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| Piping Plover chick / Photo by Sarah Fensmore/USFWS |
Birds and birding news
- An ornithologist announced the rediscovery of a Blue-eyed Ground-Dove population, an extremely rare species that had not been documented since 1941, in Brazil.
- The Salton Sea was created by accident but deserves protection as an important stopover habitat for migratory birds.
- While the Army Corps of Engineers is still investigating, it is likely that Double-crested Cormorants abandoned their nesting colony in Oregon due to persecution.
- A visit by a rare Siberian Crane is delighting birders in Taiwan.
- Expansion of oyster aquaculture in Delaware Bay is coming into conflict with efforts to protect Red Knots.
- In somewhat better news, the Red Knot appears to have stabilized and the area around Reed's Beach now has better habitat for horseshoe crab spawning.
- Here are some reasons to go on a pelagic trip.
- Gulls head to cities for the abundant food available there rather than for safer nesting.
- Birds that can adapt better to garbage tend to fare better in urban settings.
- Zebra Finches use a type of baby talk (slower phrases repeated more often) when singing to their chicks.
Science and nature blogging
- GlacierHub: Does Glacier Retreat Promote Invasive Species?
- The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: There Are No Bad Birds
- Extinction Countdown: Shiny, Metallic Snake Is a Critically Endangered New Species
- Edin Whitehead: Million Dollar Mouse – Antipodes Island mouse eradication!
- Shorebird Science: PRISM Surveys of Arctic Nesting Shorebirds
- Backyard and Beyond: A Perfect Day for Night Heron Fishing
- BugBlog: Sharp-tail bees
- Laura's Birding Blog: Virginia Rails!
- PLOS Ecology Community: Ghost Forests Of The Carolinas: An Interview With Dr. Ryan Emanuel
- National Moth Week: The Hawkmoths of the northern Great Plains, an illustrated poster – Guest post by Gerald Fauske
Environment and biodiversity
- In Michigan, like in the rest of the country, air pollution tends to be significantly worse in areas home to black and Latino residents, with harmful effects over multiple generations.
- Scientists have been able to confirm through genetic and other evidence that a male cougar wandered 1,500 miles from the Dakotas to New England before its accidental death.
- Efforts are underway to find and test salamanders in the eastern US to document any cases of a fungus that killed many salamanders in Europe.
- Conservationists want to start a rattlesnake colony on an uninhabited island in Quabbin Reservoir, but local residents object.
- Wild lemurs are easier to find and photograph in undisturbed forests.
- Wild bison will be reintroduced to Banff National Park in Canada next year.
- It would be more productive if the energy spent on outrage over a gorilla's death at the Cincinnati Zoo were directed towards protecting the species in the wild.
- A study in the UK indicates that street lights and other sources of artificial light are hastening the decline of many moth species.
- New rain frog species from South America include one found near Manu National Park in Peru and two from Llanganates National Park in Ecuador.
- A petition seeks more aggressive action to preserve the Red Wolf, including the establishment of additional reintroduced populations.
- Biological specimen collections will only get funded in alternate years now instead of being cut off completely.
- Scientists found a gene mutation responsible for turning peppered moths black.
- PSE&G plans to add 100 megawatts of solar power on landfills and brownfields in New Jersey by 2021. This is a much more sustainable model for renewable energy development than projects that rip up valuable wildlife habitat.
