Loose Feathers #470

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

Birds and birding news

• There is speculation that the reintroduction programs for California Condors and Black-footed Ferrets may have driven those endangered species' species-specific parasites to extinction.
• Scientists investigating the genetic basis for feathers have identified 193 genes that contribute to feather development, and some of them were present in vertebrates long before birds evolved.
• Fur seals have been recorded sexually harassing penguins and then (in some cases) eating them.
• New York City has been the entry point for numerous introduced and invasive species, including the ubiquitous House Sparrow and European Starling.
• Last week, the Gunnison Sage-Grouse was given threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. Whether Greater Sage-Grouse will be listed as well is still undecided.

Science and nature blogging

• Birding Is Fun!: How to Find the South Hills Crossbill
• Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.: Birding Is Hard: Return of the Gulls 
• 10,000 Birds: Trumpeter Swans: Don’t Shoot Them 
• The Smaller Majority: African Bats: Conservation in the Time of Ebola
• North Coast Diaries: Bean Goose Taxonomy
• Ibycter: Slender in the grass
• Outside My Window: Winter Is A Great Pest Control System
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: The Fault in Our Stars Might be a Virus
• Mocosoco Birds: Chimney Rock Hawk Watch - Season Stats 2014
• Deep Sea News: TGIF – Zoiks! Lionfish!
• Bug Eric: Ballooning Spiders

Environment and biodiversity

• Migrating wildlife depend on private and mixed-use public lands in addition to wilderness areas.
• The world's largest earwig, which lived on St. Helena, was declared extinct in the latest revision of the IUCN Red List.
• This listicle has some interesting facts about native bees in North America (and beyond) and exquisite photographs by Clay Bolt.
• Despite protests from environmentalists, fracking will be allowed in parts of George Washington National Forest, the largest national forest on US east coast.
• People who want to help Monarch butterflies should make sure to plant native milkweeds rather than exotic tropical milkweed.
• A volunteer came up with a list of trees for Highland Park Meadows, a small preserve in Middlesex County, New Jersey.
• A study from the Ozarks found that salamanders formed an unexpectedly large portion of the biomass in forest ecosystems.
• Even though most NGOs felt it was too soon, the fishing quotas for Atlantic Bluefin Tunas were increased.
• Emerald ash borers have now been recorded in Westchester and Broome counties in New York.
• Armyworm moths have developed resistance to Bt corn.
• The Civil War had significant effects on the environment, such as the clearing of forests for firewood and other supplies.