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Wilson's Warbler / Photo by Donna Dewhurst (USFWS)Birds and birding news
- A study of captive flamingos at the Philadelphia Zoo concluded that they stand on one leg to help regulate body temperature, especially while standing in water. The study also found that most flamingos rest with their heads to the right, but ones that rest with their heads to the left tend to be more aggressive towards other flamingos.
- Chimney Swifts are finishing their breeding season and will soon be gathering in large flocks before migrating south. The Baltimore Bird Club sponsors counts at communal roosts in the city, which are added into a national database of swift sightings.
- A columnist describes some of the naturalists (Wilson, Blackburne, Swainson, and Lincoln) whose names are preserved in common bird names.
- The Fledgling Guide Project is building a catalogue of baby bird sound recordings to assist surveys of breeding birds. The website currently links recordings from 36 eastern North American species.
- Woodpeckers are very efficient at finding and eating invasive Emerald Ash Borers. Unfortunately there are not enough woodpeckers to solve the invasion problem on their own, so pesticide is still required to control the beetles. (The article has some discussion of the risks and benefits of pesticide use.)
- A study in Indiana emphasizes the importance of protecting even small woodlots as migratory stopover habitat, especially in areas where woodlands are in short supply.
- A study of museum specimens suggests that Australian birds have been getting smaller in response to climate change over the past century.
- This year there seems to be an increase in breeding productivity at Scottish seabird colonies after a decade of steady decline.
- A survey of biodiversity hotspots in Peru found that many vulnerable species lack adequate habitat protections.
- A new species, the Rio Orinoco Spinetail, has been discovered in Venezuela.
- The NY Times has a quiz: see if you can guess which words are Peruvian bird names.
- The Examiner has a slideshow of a Great Black-backed Gull swallowing a tern (not for the faint of heart).
- The Drinking Bird: How eBird makes me a better birder
- Bell Tower Birding: Names Games
- Teach me about birdwatching: The Violin Player
- Rob's Idaho Perspective: The evasive Green-tailed Towhee
- Birding Dude: Barn Owl and Peregrine Banding at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
- Over the past decade scientists have discovered over 350 new species in the eastern Himalayas. The region is high in biodiversity, including many endangered species. The findings are discussed in a new WWF report (pdf), which has a full list of the new species.
- Disease-carrying mosquitoes are being inadvertently introduced to the Galapagos Islands by tourist aircraft.
- Exxon-Mobil plead guilty to killing 85 birds, including waterfowl, ibis, hawks, and owls, through the release of hydrocarbons at sites in five states. The company will pay $400,000 in fines and $200,000 for community service funding.
- In other Exxon news, a New Jersey court rejected the company's attempt to reduce penalties for wetlands pollution at sites in Linden and Bayonne.
- According to NASA's GISS data, we just finished the second hottest July on record. Worldwide temperatures are being raised by this year's El Niño in addition to long-term climate change (even though some parts of the U.S. have experienced a relatively mild summer).
- Ice at the Pine Island glacier in western Antarctica is thinning four times faster than it was 10 years ago. Calculations based on the observed thinning in 1994 predicted that the glacier would last for 600 years; current estimates predict a life of only 100 years.
- The state governments in Maryland and Virginia have been using the recession (and the crash of the housing market) to purchase more land for nature refuges at a discount. Unfortunately the governments are hampered to some extent by falling tax revenues.
- A controlled burn at a refuge in Maryland spurred the blooming of many rare plants, including one orchid that had not been recorded in the state for 18 years.
- Invasive kudzu (the vine that ate the South) may actually be useful for something. Extracts from the plant reduce alcoholism in rats.
- This is the last weekend to take advantage of the National Park Service's fee-free summer weekends. Here is a list of fee-free parks by state.
- Time has a photo essay in honor of Central Park's 150th anniversary.
