Posts
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| Black-billed Magpie / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS |
- The 4th annual Global Shorebird Counting begins today and runs through September 7. The event is held at the beginning of September each year to mark World Shorebirds Day on September 6. See the link for how to participate.
- Shorebirds are among the birds most threatened by climate change because many of them nest in the Arctic.
- A study of Scopoli's Shearwaters found evidence that the seabirds navigate using a sense of smell.
- While the Whooping Cranes that winter at Aransas NWR were safely in Canada when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, the refuge likely suffered damage (but may also benefit from an infusion of freshwater). Meanwhile, the International Crane Foundation's office was destroyed, and the endangered Attwater's Prairie-Chickens were in the path of the storm.
- A soggy Cooper's Hawk that went viral on social media during the hurricane is now under the care of a wildlife rescuer.
- Bicknell's Thrush may have the smallest population of any songbird in the contiguous US.
- Eastern Bluebirds and Hispaniolan Crossbills disappeared from the Bahamas during the last glacial transition period.
- Conservationists are creating a new colony of Laysan Albatrosses on Oahu to keep the species from being threatened by rising sea levels.
- Interior forest birds like the Ovenbird benefit from connecting isolated parcels of habitat.
- The Nazca Booby population is expected to shrink with ocean warming.
- Some but not all seed-eating birds are able to adjust their diets when habitat degradation changes local plant communities.
- Scientists designed a way to recreate complex birdsongs by blowing air through a rubber tube.
- Avian Hybrids: Hybrid Geese: A Trilogy of Papers
- ABA Blog: Global Rescue’s Digital Security Tips for Travelers
- Birding New Jersey!: The Moral Bobolink
- 10,000 Birds: Where are the Bobolinks?
- Outside My Window: How Do You Know It’s A Moth?
- Hurricane Harvey is a disaster on many levels. Even after the rains stopped, the release of toxic pollutants from the many chemical plants and oil refineries is a lingering problem. One chemical plant exploded on Thursday morning; that plant's owner had lobbied against safety rules to make accidental releases less likely.
- As has become standard after unusual storms, the link to climate change is under debate. While there is reason to think that climate change makes storms like Harvey more likely, there are other factors that made the situation in Houston worse, such as its lax zoning rules and the paving over of wetlands.
- While there are a lot of hoaxes associated with hurricanes, the photos of floating masses of fire ants are real and reflect their dispersal method.
- Here is a visual profile of some of the biodiversity threatened by border wall expansion, with an emphasis on the Sky Islands and big cats.
- At least six national monuments are now known to be targets in Zinke's report.
- The Trump administration blocked NPS from expressing their concerns about a bill that would prevent NPS from regulating hunting in national parks in Alaska.
- Experiments are exploring how well animals that have seasonal color variation will adapt to climate change.
- American Pikas have disappeared from a large stretch of the Sierra Nevada in the Lake Tahoe area, probably due to climate change.
- Self-driving cars could increase suburban sprawl and threaten to pave over more natural habitat.
- Milder winters are allowing Southern Pine Beetles to move north.
- Energy companies are continuing to shut down coal plants in favor of other sources.
- Yet another natural gas pipeline in the Pinelands is likely to be approved by the Pinelands Commission.
