Loose Feathers #458

Mountain Bluebirds / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding

• The presence of mercury in the environment appears to alter the songs of songbirds, in addition to the other ways it harms birds.
• Iceland's seabird nesting colonies have been decimated by a series of widespread breeding failures, much like seabird colonies in North America.
• Some readers may have seen a graphic that compared the number of bird fatalities from various energy sources. There are a number of problems with this graphic. For example, it does not account for things like each source's relative share of the energy market. Another significant problem is that fatalities among some species are more significant than others due to their relative rarity. The wildlife harms caused by renewable energy sources should be minimized now before more massive wind and solar plants are built and cause even more bird deaths.
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently changed its interpretation of several provisions in the Endangered Species Act in ways that could undermine protection for species that have lost significant chunks of their historical ranges or are only threatened in part of their range.
• Salvage logging will proceed in areas burned by the Rim Fire in 2013 even though Spotted Owls have moved into some of the burned areas, which are also important habitat for other birds such as the Black-backed Woodpecker.
• A genetic study of Wilson's Warblers found that there are six distinct North American breeding populations, one in the east and five in the west. The study was also able to tie these breeding populations to specific wintering grounds and migration routes.
• Many African vultures have been deliberately poisoned because they alert wildlife agents to the carcasses of poached elephants.
• When Northern Gannets search for food, they look especially for places where currents meet or upwelling occurs.
• A court in North Carolina upheld the protection of beach nesting habitat from off-road vehicles at Cape Hatteras.
• The DC Snowy Owl was found dead in Minnesota this summer.
• Common Ravens have continued their invasion of New York City with a possible nest in Manhattan.
• The Madagascar Pochard needs a different wetland for nesting.
• Many birds are exposed to conjunctivitis, but only a few species get sick from it.
• The communal nests of Sociable Weavers can grow to massive proportions.

Science and nature blogging

• Laura's Birding Blog: Minnesota Vikings Stadium Controversy
• Birdchick: The Vikings: An NFL Team That Prefers Aesthetics Over Wildlife
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Cross-billed Catbird at Banding Station
• Nemesis Bird: PA Grassland Bird Research
• ABA Blog: ABA Checklist Committee Adds Egyptian Goose to ABA Checklist
• Birding Dude: Common Ringed Plover at Cupsogue LI New York 
• Tetrapod Zoology: Nuthatch Empire
• Bug Eric: White-whiskered Grasshopper
• 10,000 Birds: Some Ingenuity Can Go a Long Way
• The Brownstone Birding Blog: 10 Things It Takes To Be A Birding Explorer
• mocosocoBirds: Philadelphia Vireo, other field notes, Aug. 26, 2014
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Insights To Blue-winged Pittas Part 4
• Myrmecos: Ant Research Roundup: Parasites Edition
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: You Almost Certainly Have Mites On Your Face
• Running Ponies: These tiny scorpions would like to perform an important inspection of your old book collection, please
• Skeptical Science: Athabasca Glacier: a tragic vanishing act
• Life Lines: City life makes bigger spiders

Environment and biodiversity

• Europe's shift to renewable energy is less beneficial than advertised since burning wood from the southeastern U.S. accounts for a remarkable share of Europe's renewable energy output. Burning wood offers little, if any, greenhouse gas reduction compared to fossil fuels.
• Invasive plants can change the interactions among native species; in one example, wolf spiders prey on more American Toads in habitats where Japanese Stiltgrass is present.
• NOAA listed 20 coral species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
• Coastal Louisiana is disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of a football field an hour. Part of the reason is natural land subsidence, but humans have contributed greatly through climate change and flood control measures.
• A group of petitioners including the Center for Biological Diversity and Xerces Society has filed a petition for endangered protection for the Monarch butterfly, which has undergone a 90% population decline in the last 20 years. (The Xerces Society's press release is here.)
• Scientists are attempting to find and digitize historical weather records that currently exist only on paper.
• Dam removal on Washington's Elwha River entered its final stage this week as the last bit of dam is removed.
• Spiders play an important role in controlling insects that would otherwise by agricultural pests, and they have a diverse set of hunting strategies.
• Some 90% of species are overlooked in favor of more visible or charismatic ones.
• The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to rebuild New Jersey marshes along New Jersey's Intracoastal Waterway by spraying them with dredged mud.
• Japan is not the only country that is still whaling; Iceland has caught 88 endangered Fin Whales this summer.

Loose Feathers #457

White-tailed Ptarmigan / Photo by Peter Plage / USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Nine Hawaiian Crow chicks hatched at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center on Hawaii; the world population of this species is now up to 114 crows. Hawaiian Crows are extinct in the wild, but a captive breeding program seeks to re-establish a wild population.
• Thirteen birds newly recognized as distinct species based on older specimens are already extinct.
• Magpies do not steal shiny objects; in fact, they are afraid of shiny things. 
• There have been large discrepancies in the avian mortality figures reported for the Ivanpah solar plant. Here is a way to understand where they come from.
• A Bronx resident created a bird sanctuary in a city lot that has become a city park.
• The recovery plan for endangered salmon in Oregon calls for killing some of the cormorant colony at the mouth of the Columbia River.
• First-winter songbirds tend to return north later than adults of the same species.
• Ospreys have produced a pair of chicks in Cumbria, England, for the first time in 150 years.
• A Glossy Ibis pair is attempting to nest in the U.K. for the first time.

Science and nature blogging

• Tetrapod Zoology: More passerines as seen from the peripheries (part III): Great tits!
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Purple Swamphen preening
• Mark Avery: Four Bee-eater chicks fledge on Isle of Wight
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Birds Lost Their Sweet Tooth, Hummingbirds Got Theirs Back
• Bug Eric: Wasp Mantisfly
• Nemesis Bird: Alcids of the Olympic Peninsula by Alex Lamoreaux
• Beetles In The Bush: Stag and "stagette" beetle
• Outside My Window: Love This Blue
• Inkfish: How Humans Are Helping Ravens and Hurting Hawks

Environment and biodiversity

• Selective logging in Indian forests continues to affect the frogs that live there.
• Loss of groundwater in western North America is causing the ground to lift upward, especially in California.
• Cultivars of native plants do not always provide the same benefits as native plants, but some might.
• Bats that die at wind turbines in Germany tend to be long-distance migrants and prefer to fly on nights without strong winds.
• Here is an interview with an artist who is captivated by seaweed.

Loose Feathers #456

Yellow-headed Blackbird / USFWS Photo

Birds and birding

• When the Russet-backed and Olive-backed subspecies of Swainson's Thrush hybridize, they may follow the route taken by one of their parents or take a more difficult intermediate route. 
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed Threatened status for the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, with designated critical habitat covering 546,335 acres. The proposal in the Federal Register can be read here.
• A research team found a new population of endangered Grey-breasted Parakeets in Brazil.
• Ravens are the main users of artificial structures in sagebrush landscapes, to the detriment of sagebrush specialists.
• Little Penguin seem to forage in groups and possibly cooperate in finding prey. 
• In Africa, vultures are under threat from both poachers and farmers.
• Chimney Swifts are at home in urban areas, as long as they have chimneys for nesting.
• Focus groups of informed local residents may be a cost-effective means of doing biodiversity surveys.
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service is not allowing drone testing in Cape May until later in the fall because of the potential threat to migrating Piping Plovers and Red Knots.
• CNN has a gallery of excellent bird photos, mostly showing birds in flight.

Science and nature blogging

• All About Birds: Seven Ways of Looking at a Fairywren: Student Research in Australia
• Beetles In The Bush: A time of reckoning
• Laelaps: Planting the Cenozoic Garden
• Tetrapod Zoology: Blue tits: passerines seen from the peripheries (part II)
• 10,000 Birds: All about alcids: Extravagant divers of northern oceans
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Little Giant Whales Take 100 Gulps an Hour
• Charismatic Minifauna: The Secret Bataclysm: White Nose Syndrome and Extinction
• ABA Blog: Drought in California likely to Affect Migratory Birds
• Anything Larus: Great Black-backed Gulls: Cape May, New Jersey
• Nemesis Bird: Photo Essay: Iceland birds by Luke Musher
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Oriental Pied Hornbill Family

Environment and biodiversity

• Blue sharks use the North Atlantic as a nursery, and then males and females follow separate routes for most of the year.
• Ice discharge from Antarctica could raise sea levels as much as 37 centimeters this century.
• Ecologists are concerned about whether redwoods can withstand a warming climate.
• Basketball star Yao Ming has been actively campaigning to reduce the demand for ivory and shark fins.
• Here are nine things to know about poison ivy.
• The Hudson River School Trail includes vantage points that inspired many 19th-century paintings.
• Here are some ways that climate change might affect California.
• In case a drone crashing into Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring was not enough, here are some other ways that drones have affected visitors and wildlife in national parks.
• There are some positive signs for shark conservation after many years of decline.
• The Florida Leafwing and Bartram’s Scrub-Hairstreak, whose U.S. ranges are restricted to Florida, will be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Loose Feathers #455

Wilson's Phalaropes / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding

• Audubon has released its summary for the 114th Christmas Bird Count. Here is the summary for New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
• California is considering an emergency endangered listing for the rapidly declining Tricolored Blackbird.
• A study found that observer age may bias the results of citizen science projects like the Breeding Bird Survey. Scientists using the data may need to take this into consideration during analysis.
• A study using geolocators attached to Honey Buzzards and Montagu's Harriers confirmed that wind and thermal patterns affect the raptors' migration route and flight speed. The study is open access for whoever wants to read it.
• Many seabird populations are declining in the Pacific Northwest.
• Wild Bird Fund cares for wild birds that are found sick or injured around New York City.
• Friends of Animals is suing to prevent any more unnecessary wildlife killings at local airports.
• Lice on individual Galapagos Hawks & their offspring mirror island biogeography.
• Many penguin species are at risk from habitat degradation.
• Blue-footed Boobies are on the decline, possibly because of low sardine stocks.
• Here are digital images of a book of bird illustrations made from feathers.

Science and nature blogging

• Not Exactly Rocket Science: On The Evolution of Migration
• Charismatic Minifauna: Don’t Drink the Water … In Lake Erie
• Circle of Blue: Infographics: Effect of Northern Ohio’s Cropland and Land Use on Maumee River and Lake Erie
• Nemesis Bird: 'Puget Sound' White-crowned Sparrows by Alex Lamoreaux
• Birdchick: One Step Closer To Fixing The Vikings Stadium
• Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens: In Praise of Wasps II. The Stingless Ones
• Robert Scribbler: Terrible Thunderstorms of Fire Over Canada as Arctic Territory Continues Record Burn
• Tetrapod Zoology: Chiffchaffs: a view of passerines from the peripheries (part I)
• Rebecca in the Woods: Clark’s Nutcracker Fledgling
• South Jersey Butterfly B/Log: European Peacock in Gloucester County!
• 10,000 Birds: The German Eagles
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Blue-throated Bee-eater caught a bee
• The Birdist: Birds at Large: Commercials - August 2014
• Bug Eric: Ant-hunting spider, Euryopis
• The Corvid Blog: Of Jackdaws

Environment and biodiversity

• KCET's ReWild blog is profiling some of California's invasive species this week. So far there are posts on the American Bullfrog, the Argentine Ant, and the Blue Gum Eucalyptus.
• This week a tailings pond of a copper gold mine in British Columbia was breached, and much of its contents spilled out into surrounding waterways. The breach came after years of warnings that the dam was unsafe. The company claims that the tailings are clean, but a former employee says otherwise.
• Pangolins are being eaten to extinction, but a campaign may reduce demand.
• A tourist accidentally crashed a camera-bearing drone into Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring. This incident is a good example of why the National Park Service banned drones in national parks.
• The US Energy Information Agency released maps of flooding risks around energy infrastructure.
• An oil refinery in Delaware is threatened by sea level rise, so it is asking the federal government for funds to hold off the waters.
• Gypsy Moths are relatively scarce in New Jersey this summer.

Loose Feathers #454

Greater Sage-Grouse / Photo by Tom Koerner (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• DDT is still killing birds in Michigan because of toxins remaining in and around a Superfund site that was formerly a pesticide company.
• Immigrant women in Baltimore have volunteered their time planting native plants in Patterson Park to make the park more hospitable to migrating birds.
• Researchers studying African Penguins found four distinct vocalizations used by adults and two used by chicks.
• The latest taxonomic revision added 361 bird species to the IUCN Red List; of those, 87 are threatened with extinction. 
• Artificial lighting in cities affects the circadian rhythms and mating patterns of songbirds.
• Eggshells allow just enough UV exposure for chicks to develop, but not enough to cause injury.
• The turns of starling flocks are started by just a few birds, and other birds follow their neighbors to stay with the flock.
• A post on eBird's 422 missing bird species was updated with a link to a downloadable spreadsheet of the missing species.
• Conservation organizations are petitioning the New York state legislature to ban some types of rodenticides that are killing urban wildlife.
• Wired examines legends of an eagle large enough to carry off elephants and what may lie behind them.
• Most shorebirds have declined considerably in the estuaries of Northern Ireland.
• The Star-Ledger has a profile of Pete Dunne, who is stepping down as head of the Cape May Bird Observatory.

Science and nature blogging

• ABA Blog: 2014 AOU Check-list Supplement is Out!
• 10,000 Birds: Birding California: A Regional Primer
• Birdchick: Why The New Vikings Stadium Is A Problem 
• Tetrapod Zoology: 50 million years of incredible shrinking theropod dinosaurs
• Bug Eric: Thistle Grasshopper
• Extinction Countdown: All 8 Pangolin Species Being Eaten into Extinction
• The Bee Pasture: A good home for the Hackberry Emperor
• Outside My Window: Peppergrass

Environment and biodiversity

• El Niño may not bring California as much drought relief as hoped.
• The Colorado River Basin has lost 53 million acre-feet of freshwater in the last decade, with most of that loss coming from groundwater.
• A piece of amber contains the oldest rove beetle from the tribe Omaliini.
• The Philippines have tremendous biodiversity, but much of that diversity is threatened by ongoing deforestation.
• Ecologists may underestimate the effect logging has on biodiversity.
• The world's largest flea lives on beavers in the Pacific Northwest.
• Last week Science Friday interviewed one of the founders of National Moth Week.