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| Brown Pelicans overwintering at Oregon Coast NWR / Photo by Roy W. Lowe (USFWS) |
- Birders on San Clemente Island off southern California found a Red-flanked Bluetail, a very rare bird for North America. The species breeds in Siberia and winters in southeast Asia.
- Sixteen captive-bred Whooping Cranes arrived in Louisiana as part of the attempt to reintroduce a third Whooping Crane population there.
- Penguins may time their dives according to the work their muscles are doing. The average penguin flaps its wings underwater 237 times in between breaths at the surface.
- A Critically Endangered ibis species was found in Cambodia for the first time in almost a century. This species, the Giant Ibis (Thaumatibis giganteawas), is believed to have only 100 breeding pairs in the world.
- A new conservation reserve at Volcan Antisana in Ecuador is home to numerous sensitive species, including Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), Silvery Grebe (Podiceps occipitalis), and Black-faced Ibis (Theristicus melanopis).
- According to a study using geolocators, South Polar Skuas follow a similar figure-eight migration pattern whether they spend the Antarctic winter in the North Atlantic or North Pacific.
- Energy utilities have decided not to build a wind farm in a key breeding area for Marbled Murrelets.
- The Bureau of Land Management as created a new conservation strategy for the Greater Sage-Grouse and will implement in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service.
- An unknown person has shot 28 birds with a pellet gun over the past month in Contra Costa County, California. (via 10,000 Birds)
- Scientists studying seedeaters in South America believe that the birds may be in the midst of evolving into separate species because they differ widely in plumage and song but not in genetics.
- Almost 140 Greater Flamingos were killed when they flew into a power line in western India.
- Sibley Guides: Identification of white geese
- Seabrooke Leckie: Smooth Green Snake
- Bug Eric: Wasp Wednesday: Not Wasp V
- 10,000 Birds: Extreme Digiscoping: Flashing Little Owls
- Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds: The Human Birdwatcher Project Presents: Birding By Yourself - A Lonely And Embarrassing Habit.
- Outside My Window: Winter Trees: Honeylocust
- Global emissions of carbon dioxide rose by the highest amount on record last year.
- Scientists rediscovered the rare Cockerell's bumblebee in New Mexico; the species was last recorded in 1956.
- A new report found that three-quarters of butterflies in the U.K. have declined in population and half have more restricted ranges compared to a decade ago.
- Meanwhile, several butterfly species found in North America's Pacific Northwest are likely to become extinct in the near future.
- New research has turned up additional evidence that the Mayan civilization collapsed because of deforestation that led to declines in precipitation accompanied by severe droughts.
- New York purchased a 1,200-acre parcel of forested land in the Catskills to protect New York City's watershed.
- Mongabay.com has been posting photos of amphibians this week, including a blue-and-yellow poison frog, two tiny newly-discovered frogs, and a red-eyed tree frog.
