Loose Feathers #580

Ring-necked Pheasant / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• The Boreal Songbird Initiative has started an acoustic monitoring program to get better information on the birds that inhabit the boreal forest. Some of the devices in the program are being maintained in collaboration with First Nations scientists. 
• The Collared Flycatcher is evolving smaller white forehead patches, apparently in response to climate change.
• The US Navy is trying to move a breeding colony of Laysan Albatrosses away from its airfield on Kauai by shifting fertile eggs to foster parents in a colony in a safer location.
• The proposed expansion of the border wall with Mexico is primarily a human rights issue but also threatens migratory animals along the border; that includes 111 endangered species and 108 migratory birds according to an evaluation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Audubon has more on the effects on birds, particularly Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls.
• There is a new Ivory-billed Woodpecker paper by a long-time searcher. See the summary by Audubon and the journal article. The evidence he presents is not very compelling.
• Last fall, 3,000 geese died when they landed in a toxic retention pond at a former copper mine that is now a Superfund site. The toxic waters also threatens the region's groundwater, and it is unclear whether federal and state officials will be able to prevent it from becoming an even bigger problem.
• Volunteers are cordoning off parts of state-owned beaches in New Jersey to protect birds and dune vegetation. 
• Mary Tyler Moore is best known for her acting career, but late in life she campaigned to have the nest used by Pale Male restored after the building's management had it removed.

Science and nature blogging

• Watershed Moments: Thoughts from the Hydrosphere: The War on Science: Can the US Learn From Canada? 
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Without Science You Would Not See This Short-eared Owl Photo
• 10,000 Birds: Why Birds?
• Birding New Jersey!: Other People’s Bird Books: Jean Clemens
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Birding Binoculars – Keeping It Simple
• The Speckled Hatchback: Post #90 - The death of the ABA Big Year.....(and Wood Duck photos!)  
• Viewing nature with Eileen: Limpkin 
• Birding Dude: Townsend's Solitaire: A New State and Life Bird
• Feathered Photography: The Exhausting Schedule Of Nesting Red-naped Sapsuckers 

Environment and biodiversity

• Among a flurry of executive orders at the outset of the Trump administration was one reopening the way for the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Both of these pipelines threaten important water supplies, and their economic benefits are questionable. See here for suggestions on how to take action; for the Dakota Access pipeline there is an EIS in the Federal Register and you can submit public comments.
• The Earth may have warmed more than estimated since pre-industrial times, which would mean there is less time to cut emissions to forestall catastrophic climate change. 
• Meanwhile, the new administration's hostility to climate science and environmental protections is leading EPA scientists to question the security of the jobs and sparking broader questions about whether the scientific integrity standards implemented during the Obama administration will be maintained. 
• If you use climate-related data or document from government websites like Climate.gov, now might be a good time to download backup copies.
• The muzzling and potentially gutting of the EPA and other scientists threatens to undo the protections that people like Rachel Carson fought for.
• A CDC-backed conference to discuss climate change and public health was abruptly cancelled and then revived through non-governmental organizations.
• More scientists are considering running for office to combat the anti-science atmosphere in parts of the government. 
• The large mammals that populated Australia at the end of the last Ice Age were probably driven to extinction by climate change.
• While a rainy winter has brought some drought relief to California, there are still long-term problems with how the state manages its water. 
• Utah House Republicans introduced legislation to revoke the Bears Ears monument designation and reduce the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
• The fight continues over a proposed natural gas pipeline through the southern part of the New Jersey Pinelands to serve a power plant in Cape May County. The Pinelands Commission had previously ruled against the pipeline, and then punted the decision to a different agency until a court ruled against the pipeline permit and sent the question back to the commission.
• Bergen County is holding a series of public meetings for the development of a master plan to manage county parks.

Loose Feathers #579

Oregon Dark-eyed Junco / Photo by Peter Pearsall/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• The first batch of proposed taxonomic changes for 2017 has been released. See the full batch of proposals here (pdf) and a discussion of changes affecting the ABA Area at the ABA Blog. 
• The Black Rail has been disappearing from much of its historic range on the east coast and needs protection. 
• When given testosterone, female manakins performed the wing snaps and roll snaps usually done  by males but not the more complicated jumps. 
• Red-breasted Nuthatches periodically irrupt far south of their usual wintering range.
• A crowdfunding campaign has boosted conservation efforts for the endangered Orange-bellied Parrot.
• The mitochondrial DNA of Heermann's Gulls shows evidence of past climate change.
• The fleshy frontal shield on swamphens is a sign of their dominance.
• New Jersey's Bald Eagle population continues to grow, with 172 nests recorded in 2016 by the annual survey of the state's breeding population. The breeding pairs produced 216 nestlings.
• Birds form larger flocks as a way to confuse potential predators.
• Crows in Queensland started building nests on urban buildings as a result of a cultural change.

Science and nature blogging

• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Pale-chested American Kestrel – Variability in the Underparts of Male American Kestrels
• Birding New Jersey!: Baja California Sur: The Bird
• 10,000 Birds: Loggerhead Shrikes breakfast
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Raptors Delight 
• Outside My Window: Hawks Soaring 
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Large nesting site of Little Grebe
• robertscribbler: The Human World Has Never Experienced A Time When Global Sea Ice Was So Weak and Reduced
• The Must-see Bird Blog: Homecoming 

Environment and biodiversity

• According to NOAA's data, 2016 was the warmest year on record, the third record-breaking year in a row. See more discussion at Category 6 and RealClimate.
• Environmental issues came up during several executive branch nominee hearings this week. Nominees to head Interior and the EPA expressed skepticism about the human role in climate change. The Interior nominee also seems likely to expand fossil fuel extraction on federal land. The Education nominee suggested that schools needed guns to fight bears even though bear spray and other nonlethal deterrents are more effective. 
• Audubon emphasizes the need for an effective EPA, which probably will not be the case under Scott Pruitt's leadership.
• Meanwhile four senators (including two Democrats) have introduced a bill to remove federal protection for Gray Wolves in midwestern states. The wolf bill signals a broader assault on the Endangered Species Act, possibly including full repeal. The record of successful recoveries under the law shows that tampering with or repealing the law would be a mistake.
• A crack in the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica will force scientists to close a research station there during the Antarctic winter. 
• A review of the current status of all primate species found that three-quarters of primates are declining and 60 percent are threatened with extinction. 
• At national parks like Yellowstone, there is a fundamental tension between the wildness of the animals and how safe the setting seems to a causal visitor.
• Repair of trenches dug by the Malheur occupiers cost over $100,000 because the area is archeologically significant. 
• Pollinator species, like larger animals, need habitat continuity, and a conservationist in Seattle has been trying to create a wildlife corridor for them. 
• A new species of poison dart frog, Ameerega shihuemoy, was discovered in Amazonian slopes of Andes in southeastern Peru.
• Here is a gallery of all the sites Obama has protected during his presidency.
• The Atlantic killifish living in the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers seem to have evolved resistance to the toxins that permeate those waters.
• Core samples taken from New York's Pelham Bay marsh show the danger to the city from sea level rise.

Loose Feathers #578

Greater Sage-Grouse / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• In 2016, four birders broke the previous record for species seen in an ABA Area big year, which was set in 2013.
• A restored Burrowing Owl population in northeastern Oregon is threatened by a proposed solar farm.
• The irregular movements of White-winged Crossbills follow the availability of spruce and tamarack seed cones. 
• Climate change and the loss of habitat to intensive farming is causing some breeding species to disappear from England. 
• Scientists believe that the introduced Yellowhammer population in New Zealand has song dialects that disappeared from Britain. 
• A new study mapped the movements of 1,000 nonnative bird species over the past 500 years.

Science and nature blogging

• ABA Blog: 2016 Big Years: Non ABA Area edition
• Field and Footnotes: Pink Feet and Red Heads
• Australian Museum Blog: When the Frogs Go, the Snakes Follow
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Lapland Longspur! What’s All the Fuss? 
• Dan Tallman’s Bird Blog: Hairy vs Downy Woodpecker 
• 10,000 Birds: Eating a Pigeon
• Mark D. Scherz, MSc: Important taxonomic advances on the skinks of Madagascar 
• Shorebirder: Graylag Goose in Rhode Island 
• Extinction Countdown: Polar Bear Conservation Plan Calls Climate Change "the Primary Threat" to Their Survival
• Bug Eric: A Carrion Beetle That Isn't?
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Siberian Thrush

Environment and biodiversity

• A study used chemical analysis of Monarchs in scientific collections to tell where the migratory butterflies originated in North America. The research is expected to help guide conservation efforts.
• The US is enforcing a new rule requiring companies that import seafood to protect marine mammals from becoming bycatch under the same rules that American fishermen have to follow.
• Conservationists at Blackwater NWR are attempting to raise the level of the marsh enough for native Spartina grasses to thrive despite rapid sea level rise. 
• A growing fissure suggests that the Larsen C ice shelf — the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica — could soon break apart and fall into the sea, but it is difficult to predict how soon that will happen. 
• Tongass National Forest in Alaska is the last national forest in the U.S. that permits logging old-growth trees.
• Rusty-patched Bumblebees are being given endangered species protection and will need habitat protection and pesticide reduction to recover.
• Climate change is forcing marine animals like squid and cod to shift their ranges, which has a direct effect on what sorts of seafood are available in a given area.
• This week, Obama expanded the California Coastal National Monument and Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and designated three new historic monuments commemorating the Civil Rights Movement and Reconstruction.

Loose Feathers #577

Golden Eagle / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• While some birds thrive in suburban environments, others prefer to avoid them and have difficulty finding new breeding territories or mates when they are forced to move.
• British breeding birds had a tough year in 2016 due to a wet spring and summer. 
• In the tropics, drier conditions would reduce the populations of 19 of 20 species included in a recent study.
• Since birds' migration routes follow the seasonal availability of food resources, finding food during and after migration may become more difficult for them as climate change alters stopover and wintering habitats. 
• With a warmer climate, Brant can raise more young, but mothers sitting on nests are more likely to be killed by predators.
• Big-billed birds have to snuggle their bills more than short-billed birds in cold weather. 
• Here is an explanation of threats that shorebirds face while migrating along the Atlantic Flyway.
• Common Terns mate for life even if it does not lead to more offspring.
• A new study finds that hummingbirds see movement differently than other birds. 
• Here are some suggestions for new year birding resolutions. 
• A crowdfunded project will study how American Woodcock use post-industrial landscapes in New Jersey.

Science and nature blogging

• Anything Larus: 'Tis The Season For Gull-watching
• Extinction Countdown: Conservation Stories You May Have Missed in 2016
• The Prairie Ecologist: How Science Works and Why It Matters  
• ABA Blog: 2016 ABA Big Year Update: The Results
• Undercover Big Year: Day 366 - That's All Folks (for now)
• Sibley Guides: A melanistic Downy Woodpecker 
• DCist: The DC Eagle Cam Has Launched Earlier This Year, And With Sound 
• Backyard and Beyond: Oak Wilt

Environment and biodiversity

• The New Yorker is sharing Rachel Carson's classic series, Silent Spring, on its website. Here are Part I, Part II, and Part III. 
• A new study links goods produced for trade and export to the habitats and wildlife threatened by their production. It is hoped that the study will help conservationists protect the biodiversity hot spots under the greatest threat.
• There have been some recent articles about Republicans who want to fight climate change; if they can persuade their party to do so, good for them, but their proposals sound a lot like Democratic proposals that have been blocked.
• Meanwhile the actual Republicans are trying to make it easier to sell off federal lands by changing budget rules. (The congressman behind the effort won the Center for Biological Diversity's Rubber Dodo Award for his efforts.)
• Obama had delayed designation of the Bears Ears and Gold Butte monuments so that Congress could take action themselves, but officials could not agree on a legislative solution while archaeological sites were being looted.
• According to the recent State of the Bay report, water clarity in the Chesapeake is improving and populations of several key shellfish are increasing. Pennsylvania is lagging behind Maryland and Virginia in meeting goals for reducing pollutants flowing into the bay.
• The herbicide paraquat is banned from use in the U.K. and E.U. for its toxic effects on humans, yet factories there still manufacture it for export.
• Washington will not allow a proposed coal export terminal to be built on state-owned land. 
• A study found ticks carrying Lyme disease in 9 national parks, all in the eastern U.S. 
• Warmer winters mean that ticks can stay active longer, which may contribute to the decline of New England's moose population.
• A photography project is documenting the ongoing recovery of the Anacostia River. 
• A rare Blainesville's beaked whale washed up on the beach at Island Beach State Park in New Jersey. 
• A Bald Eagle pair returned to a nest in northern New Jersey after the creation of a buffer to protect it from a new housing development.