Loose Feathers #361

Swainson's Hawk / Roger Peterson (US Forest Service)

Birds and birding

• Scientists tagged 25 Atlantic Puffins that breed in Ireland with geolocators that will track where they spend their winter. A previous study of puffins from the North Sea found that they spent the winter in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Climate change is likely to ease the northward spread of avian malaria, which could devastate Arctic bird populations that lack immunity to the pathogen. Avian malaria was recently discovered in bird populations near Anchorage and Fairbanks in Alaska.
• A study of New Caledonian Crows suggest that the crows are able to reason cause and effect, even when the cause is hidden.
• Surveys of Brazil's state of Acre found that the region is home to numerous rare and endangered bird species, even though it is rarely visited by birders. Results of the surveys are published in Tropical Conservation Science (pdf).
• On Saturday, Heinz National Wildlife Refuge hosted its annual Cradle of Birding festival to celebrate its status as the most urbanized wildlife refuge in the US.
• Some observers have reported seeing European Hornets attack hummingbirds.

Nature blogging

• GrrlScientist: Extinct Carolina parakeet gives glimpse into evolution of American parrots
• 10,000 Birds: The Incredulous New Caledonian Crows
• The Birdist: Interview with Rosemary Mosco of Bird and Moon Comics
• Sibley Guides: My Pen-and-ink technique
• Earbirding: The “Two-part Calls” of Empidonax
• Outside My Window: The Pirate
• Myrmecos: The infamous Rasberry Crazy Ant is Nylanderia fulva
• The Smaller Majority: Dangerous candy
• BugBlog: Are male false widow spiders ant mimics?
• Extinction Countdown: Tiny, Critically Endangered and Controversial Nevada Fish Experiences Dramatic Population Increase
• Why Evolution Is True: Horseshoe crabs aren’t really “living fossils”

Environment and biodiversity

• In 2011, the US generated 14 million megawatts of electricity by burning trash, mostly along the east and west coasts. This output places waste energy on equal footing with geothermal energy.
• Coral diversity around Madagascar and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean rivals that of the Great Barrier Reef.
• Climate change is causing warmer water temperatures in the Atlantic, which is prompting fish to shift their ranges northward, out of US waters.
• Scientists in Tennessee have built an artificial bat cave that they hope will help limit the spread of white-nose syndrome.
• New Jersey scientists are testing ways to reduce the numbers of invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, an indoor pest in the fall and winter and an agricultural pest during the growing season.
• Arctic sea ice reached its annual summer minimum on September 16 and set a record low in the process. The gradual disappearance of Arctic sea ice (along with the possibility of future ice-free summers) has set off a race to extract the Arctic Ocean's mineral resources.
• Meanwhile, Dutch Royal Shell has had to cancel its plans to drill in the Arctic this year because of a series of mistakes.
• A conservation effort is focused on saving endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs in California.