Loose Feathers #587

American Woodcock / Photo by Jim Hudgins/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Over the past several decades Peregrine Falcons have returned from near-extinction to rule urban landscapes, where they nest on skyscrapers and bridges. 
• Birds with flexible nesting requirements can thrive in the suburbs (sometimes increasing bird diversity there), but ones with more specific requirements have to look elsewhere when a place is developed.
• Early spring is a good time to look for migrating waterbirds.
• Male Common Cuckoos can distinguish the calls of their neighbors from those of strangers. 
• When food is plentiful, adult Galapagos Penguins continue to feed their young after they fledge.
• Poachers on Cyprus killed 2.3 million birds during fall migration in 2016. A British military base was the site of 800,000 of the killings.
• Bald Eagles and other raptors are at risk from lead poisoning from spent ammunition.
• The proposed federal budget would cease funding the cleanup of the Great Lakes, which has helped bird populations recover in the region.

Science and nature blogging

• The Spruce Blog: A Level-headed Look at Feeding Birds: Consequences and Benefits
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Go Easy on Adding Saturation in Bird Photography – Over Processing Mistakes
• The Prairie Ecologist: Should We Manage for Rare Species or Species Diversity?  
• Feathered Photography: Another Meadowlark Series (but for me this one’s special)
• ABA Blog: A Tale of Two Gulls
• Birding the day away !!: Andean Gull ~ Cusco Region, Peru - Feb '17  
• The Birdist: Cool Snowy Egret Behavior in Florida
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: The Decline of the Wood Thrush – And How We Can Help  
• The Rattling Crow: Carrion crows dropping mussels
• A Snail's Eye View: The Second Worst Birdwatcher in the World 
• Linda Murdock Photography: Courtship Roseate Spoonbill Style

Environment and biodiversity

• The first climate model was published in 1967, and its major prediction, that doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would result in 2°C of warming, has held up in the 50 years since then. 
• It remains to be seen what Zinke's Interior Department will look like and how conflicts among his stated priorities will be resolved. 
• Two bills that claim to promote transparency at the EPA would actually hamstring the agency.
• Loss of milkweed habitat to agriculture may not be the only problem affecting Monarch butterflies; a lack of nectar plants during fall migration could also be causing declines.
• Spiders eat 400-800 million tons of prey each year, most of which are insects but also includes small vertebrates like fish. 
• The new Stone Leaf-litter Frog was discovered in northern Vietnam. 
• Kingsnakes are notable for applying much more pressure to their prey (including other snakes) than most snakes do.
• A British butterfly collector was charged with killing several specimens of Britain's rarest butterfly, the endangered Large Blue. 
• A wolf family is missing in California. 
• NJ DEP adds wooden barriers around four ponds in Wharton State Forest to block ATVs from driving through them.