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Great Horned Owl / Photo by lissalou66
Bird and birding news
- The Saltmarsh Sparrows that nest in coastal Connecticut are unusually promiscuous among songbirds, with 97% of females sitting on the eggs of more than one male. It is thought that their promiscuity is a result partly of having less need for pair bonds and partly the need to re-nest quickly if nests are washed out by flooding. Nesting close to the high tide line also makes them vulnerable to sea level changes.
- A Great Horned Owl picked up a Pomeranian and carried it several blocks before dropping it in front of a surprised driver.
- The Western Snowy Plovers on Oregon's coast continue to improve; this past summer observers counted four times as many adults as in 1990, and the state's 236 nests fledged 96 chicks.
- FLAP has published a rather morbid Common Birds of Toronto, a field guide to birds killed by Toronto buildings.
- Here is a pdf photo guide to the antbirds of Peru and Bolivia.
- Selenium poses a threat to waterfowl in the Great Salt Lake.
- The Seattle Times thinks people should participate in a Christmas Bird Count rather than spend time on Twitter. Why not both (simultaneously)?
- Here is video of a large flock of European Starlings gathering to roost in Sacramento, California.
- The NY Times profiles a bird photographer who recently released a collection of waterbird photos.
- For those readers in the DC area, there will be a public lecture sponsored by the USGS on Whooping Crane restoration in Reston, VA, on January 6.
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: An insider's look at the feather, a marvel of bioengineering
- Field of View: American Coots thwart nest invaders and kill their chicks
- JournOwl: Burrowing Owl Mitigation is Eradication and Eviction
- Gallicissa: Stuck on you
- Search and Serendipity: Top 10 Birds of the Decade
- An Australian Bird Bander: Banding seabirds
- Flickr Blog: Your Best Shot 2009: For the Birds
- Outdoor cats are 42% of the diets of urban coyotes around Tucson, Arizona.
- The Center for Biological Diversity is suing to force the Obama administration to determine whether 144 species meet the criteria for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
- One new study suggests that the sea level could rise 6-9 meters even if temperature rise is held to 2°C, the target informing current climate treaty negotiations. Another recent study predicts a more conservative sea level rise of 0.75 to 1.9 meters by 2100, which is still higher than the consensus view.
- Seasonal pesticide runoff may inhibit the population growth of wild Pacific salmon even at sublethal levels.
- About 40% of all household batteries are purchased around Christmas; we should make sure they are rechargeable and recycle them when they are no longer useful.
- A Yale forum surveys the contexts of the most quoted emails from the hacked CRU servers.
