Posts
Song Sparrow / Photo by Lee Karney (USFWS)News and links about birds, birding, and the environment
- An English diver recently found birds and fish trapped and killed in a discarded fishing net. The discovery has led to calls for tighter regulation for the disposal of old nets.
- Scientists are using tail-mounted cameras to track the behavior of New Caledonian crows in the wild. Of particular interest is how and why the crows developed their advanced tool use. Findings so far suggest that it developed in response to food shortages.
- A new report from the National Wildlife Federation details the likely impact of climate change on fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Among other things, the region will see the loss of wetland habitat and disrupted migration patterns for waterfowl.
- Captive-bred animals may be less suited for reproduction and survival in the wild than wild-bred animals of the same species. The finding suggests that captive breeding programs, when used, need to release many more animals than the target population level.
- Canada's Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife reports that the sea otter and peregrine falcon are no longer threatened with extinction. However, the committee suggests adding 36 more species to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk.
- Wildlife biologists in Alaska are planning to rid Rat Island of its non-native rats to make the island safe for seabirds again. The program will test ways to remove rats without harming other wildlife.
- This Week from Hilton Pond covers the spot-breasted thrushes in great detail, with close-up photos from the banding station.
- Multiple pairs of sandhill cranes are nesting in North Dakota for the first time in 80 years.
- DNA studies of parasites unique to the Galápagos hawk shows the order in which the hawk settled four separate islands in the archipelago. The DNA study is seen as a step towards understanding the development of the Galápagos hawk's unusual breeding arrangements.
- Chicago is restoring wetlands along the Calument River; the site is currently home to ponds visited by black-crowned night herons.
- Migratory birds fly in v-formations to conserve energy and facilitate communication.
- A study of quail suggests that birds are better able to reproduce when they receive neutral stimuli that they associate with copulation.
- Future demand for biodiesel is likely to cause severe forest loss. How severe depends on the crops used; so far oil palm would result in the least habitat destruction, and soybean would cause the most.
- Sibley: More Siberian Vagrants
- Ornitho-Blog: Faucon & Corbeau : conflit territorial
- Friday Ark #159
- I and the Bird #59
- Circus of the Spineless #25
- News from BirdLife, September 2007
- Festival of the Trees #16
- Carnival of the Green #97
- The Boneyard #6
- Carnival of the Blue #5
- Birds in the News #99
