Posts
 |
| Great Horned Owl / Photo by Susan Rachlin/USFWS |
- Scientists are studying Semipalmated Sandpipers on their wintering grounds to see if they are surviving during the winter months. The species has declined in recent years.
- While the Endangered Species Act has saved many species from extinction, the road to recovery for most has been slow, partly because a significant portion lack recovery plans or sufficient staff to implement them. For example, saving Bald Eagles was relatively straightforward, but California Condors have had trouble re-populating their former range without regular human intervention.
- Unfortunately the Endangered Species Act is likely to face a series of attempts to weaken or repeal it in the next four years.
- The evidence for most cases involving killing or smuggling protected wildlife (including birds) passes through a forensics lab in Oregon, which has one of the few forensic ornithologists on staff.
- A proposed hydroelectric dam in British Columbia threatens to destroy a wetland used for nesting by Yellow Rails.
- Breeding Bird Survey and eBird data show different population trajectories for Allen's Hummingbirds, which may be driven by the resident subspecies adapting well to suburban southern California.
- Forests with an overabundance of White-tailed Deer tend to lack birds that depend on a healthy understory like Hooded Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, and Prairie Warbler.
- Greater Sage-Grouse travel greater distances than previously reported, which may prevent inbreeding.
- The Ring-necked Pheasant is an introduced species that thrived in North America and is one of the most-studied pheasants in the wild (though mostly not on its native range).
- Young African Penguins have struggled to adapt to changes in prey distribution caused by overfishing and climate change.
- The departure of migratory birds from stopover sites is driven by hormones.
- Ospreys in New Jersey have recovered from a low of 50 nests in 1974 to 515 active nests today, which is close to their historic numbers.
- Stokes Birding Blog: Mega Rare Great White Pelican More Photos
- The Nature of Cities: Building for Birds: An Online Tool to Evaluate How Different Development Designs Impact Forest Bird Habitat
- Warblers and rumors of warblers: You keep your own list
- Coffee & Conservation: The new Rainforest Alliance shade requirements
- Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Gray Partridges in Snow and Low Light – Frustrations in Bird Photography
- 10,000 Birds: What’s in a Name: A Murrelet Assortment
- Nemesis Bird: The Easiest Way to Map Your eBird History #myebirdhistory
- Shorebirder: The PA Black-backed Oriole
- Bird Ecology Study Group: Crested Goshawk caught a bat
- Backyard and Beyond: American Hazelnut, Sweet Yellow Buckeye
- The Bruce Mactavish Newfoundland Birding Blog: The Seductive Wigeon
- Linda Murdock Photography: A Chance Encounter with Caracaras
- A mountain lion continues to survive in Los Angeles, but the continued presence of the species there (and nearby) will depend on creating wildlife corridors to connect populations that are currently obstructed by highways.
- Gas wells and pipelines leak about 5% of the natural gas produced on public lands; last fall BLM issued a regulation to require energy companies to capture that gas, but Congress is working to repeal the rule.
- Rachel Carson is routinely vilified by conservatives set on undermining environmental regulations, but she was right about the dangers of DDT and was not to blame for the subsequent uptick in malaria cases.
- The Trump administration delayed listing for the Rusty-patched Bumblebee just before it was set to take effect.
- Monarch numbers are down at the wintering sites in both California and Mexico.
- The Delmarva Fox Squirrel continues to do well a year after it was removed from endangered species protection.
- Satellite images show the deterioration of the Larsen Ice Shelf.
- A newly-discovered frog in India has a vocalization remarkably similar to a kingfisher from the same area.
