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| Sanderling / Photo by Peter Pearsall/USFWS |
- A new report from Audubon finds that 389 bird species are vulnerable to extinction due to climate change out of the 604 North American bird species they modeled. The greatest threats are to habitat specialist or range restricted species, especially ones that breed in the Arctic. This page allows one to see the predicted future ranges for vulnerable species under different climate scenarios.
- The report also found that at least eight states could lose their current state birds as ranges shift.
- Birders already see hints of the more dramatic range shifts predicted in the Audubon report.
- A study found that Greater Prairie-Chickens are less concerned with noise from wind turbines than land cover, particularly woody vegetation.
- The Kirtland's Warbler has met the standard for recovery and will be removed from the Endangered Species List. However, continued work will be necessary to maintain their preferred jack pine habitat.
- The Cerulean Warbler population dropped 70% in 44 years, but the rate of decline has slowed over the past decade. The reasons are unclear, but it may be connected to habitat conservation on their breeding and wintering ranges.
- A banding network staffed by volunteers has established that Northern Saw-whet Owls are far more common and widespread than expected and revealed more about their migration patterns.
- Restored riparian habitat supports fewer birds than intact habitat, but their nesting success is the same.
- This summer the Atlantic Puffin colony on Eastern Egg Rock in Maine reached a record 188 pairs, but their future is uncertain because of climate change.
- Harsh winter conditions can affect the nesting success of swallows the following spring.
- Birders in Minnesota have noticed the bird declines reported in scientific article last week.
- Thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters failed to show up on their breeding grounds in Australia.
- A Least Bittern turned up in Ireland for the first time.
- The Philippines has 11 endemic hornbill species, nine of which are endangered.
- Satellite imagery shows the nesting grounds for Blue Snow Geese, which should be on their way south.
- Some Arctic seabirds are breeding earlier because of climate change bringing and earlier spring.
- An insecticide killed 200 birds in Australia.
- ornithologi.com: Published in Marine Ornithology: Potential Northward Expansion of the Breeding Range of Red-legged Kittiwake Rissa brevirostris
- Avian Hybrids: How far did the hybrid zone between Hermit Warbler and Townsend’s Warbler move?
- Dynamic Ecology: Did North America really lose 3 billion birds? What does it mean?
- Cool Green Science: Recovery: A Future for Wood Turtles
- Laura's Birding Blog: Why I Love Scrub Jays
- A new species of tarsier was reported from Sulawesi, a biodiversity hotspot in Indonesia.
- Kangaroos are a major cause of overgrazing in Australia's preserves.
- Stick and leaf insects probably evolved their camouflage to hide from birds and mammals.
- Florida's Python Action Team recently removed its 900th invasive python, which is in addition to the 2,567 pythons captured by another agency. However, the python population in Florida is probably still in the tens of thousands.
- Three of the nineteen wolves translocated to Isle Royale have died, and one crossed the ice back to the mainland.
- Ghost forests are appearing along the US East Coast as rising seas kill what used to be stands of white cedar or loblolly pine.
- Permafrost is thawing and collapsing in Yakutia, where temperatures have warmed 2°C in the past 50 years and 3°C since the 19th century.
- Alaska is also warming faster than most of the world, with unusual wildfires and the loss of sea ice in the summer.
- Twenty companies are responsible for a third of global fossil fuel emissions.
- Activists in Colorado have been fighting to rein in the booming fracking industry.
- A ballot issue to revoke a power plant bailout in Ohio has prompted a bitter fight.
- Aerial photos of Mont Blanc from 1919 show how much ice has been lost in the past century.
- A report argues that single-use plastics should be replaced with reusable containers and not alternative single-use items.
- Some places could make money by preserving forests through carbon offset programs.
- Phil Murphy announced his opposition to a proposed power plant in the Meadowlands, but it already seemed unlikely that the plant would be built. The plant would burn natural gas to provide electricity to New York City.
- Canadian elections are approached, and here is a comparison of the climate plans offered by four major parties.
