Posts
Roseate Spoonbill / Photo by Ryan HagertyNews about birds and birding
- Florida Audubon is concerned severe algae blooms and large-scale nesting failures among roseate spoonbills (pdf) indicate that the Everglades ecosystem is on the verge of collapse. Only 292 nests were initiated in 2008, compared to 460 in 2006 and a peak of 1,260 in 1979.
A species that had not been seen since the 1920s - the Beck’s Petrel (Pseudobulweria becki) - was recently recorded again near Papua New Guinea. The expedition found about 30 birds, including several recently-fledged juveniles.- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tried to back out of an agreement to decide whether to list the Sage Grouse under the Endangered Species Act by May 2009, but a federal judge is forcing them to stick to the agreement.
- A pro golfer killed a red-shouldered hawk with a golf ball because its calls made him miss a shot. (Thanks to a reader for the link.)
Many common insect-eating birds have suffered dramatic declines in the last two decades. The cause is uncertain.- Animal rehabilitators in the U.K. are trying to teach a golden eagle to fly after it spent 27 years in captivity.
- Eagle chicks have already hatched at New Jersey's Manasquan Reservoir. This eagle pair set a new state record for earliest observed egg date on January 11 of this year.
- Governor Corzine nominated two people to fill the "public reprentative" seats on the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council. Local environmental groups object that the nominees are too closely tied to other interests already on the board.
- A new book argues that gardeners who want to attract birds should plant native species that attract insects.
- A birder in the U.K. got some amazing photographs of a sparrowhawk attacking a starling.
- City Birder: Red-tailed Hawk dispute
- 10,000 Birds: Aves de Finca El Pilar
- Prairie Ice: March - the month of waterfowl
- Coffee and Conservation: Coffee Farms and Carbon Sequestration
- The Drinking Bird: My Oh Myiarchus: A post for Jochen
- A rise in sea level could pose problems for marsh birds such as the bittern. Conservation programs will need to protect suitable inland habitat in addition to coastal sites.
- Three energy companies have proposed offshore wind farms for New Jersey. The most likely sites are off Atlantic and Cape May Counties.
- No one could have predicted... that using sewage sludge as fertilizer would cause health problems.
- Friday Ark #181
- Linnaeus's Legacy #5
- I and the Bird #70
- Learning in the Great Outdoors #10
- Festival of the Trees #21
- BirdLife News Round-up: February 2008
