Loose Feathers #196

Tricolored Heron / Photo by Gary Stolz (USFWS)

Bird and birding news

• A new study in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology compared ways to prevent birds from striking windows. The most effective method was an exterior film that alternates UV-absorbing and UV-reflecting strips. Glass with a ceramic frit pattern was also effective. (See also Birdchaser)
  
• Conservationists have employed a team of snipers to protect a Fairy Penguin colony near Sydney, Australia, after several were killed.
• Many birds in the Baltic Sea are dying due to a thiamine deficiency. So far the cause of the deficiency is unknown.
• A four-year-old California Condor was found dead of strangulation after it got tangled in a discarded recreational rope. The rope was used for rock climbing.
• Cornell is wrapping up what is likely to be its last search season for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers.
  
• Two populations of Monarch Flycatchers are splitting into separate species due to a change in a single gene.
  
• BirdLife is working with fishermen in South America to prevent accidental albatross deaths caused by some fishing methods.
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• The Clade: Through the Lens - The Rookery - Part 3
• Dawns bloggy blog: How to make a Digiscoping attachment
  
• A Blog Around the Clock: Does circadian clock regulate clutch-size in birds? A question of appropriateness of the model animal.
• Prairie Ice: Common Nighthawks
• WarblerWatch: Lucky 19: Kirtland's Warbler Update in Wisconsin
• Mike's Birding & Digiscoping Blog: Lament and Context
  

Environment and biodiversity

• A large, gooey, dark blob of organic material is floating in the Arctic Sea near Barrow, Alaska. So far the cause is unidentified, though it may be an algae bloom.
• Some dragonflies make a round-trip migration of 14,000-18,000 km, much of it over the open waters of the Indian Ocean. They spend part of the year in India and part in eastern Africa, with stops in the Maldives and Seychelles. This is twice as long as the Monarch butterfly's migration.
  
• Audubon California is encouraging birders to get involved in the debate over the Waxman-Markey climate bill.
• Sustainable biofuels are possible, but only with reduced fuel demand and careful regulation of its lifecycle carbon output.
• The Interior Department reversed another Bush-era rule that doubled the amount of logging that could take place in Oregon's old growth forests.
• Researchers are arguing for the release of classified photos of Arctic sea ice to provide additional data points for climate studies.
  

Carnivals and newsletters

• Birds in the News #178