State wildlife officials and the Mass Audubon bird conservation group are advising residents to bring in their bird feeders and birdbaths until more is known about a mysterious avian ailment.
It’s been a record-breaking year for Vineyard osprey, the majestic raptor that now nests on the Island in greater numbers than ever before.
Home to only two breeding pairs in 1970, the Island can now count 83 such pairs of osprey among its avian residents.
Gus Ben David and crew’s osprey poles are now the proud surfaces on which 83 osprey pairs are nesting.
Shearwaters are a part of a group of birds known as pelagic species. They spend all their lives, except during breeding, on the open ocean.
Scouting and tracking willets is considered important seasonal work among Vineyard biologists. The study of the migratory shorebirds may also provide important information about climate change.
Originally found in the northern climes of eastern Canada, the great cormorant’s distribution has changed.
Rob Bierregaard was introduced to the Vineyard’s osprey population by Gus Ben David and has been studying the Vineyard’s ospreys since the 1960s.
