Posts
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| Red-necked Phalarope / USFWS Photo |
- 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.
- 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
- 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 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.
