Posts
 |
| Whimbrels / Photo by Dan Roby (USFWS) |
- The Red Knot known as B95 returned once again this spring to the Delaware Bayshore. This individual is at least 20 years old and has survived many trips between the Arctic and Argentina.
- Because of the continuing problem of illegal egg collecting in the UK, a Common Crane nesting in western Britain needs a 24-hour guard.
- Conservationists are trying to persuade the Minnesota Vikings to use a bird-friendly glass design for their new stadium.
- Nick's blog post on improving state birds, which I linked in a previous Loose Feathers, got picked up by Slate. So here is another chance to read it.
- Even though the Lesser Black-backed Gull population has declined in England (enough to warrant listing for conservation protections), the Abbeystead estate has culled tens of thousands of the gulls.
- The US federal government is taking legal action against Hawaii for petrel deaths caused by street lights.
- The songs of translocated birds diverge significantly from those of the source population.
- Being able to remember and sing a diverse repertoire does not necessarily mean that a Song Sparrow can apply those mental abilities to practical tasks.
- A recent study supports the idea that penguins lost their ability to fly in order to become more efficient swimmers. The study found that guillemots are adept at diving but very inefficient fliers as a result.
- Conservationists are trying to protect Marbled Murrelet nests from being pilfered by Steller's Jays by placing distasteful fake murrelet eggs in the same forests. A chemical in the fake eggs causes the jays to vomit, which teaches them to stay away from eggs with a similar appearance.
- The Hooded Grebe of Patagonia is in severe decline.
- This year's World Series of Birding was won by a youth team from Pennsylvania.
- Cicada Mania: Tips for photographing adult Magicicadas for identification purposes
- Arctic Sea Ice: The Four Charts That Really Matter
- All Things Birds Blog: Excellent Migrants in Late May
- Extinction Countdown: Amphibians in U.S. Declining at ‘Alarming and Rapid Rate’
- Wanstead Birder: This Land isn't your Land
- Brood II periodical cicadas are beginning to emerge in New Jersey and neighboring and are getting plenty of media attention. Here is a review of their life cycle. The Staten Island Museum is organizing events based on the emergence. The scientists who discovered the periodical cicadas' mating system have been unable to get tenure-track positions.
- A site in the Meadowlands is finally getting attention from Superfund, while two other sites in the state are also being added to the program for remediation.
- Swedish scientists have sequenced the genome of the Norway Spruce.
- Heat-related deaths in Manhattan may rise 20% in response to climate change.
