MoMs Project - July 1, 2007

On a lazy, hot Saturday afternoon, Tony and I met with Peter Pyle of the Institute of Bird Populations and Gabe David, biologist, to hear the outline of Pyle's proposal affectionately titled, 'MoMs'. No, this has nothing to do with my mom or anyone else's for that matter, but roughly translates into the Molt Migration Stopover Ecology Project. The thumbnail sketch of the project is several western North American species of birds leave their breeding grounds and migrate to the 'Mexican monsoon' region of the southwestern deserts to molt before embarking on their winter migration. Molting demands a tremendous amount of energy of the bird and virtually nothing is known of what happens to these birds during this critical time. Peter Pyle and David DeSante, principal investigators of the MoMs project, reason by identifying sites within this specific region of the country and conducting extensive bird surveys will lead to a better understanding of the ecology needs of these birds during molt-migration and development of improved management and conservation strategies.

To date, species known to undergo 'molt migration' include: Bullock's Oriole, Lazuli Bunting, western populations of Warbling Vireo, and Western Tanager (Rohwer et al. 2004), while other species suspected of undergoing molt migration based on museum specimens, migration timing, and/or field work in Arizona include Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Gray Flycatcher, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Bell’s Vireo, Gray Vireo, Plumbeous Vireo, Cassin's Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Black-chinned Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Grasshopper Sparrow, Dickcissel, Black-headed Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, Hooded Oriole, and Lesser Goldfinch.

After hearing the gist of the project and refreshing our guests with cappuccino ice and green tea, we set out to show prospective field sites to Peter. He was pleased with a few and he'll pick out the spot in a few days as Gabe (primary biologist for MoMs) and crew will return in 2 weeks to set up mist nets to band the birds. We look forward to helping Peter and Gabe in every way possible to ensure the success of this project. Stay tuned for more project updates!

Cappuccino Ice

3 cups prepared strong coffee made at least partially with dark-roast espresso coffee
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup granulated sugar

1. Combine ingredients in a sauce pan and set over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is about to boil and all the sugar is dissolved.
2. Cool to room temperature, pour into a shallow pan (an 8 inch square or round cake pan is ideal), and freeze.
3. The mixture will take 3 to 6 hours to freeze and because of its relatively low sugar content will be very solid. To serve, set in refrigerator for 30 minutes to temper the texture slightly.
1 quart, at least 6 portions