Loose Feathers #571

Snow Bunting / Photo by Alex Galt/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• The wetlands of Louisiana are among the most reliable places to see Yellow Rails when they pass through during their autumn migration.
• Like male plumage, female cardinal plumage serves as a signal of their breeding fitness. 
• New research suggests that introducing Ruddy-headed Geese from the Falklands will not help Ruddy-headed Geese on the mainland because the two populations have not interbred for over a million years. 
• Archaeological evidence suggests that turkeys have been domesticated in the Americas for at least 1500 years.
• Threatened seabirds are beginning to recover on Macquarie Island now that invasive pests have been removed.
• Hawaiian honeycreepers are threatened by avian malaria, thanks in part to climate change.
• A new population of the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater has been discovered in Australia.
• Bird specimens in museums can be used to study how air pollution has changed over time.

Science and nature blogging

• ABA Blog: ABA Big Year Update: Three Past the Record
• 10,000 Birds: What’s In a Name: Mr. Crissal and the Red-butted Thrush
• Extinction Countdown: Thanksgiving Species Snapshot: Waigeo Brush-Turkey
• The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey Blog: Wildflowers of Cape Island Creek
• Cool Green Science: Turkeys Are What They Eat: Weird and Adaptable
• Warblers and rumors of warblers: Chat chat 
• robertscribbler: Climate Change Has Left Bolivia Crippled by Drought
• View from the Cape: Reflecting on the 'Elusive' Dickcissel 
• Bug Eric: Last Hurrah or New Normal?  
• Project SNOWstorm: A New Season - and a View from the Arctic

Environment and biodiversity

• Recent research shows that Peru’s Manu National Park hosts the greatest vertebrate biodiversity on Earth.
• The Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused shoreline erosion and the loss of coastal wetlands in the years since the disaster. Oil weakens the roots of plants that help hold shores and marshes together.
• The incoming Trump administration wants to end funding for NASA's earth science division, which studies climate change. 
• The new marine protected area near Antarctica was designed in part to protect fishing interests, so it may not be as effective as advertised.
• Road salt alters the sex ratios among frogs in nearby ponds by reducing the proportion of females by 10%.
• A number of Humpback Whale sightings have been reported in the Hudson River over the past week.
• A dead Humpback Whale was found tangled in a former fish farm in British Columbia. 
• The drought in New Jersey is uncovering the remains of former villages under the state's reservoirs.

Loose Feathers #570

Red Winged Blackbirds/ Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Some shorebirds, such as Dunlin and Western Sandpipers, eat diatoms in the green slime that covers coastal mudflats to build up energy reserves during migration.
• A prehistoric bird fossil from the Cretaceous shows evidence of iridescent feathers (journal reference), which is the first time iridescence has been documented in a bird that old. 
• Scientists have found traces of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the feathers and guts of Seaside Sparrows. 
• Noah Strycker's world big year record of 6,042 species has been broken by Dutch birder Arjan Dwarshuis, who so far has recorded over 6,100 species this year.
• Taking lots of photos is a good way to document bird sightings and work through tricky identifications.
• A birder argues that it is time to rename the Ring-necked Duck for its bill.
• The Cirl Bunting has staged a remarkable recovery in Great Britain. 
• Participants in an online poll chose the Gray Jay as Canada's national bird, but the choice has not been confirmed officially by the government.

Science and nature blogging

• Birding Dude: Jamaica Bay New York City 2016 Shorebird Season
• Extinction Countdown: New Technology Reveals Hundreds of Bird Species at Risk 
• The Rattling Crow: The bristle head crows
• Cool Green Science: The Largest Mammal That No Scientist Has Ever Seen in the Wild
• Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Blog: 2016 Winter Moth Survey
• Outside My Window: Fox Sparrows Are Passing Through
• View from the Cape: Reflecting on the 'Elusive' Dickcissel
• The Bruce Mactavish Newfoundland Birding Blog: 27 Years (to the hour) between HERMIT WARBLERS
• robertscribbler: For The Arctic Ocean Above 80 North, It’s Still Summer in November  
• 10,000 Birds: Finding Solace in Birds 
• Bug Eric: ID Tip: Ground Beetle or Darkling Beetle?

Environment and biodiversity

• While the emissions cuts called for in the Paris agreement are achievable and will slow climate change, they will not be enough to meet the agreement's goal of keeping warming below 2°C, much less 1.5°C.
• If Trump pulls the US out of the Paris agreement (and its larger framework), then China will likely take the lead on fighting climate change but with diminished chances for preventing catastrophic change.
• This October was the third-warmest October on record and continued a year of record warmth.
• Washington, DC, expects its heat emergencies to double by 2020.
• Since 2009, 53 million acres of natural grasslands in the U.S. have been converted to cropland, with consequences for the wildlife that depend on that habitat. 
• Scientists are experimenting with soil bacteria to suppress invasive cheatgrass, which fuels wildfires in western states. 
• Some ecologists are asking why coyotes, dingoes, and wolves are singled out for persecution.
• Like much of the northeast, New Jersey is in the midst of a persistent drought, with drinking water levels continuing to decline. Dry conditions have expanded into all but one of the state's counties. Raritan Headwaters has called on Christie and the DEP to declare a drought emergency.
• Fall foliage season is winding down in the northeastern U.S., but here is an explanation of why some trees drop their leaves. 
• The Billion Oyster Project is attempting to restore oyster beds around New York Harbor.

Loose Feathers #569

Mallard / Photo by  Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• New research shows that some seabirds ingest plastic because it starts to smell like plankton after it has been floating in the ocean for a while.
• Many western hummingbird species have been spotted in the eastern U.S. in the late fall and early winter. 
• Conservation of Red-headed Woodpeckers requires a holistic approach since they prefer transition zones between forest and open areas. 
• Research continues to show that birds are more intelligent than people long imagined.
• A die-off of Tufted Puffins in the Pacific may be linked to warmer ocean temperatures. 
• Boobies may behave badly by human standards, but they are driven to be that way by the need to survive and pass on their genes.
• Indonesia is trying to save its critically endangered Helmeted Hornbills, which are poached their bills.
• Here are some photos of rescued owls.
• The Golden Eagle population in Scotland is close to its historic level, at more than 500 pairs, a 15% rise since 2003.

Science and nature blogging

• Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort: “Old Man Plover” (BO:X,g) made it south!
• Skeptical Science: So fracking reduces carbon emissions, right?

Environment and biodiversity

• The election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president threatens numerous environmental protections, most notably the Clean Power Plan and implementation of the recent Paris agreement.
• A Trump administration is expected to be very friendly to the fossil fuel industry.
• A proposal to enact a carbon tax in Washington state failed at the polls, partly due to a split between environmental groups.
• Despite those losses, voters in 19 states committed $13 billion for land conservation via ballot questions on Tuesday.
• Climate change is already disrupting ecological processes, with unpredictable effects for humans. 
• Any chance of staving off catastrophic climate change will require tapering off fossil fuel development as soon as possible.

Loose Feathers #568

Wilson's Snipe / Photo by Jim Hudgins/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• New research suggests that oil spills generated by the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II caused precipitous declines in some seabird populations.
• Twitter can be useful for finding information on local rarities as well as for connecting with birders generally. 
• A study at field sites in Puerto Rico found that fruit-eating birds help to spread the seeds of rarer plant species and make a forest's plant structure more diverse than it would be otherwise. 
• While the US Fish and Wildlife Service is protecting the breeding birds at Midway Atoll NWR, it lacks the funds to keep its historic structures in good repair (with the result that birds are ingesting lead paint from deteriorating buildings).
• Brooklyn hosts a stable population of nonnative Monk Parakeets. 
• While the judge imposed a substantial fine on the man who killed two endangered Whooping Cranes, some crane conservationists argue it was not high enough to deter other killings.

Science and nature blogging

• robertscribbler: 2016 on Track for Record Rate of Atmospheric CO2 Increase
• ABA Blog: The ABA adds Hawaii – Now What?
• Stokes Birding Blog: Gray Kingbird, Yes!! Super Rarity Still in MA 
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Asian Paradise-flycatcher – Rictal bristles
• Bug Eric: Don't Ignore the Small Bugs!
• Backyard and Beyond: Raptor Wednesday
• The Zen Birdfeeder: So Just Where is Its Ruby Crown? 
• Wanstead Birder: Always stay at home to see Shrikes

Environment and biodiversity

• Unless global warming is kept below 2 degrees, southern Spain will become desert and deciduous forest will invade the mountains.
• Feral cats do not just kill birds; lately they have been killing Hawaiian Monk Seals on Kauai via toxoplasmosis. 
• The Army Corps of Engineers is considering whether an alternate route can be found for the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline. If protestors succeed in stopping or even delaying the pipeline, it could make companies more hesitant to build pipelines in the future.
• Climate change may make the peak of fall foliage later and more brilliant in the northeastern U.S., though the color may decrease if it warms too much for maples to survive.
• A new article suggests that citizen scientists could provide even more data for monitoring biodiversity.
• New Jersey faces its worst drought in 14 years and may need to impose water restrictions in the near future. Lack of rainfall has been a problem throughout the northeast this year.
• Climate change is melting even the oldest and thickest parts of the Arctic's sea ice cap.
• Elsewhere in the Arctic, Svalbard had its warmest and wettest October on record.
• Ryan Bundy promises another armed protest over public lands if he and his co-defendants are acquitted in the Nevada case. The acquittals in the Oregon case make it more likely that such protests will turn violent and make federal employees targets.
• Finland will continue its wolf culls despite criticism from conservationists.
• A federal court ordered stronger protection for two vulnerable plant species in Utah.