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Wild Turkey / Photo by Gary Stolz (USFWS)News and links about birds, birding, and the environment
California continues to clean up from the bunker oil spill. As of Wednesday, 1,052 birds have been rescued and 1,514 birds have been found dead. Surf scoters from Canada's boreal forest account for about 40% of the survivors and 25% of the corpses. The world population of surf scoters was already in decline before the spill so the losses are cause for concern.- The Black Sea oil spill claimed the lives of 15,000 birds and poisoned at least 20,000 more survivors.
- Globules of heavy bunker oil have started to wash up on Long Island beaches - Long Beach and Atlantic Beach. As of Thursday night the source was unknown.
Canada recently set aside 10 million hectares of boreal forest in the Northwest Territories for wildlife protection. The preserved area accounts for about 1% of Canada's total landmass and includes three Important Bird Areas.- The Freeman covers some differences between wild and domestic turkeys. A federal district court in San Francisco is considering whether to extend protections of the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 to chickens and turkeys. Currently mammals must be killed while unconscious, but no such regulation exists for birds.
- The border wall in Arizona threatens habitat for pygmy owls and other species of conservation concern.
- An article in the Houston Chronicle considers some of the issues raised by the Stevenson case.
- Federal officials are trapping and tagging black vultures at Dutch Gap, Virginia, to study their movements. Local residents consider the vultures pests and want a way to get rid of them.
- Developers in Bolsa Chica, California, erected a glass wall that is killing dozens of birds that fly into it.
- A city in Australia is attempting to scare starlings away with brightly-colored plastic snakes.
- The Scottish sea eagle population is at a record high since their reintroduction.
- Sibley: More on Windows and Birds
- 10,000 Birds: Thrilling Turkey Facts
- Iowa Voice: Photo Hunt - I Love ____ - Melospiza Sparrows
- EnviroPolitics Blog: To change the climate, change the burbs?
