News and links about birds, birding, and the environment.
- Scientists are montoring birds passing through Alaska for bird flu. Two shorebird species have been selected for testing: long-billed dowitchers and pectoral sandpipers. The birds will be given anal swabs, which will be analyzed for H5N1.
- The Smithsonian is studying a subspecies of swamp sparrow unique to Delaware.
- Cowbird-trapping will continue in Michigan this year as part of the program to reduce nest parasitism among endangered Kirtland's warblers.
- Mute swan cygnets from a brood near Annapolis disappeared after some kayakers were seen in the creek near the nest. The disappearance was not related to the Maryland DNR control program.
- The owner of a rival hatchery is surprised at the arrests of workers at the Mohawk Trout Hatchery for killing herons.
- Scrub jays will hide their food a second time if they think that a dominant bird watched them hide it the first time.
- If you liked the Great Backyard Bird Count, you might be interested in My Yard Counts. This is a new Cornell program to gather data about what birds are in people's yards during the spring and summer. See the link for how to participate.
Non-birds
- Someone thinks rabbits are really weird.