Loose Feathers #540

Golden Eagle / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• The tropical Americas may be on the verge of a new wave of extinctions.
• When beaches are replenished, tidal invertebrates are buried and take longer than thought to recover, which could affect the beach-nesting shorebirds that eat them.
• Here are suggestions for how to prevent wasps from nesting in a bird box.
• A new marine preserve will help the Galapagos Penguins.
• Over 30 Bohemian Waxwings were killed after the flock hit a glass corridor in Ottawa. 
• The population of Red-crowned Parrots living in US cities may rival that in its native range in Mexico.
• Despite having differently structured brains, corvids show similar cognitive abilities as primates.
• A federal judge in South Carolina stopped a program that killed 25,000 Double-crested Cormorants in 2014 and 2015.

Science and nature blogging

• Herp Blog: How To Find An Amphibian Road Crossing
• South Jersey Butterfly B/Log: Northbound Ladies?
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Why Small Birds Opt For Urban Living
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: As Spring Arrives a Reminder to Keep Up On Our Birding Ethics
• Laelaps: Getting to the Root of How Earth’s Massive Coal Seams Formed
• Extinction Countdown: Bat-Killing Fungus Spreads from Coast to Coast
• 10,000 Birds: The mother of all large white-headed gulls: The European Herring Gull 

Environment and biodiversity

• Honduras is the deadliest country for environmentalists, with 101 murders of environmental activists between 2010 and 2014.
• Last week, a study predicted that Antarctic ice sheets would collapse faster than current estimates; Greenland's glaciers are more stable, but they also may melt faster than expected.
• It is possible that China's carbon dioxide emissions have peaked.
• NOAA issued a new rule to protect small forage fish like saury and sand lance. 
• Controversy continues over a plan to log Europe's oldest forest, the Białowieza Forest in Poland and Belarus. 
• After a warm winter, Arctic sea ice has reached a new record low.
• The BLM approved a controversial solar development on public land, even though its economic future is in doubt.
• Wildlife rescues have increased in Australia since the government allowed more clearcutting.
• The commercial bumblebee industry may have spread Nosema to wild populations.
• Native bees like bumble bees are vital; here are some ways to help them.
• A portion of the Keystone pipeline was shut down following an oil leak in South Dakota.
• New York is considering installing tidal gates at the mouth of Jamaica Bay.
• The Trout Lily Project is looking for observations of blooming trout lilies.