than the Cedar Waxwing and has bright yellow tips on its tail feathers and a yellow or white stripe along the wing feathers. Under tail coverts are a deep rust color. Both beak and feet are dark and the brown eyes are set in a narrow black mask underlined with white.

Upcoming Programs
MARCH MEMBERSHIP MEETING: Last Chance Audubon Society will meet Thursday, March 18, 2010, at 6:30 pm at the Montana Historical Society at 225 N. Roberts. This is a one time PLACE and TIME change from the regular monthly meeting location.

The March program will be the third lecture of the LCAS Natural Lecture Series.
Dan Fagre, a research ecologist at the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in Glacier National Park will talk about the impact of climate change on the glaciers and animals of the park.

Recent News
Ponderosa and lodge pole pine in the greater Helena area have experienced extensive mortality from bark beetles. During a New Year's Day hike through recently dead ponderosa pine on Mount Helena, I observed a concentration of hairy and downy woodpecker feeding on these dead pine trees. Within a 100 foot diameter area were 6-7 or more hairy woodpeckers and 3-4 or more downy woodpeckers foraging on the limbs of the dead trees. The birds were feeding exclusively on the limbs of the trees during the 10 minute period of observation. A few more individual birds of both species were seen within a quarter mile as I moved on up the trail. It is also interesting to note that I have received reports of black-backed woodpeckers on Mount Helena and other beetle kill areas in the forests around Helena. It is interesting to speculate that birds are responding to beetle kill forests in a manner similar to fire killed areas. Dan Sullivan

MT Helena Woodpeckers - Continued: An afternoon ski on January 26 across MT Helena resulted in another encounter with a concentration of downy and hairy woodpeckers foraging on bark beetle killed Ponderosa pine. There were six or more of these woodpeckers within 100-200 feet of each other. In addition, there was a female pileated woodpecker foraging on the main truck of 12 inch DBH Ponderosa pine approximately 20 feet from the ground. The bird was flaking bark from the main truck of the tree. The tree has been dead about two years. Pileateds can be found south of Helena in areas of Douglas-fir but they are not common. There was a sighting of a pileated woodpecker on MT Helena during the CBC in December 2009. In fact, it was the first sighting of a pileated woodpecker on the Helena CBC in the 55 years the Helena CBC has been conducted. Pileated woodpecker sightings on MT Helena have been rare, so two sightings within the last month are unusual. I expect that observers who regularly visit these beetle killed areas can expect to encounter these groups of woodpeckers that are attracted to the food potential in these beetle killed pine tree areas. Dan Sullivan