Posts
Red-necked Phalarope / Photo by Lee Karney (USFWS)
Bird and birding news
- Songbirds and phalaropes nesting near Alaskan oilfields faced a higher risk of predation from the ravens, gulls, and arctic foxes that are attracted to human settlements.
- Warbling-antbirds compete for territories by imitating their rivals' songs.
- Great Tits at one Hungarian cave hunt and kill pipistrelle bats for food. Click the link for a video of a tit eating a bat.
- Birds may double their body weight in preparation for migration. They add fat reserves to burn for energy, and their pectoral muscles and heart swell. (via BugGirl)
- Up to 30% of Pacific Brant are now spending their winters in sub-Arctic Alaska. In the past, when Alaska's average winter temperatures were colder, 90% of Pacific Brant wintered in Mexico.
- Audubon Magazine takes a close look at a trap-neuter-release program for feral cats in Honolulu. Oahu has an estimated 100,000 feral cats, of which a little under 2,600 have been sterilized through the Humane Society.
- The BBC has video footage of a very small parrot species. (The article was initially reported as the "world's smallest parrot" species, but the footage may actually show a different species.)
- Some birds, such as Nashville Warbler, Lark Bunting, and Common Yellowthroat, perform songs while in flight.
- A study by the British Trust for Ornithology found that organic farms have a more diverse bird population than conventional farms, but that organic farming did not benefit several open-country species that have been in steep decline.
- An expedition finally found the Fiji Petrel at sea. The species had gone unreported for 130 years, until some individuals crash landed on rooftops on Gau Island.
- Born Again Bird Watcher: Odd Duck
- 10,000 Birds: Wild Bird Rescue 101
- Wild New Jersey: Typically arctic snowy owl spotted on NJ beach in summertime
- Ten federal agencies released seven draft reports on how to improve pollution control and habitat restoration in the Chesapeake watershed. The reports are available here: http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net/.
- Maryland's Blackwater NWR has finalized a purchase of an additional 823 acres.
- Due to feedback cycles, the Arctic has warmed 2-3 times as fast as the rest of the planet. As a result, arctic species have had to adapt more quickly to the changing climate.
- Tighter security at border crossings has encouraged drug cartels to grow their marijuana crops in U.S. national forests instead of importing them.
- China could meet all of its electricity needs with wind power if it continues to subsidize wind energy development.
- Last week, the Wilderness Act turned 45.
- Carbon monoxide pollution from California's Station Fire spread across most of the western states.
- The Nature Conservancy has a new ClimateWizard showing the predicted changes in annual average temperature by 2100.
