Posts
Red-shouldered Hawk / Photo by Brad Schram
Birds and birding news
- There is a good essay asking Who Advocates for Birding? (pdf) in Birding magazine.
- Marbled Murrelet will keep its protection under the Endangered Species Act despite an effort by the American Forest Resource Council to have it delisted. The species is currently listed as threatened and depends on old-growth forest for breeding.
- A new study examines factors that influence birds' lifespan. Predictors of a longer life include: large body size, eating plants, social structures, and breeding on islands. Long-living species include flamingos, parrots, petrels and shearwaters.
- Birds and alligators share a similar lung structure.
- Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that the city could not support trap-neuter-release programs for feral cats because they violate environmental law. The suit was brought by a coalition of environmental groups who argued that the feral cat colonies have been growing despite TNR and that the city's feral cat population threatens birds and other wildlife.
- An op-ed writer wonders why California is not protecting its birds, in response to shootings at the Oakland airport and the eviction of Burrowing Owls – a species of special concern – from their burrows to make way for a housing development.
- It seems that Pink-footed Geese leave quite a large carbon footprint as they scrounge for food in Arctic soil.
- Thirty-four waterbirds were found shot dead in a Texas park.
- Birdchaser: Audubon: The Flicker Years
- To Be Determined: Flipping the Bird at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
- NaturalVisions: Photography: Birds in Flight
- Sibley Guides: Distinguishing female Barrow's and Common Goldeneyes
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: Tobacco plants foil very hungry caterpillars by switching pollinators to hummingbirds
- Discoblog: The Flashier the Tit, the Stronger the Sperm (No, Really)
- Earbirding: Splitting Scoters
- New Jersey Outdoors: Scholarly Birding
- IBRRC: Pelicans hit hard by Southern California Storms, Coastal Runoff
- Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to ban several species of large constrictor snakes from the United States.
- The U.S. Dept. of Transportation allocated $810,000 to extend the hiker/biker trail at Sandy Hook from North Beach to Gunnison Beach and Fort Hancock. The article does not elaborate on what route it might take.
- Wolf sightings have increased in Oregon, suggesting that the species is expanding its range westward.
- It is possible for offshore wind or wave energy farms to become artificial reefs if they are structured properly.
- Higher surface temperatures lead to higher methane emissions, a significant feedback effect that could make future warming far worse than current models predict.
- Global warming may reduce the total number of Atlantic hurricanes each year but make them stronger and increase hurricane damage.
- The years 2000 through 2009 were the hottest ten years on record according to NASA's statistics. The year 2009 was the second warmest year on record, second only to 1998.
