Loose Feathers #505

Virginia Rail / Photo by Steve Arena/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Birding a local patch even in the midsummer doldrums can reveal much about bird behavior and movements.
• A study finds link between the genetics underlying birds' sense of smell and their behavior and the size of their olfactory bulb. Seabirds and birds of prey seem to have more developed senses of smell, while songbirds seem not to.
• A new threatened species strategy in Australia will seek to save the Plains Wanderer and other highly endangered birds.
• Wilson's Storm-Petrel is one of the most common birds in the world, but it is unusual to see one from land. 
• Eight endangered Mangrove Finch fledglings were released on Isabela Island in the Galapagos after they were raised in captivity. 
• Only 400 Regent Honeyeaters remain in the wild,  and conservation groups are seeking birders to help monitor the remaining population.
• A survey found that cat owners tend to underestimate how many birds and mammals that outdoor cats and are unwilling to keep them indoors even when they know the correct number.

Science and nature blogging

• Extinction Countdown: Another Northern White Rhino Dies: And Then There Were Four 
• The Contemplative Mammoth: Taking a long view of conservation: should we protect the actors or the stage?
• 10,000 Birds: Great Egrets and the reliability of field marks 
• The Birdist: Google Street View Birding: Antarctica Part III: Antarctica
• Birding New Jersey!: The Song-Sparrow 
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Abruptly Warming Climate Triggered Megabeast Revolutions 
• Southern Fried Science: 11 thoughts about Cecil the lion

Environment and biodiversity

• Next week the Obama administration will announce a new climate plan that pushes back the deadline for compliance by two years. He plans to veto any bills that seek to undercut the new program.
• This year will future a strong El Niño. How that will affect winter in the Northeast remains uncertain.
• Officials in Florida are trying to adapt mosquito control programs to have less effect on rare butterflies.
• Some neighborhoods in Chicago are near massive piles of petcoke. 
• A solar development in California has agreed to implement conservation measures to offset the loss of habitat caused by the construction.
• At least a quarter of North American bumblebee species are facing extinction.
• This was a boom year for gypsy moths in New Jersey.
• DNA analysis suggests that there could be many more European butterfly species than are currently recognized.
• Droughts make it harder for trees to absorb carbon.