Many know or remember Brenda Wright and Coen Dexter, former Nucla residents, who for years maintained an impressive food-producing garden off 5th Avenue. The couple first came to the West End while doing work on the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas project. They have in recent years relocated to Cortez, and they remain bird experts, having published various articles. They’re co-authors of "Birds of Western Colorado Plateau and Mesa Country.”
Last week, they shared their wisdom about birds, other wildlife and wildland fires.
"We have always had birds. We have always had fires. But we have not always had weather so hot and dry,” Dexter said.
The Ips beetle
Dexter said the warmer climate encourages the Ips beetle, which damages various types of pine trees; the beetle species has “come out of the woodwork” over the last 30-40 years, killing much of the pinion forest that’s already competing with cedar trees.
When asked what can be done to fight the Ips beetle, Dexter responded that “treating small areas, a park or a private property, isn’t too difficult, but it’s labor intensive and expensive.” On the other hand, treatment is “not suited to doing vast forests."
The effects on the Pinion Jay
The state of the trees affects the birds. The fate of the Pinion Jay, whose numbers have been falling, is inextricably linked to the fate of the pinion trees, Dexter explained. The Pinion Jay lives only in the western U.S. and is largely dependent on pinion seeds for nourishment.
Pinion trees only drop seeds in the fall. For a year-round supply of food, the birds must store nuts by burying them. The highly intelligent birds have a specialized throat that can contain up to 50 seeds at a time.
It’s all but inevitable that they will forget some of the sites they’ve used, and the nuts will grow into seedlings and trees, benefiting both species in their relationship.
The Pinion Jay already has environmental stress without adding in wildfire.
How fire can impact birds
"The history of fire on the Uncompahgre is a complex story,” Dexter said, but he added it’s always been part of the wildland picture.
He said fires can go as a brush fire, clearing out grass and brush around and beneath the forest, only burning the lower limbs of a well-hydrated tree, allowing it to survive, along with birds and mammals that inhabit the upper branches. On the contrary, a "crown fire" can consume the crown of the trees, killing them, “leaving only a silent seemingly sterile moonscape.”
Incidentally, the only species to benefit from the death of the tree is the woodpecker.
Controlled burns are done to try and prevent crown fires, usually done in winter or early spring, with minimal impact on birds and mammals.
Dexter said birds of the upper canopy include Nuthatches, Grace's Warblers and Audubon Warblers. Birds of the understory include some flycatchers, thrushes, towhees and sparrows. The latter may have a setback from controlled burns, as it takes a few years for the underbrush to redevelop. Birds do fly, obviously, but they may lose their nests, eggs and fledglings in doing so.
What CPW recommends
Officials of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) recommend attracting birds naturally with flowers and water baths. Their regulations state bird feeders are not to be used April 15 to Nov. 15. Despite people wanting to help birds or other wildlife by offering food during this time, experts say it’s just not safe.
“We still do not recommend bird feeders because of the possibility of escalating conflict that could lead to bears trying to access homes and other human occupied dwellings,” a press release from CPW’s John Livingston recently said. That press release added that “as fire continue to burn, the public will start to see more wildlife in unexpected places, including roads, trails and residential neighborhoods. It is extremely important that you leave them alone. Our wildlife are incredibly resilient and possess remarkable survival instincts to navigate these challenges.”
CPW states that all should remember the following when encountering displaced wildlife: give them space, leash pets, drive with caution, don’t offer food and report injuries to CPW.
For more information, the public may visit https://cpw.state.co.us/.
