Posts
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| Common Raven eating a frog / Photo by Jacob W. Frank/NPS |
- Hemlock forests decimated by the hemlock woolly adelgid lose birds that breed in hemlock forests and their territories are taken by species that thrive in other forest types.
- When environmental conditions are difficult, Willow Flycatchers are likely to put off breeding until the next year.
- Birds that survived the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous were likely ground-dwelling birds since fossil evidence suggests that most trees were wiped out by fires and other disasters.
- A new study argues that birds lost their teeth to reduce the development time necessary before hatching.
- Searching for the critically endangered Niceforo's Wren required a dangerous river journey but turned up enough individuals that estimates of the wren's global population increased by 10%.
- Scientists in Europe have been studying the migrations of White Storks with cellular tracking devices. Among the discoveries is that groups of migrants have leaders that search for thermals to make the flight easier for the others. Less efficient flyers that flap their wings more often tend to winter in southern Europe rather than flying all the way to Africa.
- Lead poisoning from spent ammunition is taking a toll on already-endangered vultures in Botswana and neighboring countries in southern Africa.
- Conservationists are using DNA analysis and other methods to track which captive African Gray Parrots were born in the wild to stop illegal capture and smuggling of the endangered parrots.
- Atlantic Puffins breeding in the Farne Islands have declined, according to the most recent survey data.
- Fairywrens from different species can recognize each other and cooperate.
- Dipping on a rare bird is disappointing but can be motivation to search for other vagrants.
- ABA Blog: ABA Checklist Committee adds Four Species to ABA Checklist
- Tough Little Birds: You scared baby birds out of their nest, oh no! Will they be okay?
- The Prairie Ecologist: Making Species Identification Accessible to the Masses
- Avian Hybrids: A Dutch mystery: Can you guess which duck species have hybridized?
- Warblers and rumors of warblers: Heron vs Frog
- awkward botany: Tiny Plants: Draba verna
- Kent Dragonflies: A Norfolk Dream Come True!
- earthstar: Wild word: mnemonic
- Bird⋅The⋅Rock: Very Lost! A Purple Gallinule in Newfoundland
- Natural Newstead: Thornbills … a quick guide
- Tetrapod Zoology: Of Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting
- The National Park Service finally released its report on how sea level rise might affect national parks, which had been suppressed by the Trump administration.
- The Trump administration is proposing to loosen federal hunting regulations in Alaska by allowing baiting of wolves and bears and shooting cubs in the dens. You can comment on the proposed rule here.
- States on the East Coast are moving ahead with plans for offshore wind developments. Massachusetts selected a group to build an 800-megawatt wind farm off Martha's Vineyard, and Rhode Island announced that it would consider bids for a 400-megawatt offshore project.
- Plastic debris has become such a problem along the coast that shore towns are starting campaigns to reduce plastic use.
- The Chinese Giant Salamander, the largest amphibian in the world, turned out to be five species instead of one, and all of them are endangered.
- Shorter snowy seasons will cause problems for mammals that wear white coats in the winter.
- Light pollution has become a significant environmental problem in the U.S., and gas flares at energy fields are a major contributor.
- Invasive lanternflies have potential to become a major crop pest in the northeast.
