Loose Feathers #402

Common Tern and chicks / USFWS Photo

Birds and birding

• The US Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill 3,603 Barred Owls at four study locations in the Pacific Northwest to see if removing Barred Owls will help the Northern Spotted Owl population recover. Barred Owls have occupied the Northern Spotted Owl's range as the latter's population declined and crashed.
• The New Yorker has a long article on obsessive egg collectors and the British conservationists that try to catch them. The police and the RSPB have cooperated on a program called Operation Easter that monitors known collectors and runs regular sting operations.
• The wood rail at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico has drawn a lot of birders from around the country.
• The development of the environmental movement is closely tied to the popularization of birdwatching.
• The situation for migratory birds in the Mediterranean region is quite dire, especially in Egypt.
• Some British gulls became disoriented after eating flying ants because the ants contain formic acid.
• A puffin survey in the Farne Islands showed that the breeding population there is recovering from its crash in 2008.
• A new study suggests that homing pigeons navigate with an internal map.
• An eye-tracking study found that peahens watch the width of a peacock's train and how he shakes his feathers but pay less attention to the eyespots during courtship displays. 
• A couple thousand galahs and cockatoos flocked to a town in Queensland because of a drought and caused some blackouts.

Science and nature blogging

• Bruce Byers Consulting: Colorado Fires and Firemoths
• BunyipCo: National Moth Week
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: How Loyalty Paints a Meadow
• Audubon Guides: Species Spotlight: Luna Moth
• 10,000 Birds: The Mousebird Mystery
• Birding Is Fun!: A Rare Bird Comes to New Mexico
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Save MacRitchie Forest: 13. Butterflies, jewels of the forest
• Compound Eye: An interview with Bug Dreams’ Rick Lieder
• Net Results: Update on catbird research
• Anything Larus: Another Lesson in Angle-to-Observer
• Outside My Window: These Are Not Pine Cones
• Tetrapod Zoology: It’s hot and sunny, so birds lie down and sunbathe

Environment and biodiversity

• Honey bees in agricultural settings are exposed to a diverse array of pesticides and fungicides, and bees exposed to high levels of fungicides are more likely to be infected by the parasite Nosema ceranae. Read the study in PLoS ONE.
• Louisiana is suing energy companies for the loss of its coastal wetlands, which were harmed by the building of pipelines and canals.
• A tar sands mining operation in Alberta has been spilling bitumen into wetlands for at least sex weeks, and it is not clear whether the mining company will be able to stop it.
• Alaska is seeing more wildfires due to climate change, and the frequent fires are changing the composition of the boreal forest.
• A DC court found "actual malice" in false accusations against climate scientist Michael Mann, which means that his defamation lawsuit against the National Review and the Competitive Enterprise Institute will proceed.
• Dams are coming down in New England to make way for salmon and other migratory fish. The Veazie Dam on the Penobscot River in Maine was breached this week; the Whittenton Dam in Massachusetts is also being removed, partly for safety reasons.
• In New Jersey, the Nevius Street Dam on the Raritan River near Duke Farms will also be removed to aid fish migration.
• Female Heliconius butterflies have taste sensors in their feet that help them locate the proper host plant to lay eggs.
• Last weekend was the start of Britain's Big Butterfly Count. Observers hope to find Purple Emperors and other rare species.
• The new administrator of the EPA promises to address climate change.
• Western conservationists are using controlled burns to reshape the landscape and prevent catastrophic wildfires.
• Sandy Hook is using goats to clear poison ivy off of a historic structure.
• This Sunday, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission is holding a Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park.
• New Jersey is currently generating more solar energy per capita than California.