Posts
 |
| Sagebrush Sparrow / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS |
- The newly-named Cassia Crossbill has a sedentary population that specializes in eating the seeds of lodgepole pines, and its lifestyle is enabled by the absence of squirrels from the ridges where it lives. Unfortunately the crossbills may be threatened by climate change.
- Camera traps revealed that some Ferruginous Hawk chicks fall prey to raccoons and owls.
- Elsewhere, a Great Horned Owl snatched a chick from an Osprey nest.
- A 62-million-year-old fossil of a mousebird, Tsidiiyazhi abini, from New Mexico is evidence for the rapid diversification of birds after the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.
- Studying crow funerals leads to insights about their behavior and social life.
- Most North American grassland birds are declining, but among the most endangered is the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, with only 50 or 60 individuals left in the wild.
- With the end of Colombia's decades-long civil war, the country with the most bird species on earth is trying to attract more visits from birders.
- Experiments suggest that ravens can plan for future needs by storing objects that may be useful.
- Seaside Sparrow nests are at risk of flooding from rising seas, but if they place their nests higher in the marsh, they are more likely to fall prey to predators.
- A study of Marsh Tits in Poland's Białowieża forest shows that nest cavities protect against some predators but not against ones that can fit through the nest entrance.
- The secretive Banded Rail was discovered in a marsh outside Auckland for the first time.
- Hormones in native plants may boost the breeding success of New Zealand's endangered birds.
- A lack of sufficient caterpillars seems to be key to urban Blue Tits' low breeding success.
- Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Dabbling Duck Shuffle – Plus White Geese Become Gray Geese
- 10,000 Birds: Tri-colored Herons on the water front of La Paz.
- Gulls to the Horizon: Lesser Black-backed Gull Green YBDL with young YCMR and YCMS – 2017
- Feathered Photography: My First Look At The Red-naped Sapsucker Chick
- Backyard and Beyond: HDT200
- Laura's Birding Blog: The Ancient Mariner Meets the Lord of the Flies
- Snapshots of Nature: Great Gull Island: Part 2, TERNS!
- The Prairie Ecologist: Spider Watching
- Bird Ecology Study Group: Cattle Egret – breeding plumage
- A new report argues that extirpations (the loss of a species from a particular area) are just as important as extinctions in the biodiversity crisis.
- This week marked the 200th anniversary of Henry David Thoreau's birth. This essay discusses his love for old trees and intact forests, and another quotes his wildlife obsevations. He was an early observer of dams blocking fish migration.
- Susan Combs, who helped block implementing endangered species protections in Texas, is nominated for a key position in Trump's Interior Department.
- A secretive group of staff members is working with industry lobbyists to undo regulations, especially environmental and health regulations.
- The world is getting more dangerous for environmental activists; 200 were killed last year and at least 98 so far this year. These are rates much higher than in the past. Mining, oil, logging, and agribusiness account for the greatest number of murders and disappearances.
- This week a large chunk of the Larsen C ice shelf finally broke free. You can help document how Weddell Seals react to the new iceberg by analyzing satellite imagery.
- Climate reporting needs to tread a fine line between too alarmist and not alarmist enough.
- The EU wants Poland to stop logging in the Białowieża forest.
- A coalition is trying to raise the sediment levels in South Jersey salt marshes to keep the marshes from disappearing as sea levels rise.
- As the century progresses, dozens of New Jersey communities will face chronic flooding from sea level rise if climate change remains unchecked.
- Bobcats are expanding their range south in New Jersey, including parts of the proposed route for the PennEast pipeline.
