Loose Feathers #23

News and links about birds, birding, and the environment.

• The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to compel the federal agency to list the tricolored blackbird as an endangered species. Though it was once widespread, this bird has become limited to a small portion of its former range in California.
• Comments on the proposed housing development near the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge will be accepted up until February 24. This development represents a serious threat to the health of the refuge, a critical habitat for migrating and wintering waterfowl, as well as breeding bald eagles.
• The Christian Science Monitor covered the Superbowl of Birding in New England. The winning team recorded 86 species in the allotted twelve hours.
• For an offbeat account of an encounter between a man and a flock of starlings, see this column from the NY Daily News.
• Apparently Dick Cheney was hunting illegally on Saturday because he had not purchased the proper stamp for hunting upland game birds. This is a serious matter from a conservation point-of-view because funds raised through hunting stamps help to fund the acquisition and maintenance of wildlife refuges and management areas. Meanwhile, we are finally starting to get more details about what happened.