Loose Feathers #644

Mountain Bluebird / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• After the eruption of a volcano in the Aleutians buried a seabird nesting site, Crested and Least Auklets shifted their colony to a suitable location nearby.
• A new bird-of-paradise species was described on the basis of its distinctive courtship dance.
• Whooping Cranes prefer habitat that has a mixture of farmland and wetlands and wetlands that have larger basins.
• An ornithologist discusses the damage done by the student who stole hundreds of bird specimens from the Tring Natural History Museum, the subject of a recent book. Here is another review.
• BirdLife's State of the World’s Birds for 2018 found that even some well-known species like the European Turtle-Dove are threatened.
• While migrating north, Swainson's Hawks feast on caterpillars in the Anza-Borrego desert, despite the caterpillars' chemical defenses that deter most other predators. 
• Citizen science data is providing new information on the seasonal distribution of migratory birds. 
• A study assessed the mismatch between peak caterpillar abundance and breeding times for British birds. The mismatch is likely to become greater with climate change.
• Federal officials charged six men in Florida with trafficking over 400 migratory birds.
• EBird introduced a photo and sound identification quiz, which can be set to any location.
• Here is a review of Audubon's new smartphone app. 
• A photographer in Florida took photos of an Osprey carrying a shark holding a fish.

Science and nature blogging

• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Loggerhead Shrike Allofeeding Courtship Behavior Plus a Close Up
• The Prairie Ecologist: Re-emerging into the Warm Sunshine
• robertscribbler: CO2 is Regularly Exceeding 410 Parts Per Million for First Time in Human History
• earthstar: Cuckoo bees
• Extinction Countdown: Poachers versus Poop
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Crested or Chinese Myna: Images of the nesting pair 
• 10,000 Birds: Red-tails in Lust

Environment and biodiversity

• The EPA proposed a rule change that would require using only studies in which the underlying data was published, even though federal law bans the publication of private medical data used for public health studies.
• Biodiversity should be protected because living things have their own innate value, not just because they might be useful to humans at some point.
• Exotic pets may have been taken directly from the wild. 
• Fire is an important tool for maintaining habitats like prairies. 
• Despite the benefits of urban trees for shade and filtering pollutants, US urban forests are losing about 36 million trees per year. 
• Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine will finally get road signs directing visitors there, 18 months after Obama created the monument. The delay is due to foot-dragging by Maine's governor.
• New Jersey's DEP has recommendations for avoiding problems with bears. 
• Invasive longhorned ticks survived the winter in New Jersey and may have become established.

Loose Feathers #643

Trumpeter Swans / Photo by Jacob W. Frank/NPS

Birds and birding news

• The change has been rumored for some time, but last week the Interior Department made it official that it would not enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in cases of accidental bird deaths, even in the case of major disasters like the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
• Hooded Warblers will desert their young if they molt their tail feathers while still brooding, and the other parent (usually the female) is left to care for young themselves.
• NJ Audubon's reintroduction program for Northern Bobwhite has been successful so far but needs to expand to other sites to establish a stable population in the state.
• Since Piping Plovers nested at Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania last summer, conservationists are looking to restore other sites around the Great Lakes as plover nesting habitat. 
• Understanding birds' natural behavior is necessary for reducing the number of collisions with aircraft, buildings, and wind turbines.
• Zimbabwe has one of the greatest concentrations of raptors in the world.

Science and nature blogging

• 10,000 Birds: Acorn Woodpeckers Drinking Sugar Water?
• Avian Hybrids: The hybrid genome of the Italian Sparrow: endless genetic variation?
• Birding New Jersey: Red Warblers and White-eared Titmice
• Avian Ecologist: My Top 10 Favorite Things About Being a Birder  
• Te Papa's Blog: The mystery of the giant hoho weevils of Rangatira Island
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Great and Snowy Egrets (and how to tell the difference)
• Edge Effects: Photographing Bears Ears National Monument in Southern Utah
• Union Bay Watch: New Neighbors
• Literary Hub: 10 Trailblazing Environmental Books for Earth Day 

Environment and biodiversity

• In response to public opposition, the Interior Department withdrew a proposal for steep fee increases at many national parks and instead will raise vehicle fees by $5 at parks that already charge an entrance fee.
• Urban entomologists study ecosystems that have been heavily modified by humans. 
• The Lesser Long-nosed Bat became the first bat species to be removed from the Endangered Species List after it was declared recovered. It is one of only three U.S. bat species that feeds on nectar.
• A new study estimates that 30% of the Great Barrier Reef perished in the 2016 heatwave.
• The European Court of Justice ruled that Poland violated EU law by logging in the Białowieża Forest. 
• A plan to pump water from aquifers in the Mojave Desert would seriously harm the desert's natural springs.
• New York City created a 25-year plan to protect the forests in its parks from climate change.

Loose Feathers #642

Wild Turkey (my photo)

Birds and birding news

• The tails of male Costa's Hummingbirds whistle during their courtship flights, but the sound may be more about subjective aesthetics than an honest signal of breeding fitness.
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the Kirtland's Warbler from the Endangered Species List due the to establishment of a second population in Wisconsin. See here for instructions on how to submit a public comment on the rule. Comments are due by July 11.
• Puffin bills glow under UV light. 
• Restoration of indigo snakes can help protect bird populations since indigo snakes prey on snakes that raid bird nests.
• A project is trying to boost the fertility of the endangered Hihi in New Zealand to stop its population decline.
• Here is an explanation for why a captive eagle tried to land on a Mariners pitcher at the start of a baseball game. 
• Planting native plants can boost native insect populations and in turn help birds find appropriate foods.

Science and nature blogging

• ABA Blog: Caribbean Hurricanes and Birds: Interview with Dr. Joseph Wunderle
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Not Just a Red-winged Blackbird
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Horned Lark With Redstem Filaree – Birds & Wildflowers
• Avian Hybrids: Are Wagtail subspecies supported by genetic data? 
• Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.: Microlocalzonoweirdness
• Feathered Photography: The Euphoric Rush Of Discovering Mountain Plovers In Northern Utah
• Bird Ecology Study Group: What you can do to your garden to bring in more birds – updated 
• Union Bay Watch: Sanctuary
• Wild View: Brown Skua, A Gladiator of Birds 
• Cool Green Science: Birding For People Who Do Not Like Lists

 Environment and biodiversity

• A climatic boundary between the arid western plains and more humid eastern North America has shifted eastward over the past century thanks to climate change.
• Moths are more abundant and diverse than butterflies and deserve more attention than they currently receive.
• A new study supports the idea that biodiversity serves as a buffer against extinction.
• Satellite imagery shows the decline of two glaciers in northwestern Greenland.
• Here is a look at the worst-case scenario for sea level rise in New Jersey.

Loose Feathers #641

Golden-crowned Kinglet (my photo)

Birds and birding news

• The Interior Department’s wildlife policy will now be overseen by an opponent of protections for the Golden-cheeked Warbler, among other vulnerable species.
• A project mapping the family trees of Florida Scrub-Jays found that the smaller local populations are as important as larger colonies for preserving genetic diversity.
• Climate change is already causing phenological difficulties for these five species pairs.
• Along similar lines, a new study predicts that climate change will put the migratory birds of eastern North America at risk because of the longer distances and larger food supplies they require. 
• Seabirds may have trouble finding prey in warming oceans as well. 
• Breeding colonies of Common Terns in the Great Lakes region have important stopover sites inland and along the Gulf of Mexico before reaching their wintering grounds on the coast of Peru.
• A study suggests that a protein in birds' eyes helps them to navigate. 
• The body size of extinct island emus was correlated to the size of the islands they inhabited.
• Union County’s Peregrine Falcons have 2 new eggs, and a falcon nest cam is available.
• The Chesapeake Conservancy has a Great Blue Heron nest cam.

Science and nature blogging

• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: If You Love the Birds of the Meadowlands Thank the MBTA!
• Northantsbirds: Low-down on Lesser Spots – a cause for concern
• Birdchick: Reporting Owls
• Avian Hybrids: It’s not a tree, but a network! New insights into the evolution of baleen whales
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Common Snipe – feeding behaviour
• Meghan Barrett: Bee Bytes: Centris pallida
• Bug Eric: Odd Little Weevils
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Photos Of Owls In Flight 
• ornithologi: Illustration of the Vultures of Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Environment and biodiversity

• The National Park Service removed every reference to human-caused climate change from a recent report on how sea level rise will affect national park sites.
• Genetic research is exploring how insects evolved the ability to fly.
• What precisely makes a plant a tree (as opposed to a shrub or other plant type) is difficult to define.
• The Border BioBlitz catalogued 833 species in 11 locations along either side of the US-Mexican border using an iNaturalist project to highlight the region's biodiversity and create a baseline for future studies.
• There may be more species of wasps than beetles because of the large number of parasitic wasps.
• A new butterfly species was described from an unidentified museum specimen.
• Many freshwater mussel species are going extinct.
• Most of North Dakota's oil spills and other toxic spills would have gone unreported under a new law.
• New Jersey is continuing its program to reduce trees killed by Superstorm Sandy by giving away free trees to residents.