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.