From the North Slope of Alaska to Argentina, from Patagonia to Paraguay and places much closer to home, Plymouth-based Manomet Conservation Sciences is working to strengthen bird migration routes and protect coastal ecosystems across the Western Hemisphere. In Alaska, for example, it “conducts research to unravel the mysteries of shorebird migration and track changes in population sizes,” according to Clare Cunningham, the nonprofit’s education manager. “Understanding where shorebirds go to breed, as well as determining nesting success in different habitats helps inform conservation decisions to reverse population declines.”
Since moving to Plymouth last December, I’ve made many drives to Manomet Point just to look at the water, the shorebirds, the whales, and the seals. It’s good for the soul. In my drives to the Point, I’ve passed the entrance to Manomet Conservation Sciences 40-acre campus many times but never so much as noticed it. A neighbor tipped me off and am I ever glad she did.
The organization started in 1966 as a group of local birders interested in studying migration along the East Coast. Led by Kathleen “Betty” Anderson, it approached Ruth Ernst, the owner of the oceanfront property where they were meeting, about donating the property to help establish an environmental research nonprofit. She did, and in 1969 the Manomet Bird Observatory, now Manomet Conservation Sciences, was established with Anderson as its first director. Funded primarily by grants and donations, the annual budget is approximately $8 million.
Located just off Manomet Point Road, the center has a staff of 50. Thirty of them are based in Plymouth, including ecologists, ornithologists, and conservationists. The property also comprises the Kathleen (“Betty”) Anderson Nature Trail, the Manomet Garden for Wildlife – with benches where you can relax and take in breathtaking views of Cape Cod Bay – and a bird-banding laboratory that for nearly 60 years has supported the study of bird migration patterns and local avian populations. Along the trail is a “blind” for bird watching. It’s a cabin-like structure with large open cut outs from which to survey the scene without disturbing the wildlife. Posters tacked to the walls help you identify the many dozens of bird species that live in or transit through the landscape. My first sighting was of two iridescent tree swallows, common but so striking in full sunlight.
On my first visit, I ran into Cunningham, who was leading a walk with about a half dozen students from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. They were working on projects with avian themes. Clare told me Manomet Conservation Sciences will host more than 1,300 student visitors this spring, mainly from the Plymouth and other nearby public school systems.
I joined the group from MassArt to watch as one of the specially trained staff showed the students how bird banding is done. A magnificent northern flicker, a common species of woodpecker, was carefully handled by a trained and state and federally certified specialist and fitted with a tiny metal band around one of its legs. The band has a nine-digit identification number that will allow scientists, if he is caught again, to track his movements. He seemed calm in her hands and flew happily off when she released him.
I was so taken with the beauty of the place that I called my friend Glenn, a passionate bird photographer. He drove down from Acton that night so we could return to the Manomet campus early the next morning, prime bird-watching time. I let Clare know we’d be there, and she invited us to a banding demonstration at which Evan Dalton, director of land bird conservation, would be discussing “the ins and outs of banding and why we do what we do here at the headquarters.”
More advanced tagging technology that uses satellites allows scientists to track migratory birds with greater precision, including altitude, in real time, Evan explained. Such technology is, “critical in helping us identify and conserve feeding and roosting sites. But it’s cost-prohibitive to deploy a satellite tag on each bird we tag at the lab.”
Simple metal banding is still valuable. “Over the past 56 years we’ve built a data set that helps us detect and monitor population declines, shifts in migration patterns, and home ranges,” he told me.
Manomet Conservation Sciences captures and releases several thousand birds a year, many of whom it has previously, which provides data for other research projects as well. For example, feather samples help map the genomes of North American bird species, and tick collection from the birds helps monitor the risk for spread of tick-borne illness in the region.
“Migrating bird populations are dwindling,” Evan said. Common causes of mortality are domesticated cats (owned and feral), which kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds a year, according to the American Bird Conservancy, and shrinking habitats, including “stop over” spots for migratory birds that need places to build up stores of energy as they migrate.
“To get energy, they need native plants, the seeds they produce, and the insects they attract,” Evan explained. “So, one way you can help sustain these populations is by planting native species.”
Another major hazard for migratory birds is windows. Birds cannot detect glass, so they fly headlong into windows in staggering numbers, especially in cities where lights from skyscrapers distort light. Because birds can navigate using celestial constellations, light pollution – especially in urban areas can make it more difficult for migratory birds to find their way along migratory routes.
Why is the work of studying landbirds and shorebirds important?
Evan has a succinct answer. “Birds,” he said, “are our best indicator of a healthy environment.” Or, one might say, they are the canary in the coal mine when it comes to warning us of changes in the environment and ecosystems.
“The best example when it comes to climate change is the Carolina wren,” said Evan. “Their population has dramatically increased in New England since the 1970s. We also have data showing how dramatic an effect snowfall has on the numbers we capture in our nets the following year. There is compelling evidence of a northbound range expansion that is reliant upon milder temperatures and less snowfall.”
On the plus side, after a precipitous population decline in the osprey population in the mid-twentieth century due to pesticide use (by 1964 only eleven breeding pairs were left in Massachusetts), banning DDT in the 1970s has led to a booming population decades later.
Quite apart from its conservation and scientific work, the property is just a beautiful and serene place to walk (dogs are welcome except on the mowed grass paths), bird watch, breathe in the sea air, and contemplate the wonder of the natural world here in Plymouth.
Peter Zheutlin – a freelance journalist who has written frequently for The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, and many other publications – brings the perspective of a Plymouth newcomer to the Independent. He is the author or co-author of nine books, including “The Dog Went Over the Mountain: Travels with Albie, An American Journey,” winner of the Lowell Thomas Travel Writing Award. Zheutlin can be reached at pzheutlin@gmail.com.