Loose Feathers #224

Black-legged Kittiwakes / Photo by Peter Mulligan

Birds and birding news

• A birder found and video recorded a long whiskered owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi) in Peru – only the fourth time the species has ever been seen and the first time anyone has captured footage of it.
• A brown-throated three-toed sloth may have been killed by a spectacled owl. The dead sloth showed puncture wounds that match the owl's talons. 
• Bird species from landscapes subject to deforestation have developed more pointed wings over the past hundred years. In contrast, birds in reforested areas gained rounder wings. Pointed wings have higher energy costs for take-off and foraging but are more energy-efficient for flying longer distances between habitat patches.
• Comparison with modern feathers show that a small dinosaur from the late Jurassic probably had colorful feathers: a reddish crest and gray body, with white stripes on its legs and wings.
• Climate change could make the prairie pothole region much drier and deprive many North American waterfowl of their breeding grounds.
• A Red-tailed Hawk that was badly burned as a result of a plane crash is recovering but will likely be in rehabilitation for a long time and may not return to the wild.
• Lead-based paint in some older abandoned buildings is killing Laysan albatross chicks on Midway.
• A letter-writer wonders about the purpose behind Nantucket's winter crow hunting.

Birds in the blogosphere

• Great Auk or Greatest Auk: Buffle 
• Ecographica: Buffalos and Birds: Flightless Wings from the KT Extinction to Darwin’s Dinner Plate
• The House and other Arctic Musings: Neat Little Boxes
• Blog Around the Clock: Extended Laying Interval of Ultimate Eggs of the Eastern Bluebird
• Coffee and Conservation: Know your coffee birds: Rufous-capped Warbler
• The Nemesis Bird: Interesting Herring Gull
• Biological Ramblings: Conservation, Paper Subdivisions, and the Google Age
• Fat Finch: Self-Publishing Birders
• The Nature Lady: 10 Ways that Birders and Wildlife Watchers will Help Save the Planet 

Environment and biodiversity

• There are concerns that climate change would result in a drier climate in the Amazon region; combined with deforestation and fires this could lead to destruction of much of the ecosystem within 65 years.
• Household pesticides like pyrethroids are entering storm water runoff and sewage in sufficient levels to kill stream organisms such as amphipods and the larvae of mayflies and caddisflies.
• Speaking of toxic runoff, the Anacostia River is still one of the most polluted rivers in the country. Several initiatives are underway to clean it, but the deadlines for a clean river keep getting pushed back. Make sure to see the photo gallery included with the article.
• Migratory insects fly at altitudes where they can find the most favorable winds.
• Reintroducing small packs of wolves into national parks could restore ecosystems by reducing the number of ungulates and in turn increasing plant diversity.
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list the American pika under the Endangered Species Act even though the species is threatened throughout its range. 
• Olivia Judson explains why island animals seem so tame.

Carnivals

• I and the Bird #118
• Carnival of Evolution #20
• Scientia Pro Publica #20 
• Festival of the Trees #44 
• Circus of the Spineless #47