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| Mariana Crow / Photo by Henry Fandel |
Birds and birding news
- Here are some reminders about how climate change, as laid out in the recent IPCC update, is affecting birds and birding. Birds in piñon-juniper woodlands are already in decline because of climate change.
- A group of captive-bred Mariana Crows (including the one pictured above) were released last month on the island of Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands to boost the endangered wild population.
- Birds produce their songs using the syrinx, a vocal structure unique to birds.
- Some cemeteries such as Mount Auburn Cemetery and Green-Wood Cemetery have become prime birding locations, especially during migration.
- Gentoo Penguin breeding colonies on Goudier Island have lost a quarter of their breeding pairs and half of their chicks over the past two decades.
- Recent news reports highlighted stories of "drunk birds" in a Minnesota city; in reality they were probably just tired migrants that crashed into windows.
- A private sanctuary in Colombia provides a home to birds rescued from wildlife trafficking.
- While other boreal species irruptions have yet to materialize, Red-breasted Nuthatches are already appearing in large numbers in the Northeast and Midwest.
Science and nature blogging
- Feathered Photography: Foot Color Variations In Ruby-crowned Kinglets
- Edge Effects: The Hayman Fire and the Impermanence of Mountains
- Shorebird Science: Prioritizing Shorebirds in the Prairies: Conservation Action in Kansas
- The Prairie Ecologist: Square Meter Photo Project – September
- Natural Newstead: Frequent flyers
- 10,000 Birds: Alaska Day: Birds and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
- MYRMECOS: Winter Ants Testing the Boundaries
- earthstar: Busy little Ivy bees
- Arctic Sea Ice: Freezing season has started, or has it?
- Backyard and Beyond: The Quest for White Snakeroot
- Snapshots of Nature: Global Big Day!
- View from the Cape: Major Milestones at the Banding Station
Conservation and biodiversity
- A state government in Brazil stripped protections from 11 of its protected areas.
- If forest elephants disappear, their absence would affect many other species, possibly including people.
- Canada declared a tract of the Northwest Territories off-limits to mining because of its importance to indigenous people. The government had previously tried to open it to development.
- As western cougar populations continue to grow, some cougars are starting to recolonize their historical range in the Midwest.
- Here is a look at how indigenous people coexist with revived bear populations in the Pacific Northwest.
- Nature Conservancy of Canada is trying to get people to spend more time outdoors.
- Writing about the world's environmental problems presents difficult challenges.
Climate change and environmental politics
- A new report from the IPCC says that major effects from climate change will come much sooner than expected, with potential for a crisis within the lifetimes of most people alive today.
- In addition, the 0.5 degree between 1.5°C and 2°C of warming would make a major difference in the severity of climate change's effects.
- Here are some notes on how climate change is affecting hurricanes.
- The EPA is getting rid of the scientific panel that advises it on the regulation of particulate matter in air pollution.
- While New Jersey's legislature considers a ban on certain types of single-use plastics, NorthJersey.com is reporting on the scope of the state's plastics problem. The second article in the series looks at the problem of microplastics.
