Posts
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| American White Pelican / Photo by Krishna Prasad Kotti / USFWS |
- A biologist who spent her life studying the unusual mating system of White-throated Sparrows died within a few months of publishing a major paper on the genetic mutation that underlies the sparrows' different color morphs. White-striped individuals almost always mate with tan-striped individuals, to the extent that the species seems to have four sexes.
- Sapsuckers seem to have the ability to tell which plant species will yield the most sap on a given day.
- Conservationists want stronger protections for Black Rails, but it is challenging to get data on their population trends since Black Rails are hard for birders to find. (Unfortunately the author of that piece makes some odd comments about rails and why birders have trouble finding them.)
- Birders who do point counts for citizen science projects may find this discussion of point count methodology helpful.
- A Western Tanager that has been seen in New York's City Hall for the past week fits one of the two main patterns for rare birds in autumn on the east coast.
- The Connecticut State of the Birds report warns that Saltmarsh Sparrows are under threat of extinction because of sea level rise, and other coastal saltmarsh birds are not doing well, either.
- Traffic noise in urban areas drowns out alarm calls given by songbirds, which may increase their risk of predation.
- Christmas Bird Count season will be coming soon. You can join a count here. A list of counts in New Jersey is here.
- Artificial water pools lined with concrete support birds and other wildlife in the Oregon desert.
- The recent Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand may have crushed a rare seabird nesting colony.
- Extinction Countdown: Another Arctic Species Losing Out as Sea Ice Declines: The Ivory Gull
- Outside My Window: What Good is a Collection?
- Shorebird Science: Shorebird Conservation in French Guiana
- Birding the day away !!: Azorean Gull ~ Ad ~ Larus michahellis atlantis ~ Sao Miguel, Azores -Nov' 16
- robertscribbler: ‘Everything is Burning Around Us’ — You Just Can’t Normalize Gatlinburg’s Freakish Fall Firestorm
- DeSmogBlog: International Implications of Trudeau's Kinder Morgan Pipeline Approval
- Backyard and Beyond: Daily Raptor
- EPA administrators made last minute changes to its report on fracking and water quality to downplay the risk of contaminating drinking water.
- This year's Atlantic hurricane season featured the most hurricanes since 2012 and the first category five hurricane since 2007.
- Diving bell spiders are able to survive and hunt underwater.
- Effective predator conservation needs to build cultural appreciation for them in addition to education about managing risk.
- Climate change will affect some places more than others, so public policy should seek to address those places' needs.
- Climate change should not be treated as an isolated problem since it affects so many other issues (including national security, the main subject of the linked essay).
- Here is a gallery of photos illustrating climate change.
- Scientists found fossils of ground beetles in Antarctica.
- Whether to remove invasive Eucalyptus trees from natural areas around the Bay Area is a matter of continuing controversy.
- Camera traps are shedding light on the behavior of Madagascar's native carnivores.
