Posts
Common Loon / Photo by William Troyer (USFWS)Bird and birding news
- Scientists at the Smithsonian reclassified five extinct Hawaiian birds from the honeyeater family (Meliphagidae) into the new Mohoidae family, related to waxwings and silky flycatchers, on the basis of DNA evidence.
- Ornithologists in Colombia have discovered a new subspecies of Antpitta near the Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve: the Yariguíes Slate-crowned Antpitta (Grallaricula nana hallsi).
- A new study of zebra finches emphasizes the importance of sleep for learning among young birds. (The linked article discusses the study in the context of human learning, but I wonder if it might have implications for environmental factors like light pollution.)
- There are now 169 free-flying California Condors, including two wild-born chicks that recently fledged at the Grand Canyon. The California population is up to 80 free-flying condors.
- Washington state is allowing logging in some Northern Spotted Owl habitat.
- Scottish corncrakes are in decline.
- A Guardian writer describes his encounter with a Pel's fishing owl.
- BrdPics: Google Mapping a CBC Circle
- The Birdist: Interview with Brian Sullivan of eBird
- BES Group: Chinese Pond Heron washing food before eating
- 10,000 Birds: Indian Pond Herons
- Birdchick: Bird Feeder Rush Hour
- eBird: Honduran Emerald Rediscovered in Western Honduras!
- Some types of "green" design – ones that include glass facades for natural light – may increase window-strikes by birds.
- Tropical biofuel plantations will remove more carbon if they are situated on already-degraded grassland areas rather than cleared rainforests.
- Greenland's glaciers lost three times more ice in 2008 than in 2007.
- Climate models suggest that migratory fish in Europe will lose most of their breeding grounds due to global warming.
- RealClimate: 2008 temperature summaries and spin
- Gristmill: USGS: Sea-level rise in 2100 will likely 'substantially exceed' IPCC projections
