Posts
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| Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS |
- A new study names five new bird species and five new subspecies from three remote Indonesian islands.
- Detroit is experiencing a Snowy Owl irruption.
- American Kestrels have declined by 50% in the last 50 years in northeastern North America, a decline that matches trends in other grassland birds.
- A camera trap in Iceland caught an Atlantic Puffin using a stick to scratch itself.
- A study found that African Gray Parrots are willing to help each other find food.
- Lebanese conservationists are building a system of protected areas to prevent migratory birds from being hunted while passing through.
- Audubon is urging Congress to pass an update to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
- Virginia paved over its largest seabird colony, which was on the south island of the bridge-tunnel. The state wildlife agency wants to replace the colony with a new island, but there are obstacles to doing that.
- A team of scientists is trying to figure out how many parasites a bird can carry.
- Vermont Center for Ecostudies: Of Birds and Buckets: Nocturnal Flight Call Recordings Shine A Light on Migration Timing
- Feathered Photography: Rough-legged Hawk – The (very) Big Yawn
- ornithologi.com: Published in Ambio: Status and trends of circumpolar Peregrine Falcon and Gyrfalcon populations
- incidental naturalist: Winter Ruddy Ducks on the Hudson River
- MaghrebOrnitho: White-rumped Seedeater: first for Algeria and Western Palearctic
- On The Wing Photography: Some Days In The Field Are Mostly For Learning
- Arachnofiles: Arachnews: January 6, 2020
- Cool Green Science: Owling: A Field Guide to Finding Winter Owls
- The Rattling Crow: Stonechat pairs in winter territories
- Here is a listing of the species declared extinct in 2019. Most were probably extinct long before last year.
- The palm oil industry is a major threat to proboscis monkeys because much of their habitat was converted to plantations and more is being fragmented for processing plants.
- The severe wildfires in Australia are a threat to the country's wildlife and may push some species towards extinction. While much of the attention has focused on vertebrates like koalas, kangaroos, and cockatoos, many unique invertebrates are also at risk.
- Here are ten reasons to care about spiders (and much-maligned Australian spiders in particular).
- There are about 435,000 plant species on Earth, and over one-third are considered "exceedingly rare" according to a new study. Rare plants are especially vulnerable to climate change.
- Highways are a threat to wolverines since female wolverines will not attempt to cross them.
- A study found that the Chinese Paddlefish is probably extinct. This was one of only two paddlefish species in the world and the largest freshwater fish.
- Once an area reaches 50% deforestation, the rest of the trees are felled soon after.
- New York City recently conducted its first squirrel census and found that there are 2,373 squirrels in Central Park.
- The 2010s could be described as the decade when the significance of climate change became impossible to ignore, and the 2020s will be worse.
- Australia, like many countries, is too dependent on fossil fuels to make the changes necessary to mitigate climate change.
- Unfortunately the wildfires in Australia have been accompanied by a disinformation campaign regarding their causes and severity. This campaign supports climate change denialism by prominent politicians.
- New Jersey (and states with similar pinelands-type habitats) can learn from recent wildfires.
- Recent research suggests that exposure to the smoke from wildfires can cause lifelong health problems.
- America's use of coal fell by 18% in 2019, but greenhouse gas emissions overall are still rising because other parts of the economy are not decarbonizing as quickly as energy plants. Transportation is now the largest contributor.
- Massive solar projects in California's deserts have continue to be controversial because of their effects on desert ecosystems.
- Last year was the second-hottest year on record, trailing only 2016 (and not by much).
- The Trump administration is planning regulatory changes to do away with the NEPA review process for highway projects.
- At the same time, the EPA is planning to introduce new air pollution standards for trucks, in order to prevent regulation at the state level.
- The owners of the Liberty National golf course in Jersey City are still lobbying the state legislature to get a chunk of Liberty State Park to expand their golf course. The site in question is currently preserved as a natural area. Activists have been protesting the privatization proposal.
