|
| Tagged Red Knot with other shorebirds / Photo by Gregory Breese/USFWS |
Birds and birding news
- Citizen science is contributing much data for scientific research, especially through birding-related projects like eBird and the Christmas Bird Count.
- Scientists estimate that plastic will be found in 99% of seabirds by 2050. It already affects 60% of species; the number of individuals affected rose from <5% in 1960 to 80% by 2010.
- Many birds may lose parts of their ranges due to climate change, and conservation planning needs to account for shifting ranges.
- Common Loons return to the same wintering sites year after year.
- White-tailed Eagles avoid large bullet fragments during consumption of carcasses, an important finding in support of nonlead ammunition.
- Scientists are trying to bring back the endangered Attwater's Prairie-Chicken, but success is limited due to numerous factors, from fire ants to floods. Currently the population stands at 104 birds.
Science and nature blogging
- Extinction Countdown: Asian Vultures Get Good News Ahead of International Vulture Day
- The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: The Black-crowned Night Heron
- Bird Ecology Study Group: The Jacana Fields of Taiwan (A Lesson in Conservation & Advocacy to Asian Neighbours)
- Warblers and rumors of warblers: Some Fall migration photos
- Earbirding.com: Ever heard of Pine Flycatcher?
- Charismatic Minifauna: Royal Jelly Isn't What Makes a Queen Bee a Queen Bee
- The Smaller Majority: Mozambique Diary: Snug as a bug
- The Birdist: Birds at Large: Teal Owl
- 10,000 Birds: What’s in a Name: Limpkin
Environment and biodiversity
- A toad thought to be extinct was rediscovered in Ecuador.
- Some wind energy companies have agreed to voluntary measures to reduce bat fatalities by idling turbines when wind speeds are low during migratory periods.
- Denali continues to lose ice at a rapid pace.
- California is building an overpass to serve as a wildlife corridor for mountain lions in Los Angeles County.
- The coal industry is collapsing, but in the meantime it continues to inflict irreparable damage to the Appalachian Mountains.
- Kudzu may not be as unstoppable as advertised.
- The re-emergence of a drought in the northeast is threatening the water supplies of some northern New Jersey towns, but things are not too bad yet.
Posted on A DC
Birding Blog under a Creative Commons 3.0 License.
