Posts
Northern Saw-whet Owl / Photo by Gary M. Stolz (USFWS)Bird news
- Northern spotted owls are rapidly disappearing from their former range. There may be as few as 5,000 across British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, and the population is down about a third since the 1990s. In addition to habitat loss, spotted owls have been affected by barred owl incursions. Meanwhile, a last-minute regulatory change would open 1.8 million acres of spotted owl habitat for logging. A lawsuit seeks to block the changes.
- A study of nesting bald eagles in the Catskill Mountains found elevated mercury levels in both adults and nestlings.
- While starlings in this country are often regarded as pests, in their native U.K., there is concern that starlings might disappear in the near future. The precise cause of their decline is unknown.
- The RSPB is searching for the rare slender-billed curlew, once common but now feared extinct. The last sighting was in 1999.
- A recent expedition found 1,224 species around the South Orkney Islands near Antarctica – more species than are known to occur around the Galápagos Islands and several other tropical locations.
- White-tailed eagles, closely related to North American bald eagles, may return to England after a 200-year absence.
- New York recently became the ninth city to sign the Urban Conservation Treaty for Migratory Birds, which requires its signatories to undertake educational and habitat preservation projects.
- Climate change could destroy habitat for 75% of the big penguin colonies in Antarctica.
- BSI Blog: Could Your Birds and Your Oil Be Coming From The Same Place?
- IBRRC: Cosco Busan spill: What birds species were affected
- Birdfreak: Review of Falcons of North America
- Audubon: Wild Monks’ Stick Condos Create Fracas
- Of a feather: Regulatory end-runs
- Net Results: Recovery -- a rare event!
