Loose Feathers #510

Tagged Red Knot with other shorebirds / Photo by Gregory Breese/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Citizen science is contributing much data for scientific research, especially through birding-related projects like eBird and the Christmas Bird Count.
• Scientists estimate that plastic will be found in 99% of seabirds by 2050. It already affects 60% of species; the number of individuals affected rose from <5% in 1960 to 80% by 2010.
• Many birds may lose parts of their ranges due to climate change, and conservation planning needs to account for shifting ranges.
• Common Loons return to the same wintering sites year after year.
• White-tailed Eagles avoid large bullet fragments during consumption of carcasses, an important finding in support of nonlead ammunition. 
• Scientists are trying to bring back the endangered Attwater's Prairie-Chicken, but success is limited due to numerous factors, from fire ants to floods. Currently the population stands at 104 birds.

Science and nature blogging

• Extinction Countdown: Asian Vultures Get Good News Ahead of International Vulture Day
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: The Black-crowned Night Heron
• Bird Ecology Study Group: The Jacana Fields of Taiwan (A Lesson in Conservation & Advocacy to Asian Neighbours)
• Warblers and rumors of warblers: Some Fall migration photos
• Earbirding.com: Ever heard of Pine Flycatcher? 
• Charismatic Minifauna: Royal Jelly Isn't What Makes a Queen Bee a Queen Bee 
• The Smaller Majority: Mozambique Diary: Snug as a bug 
• The Birdist: Birds at Large: Teal Owl
• 10,000 Birds: What’s in a Name: Limpkin 

Environment and biodiversity

• A toad thought to be extinct was rediscovered in Ecuador. 
• Some wind energy companies have agreed to voluntary measures to reduce bat fatalities by idling turbines when wind speeds are low during migratory periods.
• Denali continues to lose ice at a rapid pace.
• California is building an overpass to serve as a wildlife corridor for mountain lions in Los Angeles County. 
• The coal industry is collapsing, but in the meantime it continues to inflict irreparable damage to the Appalachian Mountains.
• Kudzu may not be as unstoppable as advertised.
• The re-emergence of a drought in the northeast is threatening the water supplies of some northern New Jersey towns, but things are not too bad yet.