Snow Bunting / USFWS Photo |
- An ornithologist proposes a new way to understand species boundaries based on the compatibility of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA; he gives a fuller explanation for non-specialists in an AOS author blog post.
- The NY Times reviews recent research into the breeding behavior of Blue-footed Boobies.
- A study using geolocators mapped the migration route of Kirtland’s Warblers from their breeding grounds to the Bahamas and back.
- Guillemot chicks jump from their clifftop nests to the sea before they can fly, possibly to be closer to food resources.
- Growth of new trees in Guam's forests has declined considerably since introduction of brown treesnakes, which wiped out the birds that spread seeds over the island.
- Acorn Woodpeckers have smaller brains than one would expect for a social animal.
- 10,000 Birds: WPAs: America’s Duck Factories
- Warblers and rumors of warblers: Long-Eared Owl
- Pioneer Birding: NH - Great Gray Owl
- Bird Ecology Study Group: Buffy Fish-owl on a tightrope
- Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Male Horned Lark Territorial Behaviors – Tit-for-tat Chases
- Brooklyn Bread: Bird-Watching is God's Gift to Broke New Yorkers
- Scott Pruitt, the incoming EPA administrator, affirmed his commitment to climate change denial this week by staffing the agency with Senator Inhofe's disciples and denying that carbon dioxide emissions are causing climate change.
- The administration's proposed budget includes steep cuts for the EPA and for NOAA's climate science programs. The budget would also cut the cleanup program for the Chesapeake Bay by 93%.
- Meanwhile, Congress killed BLM’s Planning 2.0 rule, which will seriously set back how BLM makes planning decisions for public lands.
- This winter was much warmer than usual in much of the U.S.
- Many tree species in the eastern US, especially ones in northern forests, may be unable to adapt to a warming climate.
- For forests to play a significant role in meeting carbon emissions reduction targets, we need a more transparent way of measuring emissions internationally.
- NJ DEP approved permits for a natural gas pipeline that would cross the northern Pinelands even though its route has not been finalized. (This is separate from the decision made by the Pinelands Commission to approve a pipeline through the southern Pinelands to serve the BL England plant.)