Loose Feathers #437

Eastern Phoebe / Credit: Bill Thompson/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Europe has approved the veterinary drug diclofenac, which was responsible for wiping out most of India's vulture population. If this decision is not reversed, vultures in Europe may meet the same fate.
• Last week a tanker collider with another ship in Galveston Bay and spilled 168,000 gallons of oil. The timing of this spill is especially bad since migrating birds are already arriving on the Texas coast. Already more than 50 oiled birds have been found, and there are probably others out there.
• A British study found that non-native parakeets keep native birds from visiting bird feeders.
• New Caledonian Crows can understand water displacement well enough to use it to retrieve a treat.
• A lawsuit seeks to stop development near a patch of Burrowing Owl habitat in Alameda County, California.
• Urban birds with darker feathers may be better at removing toxins from their bloodstream, but that has not been proven conclusively yet. 
• Male Eurasian Jays can anticipate what food their partners want even if it is something other than their own preference.
• Audubon Magazine reviews some of what scientists learned about Snowy Owls this winter.
• The Warbler Guide was written by a New Jersey resident.
• The first known bluebird twins were discovered by a Project NestWatch volunteer.
• There is a crow-shooting contest in upstate New York this weekend.
• Aerial nest counts show the strong recovery of Bald Eagles in the Chesapeake region.

Science and nature blogging

• Anything Larus: Baltimore County Black-headed Gull
• ABA Blog: Galveston Bay Oil Spill: What We Birders Can Do
• The Rattling Crow: Moorhen fight
• Illinois Botanizer: The Venomous Snakes of Illinois
• View from the Cape: Eurasian Tree Sparrow!
• 10,000 Birds: Tiny Asian bird discovered as sole member of ancient family. Who’s next?
• ABA Blog: How to Identify Birds
• Biking for Birds: Day 81 - Kanapaha Prairie visit and a fundraising plea
• Extinction Countdown: Sunday Species Snapshot: Goodfellow’s Tree-Kangaroo
• Charismatic Minifauna: Gardening for the Bees 
• PetaPixel: Breathtaking Microscope Photos of Moth & Butterfly Wings  
• Bug Eric: Spring White

Environment and biodiversity

• Natural history has declined as a scientific discipline in favor of experimentation, but it is still necessary. Some of the gap can be filled by citizen science projects, but these still need professional scientists to guide them. 
• This week marked the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. Even after all this time, and despite thorough steam cleaning, there is still oil on the beaches.
• Ice sheets in western Antarctica are collapsing faster than expected.
• Salamanders in the Appalachians are shrinking in response to climate change.
• Policymakers should heed the lessons of the Little Ice Age, when a change in climate destabilized Europe.
• Fish embryos develop deformities after being exposed to oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon spill.
• The Cuvier's Beaked Whale can dive longer than any other mammal.
• The red maple’s spring flowers rival its autumn foliage.
• The Center for Food Safety reviewed scientific literature and came to the conclusion that neonicotinoid insectides do not substantially increase crop yields (pdf) and that therefore the risk to pollinators outweighs the benefits of using them.