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WILDLIFE RESEARCHER USES PLANES TO STUDY BIRDS
AUBURN, Ala.__--Look! Up in the air! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's
a bird watcher!
While most bird watchers use binoculars to observe the fowl kingdom
from ground level, Julian Dusi prefers to get a bird's eye view of his
subjects from the pilot's seat of a small plane. Dusi, a wildlife researcher
working in the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn University,
helped pioneer the use of small aircraft to study various bird species.
In the process, he has collected a great deal of information about wading
birds and birds of prey.
Dusi first began to fly in the early 1940s while he was a wildlife student
at Ohio State University. He participated in a civilian pilot training
program during college and, upon graduation, was called into active
duty as a photo reconnaissance pilot in the Army Air Corps.
"The war was over before I could be sent overseas," he said.
"I never got out of the country and got to see the world."
But his flying skills were not wasted.
Dusi became interested in studying wading birds about 35 years ago when
a student introduced him to a colony of herons near Tuskegee. "I
hadn't thought about using a plane in my wildlife work until I got involved
studying the herons," he said. "It occurred to me that these
white birds could be seen a good distance from the air and that a plane
would be a big help."
He was right. Flying over a study area allowed him to cover the area
quickly, get a broad view of the territory, and never disturb the birds'
nesting sites. His research findings answered many questions farmers
had of the prevalence of herons and other wading birds.
The results he has accumulated through the years suggest that environmental
pressures directly affect bird populations. For example, information
he collected while participating in an annual eagle count held each
January along the Chattahoochee River has revealed some interesting
trends in avian populations.
The study area covered by Dusi extends along the river from Cottonton
to the Florida state line, a distance of more than 100 miles. The flight,
one-way, takes about 40 minutes and includes the Eufaula National Wildlife
Refuge which is a haven for wading birds such as herons and egrets.
Because of this, he was able to count eagles and a wide variety of other
bird species from his excellent vantage point.
From 1981 (when Dusi first began participating in the eagle count) until
1989, ring-billed gull sightings increased from 85 to 1,423, an increase
Dusi attributes to humankind's growth.
"Gulls are scavengers," Dusi explained. "As people produce
more garbage, the gulls' food supplies increase and their living conditions
improve, causing populations to increase."
Dusi noted that gull populations are not yet out of control, but these
increases suggest controls may be needed, especially when safety becomes
a factor. "There have been some problems around the country with
these gull increases, especially around airports and places where they
can be a real hazard," he said.
Great blue heron populations, meanwhile, have been erratic. "It's
a kind of up and down thing that reflects weather patterns," said
Dusi. Warmer winters allow great blue herons to begin nesting sooner
and result in more herons in the count area when the census is made.
If colder temperatures have kept them from nesting, fewer will be present
when the count is conducted.
Eagles have not been exceptionally abundant during the count, but any
sightings are encouraging. Dusi said bald eagles were once common in
the Southeast until environmental pressures depleted their populations.
In recent years they have been returning to the area, perhaps because
of environmental improvements, and small numbers (from one to three)
have been sighted regularly during the annual count. "We know there
have been eagles nesting on the Georgia side of the river and around
Eufaula," he added.
When Dusi first took to the air to study birds, he knew of only one
other researcher using planes for this purpose. These days planes and
helicopters are commonly used to keep an eagle's eye on the avian population
and perhaps provide more insight into our own world.
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By:
Katie Smith
1/24/91
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