Loose Feathers #549

Ruddy Turnstone and Red Knot / Photo by Gregory Breese/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Yesterday's Google Doodle honored Phoebe Snetsinger, the first birder to record over 8,000 species. (Her record of 8,398 has since been broken.) Here is an article on her life and her NY Times obituary from 1999.
• Two grassland species, Grasshopper Sparrows and Baird's Sparrows, may be particularly susceptible to the warmer and drier conditions that climate change will bring. 
• Birds that build up extra fat reserves prior to spring migration will be in better shape for breeding once they arrive at their destination.
• Recent studies have shown that the Dodo's poor reputation was undeserved.
• An Arctic Tern made longest migration on record, a round trip of 59,650 miles.
• An observer in Massachusetts noticed other shorebirds feeding on horseshoe crab eggs from the holes dug by Ruddy Turnstones.
• New fisheries regulations have been successful in reducing seabird bycatch.
• Here is a guide to what a normal birding year is like in the northeastern US. 
• Birders can contribute to conservation efforts via citizen science projects like eBird. 
• A blind ornithologist in Uruguay can distinguish 3,000 bird vocalizations from 720 species and studies birds using sound recording equipment instead of binoculars.
• We have probably all seen photos of oiled birds, but have you seen one of a gull that fell into a vat of chicken tikka masala?

Science and nature blogging

• 10,000 Birds: Greater Sage-grouse v. Wind Turbines in Oregon
• Symbiartic: Mourning Dove versus Morning Dove
• Anything Larus: What's That On Your Bill?
• Dan Tallman’s Bird Blog: Henslow’s Sparrow 
• BugBlog: Why do male Wool-carder bees defend a flower patch? 
• Warblers and rumors of warblers: A Magic Tree
• Bug Eric: Strange Behavior Explained (Sort of)
• Slow Nature Fast City: Explore Tide Pools in the Bronx
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Dark-necked Tailorbird in NE Borneo

Environment and biodiversity

• Icelandic scientists have developed a method of carbon capture and storage that involves injecting carbon dioxide into basalt, but cost is still an obstacle to widespread use of carbon capture.
• Last week, an oil train derailed and exploded in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. It was the latest in a series of accidents that have sparked opposition to shipping oil by rail.
• Conservationists worry that a fungus spread by the pet trade could kill off salamanders in North America.
• Voters in counties around San Francisco Bay approved a tax that would fund wetlands restoration in the bay's watershed.
• A report by the Natural Areas Conservancy found that New York City hosts 2,100 species of plants, 350 species of birds, and 200 species of native bees, among others.
• This year there has been a surge in horseshoe crab spawning around Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay.
• The fire that raged through Fort McMurray is part of a 40-year escalation of the frequency and intensity of fires in the boreal region.
• Hummingbird-like moths that normally breed in continental Europe may be colonizing Great Britain. 
• The Emerald Ash Borer has reached Nebraska, and conservationists in the state are trying to limit its spread.