Loose Feathers #386

Black-backed Woodpecker / Photo by Mike Laycock (National Park Service)

Birds and birding

• A scientist defends government funding of basic science and explains her research into the evolution of duck genitals.
• Workers in the Port of San Francisco cleared an Osprey nest off a crane.
• Lesser and Greater Flamingos are regular migratory visitors in Mumbai. Many other species migrating through are tracked on a site called Migrant Watch (which sounds sort of eBird-like from the description).
• Many Arctic bird species are likely to be affected by climate change, but not all will be affected the same way.
• Scientists are investigating why unpaired cranes dance. One possibility is that the dances of unpaired cranes are a form of play.

Nature and science blogging

• Cicada Mania: Cicada "Crowdsourcing"
• Birding is Fun!: Identifying adult California Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls in flight
• March of the Fossil Penguins: Shifting Sea Levels, Shifting Fortunes
• Earbirding.com: Greater vs. Lesser Yellowlegs
• Myrmecos: Spring arrives to the prairie garden

Environment and biodiversity

• A pipeline carrying tar sands bitumen ruptured in Arkansas this week, spilling 200,000 gallons of heavy crude into a neighborhood.
• The severe drought plaguing the central and western U.S. is likely to continue this spring and summer.
• Four sailors have been relieved of their duties for their roles in the grounding of a US Navy minesweeper on a protected coral reef near the Philippines, for which the U.S. might face a fine.
• This photostream has some lovely photos of ancient insects trapped in amber.
• The Sierra Club is suing Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway over pollution from coal dust.
• Rain smells good because of aromatic chemicals the rain releases from the soil, such as baterial spores.
• During the Napoleonic Wars, one of Napoleon's generals collected beetles as the army traveled around, sometimes even stopping during battle to pick them up. His collections have now been catalogued in two articles in the open-access journal Zookeys, here and here.
• Scientists are figuring out how dragonflies manage to have a success rate of 95% when pursuing prey. Experiments, often funded by the military, are looking how their wings work, what their eyes see, and how their brains process the images. One interesting finding is that dragonflies are able to see two targets but focus on one target first and then pursue the other target, without getting too distracted to nab either.