Loose Feathers #567

Pied-billed Grebe / Photo by Lloyd Bush/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Birders in Europe have recorded a total of 148 Siberian Accentors so far this fall — four times the total number that had been recorded in Europe in the past century. Here is a map of the sightings.
• Researchers working to save the Kaki (a.k.a. black stilt) developed new ways to preserve genetic diversity within a captive-bred population.
• A parrot fossil was found in Siberia, the first evidence of their presence that far north. The bird lived in the Miocene and was about the size of a Budgerigar.
• A study tracking Great Reed-Warbler migration found that 40% of the sites they use receive little or no protection, and some important sites are threatened by future infrastructure projects. 
• A second population of Night Parrots was found in an Australian national park.
• Common Swifts spend 10 months entirely in the air according to a study using geolocators. 
• Common Cuckoo eggshells thin at the same rate as those of their hosts.
• Crows and ravens have staged a remarkable comeback in New York City (and elsewhere in the surrounding region).
• A hunter was sentenced this week for killing two endangered Whooping Cranes in Texas that were part of a reintroduction program; conservationists hope the case will serve as a deterrent against future killings. 
• A fossilized bird pellet, along with the bird that presumably coughed it up, was found in China.
• The elusive Bachman's Warbler was one of America's least-understood birds even before it disappeared for good.

Science and nature blogging

• Corvid Research: New research on the cause of AKD outbreak
• Extinction Countdown: What's in the Box? A Long-Lost Species

Environment and biodiversity

• Unbelievably, all seven defendants were acquitted in the armed takeover of Malheur NWR. See this essay for some reflection on the importance of the occupation for wildlife conservation.
• The EU and 24 countries agreed to create and protect the world's largest marine reserve in the Ross Sea near Antarctica.
• Wolverines will get another shot at protection under the Endangered Species Act. Their breeding range is potentially threatened by climate change since females dig their dens in snowbanks.
• The recent spike in methane emissions appears to be driven largely by agricultural sources (especially rice paddies and livestock), though natural gas production releases more methane than industry claims.
• While the chemistry is well known, there are competing hypotheses about why leaves turn red in the autumn, from attracting (or repelling) birds and other animals to protecting the plant from UV rays.
• The overall populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have dropped 60% since 1970. 
• An Australian assassin bug hunts spiders by stealth in their own webs. 
• Removal of old and unused dams has allowed migratory fish to return to their former spawning grounds.
• It was a poor year for butterflies in Great Britain, and it seems that the mild winter there may be to blame.
• The new Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge will span non-contiguous parts of New York and several New England states.
• New Jersey finally declared a drought warning after abnormally dry conditions persisted in the northern and central counties of the state. Farmers and gardeners have already had trouble with it; now the lack of rainfall is reducing habitat for fish and waterfowl as well.

Loose Feathers #566

Northern Harrier / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• A study involving museum specimens found that California Condors were abundant and more genetically diverse 200 years ago.
• A new estimate of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper population from 2014 puts the breeding population at 210-228 pairs and the total post-breeding population at 661-718 individuals.
• Fulvous Whistling-Ducks have gradually expanded their range into the U.S., a trend that may continue.
• Blackbirds switch abruptly to migratory behavior rather than a gradual increase in restlessness.
• Bar-tailed Godwits make some of the longest recorded migratory flights.
• Africa's endangered vultures are threatened by hunting and poisoning, and their disappearance increases the risk of disease outbreaks.

Science and nature blogging

• Extinction Countdown: The Mangrove Finch: An Extinction in Slow Motion
• The Prairie Ecologist: Trusting the Resilience of Prairies
• robertscribbler: Arctic Sea Ice Falls into Record Low Ranges — Again
• Warblers and rumors of warblers: Rock me, Ammodramus
• Ricky L. Jones Photography Blog: Bald Eagle Flying over Horicon Marsh

Environment and biodiversity

• An experiment in Puerto Rico is testing how tropical forests will respond to climate change.
• Preventing overfishing remains the best way to protect coral reefs.
• Invertebrates are often overlooked among the organisms disappearing in the current mass extinction event.

Loose Feathers #565

Dark-eyed Junco / Photo by Bill Thompson/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• A paleontologist has found the oldest example of an avian syrinx (or voice box) preserved in the fossilized remains of the extinct waterfowl species Vegavis iaai, which lived near the end of the Cretaceous.
• Western Europe has had an influx of Siberian Accentors in the past week or so, including Britain's first record in Shetland.
• A pigment in the berries of some invasive honeysuckle plants dye the feathers of some Yellow-shafted Flickers so they appear red or orange instead of the usual yellow. 
• A California Condor chick has hatched and fledged at Pinnacles National Park for the first time since the 1890s.
• The ABA released this year's Birder's Guide to Listing & Taxonomy, which includes notes on recent taxonomic updates and recommendations for seeing every bird family. 
• The Lesser Prairie-Chicken deal may not be the conservation victory that its backers proclaimed.
• Even the small populations of Florida Scrub-Jays are important for maintaining genetic diversity.
• Scotland's sea eagle population is expected to double in the next ten years if current trends continue. 
• Genetic research shows that the South Hills Red Crossbill has kept its sedentary population distinct even though other Red Crossbills frequently travel through the area. 
• The populations of many songbirds and seabirds are shrinking rapidly.
• The migration behavior of Blue Tits is connected to their energy needs and willingness to explore.
• Here is a photo gallery of North American nuthatches.

Science and nature blogging

• Extinction Countdown: 1 Endangered Beetle Species Gets Protected, 2 More Go Extinct
• The Speckled Hatchback: Post #78 The HUGE thrill of finding rare birds
• Anything Larus: Nelson's Gull - A Muddy Hybrid?
• Shorebirder: Hybrid Barnacle x Canada Goose 
• Dan Tallman’s Bird Blog: Red-breasted Nuthatch
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Spectacular Swamp Sparrow 
• North Coast Diaries: Lapland Longspurs
• Outside My Window: Similar Sapsuckers
• The Dragonfly Woman: National Moth Week, As Seen From My Backyard
• jonsblog2016: Birding Piney Hollow – part 1 

Environment and biodiversity

• This year had the ninth-warmest September across the Lower-48 states; the same area has not had a cooler-than-average September since 2005.
• Even as US presidential debates have avoided the subject of climate change, the world permanently passed the 400ppm threshold for atmospheric carbon dioxide.
• Expanding fracking is incompatible with reducing fossil fuel emissions, even if political leaders talk about it as a "bridge fuel."
• Fracking threatens native wildflowers in Western Australia because of habitat disturbance and climate change.
• A recent study found that jumping spiders can hear sounds such as predators or potential prey at a distance. 
• Storms producing flooding like the NYC area saw during Hurricane Sandy could become more frequent as the climate warms and sea levels rise. 
• Bees in the Arctic are understudied but could provide information on how climate change is affecting insect populations.
• Indigenous communities have played a vital role in environmental activism.

Loose Feathers #564

Northern Waterthrush / Photo by Jessica Bolser/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Even though Chestnut-sided Warblers are currently among the most common warblers, John James Audubon saw very few in his lifetime. 
• The Coastal California Gnatcatcher shows that there are limits to using scientific disputes to advance moneyed interests.
• Pete Dunne has an account of the early years of the Cape May hawkwatch, which started 40 years ago this fall. 
• Six endangered Light-footed Ridgway's Rails were released into the marshes at San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
• A study last year found that it was not possible to separate hybrid and pure Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sparrows in the field. That study is now open-access for free reading.
• African Grey Parrots received full protection in the latest CITES update. 
• Comments are invited on the new kiwi recovery plan.
• Seawalls are among the best defenses against sea level rise, but a beach between a seawall and the ocean has little room for coastal bird habitat.
• Baltimore will become the 24th city to sign the Urban Conservation Treaty for Migratory Birds (aka Urban Bird Treaty).
• Seabirds have long enough memories to return to places where the species has not nested in years.
• The captive breeding program for the endangered Bush Thick-knee (aka Bush Stone-curlew) had a successful year.

Science and nature blogging

• Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.: ID Challenges: The Worst of The West
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Why Crested Penguins Always Lay Doomed Eggs
• The Artful Amoeba: Cliff-Dwelling Bees Carve Their Nests Out of Solid Rock
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Sultan Tit – feeding and songs/calls 
• ABA Blog: ABA Area Big Years: Early October Vagrant Chasing 
• On The Wing Photography: Great Egret With The Catch Of The Day That Didn’t Get Eaten
• robertscribbler: Dangerous Hurricane Matthew Strengthens in Record Hot Environment — May hit Florida Twice 

Environment and biodiversity

• Three-quarters of US national parks are having earlier springs due to climate change.
• A new species of pika was discovered in the Himalayas.
• Public lands belong to all Americans and should not be handed over to states or private interests. 
• Even iconic parks like Yosemite can be in danger of having their boundaries altered for the worse.
• The endangered Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog has made a remarkable recovery at Yosemite National Park.
• Romania banned trophy hunting of large carnivores, which it claimed was happening under a loophole for predators that pose a danger to humans. 
• As the Earth continues to warm, we can expect more dangerous storms like Hurricane Matthew, partly because sea level rise will increase the danger of flooding. 
• Seven native Hawaiian bees in the genus Hylaeus have been given endangered protections.
• The Miami Tiger Beetle will be listed as endangered.
• PSE&G will close its last two coal-fired electric plants in New Jersey next year.