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| Ovenbird / Photo by Nate Rathbun/USFWS |
Birds and birding news
- The Anna's Hummingbird's winter range may be shifting north because of more hummingbird feeders left out during colder months.
- A new study examines the genetic underpinnings of the Flightless Cormorant's flightlessness. Flight is less necessary for this species since it can stay in the Galapagos year-round, and shorter wings may give it an advantage when pursuing prey underwater.
- California Spotted Owls benefit from controlled burns of different sizes and degrees of severity but avoid the most severely burned patches. Read more about tracking Yosemite’s Spotted Owls.
- Sea level rise could drive coastal nesting birds to extinction if they do not start nesting on higher ground.
- Two populations of Bachman's Sparrows in North Carolina prefer habitats with differing proportions of grasses and woody plants for nesting.
- Climate change is advancing the egg-laying and hatching dates of Tree Swallows, not only because of temperature, but also because of windiness and precipitation.
- Mercury contamination from emissions in Southeast Asia poses a threat to Lesser and Great Frigatebirds.
- Endangered Red Knots fly nonstop for thousands of miles, and then bulk up on horseshoe crab eggs on New Jersey beaches before continuing their flight.
- Study of New World birds shows species with faster rates of genetic change produce greater numbers of species.
- One third of Scotland's Golden Eagles died under suspicious circumstances. Raptors in the U.K. face constant persecution from large landowners that want to use their estates for grouse hunting.
- Great Cormorants can hear under water.
Science and nature blogging
- ABA Blog: The Magic Retention Pond
- NWNL Blog: It’s Not Easy Being a Horseshoe Crab in New York Harbor
- The Digiscoper: The Countersingers
- 10,000 Birds: American Redstart Nest at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
- awkward botany: Poisonous Plants: Buttercups
- Bug Eric: Window-winged Moths
- Inkfish: Cities Are Bad for Bumblebees—Except Detroit
- NC Museum of Natural Sciences Blogs: Recapping the 2017 City Nature Challenge
- Feathered Photography: Preening American Kestrel
Environment and biodiversity
- The Trump administration will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, following the multiyear withdrawal process laid out in the agreement. Here is an explanation of what likely happens next.
- The withdrawal announcement is a reminder that U.S. media aired no in-depth coverage of climate change in the context of last year's election and asked no questions about it at the general election debates.
- Even if the US remained in the agreement, the administration's unraveling of the Obama administration's greenhouse gas regulations would still undermine efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change.
- Bill McKibben laments the abandonment of the diplomatic work that went into the Paris climate agreement, which had the potential to achieve progress beyond the agreement's official emissions reductions.
- While the administration's actions threaten to make the U.S. a climate pariah, it will be up to states and local governments to follow through on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to new climate conditions. Some are already pledging to do that.
- Aside from its regressive decision on climate change, the administration is also working to undermine environmental protections for public lands and wildlife.
- A Native American conservation group is trying to create a wolf protection zone around Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to prevent hunting of wolves in that area. As the Gray Wolf loses its Endangered Species Act protections, packs have been decimated by hunting.
- An Asian Common Toad was recently discovered in Madagascar; if this invasive species became established, it could lead to the extinction of numerous other species, both predators and rival amphibians.
- The urban heat island effect could double the cost of climate change for the world's cities.
- Different species of moths pollinate eastern and western populations of Joshua Trees.
- Snow leopards may actually have three distinct subspecies.
- An extended stretch of unusual weather is changing the fortunes of British butterflies.
