Posts
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| American Robin / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS |
- A new study links the mass mortality of Common Murres in Alaska in 2015 to a combination of a reduction in prey fish and an increase in the appetites of predator fish. Both were caused by the Blob, a heatwave in the Pacific Ocean. About 10-20% of Common Murres died from 2014-2016.
- New estimates suggest that over 1 billion animals were affected by Australia's wildfires. Birds in particular danger include the Regent Honeyeater, Eastern Bristlebird, and Glossy Black Cockatoo, all of which are endangered or have endangered regional populations.
- Biologists are using remote audio recorders to monitor the endangered Puaiohi population on Kauai. Similar methods are being used to monitor other species in remote locations.
- A study of window-killed birds around Oklahoma State University showed that the size and shape of glass exteriors influence how many birds get killed at a particular site.
- Debi Shearwater is retiring from leading pelagic birding tours.
- A new honeyeater species was described from Alor Island in Indonesia. The Alor Myzomela is similar to the Crimson-hooded Myzomela but differs in wing color and vocalizations.
- Birds can be an effective entry point for people to care about nature.
- The throat morphology of cassowaries supports a close relationship with tinamous and moas.
- Roosting vultures have taken over a Customs and Border Patrol radio tower in Texas.
- Early arrival in a breeding territory is important even for non-migratory birds.
- The purchase of Cousin Island in the Seychelles by a conservation group probably saved the Seychelles Warbler.
- Hartford is home to a winter crow roost that was estimated to be 19,000 birds in 2018.
- New Jersey released its annual report on the Bald Eagle Project (pdf). In 2019, there were 211 territorial pairs with at least 190 active nests (184 with a known outcome) that produced 249 young.
- Anything Larus: 1st Cycle Vega Gulls
- John Rakestraw: Mew Gulls
- Feathered Photography: Northern Harrier Landing Vertically On Prey In The Wind
- Linda Murdock Photography: A Most Cooperative Curlew
- awkward botany: Camel Crickets and the Dust Seeds of Parasitic Plants
- I Used to Hate Birds: 2019 5MR Challenge Wrap-up
- Backyard and Beyond: Cactus Pose
- On The Wing Photography: Photographing Drake Common Goldeneyes In A Territorial Dispute
- Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.: Cracking The Code of The Rebus: A Band Return For an Evening Grosbeak
- The Prairie Ecologist: Finally, A Practical Guide for Roadside Wildflower Viewing
- Arachnofiles: Arachnews: January 13, 2020
- mocosocoBirds: The Emerald Ash Borer and Morris County Parks – Jan. 11, 2020
- Avian Hybrids: Explaining the pantropical distribution of kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, motmots, and todies
- Healthy natural ecosystems sequester a lot of carbon, so climate solutions ought to pay more attention to conservation.
- Three new gecko species were discovered on Sri Lanka. All three are rare and range-restricted.
- The wildfires in Australia are likely to push some species towards extinction, and even some species that are not endangered may lose regional populations.
- Feral cats are making the aftermath of Australia's wildfires worse by traveling to burn scars and hunting the wildlife that survived.
- The fog in coastal California transports toxic dimethylmercury from the ocean into terrestrial ecosystems, where it accumulates in the animals that live there.
- The restoration of American River has increased the number of salmon breeding there. It still has a long way to reach its historic level.
- Principe's Obô snails have declined by 75% since the 1990s due to invasive species and collection.
- A single gene controls the pheromones that separate two species of orchid bees.
- A camera trap photographed a Bobcat in Northwest DC near the C&O Canal. The closest previous record of a Bobcat to DC was 25 miles away.
- Insects need to adjust for the effect of gravity on their internal organs when they hang upside down.
- Since Bristlecone Pines can live for millennia, they contain a global climate record.
- Last year was the second-hottest year on record, behind only 2016, when temperatures were influenced by El Niño. The past decade was also the warmest decade on record.
- Last year also set a record for ocean temperatures. High ocean temperatures are harmful for marine life and also affect weather on land.
- The Trump administration has been dismantling the management of the National Park Service and undermining the regulations that protect them.
- Most of the political appointees in charge of enforcing federal environmental laws have a background in the fossil fuel or agricultural industries or worked to undermine regulations in a state government.
- New Jersey legislators failed to pass the single-use plastic ban or a bill to protect Liberty State Park from development before the end of the last session. (The latter passed the state senate but died in the assembly.) The process for both will need to be restarted.
