Loose Feathers #494

Yellow-rumped Warbler / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Last Saturday was the World Series of Birding in New Jersey. Here are the results. My team, the Middlesex Merlins, finished with 99 species, our lowest total in four years of participation.
• Many of the Black-crowned Night-Herons that nest around the bird house at the National Zoo spend the winter in Florida.
• Here are seven bird species that need the boreal forest to survive.
• Wild birds in the Midwest may be threatened by a bird flu epidemic that so far has mostly claimed poultry.
• This year's shorebird banding season is underway around the Delaware Bay.
• Winter irruptions of boreal birds are linked to short-term climate variations.

Science and nature blogging

• 10,000 Birds: The Hidden Qualities of House Sparrows
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Meet the Comical Opah, the Only Truly Warm-Blooded Fish
• The Rattling Crow: Carrion Crow cawing display

Environment and biodiversity

• Even small patches of woodland are important for carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat.
• Hundreds of dead diamondback terrapins are washing ashore on Long Island.
• The Obama administration has decided to open the Arctic to oil drilling. An oil spill there could be catastrophic given the lack of infrastructure for a cleanup. The decision to open the Arctic to drilling looks especially bad in light of Shell's poor record.
• The FBI spied on Keystone XL opponents in violation of its own rules.