Loose Feathers #297

Lewis's Woodpecker / Photo by Dave Menke (USFWS)

 Birds and birding news

• Scientists in New Zealand are rehabilitating the penguin that got lost and arrived there; they plan to release the penguin into the Pacific near the northern border of the species's known range.
• A new recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl will propose additional old growth forest conservation within the owl's range. The plan will also experiment with removing some Barred Owls to see if reduced competition makes a difference.
• By studying fossil birds with X-rays, scientists found that two ancient birds, Confuciusornis sanctus and Gansus yumenensis, carried eumelanin in some of their feathers. Eumelanin is a pigment that produces copper and dark brown coloration.
• Crows can remember the faces of people that wrong them several years after the incident, and crows can spread the word about them to other crows. This is the conclusion of a banding study, in which scientists who trapped and banded crows still get mobbed by those crows and their flockmates five years after the original banding.
• Conservationists are concerned that the Red-cockaded Woodpecker population will outgrow their limited habitat.
• The American Bird Conservancy wants visitors to beaches during Fourth of July weekend to be careful not to disturb beach nesting birds. Unfortunately, not all beachgoers heed such warnings, as some nest sites are occasionally vandalized.
• Scientists wonder if climate change will disrupt the timing of horseshoe crab spawning and Red Knot migration around Delaware Bay.
• Hoffman Island, off Staten Island in New York Harbor, was formerly a quarantine site for immigrants but is now home to nesting colonies of Double-crested Cormorants and other waterbirds.
• A federal judge gave three federal agencies six months to improve the management of four national forests (Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino) to benefit 40 endangered species, including the California Condor and California Gnatcatcher.
• Kittiwakes' migratory movements are dependent in part on ice cover, so changes in climate are likely to affect their migration patterns.
• Here is a photo gallery of the Dismal Swamp in central New Jersey.
• A man in South Carolina killed a gull with a bat for flying over his food.
• Three men were arrested for illegally trafficking in Bald Eagle feathers. The feather trade violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Lacey Act.
• Flooding in the Midwest no doubt wiped out a lot of this year's nests, but it is too soon to tell what the long term effects will be. It was not all bad news for birds, as the flooding allowed Least Terns to take over a portion of the Birds Point New Madrid Floodway for nesting.

Nature blogging

• Diary of a Mad Natural Historian: Fuertes and Abyssinia
• BirdWatching Field of View: How safe is mist netting? First large-scale study into bird-capture technique finds little risk to birds
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Parasitising Grandma – why alien eggs can be a sign of helpful families
• Coffee & Conservation: Climate change impacts on coffee nations
• Sibley Guides: Powder down and the Black-crowned Night-Heron
• Audubon Guides: Amazing Feets
• The Skeptical Moth: The incredibly loud world of bug sex
• View from the Cape: Baby Boom
• Fotoportmann: Rocky Point Marsh: Jamaica Bay, NYC
• The Freiday Bird Blog: Salt Marsh Morning
• Tetrapod Zoology: Hoopoes and woodhoopoes

Environment and biodiversity

• New York reached an agreement with environmental groups on a plan to complete the cleanup of Jamaica Bay. The city will improve four sewage plants to reduce nitrogen pollution by 2020, and it will create a fund to restore salt marsh habitat around the bay. The city also hopes to have the bay designated as a "no discharge zone," so that boaters will not be allowed to discharge their sewage tanks into the bay.
• Temperatures across the United States averaged 0.5°F warmer during the 30 years from 1981-2010 than from 1971-2000. The climate of the 2000s is 1.5°F than the climate of the 1970s. Meanwhile, May 2011 was above average globally, but in the U.S., it was cooler than average.
• East Africa is experiencing its worst drought since 1950-1951.
• The Wallow Fire in Arizona probably killed some of the state's Mexican Spotted Owls as it burned through 73 protected nesting areas, but its Mexican Gray Wolf packs escaped. Officials will need to protect endangered Apache and Gila Trout from future runoff related to the fire. Meanwhile, Santa Fe National Forest and other parkland are closed due to the Las Conchas fire.
• Over 1,060 new species were discovered on the island of New Guinea over the past 10 years. The discoveries included 218 plants, 580 invertebrates, 134 amphibians, 2 birds, 71 fish, 43 reptiles and 12 mammals.
• Wildlife are managing to survive in Afghanistan despite years of warfare. Here is a gallery of Here is a gallery of some of the country's animals.
• The development of disease-resistant oysters may change Chesapeake Bay restoration strategies.