Posts
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| Northern Shovelers / Photo by June Durbian/USFWS |
- The AOS released its second batch (pdf) of classification committee proposals for 2019. See also analysis from the ABA Blog.
- Birds in mountainous habitat are moving their ranges higher in elevation as the climate warms.
- In coastal Virginia, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons are nesting close to three weeks earlier than they did 50 years ago because of the earlier availability of fiddler crab prey.
- A Tufted Duck showed up in Australia for the first time, and a European Robin turned up in Beijing.
- Meanwhile, a Red-flanked Bluetail appeared in Los Angeles.
- Gurney's Pitta is rapidly declining due to habitat loss.
- A genetic study found a unique Northern Goshawk population on the island of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia.
- Satellite tags tracked the behavior of fledgling Emperor Penguins on their first trip to the sea.
- A small percentage of feather mites parasitize the wrong host species.
- INSIGHT-BLOG: Chasing the Gray-cheeked Thrush
- Matthew R. Halley: Color variation among subspecies of nightingale-thrushes (genus Catharus): part 1
- 10,000 Birds: The European Christmas Bird Count
- Chicago Ornithological Society: Dan's Feathursday Feature: Black-capped Chickadee
- Avian Hybrids: Unraveling the history (or histories?) of the Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Birding Beijing 北京观鸟: ‘Brexit refugee’ European Robin given warm reception in Beijing
- Shorebirder: "Kamchatka" Mew Gull in Connecticut
- Living Alongside Wildlife: On the Border with Black Bears
- Backyard and Beyond: Lord Love A Duck
- Urban Hawks: Peregrine Falcons Hunt
- Bird Ecology Study Group: House Crow catching an insect on the wing
- Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography: Hen and Drake Hooded Mergansers With and Without Prey
- New research shows that lichens have complex structures that may include more than one type of fungus.
- Insect populations in Puerto Rico have crashed, with losses of 98% of ground insects and 80% of tree insects. Along with them, insect-eating birds and frogs have declined significantly.
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species provides information on the conservation status of animal species, but currently the assessments for 600 species may be inaccurate.
- Around 60% of the 124 wild coffee species are in danger of extinction, including the wild species of Arabica.
- The Billion Oyster Project is restoring the lost oyster reefs around New York Harbor. A restored oyster population will help to clean up the bay's waters and provide some protection against future storm surges.
- In other shellfish news, Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia is starting a hatchery to restore freshwater mussel populations in the Delaware, Schuylkill, and Susquehanna watersheds.
- Here is a look at how invertebrates survive the winter.
- A study found Red Wolf DNA in a pack of wild canines (probably coywolves) in Galveston.
- Oceans had their warmest year on record in 2018, and Antarctica is losing ice six times faster than in 1979. The combination makes flooding routine along the East Coast.
- A report emphasizes the role forests can play in mitigating climate change if they protected and deforested areas are allowed to recover.
- The federal government shutdown set a new record for its duration this week. While public lands are understaffed, the administration is making sure new resource extraction claims are expedited (though it backed off in at least one case). The husband of Oregon's governor cleaned up the trash around Mount Hood and sent the bill to Trump. The shutdown will likely interrupt a long-running wolf ecology study and also prevent the relocation of wolves to Isle Royale.
- The border wall expansion at the heart of the shutdown will have adverse ecological effects. It threatens unique bee populations that thrive along the border. Plans include floodlights that will contribute to local light pollution.
- Environmentalists can expect stricter oversight of the Interior Department from the House Natural Resources Committee. Planned hearings include environmental impacts of the border wall, climate change, and regulatory rollbacks, including the weakening of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
- As acting head of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler has already done most of the coal industry's agenda. At his confirmation hearing this week, Wheeler played down the importance of climate change.
- Wheeler will not be the only appointment at the EPA with industry ties.
- When Pruitt was still in charge of the EPA, he turned over control of the toxic Anaconda Copper Mine site to the state of Nevada, in a move closely coordinated with BP.
- The Delaware River Port Authority is planning to install solar panels on the bridges and train stations it operates.
