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| American Bittern / my photo |
Birds and birding news
- If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current level, Emperor Penguins would probably be extinct by the end of the century. If every country met their commitments under the Paris agreement, the species would still decline by a third but probably survive.
- A new study suggests that Rough-legged Hawks prefer to nest near Peregrine Falcons because the falcons drive off other raptors that might eat small rodents.
- Conservationists are trying to establish a second population of Maui Parrotbills, but most of the translocated birds in the initial attempt died of avian malaria.
- A Dark-eyed Junco’s smell is produced by its microbiome.
- Government biologists are trying to move Caspian Tern colonies away from the Columbia River to reduce predation on endangered salmon. Like with the cormorant control issue, the main problems for salmon are still overfishing and dams.
- The Hoiho (or Yellow-eyed Penguin) was voted New Zealand's bird of the year, and the Black-throated Finch was voted as Australia's bird of the year. Both species are endangered, and the latter's largest remaining population will be displaced by a coal mine.
- In other New Zealand bird news, the song of the Rifleman may hold clues about the origins of vocal learning in songbirds since they belong to a distinct lineage.
- The Kentish Plover and White-faced Plover look similar but are different enough genetically to be two different species.
- Thousands of Steppe Eagles were counted at stopover or wintering sites northwest of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
- It is almost Thanksgiving in the US, so newspapers are covering Wild Turkeys being a nuisance.
Science and nature blogging
- The Rattling Crow: Mute Swan acoustic communication
- On The Wing Photography: The Trumpeter Swan I Couldn’t Rescue
- Avian Hybrids: Hybrid Honeyeaters in eastern and western Australia
Biodiversity and conservation
- A biologist has been counting butterflies at the same ten sites near Sacramento for the past 47 years, and the data show long-term declines among many species, with a sudden drop around 1999.
- The IUCN is creating a Green List as a complement to its Red List, as a way to define and highlight species recovery.
- The process for describing and naming new plant species often moves slowly enough that the plant is extinct by the time it has an official name. For example, the newly-named Lebbiea genus is threatened by the imminent construction of hydroelectric dams.
- Some snakes in the genus Dendrelaphis have the ability to jump between branches.
- Silver-backed Chevrotains, the smallest hoofed mammal, were photographed by camera trap in Vietnam after the species had gone undetected for 30 years.
Climate change and environmental politics
- Andrew Wheeler is continuing his perversion of the agency he runs with a new draft rule that would prohibit the EPA from including public health studies that use confidential medical data in its rulemaking process. The rule would be retroactive, meaning that it could be used to eliminate many public health regulations.
- Last week six presidential candidates attended a forum on environmental justice, which has barely gotten attention in the DNC's official debates.
- Last week the Interior Department suspended the Invasive Species Advisory Committee, which coordinates the efforts of various agencies, ostensibly as a cost-cutting move.
- An AP report based on federal data finds that nearly 1,700 dams in the U.S. are in poor or unsatisfactory condition, enough to pose a safety hazard. The highest concentration of hazardous dams is in New Mexico.
- Putting a speed limit on ships could reduce greenhouse gas and particulate pollution as well as underwater noise and collisions with whales.
- A new book argues that officials in the 1920s had access to data showing that their plans for dividing the Colorado River's water were flawed.
- Residents in Ocean County shore towns still plan to vote for Trump despite knowing that inaction on climate change puts their properties and lives in danger.
- Other parts of the New Jersey coast, like Atlantic City, are already facing chronic flooding problems from sea level rise.
