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| Eastern Kingbird perched on Showy Milkweed / Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS |
Birds and birding news
- A colony of Least Terns off the coast of Alabama was free from predators but unfortunately not from humans playing beach volleyball, who disturbed at least 100 nests.
- Increased winds due to climate change may make it harder for some species of birds to nest successfully.
- Many species of birds that nest in the Mojave Desert have declined over the past century due to the drying and warming caused by climate change.
- Baird's Sparrows were found breeding in Colorado for the first time. Most Baird's Sparrows breed around the US-Canadian border.
- Living Bird has an article on the massive migration roosts of the Amur Falcon and efforts to protect them.
- The Lesser Florican has declined by 80% since 2000 and may soon go extinct.
- A majority of crows on both the east and west coast migrate between breeding and wintering locations.
- For some grassland birds, habitat fragmentation is as big of a problem as habitat loss.
- A bipartisan bill would create a stable funding source for maintaining wildlife populations at stable levels.
- Preservation of riparian forests can mitigate the negative impacts of oil palm plantations.
- A study tracked Great Reed Warblers and Red-backed Shrikes flying close to 4,000 meters above sea level during migration.
Science and nature blogging
- Shorebirder: Connecticut's first LITTLE EGRET - Aug 8, 2018
- Feathered Photography: My Favorite Yellow Warbler Image
- Birdchick: Noticing Birds
- Birds Korea Blog: Heat Wave or The New Normal ?
- Avian Hybrids: On the Origin of Pigeon Plumage Patterns: A Role for Hybridization
- The Corvid Blog: The 45 Crow Species
Environment and biodiversity
- The Weather Channel has started a series on how climate change is affecting the weather and how that is already disrupting where people can live, such as the potential water crisis in Jordan.
- Climate change threatens wild rice harvests in the Midwest, which is a particular problem for Native Americans.
- Citizen science could produce more accurate species distribution maps through projects like iNaturalist and BugGuide.
- The New York City EcoFlora project (hosted on iNaturalist) is documenting plants around New York City, including some rare species.
- Aquatic mammals lost a gene that helps break down organophosphate pesticides, so they may be more vulnerable than other mammals.
- Creating healthier watersheds for steelhead trout could recharge aquifers and ease some of California's water troubles.
