Posts
Heerman's Gull / Photo by Lee Karney (USFWS)Bird and birding news
- A willet and a sanderling are setting lifespan records at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The willet was taken into captivity as an adult 21 years ago, and the sanderling is at least 22.
- A report from Birds Australia found that native Australian bird populations are in decline due to recent severe droughts and habitat modification. Waterbirds and shorebirds have been hit especially hard. Full report here.
- BirdScope explains why drinking shade rather than sun coffee is important, and how to tell if a coffee is sustainable.
- Research suggests that carotenoids not only make birds brighter but also improve their color vision.
- Fish and Wildlife officials destroyed an eagle nest at Martin State Airport in Maryland because it was deemed a hazard to aircraft. One egg was lost as a result of the nest removal; the egg will be tested for thickness and contaminants.
- Climate change seems to be the leading culprit for the wave of deaths and injuries among brown pelicans in California.
- One of the challenges facing conservationists is the "shifting baseline syndrome," in which people they are trying to persuade do not realize that the environment is changing around them.
- Bell Tower Birding: A new way Gulls mess up my mind
- Rigor Vitae: Pigeon Control
- Tails of Birding: Acorn Woodpecker - Rated "X"
- birdspot: feb 26 (dying titmouse)
- The Marvelous in Nature: Mothing for the greater good
- The Orbiting Carbon Observatory crashed into the Indian Ocean shortly after it was launched. The satellite was designed to monitor sources of carbon dioxide and carbon sinks and potentially could have been used to enforce greenhouse gas treaties.
- Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are calling for the Capitol Power Plant to stop burning coal.
- Converting grasslands to energy crops could maintain similar amounts of soil carbon as long as no-till farming practices are used.
- A federal appeals court ordered the EPA to strengthen its rules regarding particulate matter; its current Bush-era rules ignored opposition from within the agency.
- Information technology may have a much higher environmental footprint than commonly assumed.
- Hotter summer temperatures lead to more hospitalizations for respiratory conditions.
