Loose Feathers #635

Horned Lark / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• This week marked the 100th anniversary of the extinction of Carolina Parakeets. Even as the species was known to be declining, ornithologists of the time continued collecting specimens. One way to honor the occasion is to think about the places where the birds lived and the people who experienced them. 
• Safe Wings Ottawa is running an exhibit of birds killed by buildings in the city in the past year to raise awareness of this conservation problem.
• There is an ongoing debate about whether flamingos are native to Florida, while flamingos from further south may be (re)colonizing the state. 
• Here is a guide to finding and identifying Rusty Blackbirds, which are starting their northward migration. 
• Extinct moas helped shape the plant and fungal communities in the forests and shrublands where they lived.
• Longer incubation times for some tropical bird species may protect the chicks from some blood parasites.
• Winter is a great time to look for North America's wild swans.
• The number of bird species is lower at higher elevations, but the rate of species formation is higher.
• A male Northern Cardinal with yellow plumage had been appearing in a backyard in Alabama. 
• Pileated Woodpeckers can be conspicuous in winter, as long as they have dead trees for foraging.
• Male and female King Penguins can be distinguished by vocalizations and bill length. 
• Coffee farming can be good for bird diversity, regardless of the bean variety, as long as the coffee grows in shaded conditions.

Science and nature blogging

• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Greater Sage-Grouse on a Lek – Our Public Lands – Our Legacy
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Why We Need Plants for Birds
• Birding New Jersey: Parakeet Art
• Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.: In The Absense of Hawks 
• The Digiscoper: What do I love?
• Backyard and Beyond: Kestrel Week I (see his other posts this week for more kestrels) 

Environment and biodiversity

• California could lose most of its salt marshes in the next century due to the twin pressures from sea level rise and real estate development.
• Scott Pruitt has been one of the more effective cabinet members in terms of destroying the work of the agency he runs. 
• Many golf balls end up in waterways and the ocean, where they contribute to the microplastic problem.
• New Jersey will join the Climate Alliance, a group of states and territories that will continue to implement the Paris Agreement even if the U.S. completes its withdrawal. 
• This week featured record high temperatures along much of the U.S. east coast, including all-time highs for the month of February in Trenton and Newark. Some unusual characteristics of this week's heat wave may indicate a connection to climate change.
• A potentially invasive tick species from Asia was found on sheep in New Jersey; how it got there is still unclear.

Loose Feathers #634

Golden Eagle / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count. You can submit counts from either your backyard or somewhere else. The project used to be limited to North America, but it recent years has been extended to the whole world, as it will again this year.
• Plastic trash in all sizes litters the European Arctic, and it is harming the seabirds that nest there.
• A study in California found that some types of fire management reduce habitat for bird species without significantly reducing the risk of wildfires.
• Fracking projects make it harder for Louisiana Waterthrushes to breed and raise young successfully, probably because of water pollution.
• Anna's Hummingbirds are more likely to carry mites on their tail feathers than some other western hummingbirds.
• Old-growth tropical forests support greater bird diversity than second-growth forests. 
• Higher temperatures are likely to reduce the nesting habitat for Sharp-tailed Grouse.
• A series of photos shows a Bald Eagle stealing a lamprey from a sea lion off the coast of California.

Science and nature blogging

• Feathered Photography: Landing Gadwall (and why I can still enjoy a flawed image)
• ornithologi: American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) Illustration with a Note on the Evolution of Cinclidae
• Avian Ecologist: Anthropology & Ornithology Musings
• Stokes Birding Blog: Lesser Scaup Identification
• Backyard and Beyond: Bald Eagles Over the Hudson

Environment and biodiversity

• A recent op-ed piece that minimized the importance of stopping extinctions is part of an unfortunate trend among conservationists, including some leaders of organizations like the Nature Conservancy.
• Using genetic and fossil data, lepidopterists have proposed a new evolutionary tree for butterflies. 
• A proposed reorganization of the Interior Department could muddle agency responsibilities and reduce the role of science in decision-making.
• A new study showed that the rate of sea level rise is accelerating and could double in the next century.
• A Republican opponent of national monuments owned land within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and that parcel was cut out of the national monument by the Trump administration. That may be why the administration does not want to release documents related to the decision.
• In 2017, the Trump administration fined polluters 49% less than the three previous administrations had. 
• The proposed border wall would undo years of collaborative conservation work along the border by the U.S. and Mexico. The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is an early battleground in the fight over new border wall construction.
• The inherent uncertainties of climate research are misunderstood by the media and used as excuses for inaction by politicians.
• Trudeau's government has proposed new rules for reviewing the environmental impacts of new developments. 
• The number of oil and gas drilling rigs in the U.S. rose 38% in the past year.
• Smaller fields with borders are more helpful to bees than crop diversity. 
• Promoting "multiple use" strategies for public lands can have a detrimental effect on wildife and the land itself. 
• Many insect studies (especially regarding using them as biocontrols for pest species) are missing data necessary to replicate them. 
• The massive petroleum condensate spill in the East China Sea is likely to affect the region's productive fisheries.
• DuPont went to great lengths to cover up the existence of a plume of toxic waste from one of its plants under 400 homes in North Jersey.

Loose Feathers #633

Bald Eagles nesting / Photo by Bill Buchanan/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• U.S. Bank Stadium, site of the recent Super Bowl, kills more birds than any other building in Minneapolis.
• Great Spotted Woodpeckers can recognize other individuals by their drumming patterns.
• Ducks play an important role in spreading seeds from one wetland to another.
• Preserved woodpecker brains show evidence of brain damage, in the form of tau protein buildup.
• A Bald Eagle pair in Washington, DC, laid their first egg this week. That nest has a nest cam.
• Japanese Tits use a specific call to warn others about snakes.
• Small birds have more efficient wing beats than bats to allow for long-distance migration.
• Researchers think they have identified the structure on a bird's retina that allows them to see the Earth's magnetic field.

Science and nature blogging

• Avithera: Fairy Terns – from chicks to fledged and flying juveniles
• Gulls to the Horizon: Mixed breeding pair Herring Gull x Lesser Black-backed Gull in IJmuiden 2017
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Drake Redhead Courtship Display
• Anything Larus: Pale 1st Cycle American Herrings, Hybrids, Or Something Else?
• Natural Newstead: A ‘flock’ of frogmouths
• earthstar: The habit of looking
• The Prairie Ecologist: Diversity, Redundancy, and Resilience  
• Incidental Naturalist: Pint-sized Poisoner – Green & Black Poison Dart Frog
• Birding Beijing 北京观鸟: Code of Conduct for Chinese Bird Photographers 

Environment and biodiversity

• Here is a timeline of the Trump administration's attacks on public lands and conservation.
• The Trump administration is threatening to undermine Colombia's peace agreement, which could result in increased deforestation in areas formerly controlled by FARC.
• January was unusually dry in the continental US.
• Over 2,500 toxic chemical sites are in flood-prone areas of the US, and flooding is likely to get worse with climate change.
• Cougars need better protection within their existing range, including managing conflicts between humans and large carnivores.
• The largest tract of private land in Cape May County will become part of Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
• The NY/NJ Baykeeper will become the deputy commissioner in the NJ DEP.

Loose Feathers #632

Gadwall / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Grassland birds in general are not doing well across North America, and the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow is in real danger of extinction, with less than 100 individuals left in the wild even before last year's hurricane season.
• Several other bird species specialize in the same sagebrush habitat that Greater Sage-Grouse require and are also threatened by development and fragmentation of sagebrush habitat.
• China plans to end land reclamation projects and possibly restore some habitat destroyed by such projects. Land reclamation usually involves covering tidal flats or shallow water with fill and then building on the resulting land; such projects often destroy important stopover habitat for shorebirds and waterbirds.
• Here are some tips for finding wintering Northern Saw-whet Owls.
• Ryan Zinke's plan to stop enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in cases that involve the incidental killing of birds drew protest from 17 former Interior officials (from both parties).

Science and nature blogging

• ABA Blog: 2017 Big Years: A Roundup
• Vermont Center for Ecostudies: Field Guide to February 2018
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Great Egret – Snowy Egret Size and Appearance Comparison  
• 10,000 Birds: Top 25 National Wildlife Refuges for Birding
• Avian Hybrids: Hybrid zones help to unravel the genetics of bird coloration 
• Outside My Window: Who Is This White Hawk?
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Finding Food In Winter – It’s Tough Out There
• Birding the day away !!: Ross's Gull ~ Vlissingen, Netherlands - 27.01.18
• Edin Whitehead: The big and the small
• Natural Newstead: Praying Mantises and pseudopupils
• wadertales: Well-travelled Ringed Plovers 

Environment and biodiversity

• Last weekend, hundreds attended a rally at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to protest plans to build a border wall through the refuge and to support a legislative solution to maintain the DACA program. 
• Today is World Wetlands Day. This year the celebration focuses on the importance and restoration of urban wetlands.
• Contrary to claims in a recent Washington Post op-ed piece, preventing extinctions is still important work.
• Footage and tracking data from a recent study revealed that polar bears are more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought since they depend so much on hunting seals.
• In Ontario, research is underway to save the province's population of eastern wolves.
• A recent report found that the Lone Star Tick does not spread Lyme disease, though it does carry some other illnesses.
• Here is a good primer on urban lichens and lichen ecology.
• Chile created five new national parks, thanks in part to a land donation.
• Here are the five most common types of trash collected in river cleanups. 
• With the change in administrations, New Jersey will now support a ban on fracking in the Delaware River watershed.