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| Horned Lark / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS |
Birds and birding news
- Today is the start of the annual Great Backyard Bird Count.
- This winter a team of scientists has been surveying Louisiana marshes for Black Rails, which have declined rapidly and may be listed under the Endangered Species Act.
- Last week a federal court ruled that the Golden-cheeked Warbler still needs protections under the Endangered Species Act.
- David Bernhardt, the nominee to replace Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior, played a major role in weakening enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
- The owls wintering in Central Park are more fascinating for birders than the escaped duck that has received the most headlines.
- The evolution of new penguin species seems to be tied to nesting on volcanic islands, and there may have been more species extant today if some island populations had not been eaten by humans.
- A study used images on the internet to research the diet of Martial Eagles.
- New Zealands gulls, like many other seabirds, are in serious decline.
- A Tasmanian man on a trip to the U.S. made a point of seeing as many gulls as he could, especially Laughing Gulls.
- A study using feathers retrieved at leks found that translocated Gunnison Sage-Grouse survived and integrated into new populations.
- A piece of amber found in Myanmar contains a extinct bird's foot that is covered in feathers.
- Female Nazca Boobies have shorter lifespans than males.
- Since yesterday was Valentine's Day, Audubon posted a collection of avian courtship displays.
- The Bald Eagle pair nesting at the DC Police Academy produced their first egg of the year this week, but then the male went missing. Events at the nest can be watched via webcam.
Science and nature blogging
- Raptormaniacs: Finches Before There Were Finches: Eofringillirostrum and the Diversity of Stem-Passerines
- 10,000 Birds: The ABA’s 50th Anniversary and Information: From Scarce to Abundant
- Feathered Photography: The Killing Bite Of The American Kestrel
- Eric Carlson: Bird Photography for Humans
- 10,000 Birds: How to bird by kayak
- Avian Hybrids: A Little Brown Job: Unraveling the Chiffchaff complex
- krista schlyer: Border Angels vs Excavators
- Extinction Countdown: Found But Lost: Newly Discovered Shark May Be Extinct
- DeSmogBlog: Oil Spill Shuts TransCanada's Keystone Pipeline in Same County Where 'Paper-thin' Pipe Found in 2012
- Bug Eric: Stop Saying the Monarch is a "Gateway Species" for an Appreciation of Other Insects
- awkward botany: Seed Oddities: Apomixis and Polyembryony
- Net Results: The updated Dearborn bird checklist
- Linda Murdock Photography: Red-shouldered Hawks with a SNAKE and More at Brazos Bend
Conservation and biodiversity
- Another paper sounds the alarm on global insect losses, which threaten ecosystems. Past extinctions, like that of the Rocky Mountain Locust, show that extinction or extirpation can happen rapidly. Entomologists emphasize that there is too little long-term data about insect populations.
- Over-salting of roads in the winter causes salinity levels to rise in nearby freshwater wetlands and also seems to cause a spike in other pollutants (like lead and copper). One potential solution is to treat roads with brine before snowstorms hit.
- An ultrasound deterrent may help keep bats away from wind turbines.
- The Saint Louis Zoo is trying to boost Ozark Hellbender populations through captive breeding.
- Forests in Oregon appear to have been killed by an herbicide used on roadside weeds.
- Rapid growth in tourism in the Galapagos may be putting the islands' ecosystems at risk.
- Audubon released a report with suggestions for how to restore ecosystems around the Gulf Coast that were affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
- A new snake species was found inside of a coral snake in Chiapas.
- Tanzania is opening some of its protected areas to farming and grazing.
- A new study measures light pollution in wildlife preserves.
- Floral scents evolve based on what attracts pollinators like moths.
Climate change and environmental politics
- This week the Senate passed a significant public lands bill that permanently renewed the Land and Water Conservation Fund and extended the Neotropical Migratory Bird Act in addition to expanding some national parks and increasing protections for other sites. See another summary here.
- While that was a bit of good news, the destruction of two nature preserves in the Lower Rio Grande Valley still looms. The National Butterfly Center is seeking a restraining order to prevent wall construction that would block access to most of their property. A historic church is also fighting the wall, which would seal off the church from most of its parishioners.
- The Green New Deal has many critics but relatively few counter-proposals that would result in the decarbonization recommended by the IPCC.
- It is also worth noting that "pragmatic" approaches to climate policy have largely failed in the U.S.
- Adopting some of the policies being implemented in several states and European countries could take the U.S. most of the way to its stated goals in the Paris agreement (which are still short of what is necessary).
- A new website tries to predict how U.S. cities will feel in 2080, using analogies to the current climate in other cities. See the website here.
- Phil Murphy has promised to shift New Jersey to obtaining 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2050, but a dozen proposed fossil fuel projects stand in the way of those goals.
