Loose Feathers #529

Short-eared Owl with a meadow vole / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• This week the continuing armed occupation of Malheur NWR brought counterprotests from birders and conservationists despite intimidation from the occupiers. Meanwhile, militia continue to dig in and damage the refuge, and employees fear their management work combating invasive species could be undone. The ranchers at the center of the dispute have a history of harassing federal employees. In addition, there is concern about theft or destruction of cultural artifacts.
• Thousands of seabirds have been found dead in Alaska, mostly likely from starvation.
• A new thrush species, the Himalayan Forest Thrush, was identified in India as the similar Plain-backed Thrush is split into multiple species.
• EBird data is now being used to track migration across continents.
• Results are available from a study on bird collisions with windows.
• Egg color in cuckoos is influenced by genetic material passed through the maternal line.
• Great Tits that lay eggs with spotted shells may not be healthy.
• Conservation groups in Ireland are fighting regulatory changes that would allow more burning and hedge-cutting at times when rare birds are nesting.
• A report shows continuing declines for many British breeding birds.
• A study is tracking how Sandhill Cranes use migratory stopover habitat with satellite transmitters.

Science and nature blogging

• Bug Eric: "New" Insight Into Behavior of Some Cuckoo Wasps (Chrysididae)
• Backyard and Beyond: Free Malheur NWR
• Extinction Countdown: Invasive Goldenrod Is Killing Europe's Ants and Butterflies
• Inkfish: What Is Citizen Science Good For? Birds, Butterflies, Big Data
• 10,000 Birds: Solar Plant Stopped Killing Birds: One Weird Trick!  
• Birding Dude: Banded Ring-billed Gulls in Queens NY
• Seabirder Shearer: Stormy seas 
• Anything Larus: Red-legged Kittiwake - Inland Washington

Environment and biodiversity

• Last year was the hottest year on record, partly due to El Niño but mostly due to climate change.
• According to a new study, selective logging of California forests will not add to the state's water supply.
• A survey of 50 homes in North Carolina retrieved over 10,000 arthropod specimens, with an average of 93 species found in each home, the vast majority of which are harmless or even beneficial. See coverage in Wired and The Atlantic for more on the study.
• Twenty-four new weevil species in the genus Trigonopterus were identified from Australian rainforests.
• At least 1,542 snout moth species have been identified and named in the US and Canada according to a new annotated checklist of the Pyraloidea.
• The Obama administration will impose new rules for residential air conditioner efficiency. In addition to saving energy, efficiency rules reduce the amount of greenhouse gases and other pollutants that are emitted into the atmosphere.
• Chris Christie pocket-vetoed all but one of the environmental bills passed by the legislature in the last session.