Posts
 |
| Wilson's Warbler / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS |
- Soon the endangered Kakapo will be the first species for which every individual's genome has been sequenced. The data will be especially useful in combination with data from the transmitters each of the parrots wears to record their movements and activities.
- Audubon is providing updates on birds and birding sites affected by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
- The ABA Blog has a round-up of unusual bird sightings in Hurricane Irma's path, including some extraordinary seabird records from Tennessee.
- An experiment using audio playback for 72 pairs of related bird subspecies found evidence for 21 new bird species.
- Recently a tweet showing a young Red-tailed Hawk guarding a recently-killed pigeon went viral on social media, which prompted this article and interview on the ubiquity of urban raptors.
- In other urban raptor news, a volunteer-run study has been tracking Seattle's Cooper's Hawks since 2003. This year at least 40 pairs nested in the city.
- Young birds have a hard time surviving in the city after fledging, but they are hardier if they survive their first year.
- Volunteers from NYC Audubon monitored the Tribute in Light memorial on 9/11 to make sure birds would not get trapped in the lights. Here is an article from 2015 that explains what they are doing.
- USFWS reports that 86 million people participated in birding activities in the U.S. in 2016. The USFWS conducts a survey (pdf) of outdoor recreation every five years; recent surveys have shown steady growth in the number of birders and continued decline in the number of hunters.
- Chris Watson: Night Parrot Discovered in South Australia
- In Defense of Plants: How Do Palms Survive Hurricanes?
- Whimbrel Nature: The Secret Lives Of Peeps
- The Speckled Hatchback: Post #116 - Info sought on grebe nesting failure!
- 10,000 Birds: Endangered Birds: 50th Anniversary for the Class of 1967
- Avian Hybrids: A Northern and a Southern Perspective on Hybrids between Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warbler
- Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: American White Pelican Dumping a Load in Flight
- awkward botany: When Sunflowers Follow the Sun
- Bug Eric: Ammophila nigricans Revisited
- Birding New Jersey!: The National Geographic Guide, Seventh Edition
- Flooding from Hurricane Irma caused the release of millions of gallons of raw sewage in Florida. This is both a public health hazard and a threat to coastal wildlife in the affected areas.
- Houston's floodwaters in the wake of Hurricane Harvey are also full of toxins.
- Chocolate production is a driver of deforestation in the Ivory Coast.
- De-extinction of recently or even long extinct species is at least theoretically possible through biotechnology. This interview explores whether de-extinction would be a good idea.
- Many conservation programs are at risk in the proposed federal budget, including a USDA-funded program that protects nesting Tricolored Blackbirds.
