Posts
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| Blue-winged Teal / Credit: Barbara Wheeler Photography, USFWS Volunteer |
- Birds use a variety of means to survive hurricanes. Some hunker down in holes and bushes; others move to higher ground; still others get swept up in the storm's winds and ride them out as best they can.
- Hurricane Irene produced an abundance of storm-blown birds in New York City.
- If you happened to see unusual birds as a result of the Hurricane Irene, make sure to submit them to eBird so that scientists have a complete record of birds carried by the storm and where and when they were observed. That links also has a summary of birds reported so far.
- The Greater Sage-Grouse is on the verge of extirpation in Alberta; there are at most 40 birds left in the province. Oil and gas development is the primary cause for their decline.
- An attempt to reduce Caspian Tern predation on endangered salmon failed when a relocated tern colony was joined by salmon-eating cormorants. Meanwhile, the tern colony fledged no chicks this summer because of harassment by Bald Eagles and egg predation by gulls. The bird colony may be relocated once again.
- A study of Great Tits found that males in urban areas sing higher-pitched songs to be heard over the ambient noise (provided by traffic, HVAC systems, and other sources). This interferes with females' reproductive choices since female tits prefer lower-piched songs.
- Here is a nice graphic for distinguishing Mallards in eclipse plumage.
- Scientists have found a record flock of Sociable Lapwings (numbering at least 650 individuals) in central Kazakhstan.
- Birds Australia runs a program to encourage birdwatching and better bird habitat in backyards.
- March of the Fossil Penguins: Family Tree of the Living Penguins
- Audubon Guides: Willet stay? Willet go?
- BugBlog: Summer Hoverfly identification
- Myrmecos: A mural on moth wings
- View from the Cape: Hawkwatch: Day 1!
- The City Birder: Fetish Tern
- birdspot: On a lighthearted note – T-shirts!
- Extinction Countdown: Thylacine Hunted into Extinction for No Reason, Study Reveals
- Texas is in the midst of its worst single-year drought on record. The state has only received 6.5 inches of the 16 inches of rain that it normally has received by the end of August. Meanwhile, the Plains states overall broke heat records in July, with Texas and Oklahoma leading the way.
- The US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a smaller critical habitat designation for the endangered California Tiger Salamander.
- The USFWS also produced a new recovery plan for desert tortoises in the Mojave Desert; it seeks to protect tortoises from livestock grazing, off-road vehicles, and non-native plants, but does not address other threats such as climate change and renewable energy development.
- Reintroduction of gray wolf populations seems to benefit the Canadian lynx by reducing competition for prey from coyotes. Meanwhile, there will be wolf hunts again this year in Idaho and Montana.
- A mountain lion was killed when it tried to cross the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles.
- The protest and civil disobedience at the White House against the Keystone XL oil pipeline continued this week, with some high-profile attendees. James Hansen was arrested on Monday, and Daryl Hannah was arrested on Tuesday. Mark Bittman offers his thoughts on why the pipeline should not be approved. The Keystone XL pipeline would carry bitumen from tar sands mines in Alberta south to refineries in Texas.
- A new study comes down on the side of strictly protecting some tracts of lands while intensively farming others as the best way to preserve biodiversity. However, there is substantial disagreement on that point among ecologists, and one model is not necessarily going to work for all regions.
- New Jersey and Maryland have approved a new contraceptive for use in white-tailed deer that not only prevents pregnancy but also reduces mating behaviors such as rutting and chasing after potential mates. The contraceptive may provide an effective way of controlling deer populations in suburban and urban areas where hunting is inadvisable.
- The access point for the Delaware and Raritan Canal at Rutgers Prep (DeMott Lane) is closed because flooding swept the footbridge away.
