Posts
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| Gulls fighting over crab / Bill Thompson/USFWS |
- Evidence suggests a rapid diversification of birds' beak shapes around 70 million years ago, close to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. Changes since then have been more subtle, with the exception of birds in isolated habitats like Hawaii and the Galapagos.
- A Gyrfalcon has been appearing regularly at State Line Lookout in North Jersey for the past two weeks. Gyrfalcon reports have been increasingly rare in New Jersey in recent years.
- The International Rusty Blackbird Working Group released a report (pdf) on their winter and spring Rusty Blackbird blitzes. This year the Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz will be in its third year, and researchers need volunteers to search for Rusty Blackbirds during their migration in March and April.
- The number of gulls breeding around the island of Canna is linked to the number of fish being processed in a nearby harbor.
- Given that the Endangered Species Act is once again under threat, it is worth remembering some of the species that have recovered because of it, including the Brown Pelican.
- Restoring native plants to a habitat boosts the number of birds and insect pollinators that use the site.
- Canebrake Wrens in Costa Rica learn to sing duets as part of their courtship process; adults can learn new duets when they pair with a new mate.
- Birds are important for the regeneration of forests because some birds eat fruit and disperse seeds while others eat herbivorous insects.
- Conservationists are considering a plan to reintroduce the California Condor to northern California and southern Oregon.
- Stokes Birding Blog: Great White Pelican Rare Bird Returns to Ding Darling NWR!
- Wanstead Birder: Understanding Redpolls
- Feathered Photography: Greater Scaup – Using Knowledge Of Behaviors To Get The Shot You’re After
- Shorebirder: Eared Grebe, New Haven, CT - Jan 29, 2017
- Bird Ecology Study Group: Male Oriental Pied Hornbill brought an egg for the breeding female
- Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: American Coot Being Chased By Mallards For Food
- Ontario Nature Blog: Top 4 reasons why vernal pools merit our attention on World Wetlands Day
- Bug Eric: A Winter Click Beetle?
- The Rattling Crow: Social play in gulls?
- Yesterday was World Wetlands Day, and it brought news that a new Ramsar Site in Myanmar would protect shorebirds, crocodiles and rare mangroves.
- Preserving what remains of the wetlands in Canada's boreal forest is a key to restraining climate change because so much carbon is sequestered in their peat. (This would also help to maintain avian diversity.)
- Recent events have many scientists thinking about running for office to counter the rise of anti-science ideology among politicians. Here is an interview with Andrew Weaver, a former climate scientist who ran for office in British Columbia.
- Withdrawal from the Paris agreement could have broader consequences for American foreign policy.
- The National Park Service has a maintenance backlog totaling $12 billion, partly due to tight federal budgets in recent years.
- A bill in the House of Representatives would weaken environmental and safety regulations in national parks to allow for more oil drilling.
- In related news, another House bill would sell off 3.3 million acres of public land in western states, a major priority for a handful of western lawmakers. That bill was withdrawn after public outcry, but other threats to public lands and parks remain. It remains to be seen how the Trump administration will handle public lands, but selling or giving them away makes little sense.
- The new Supreme Court nominee is the son of one of the worst EPA administrators in the agency's history.
- Only 30 Vaquita remain in the wild after a steep decline last year.
- Photos have been released of the newly-discovered reef at the mouth of the Amazon River.
- Meanwhile, the Philippines protected 100,000 acres as critical habitat.
- Italian conservationists are upset about a proposed wolf cull in Italy.
