Loose Feathers #674

Common Loon / Photo by Bill Thompson/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Populations of threatened birds in Australia halved in the past 30 years, and threatened shorebirds dropped by 70% over the same period.
• A study found that Darwin's finches choose mates that look like themselves.
• The non-breeding range of Bengal Floricans was difficult to find until a satellite monitoring program found that they move outside of protected areas to agricultural areas.
• Indian Peafowl crests vibrate at the same frequencies as their tails during courtship displays.
• A young Bald Eagle was rehabilitated and released after being poisoned with rat poison.

Science and nature blogging

• Raptormaniacs: Dazzle Like a Diamond in the Rough: The Evolution of Iridescent Plumage
• Feathered Photography: Bald Eagle Eating A Fish In Flight – The Entire 12 Image Series For The First Time
• Kent Dragonflies: 2018 Odonata Highlights (June - July)
• 10,000 Birds The American Coot - One of the Least Appreciated Birds in North America 
• Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.: The Best Birding of The Year: April in Sabine Woods  
• Avithera: Crakes
• ornithologi.com: High Numbers of Swamp Sparrow documented at Ted Trueblood WMA, Southwest Idaho  
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: The Vanishing Rusty Blackbird

Conservation and biodiversity

• After the Woolsey Fire in the Santa Monica Mountains, 12 of the 13 tracked cougars were found again, but the thirteenth, P-74, probably died.
• In recent years, a series of dam removals in the Northeast have allowed migratory fish to return to streams where they used to breed. 
• Brazil recorded its worst deforestation rate in a decade, and it may get worse under the new administration. 
• Over 140 pilot whales died in a mass stranding at New Zealand's Mason Bay.

Climate change and environmental politics

• The big climate news last week was the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released the day after Thanksgiving in the hope that people would ignore it. Here is coverage from the AP, Washington Post, and The Guardian. One of the authors suggests three takeaways from the report. Here is another short set of takeaways. One strength of the report is its attention to how the climate will affect each region of the US; here is a look at how it will affect the Northeast.
• In other news, carbon emissions have begun rising again after several years of stability. The Trump administration is doing its best to make sure emissions continue to increase.
• The EPA plans more water pollution regulatory rollbacks. The rollbacks would make it easier to pollute seasonal and intermittent waterways.
• The US Supreme Court struck down the critical habitat designation for the dusky gopher frog. 
• Oil drilling probably caused some earthquakes in California in the 1930s and 1940s.
• Seven men were convicted for murdering environmental activist Berta Cáceres.

Loose Feathers #673

White-breasted Nuthatch / Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• The director of raptor monitoring at Hawk Mountain has witnessed the recovery of raptor populations from DDT and now is seeing changes in migration patterns due to climate change.
• A study found that the winter diets of European Shags have changed significantly over the past few decades.
• The Northern Bald Ibis and Pink Pigeon show improved status in the latest version of the IUCN Red List. Overall, 31 bird species became more stable and 58 bird species became more vulnerable.
• European waterbirds, especially seabirds, shift their wintering ranges depending on the weather.
• Scientists are working to rebuild the Puerto Rican Parrot population after it was decimated by Hurricane Maria.
• A program for voluntary protection of habitat for Lesser Prairie-Chickens has had mixed results as legal wrangling continues over endangered listing.
• Some of the Snowy Owls tagged by Project SNOWstorm are starting to come back into transmission range. 
• EBird released status and trends pages for 107 bird species.
• One of the best ways to help birds is to plant native plants which support the insects that breeding birds eat. 
• Wild Turkeys on Staten Island are going to be trapped and relocated to upstate New York.
• A study found evidence that vultures watch each other to figure out where thermal updrafts are located. 
• A new report maps the refuges of the most endangered bird species with the goal of saving as many of those habitats as possible. 
• The Common Buttonquail was finally classified as extinct in Europe, the first such loss since the Great Auk. Unlike the Great Auk, it still survives elsewhere in its historic range.
• The Ocellated Turkey, the other member of the genus Meleagris, is in decline due to overhunting but could possibly be saved by ecotourism.
• Changes in irrigation practices in California's Imperial Valley could make life harder for Burrowing Owls.

Science and nature blogging

• ABA Blog: Happening NOW: Irruption of Winter Finches Underway
• Ontario Birds and Herps: Calliope Hummingbird: yet another new species for Ontario
• Branch out with BotSoc: Life on the Edge: Saving the Albertina Sisulu Orchid from Extinction 
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Some Of The Joys Of Photographing Birds Close To Home

Conservation and biodiversity

• Brazil's BR-262, which runs through the Pantanal, is one of the deadliest roads for wildlife in the world.
• Komodo dragons prefer a familiar landscape and rarely disperse very far.
• Utah Junipers, which are generally hardy and drought-resistant, are suddenly dying in large numbers.
• Galápagos Sea Lions lost their preferred food source, so instead they learned to hunt Yellowfin Tuna.
• At least 12 of the 13 mountain lions with radio collars survived the wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains.
• Broadleaf trees like aspen can provide natural fire breaks in between stands of conifers, but timber companies often spray them with herbicide.

Climate change and environmental politics

• A study found that the U.S. could reduce a fifth of its carbon emissions through reforestation.
• Social media has sparked a surge in visitors to national parks and other public lands, but many parks do not have the resources to handle the extra crowds.
• Climate change is altering the jet stream and creating weird effects like extreme heat in western North America and extreme cold in eastern North America. 
• There was a major oil spill off Newfoundland.
• France is insisting on the EU's climate change regulations being part of any Brexit deal.
• The Trump administration wants to expand drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve, which would affect caribou and other wildlife.

Loose Feathers #672

Lesser Scaup / Photo by Krista Lundgren/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• An ornithologist points out reasons not to be excited by the Central Park Mandarin Duck, while Audubon suggests looking at some of the wild waterfowl instead.
• A warbler in Pennsylvania seems to be a hybrid of a Brewster's Warbler (itself a hybrid of Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers) and a Chestnut-sided Warbler. 
• A new study found that birds are heading uphill in the Andes to cope with climate change, and this ascent is already reducing populations.
• Willow Warblers make one of the longest recorded migrations, from eastern Siberia to eastern Africa.
• In the last few decades the proportion of shorebird nests suffering predation in the Arctic has drastically increased.
• A center in British Columbia is captive-breeding Northern Spotted Owls to keep the species from disappearing from Canada. 
• Dippers that experience less stress as nestlings sing more complex songs.
• A review paper finds little evidence for the idea that the size of a male House Sparrow's black bib serves as a sign of the bird's status.
• Birds are less disturbed by trails than by the people on them, so hikers should stay on the trail and not wander off.
• Evening Grosbeaks wander frequently and tend not to stay in one place for long.

Science and nature blogging

• 10,000 Birds: Parks and Public Lands Win at the Polls
• Stokes Birding Blog: White-headed Junco, Speckled Robin, what??? Leucistic Birds
• Science Snapshots: Growing Up Prairie: Cowbirds, Predators, and Baby Birds in Kansas Grasslands 
• Feathered Photography: Some Of The Reasons I Despise Barbed Wire
• Birding New Jersey: Bohemian Chatterers
• Outside My Window: Evening Grosbeaks!
• Backyard and Beyond: Winter Wrens
• awkward botany: Attempts to Avenge the Acts of Cirsium arvense – A Biocontrol Story
• earthstar: The windhover 
• Urban Hawks: Northern Saw-Whet Owl 
• Anything Larus: 1st Cycle Kelp Gulls - First Impressions
• View From The Cape: A western visitor to the Jersey Shore 

Conservation and biodiversity

• Data from around the world shows a worrisome decline in insect biomass, but so far it is unclear how many species are declining or whether all the declines have the same cause.
• One potential contributing factor is that heatwaves seem to make some beetles less fertile.
• Endangered, stingless Melipona bees from Mexico somehow established a second population in Cuba.
• Google searches suggest that public interest in conservation and climate change is rising.

Climate change and environmental politics

• This article explores ways that climate change might change Yellowstone National Park over the next several decades.
• Ryan Zinke is transforming the Interior Department into a tool of big business. It has been in such a rush to approve new leases for oil and gas drilling that it cannot keep up with potential conflicts between fossil fuel and grazing leases.
• Meanwhile, a company that wants to drill for oil in the Arctic is running into problems because of the lack of sea ice.
• Record-setting fires in California seem connected to the unusually hot and dry summer, a pattern becoming more common due to climate change. 
• Despite Democratic victories in elections this month, it is hard to see a way forward for comprehensive climate legislation.
• Washington, DC, is working on climate legislation that would mandate a 50% emissions cut by 2032, and a local utility has been running misleading ads to undermine it.

Loose Feathers #671

Red-necked Phalarope / USFWS Photo

Birds and birding news

• The escaped Mandarin Duck in Manhattan has gotten an unusual amount of press coverage. In one of the better accounts, a journalist who is new to birding writes about going to look for it and seeing a lot of other birds instead.
• Shoebills are threatened by the pet industry, so local fishermen guard some of the nests. 
• A study found that some shorebird declines are linked to an increase in nest predation and habitat changes due to climate change. 
• Ocean conditions are more likely to affect the bodies of female Magellanic Penguins than males of the same species.
• A study found that dominant bird species (like Black-capped Chickadees) tend to do better in cities.
• Speaking of chickadees, here is a guide to telling Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees apart. 
• A citizen science project is looking for recordings of White-throated Sparrows singing in the winter. Here is how to contribute.
• Goffin's Cockatoos can learn to create and manipulate tools, even though they have not been recorded doing so in the wild.  
• A press release on Cooper's Hawks dining at bird feeders for some reason includes an illustration of an Old World vulture.

Science and nature blogging

• The Bruce Mactavish Newfoundland Birding Blog: Newfoundland's FIFTH GRAY HERON - Nov 2018
• Avian Hybrids: Exploring the genomic landscape of wood-warblers
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Adult White-crowned Sparrows Feeding On Greasewood Seeds
• Vermont Center for Ecostudies: In Haiti, Mass Extinction Underway as Deforestation Nearly Complete
• Laura's Birding Blog: Blue Jays: What We Know, and What We Don't
• Kent Dragonflies: Brilliant Emerald v's Downy Emerald
• Urban Hawks: Even More Barred Owl 
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino’s Life In The Meadowlands: Butterfly Gardens Are Now For The Birds!
• earthstar: A white-headed Ruff  
• Natural Newstead: Insects beware

Conservation and biodiversity

• A viral video of a bear cub struggling in the snow shows evidence that it was taken by a drone operator harassing the cub and its mother.
• A breach in Fire Island caused by Superstorm Sandy helped revive marine life in the bay protected by the island.
• An iNaturalist project is gathering photo documentation to determine whether mountain goats are changing the times of their molts to adapt to climate change. 
• At least 660 species of bees, including 49 new species, have been recorded within the original boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. The area is also rich in wildflowers, which provide food for the bees.
• Here are some of the photos of the New Jersey Pinelands that won prizes in a photo contest run by the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.

Climate change and environmental politics

• Climate and anti-fracking initiatives did not fare well at the polls on Election Day despite the blue wave. That included Washington's I-1631, which would have imposed a carbon fee.
• In better news, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will probably be chaired by a former nurse, who will be the first chair of the committee with a science-related background since the 1990s.
• Meanwhile, the House Natural Resources Committee will take a closer look at how Ryan Zinke has been running the Interior Department.
• A federal judge temporarily blocked the Keystone XL pipeline on the grounds that the Trump administration did not follow the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires a rational decision-making process.
• A study found that minorities are the most vulnerable to major wildfires, not because they live in the most fire-prone areas but because they have more trouble evacuating and recovering from losses.
• A federal judge ruled that red wolves in North Carolina are still protected from unjustified killing.
• Some activists from New Jersey are conducting a climate fast to persuade the state to put a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects.

Loose Feathers #670

Bald Eagle / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• The US Fish and Wildlife Service is again attempting to remove the Hawaiian Hawk from the Endangered Species List even though there is little evidence that the species's status has changed since the last attempt at delisting failed in 2014. 
• Research connects the Inaccessible Island Rail to species currently placed in the genera Porzana and Laterallus.
• A new study suggests that Barn Swallows evolved alongside humans.
• Pete Dunne writes about his local birding patch in Cumberland County and the importance of protecting local natural areas. 
• Four manakin species diverged on the basis of roll-snap displays performed during courtship.
• A new study describes how Barn Owls decide what to pay attention to.
• Giant flightless elephant birds were nocturnal and possibly blind like kiwis, their closest living relatives.
• New research examines how birds jump.
• A Mandarin Duck of unknown (but probably captive) provenance appeared in Central Park.
• For Halloween, Audubon posted a creepy bird call quiz.
• Restoring the curlew population in Ireland includes a program that pays farmers to preserve shorebird breeding habitat.

Science and nature blogging

• 10,000 Birds: Fall Birding is the Best Birding
• Vermont Center for Ecostudies: Field Guide to November 2018
• Feathered Photography: When Hawks Pursue Songbirds It Can Be Deadly For Them Both 
• Corvid Research: Denali Diaries Part II: The Wildlife 
• The Artful Amoeba: Eye Candy: Fossil Flowers Bloomed When Dinosaurs Ruled Earth
• Backyard and Beyond: Nature Note
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Gone Fishing
• Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Male Brewer’s Blackbird On A Fence Post With Fall Colors
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Ashy Tailorbird – family unit
• Steve Happ Photography: Big Terrigal Creek pm 
• Bird Sketches: Stonechat atop gorse bush

Conservation and biodiversity

• The Earth BioGenome Project is trying to sequence the genome of every plant, animal, and fungus over the next ten years. That would include 1.5 million species, compared to the 3,500 species currently sequenced.
• A new swallowtail species, Papilio natewa, was discovered in Fiji.

Climate change and environmental politics

• Ryan Zinke's time at the Interior Department has been notable for its mismanagement, and this week one of the many investigations into his ethics was referred to the Justice Department.
• The EPA's climate change page has been gone for over a year.
• The election of far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil is likely to have severe consequences for the climate and biodiversity as he supports opening Indigenous areas to resource development.
• Persistent unusual weather patterns seem to be linked to climate change.
• The Army Corps of Engineers wants to build a tidal barrier across the mouth of New York Harbor to prevent future storm surges. The downside (as explained at the link) is that such a barrier would remove much of the tidal energy from the Hudson and other local estuaries. A public comment period is open until November 5.