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| American White Pelicans / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS |
- White-crowned Sparrows exposed to a high dose of neonicotinoid pesticides lost weight and delayed migration, which could affect their survival.
- A "blob" of warm water has formed again in the Pacific and is likely to affect marine wildlife. Seabirds had one of their worst breeding seasons in the Farallons this year, and mass seabird deaths in Alaska were also linked to unusually warm conditions.
- Observations from the annual Tribute in Light installation on the site of the World Trade Center show that the program puts up to 160,000 birds in danger. NYC Audubon has worked with the city to turn off the lights for 20 minutes whenever over 1,000 birds are trapped.
- Activists are trying to get New York City to pass legislation to make the city's buildings safer for migratory birds.
- Protections for the Northern Spotted Owl did not hurt workers, as most of the job losses in the Northwest had already happened for other reasons by the time the owl was listed under the Endangered Species Act.
- A study looked at the genetic basis for the distinctive plumage of pitohuis, one of the few toxic birds.
- Birds see magnetic fields with the help of cryptochromes, which respond in birds even in low light.
- Hurricane Dorian dumped many birds in Nova Scotia; some were exhausted and others died.
- An ecologist is counting Common Nighthawks at Hawk Ridge in Minnesota, which is believed to be the largest concentration of migrating nighthawks in North America.
- Birders can make their yards more friendly to birds by planting native plants that bear fruit or support healthy insect populations.
- While most shorebirds have already headed south, some are still moving through and may linger into the winter. Getting a close look at them is sometimes easier at high tide.
- Vultures were the subject of an ignorant, scaremongering article from the Associated Press.
- New Jersey is considering larger releases of translocated Northern Bobwhites to re-establish their population in the state. So far all releases have been on a cranberry farm in the Pinelands.
- 10,000 Birds: Bird Litigation: “Standing” and the California Gnatcatcher
- American Ornithological Society Blog: The Threat of a Green-Headed Monster
- In Defense of Plants: The Carnivorous Dewy Pine
- Backyard and Beyond: BioBlitz Notes
- The Prairie Ecologist: Butterfly Hunting
- Kayla Fisk: Bird Beaks: Form and Function
- On The Wing Photography: Gray Flycatcher Perched In Fragrant Sumac
- Chicago Ornithological Society Blog: Birding by Transit: Northerly Island
- Electric eels turned out to be three species rather than one, a result based on genetics as well as physical and habitat differences.
- Antarctic midges spend about half their lives frozen and survive by allowing themselves to dehydrate as the temperature drops.
- Cats are a substantial portion of urban coyotes' diets, along with ornamental fruit and garbage.
- The world's largest butterfly, the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, is also one of its rarest, facing threats including deforestation for oil palm plantations.
- Poison frogs with white markings are less effective at scaring off predators than ones with yellow markings, but they still thrive by being more secretive.
- DNA connected a the Mead's Skipper to Colorado. The 150-year-old specimen had no location listed on its label.
- Beavers are returning to the Elwha River and are active even in tidal marshes.
- Since the introduction of neonicotinoid pesticides, U.S. agriculture has become far more toxic, especially to bees.
- The Monarch Monitoring Project started its 30th year counting and tagging Monarchs at Cape May this week.
- Monarchs raised in captivity, especially ones purchased through commercial dealers, have trouble migrating.
- Germany has a plan to protect insects by restricting pesticides and light pollution and increasing habitat available to them.
- EBird introduced new tools for managing image and audio uploads.
- When states introduce fees for electric vehicles, they tend to be higher than what owners of gas-powered vehicles would pay via gas taxes. This is because EV fees are generally adapted from model legislation written by fossil fuel lobbyists.
- Here is a summary of where 2020 presidential candidates stand on climate change and related issues.
- The Trump administration wants to open the entire coastal plain of the Arctic NWR to oil and gas drilling. A recent boat trip shows what could be threatened there.
- The EPA is working on a weaker version of the Waters of the U.S. rule, which would not protect ephemeral streams.
- Changes to the Interior Department's interpretation of the Endangered Species Act are complicating plans to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades.
