Loose Feathers #441

Black Tern and Osprey / Photo by Ken Sturm (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• The BBC marks the anniversary of Shakespeare's birth by retelling the efforts of Eugene Schieffelin and others to import birds named in Shakespeare's plays to North America. Only one introduction met with significant success: that of the European Starling.
• A Saudi prince and his companions killed 2100 Houbara Bustards in Pakistan, even though the species is protected in that country.
• Bird deaths have continued to occur at the Ivanpah solar installation, and many of the birds show clear signs of being singed by solar flux.
• A new wind farm might be constructed near the edge of the California Condor's range in California.
• Scientists have tracked two Osprey from Washington, DC, to South America and back.
• Here are some suggestions for the best places to go birding in New Jersey in the spring.

Science and nature blogging

• Charismatic Minifauna: Spider Vision Made Clear
• Southern Fried Science: It’s illegal for anglers to land hammerheads in Florida. It’s time that media coverage pointed that out.
• Extinction Countdown: Blue-Footed Boobies Have Stopped Breeding—But Why?
• Hidden New Jersey: Visiting our favorite Easter Peeps: the Piping plovers
• Laura's Birding Blog: Chickadee with a Deformed Bill
• Culturing Science: Our Biases in the Gulf’s Recovery from the Oil Spill (see also)
• The Birdist: Google Street View Birding III: Mexico
• Greg Laden: Eagles Adopt Unhatched Offspring Of Dinner
• Bug Eric: Mourning Cloak
• Anything Larus: Return of the Laugh-ring Gull

Environment and biodiversity

• Some conservationists are suing to force the U.S. government to designate the Grizzly Bear as endangered due to population declines.
• The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide has led to earlier and longer blooming times for plants.
• Audubon Magazine reviews the effects of the Galveston Bay oil spill one month later.