Loose Feathers #615

Greater Sage-Grouse / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• The Trump administration is attempting to undo the voluntary management program that the Obama administration put in place to protect the Greater Sage-Grouse and prevent it from needing Endangered Species Act protections. This should serve as a warning to future administrations against trying to sidestep using the ESA when a species is declining and needs protection.
• This week the administration also denied endangered protections for 25 species, including the Bicknell's Thrush. 
• Data from monitoring of the yearly 9/11 tribute shows how much urban light pollution affects migrating birds. 
• Scientists from Hawk Mountain found that climate change is shifting the timing of seasonal migration. Eastern North American raptors now spend more time on their breeding grounds and migrate later in the fall.
• A genetic study of Budgerigars found a gene involved in producing yellow pigments, and a mutation in that gene turns the birds blue instead of green.
• Remote sensing data suggests that Spotted Owls depend on cover from tall trees and not total tree cover, which has implications for fire management.
• The House sparrow decline in Spain is linked to air pollution and a poor diet.
• Birds in the Caribbean have historically faced hurricanes and tropical storms, but recent developments make their situation worse.

Science and nature blogging

• Birding Dude: Long-billed Dowitcher ID - Things To Look For
• Jessica Gorzo: Onomatopoeia in Bird Names
• Gulls to the Horizon: 3CY Lesser Black-backed Gull Blue VZ6Y with active primary moult in January – 20170105 
• 10,000 Birds: Notable Trees 
• Anything Larus: Yellow-footed Gull - Salton Sea
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Plant-Bird Relationship (Version 3.0)
• Birding Frontiers: The Dutch Imperial Eagle

Environment and biodiversity

• Here is a list of the environmental regulations under attack from the Trump administration. 
• The National Butterfly Center has announced its intention to sue over the construction of the border wall on its property.
• The urban-dwelling mountain lion known as P-41 was found dead, possibly because of factors related to the La Tuna Fire.
• Throughout the Bush administration, there were attempts to open Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and now those attempts have been revived.
• A beetle from the West Coast is helping control New Jersey's hemlock woolly adelgids.