Loose Feathers #354

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds / Photo credit: Brady Smith (U.S. Forest Service)

Birds and birding

• Using a camera strapped to an Imperial Cormorant's back, scientists have recorded a cormorant diving 150 feet underwater to catch fish on the seafloor. A video is available at the link.
• Multiple color morphs are one way that Common Cuckoos trick their hosts.
• This year, there are at least three wild-hatched California Condor chicks in Arizona.
• The RSPB is encouraging the use of its wildlife-friendly farming practices. In the 12 years since the RSPB started managing a farm this way, wheat yields are up and famland birds have tripled.
• National Parks Traveler discusses the use of pishing and playback on federal lands.
• The Piping Plovers at Sea Girt, New Jersey, have fledged.
• A Brown Booby showed up in northwestern New Jersey for a few days this week.
• The federal government is placing restrictions on a 28-turbine wind energy development in western Maryland to protect migratory birds and bats.
• A 300-turbine project using massive 28-foot blades is planned for the Gulf of Mexico just off Brownsville, Texas. The siting is a concern given that the area is a major route for Neotropical migratory birds.

Nature blogging

• The Drinking Bird: Birder Jargon Project: Birds that hate us
• Martin's Moths: Multum in parvo
• Myrmecos: An ant that protects herself with… um… butt foam
• The Smaller Majority: When a bumblebee is not a bumblebee
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: You can thank wasps for your bread, beer and wine
• March of the Fossil Penguins: Peeking Inside the Brain of an Ancient Penguin
• Earbirding: The “Meaningless” Calls of Red-winged Blackbirds
• Round Robin: Counterpoint: 7 Ways European Warblers Outperform American Warblers

Environment and biodiversity

• An underwater microphone moored off Greenland recorded Bowhead Whales singing throughout the winter months, at every hour of the day and night, with over 60 unique songs. The finding is significant because
• The US energy related carbon dioxide emissions were at their lowest level in 20 years during the first three months of this year, largely due to the mild winter.
• Last week the USDA published an internal newsletter telling its employers that they could reduce their carbon footprint by practicing Meatless Mondays, but backtracked under pressure from the meat industry.
• The BBC has a gallery of giant helicopter damselflies.
• Mongabay.com has photos of lynx triplets.
• The Queen Alexandra's birdwing, the world's largest butterfly species, is disappearing from Papua New Guinea's forests, partly due to pressure from palm oil plantations.
• Officials in Oregon are demolishing a dock that floated across the Pacific in the wake of Japan's tsunami; state biologists have already recorded numerous potential invasive species clinging to the dock and are seeking to prevent their further spread.
• Last Sunday, a Minke Whale showed up just offshore at South Amboy, New Jersey.
• A writer argues for the benefits of urban trees.
• Moths actively seek out landing spots where their camouflage will blend in most easily.