01/24/1991

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