Loose Feathers #746

Cinnamon Teal x Blue-winged Teal hybrid / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• A bacterial infection has killed 11,000 Blue Tits in the past two weeks in Germany.
• Flamingos in Albania's Narta Lagoon have been unbothered by boaters since the country shut down in response to the pandemic.
• A new study traces brain evolution in birds from non-avian theropods to modern birds. Birds that evolved more recently, like parrots and corvids, tend to have proportionally larger brains.
• Great Tits can lower the temperature of their bills to conserve body heat. 
• David Sibley thinks that birds make complex decisions and experience emotions. 
• Millions of songbirds are taken from the wild in Indonesia every year to be used in bird singing competitions. 
• Red Knots are due to arrive in the Mid-Atlantic in the next few weeks, and their migration remains a marvel of the avian world despite their decline in numbers. 
• A composer writes about what he hears in the songs of chickadees. 
• When a large tree fell in Panama (and took other trees with it), the number of hummingbirds in the area around the treefall increased.
• A spoof article in a predatory open-source journal asks what's the deal with birds.

Science and nature blogging

• corvidresearch: The definitive guide for distinguishing American crows & common ravens
• Feathered Photography: Mating Red-tailed Hawks – The Rest Of The Story
• The Applied Ecologist's Blog: Bee pollen reveals how multiple threats could contribute to bee decline
• Los Angeles Junco Times: A Call for Community Science
• incidental naturalist: The Hudson’s Brant 
• Backyard and Beyond: Raptor Wednesday: Earth Day Edition
• On The Wing Photography: Photographing Blooming Glacier Lilies 
• Arachnofiles: Arachnews: April 20, 2020 
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino's Life in the Meadowlands: The Time Is Now For Our Environment
• BugTracks: Green Wasps from a Green Island 

Biodiversity and conservation

• A study using tracking collars found that outdoor house cats do not range widely but kill more wildlife than their owners think, to the point of having a greater effect on wildlife than wild predators.
• Scientists found a fossil frog in Antarctica from 40 million years ago when the continent was much warmer. The same area has yielded fossils of water lilies and marsupials.
• A new study of global insect populations found a decline of 25% since 1990. Aquatic insects are among the few exceptions since their populations have rebounded as water pollution is reduced.
• Since the coronavirus shutdowns began, there have been a series of reports of animals taking advantage of the absence of humans. Some of it may simply be a result of people noticing things that were there all along; the reduction in traffic noise makes it easier to hear birdsong, for example.
• A new study suggests that climate change could cause sudden ecosystem collapses, and they could come sooner than expected.
• One ecosystem that is primed for collapse is San Francisco Bay and its watersheds, though less because of climate change than dams and other water diversion projects.
• Climate change is one of many ways that humans are changing how species evolve.
• Here is an interview with the authors of "Everyday Biodiversity" on appreciating nature during a pandemic.
• An unusual pale orca has been spotted in Puget Sound.
• This weekend is iNaturalist's annual City Nature Challenge. This year's version will be non-competitive because of coronavirus restrictions. Here are some guidelines for new iNaturalist users.

Climate change and environmental politics

• This week was the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. Unfortunately the celebrations planned for the occasion had to move online, if they happened at all. The New York Times looked at what has gotten better and worse since 1970. One thing that has gotten worse is adherence to the precautionary principle, a key part of environmental legislation in the 1970s. The Trump administration is trying to roll back whatever progress has happened since the first Earth Day.
• The Superfund law is 40 years old this year, and progress has been slow due to a lack of funding and foot-dragging by hostile administrations.
• This week marked another anniversary, the 10th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico still have not completely recovered. Queen Bess Island has been restored using money from the spill settlement to benefit Brown Pelicans. Unfortunately a major spill could easily happen again, and the Trump administration has loosened the rules that were put in place to make offshore drilling less dangerous.
• Here is a summary of the climate change problem, including how scientists know it is happening and what to do about it.
• Like with climate change, federal and state officials were slow to act to control the pandemic, despite evidence showing that action was necessary.
• Another similarity between climate change and the coronavirus pandemic is that the protests of stay-at-home orders are being funded by the same groups pushing climate change denialism.
• Air pollution has contributed to disparities in coronavirus infection rates around New York City. 
• Park closures due to the pandemic have unequal effects in communities that lack ready access to nature.
• During the pandemic, the air quality has improved in cities such as Manila because people are traveling less. Unfortunately Jakarta is an exception because of forest fires.
• A large coal company received money from the CARES Act that was meant for small businesses.
• Microplastics have been found in Antarctic sea ice, where krill forage for food.
• The collapse in oil prices could cause a decline in shale oil projects, and some wells could be abandoned and become environmental hazards. Now is as good a time as any to wind down dependence on fossil fuels and turn to clean energy.
• Treating clothes with permethrin significantly reduces tick bites, but the effectiveness of the permethrin declines over time as the clothes are washed and dried.
• The Supreme Court ruled that polluters still need to comply with the Clean Water Act even if they are pumping waste into the ground rather than into waterways. 
• Rising sea levels could threaten the drinking water supply of communities that source their water from rivers like the Delaware that are partially tidal. 
• Here are some of New Jersey's natural areas saved from development by environmentalists.

Loose Feathers #745

Bald Eagle / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• There have been a number of articles published on birding while practicing social distancing. Here is one on backyard birding. Birding festivals are being replaced with online programs. Closures and travel restrictions are something we will be dealing with for a long while.
• A program to turn marginal cropland on Maryland's Eastern Shore into habitat for Northern Bobwhites can also help reduce runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. Bobwhites have declined sharply in the Mid-Atlantic region due primarily to loss of habitat.
• Biologists in Arizona found a Bald Eagle nest in the arms of a saguaro cactus. The last record of such a nesting site was in 1937.
• An unusual nightjar specimen known as Vaurie’s Nightjar is probably a subspecies of European Nightjar.
• Some seabirds have a cooperative foraging strategy in which they repeatedly fly in parallel arcs to find the best areas for feeding. 
• Sandhill Cranes stop over in wetlands created as part of a public works project on Washington's Columbia Plateau.
• Unfortunately scaring birds away from a toxic waste pond is an essential job.

Science and nature blogging

• Corvid Research: A tale of two crows: northwestern vs. American
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Don Torino's Life in the Meadowlands: Our Favorite Birds
• Avian Hybrids: The peculiar genomes of Falcons 
• In Defense of Plants: Meet the Ocotillo 
• The Urban Nature Enthusiast: Raven Therapy
• On The Wing Photography: Thermoregulating Turkey Vulture Close Up
• Arachnofiles: Arachnews: April 13, 2020

Biodiversity and conservation

• The Museum of the Earth has a virtual exhibit on bee evolution and diversity.
• Entomology Today published a two-part series on macro photography of insects. Here is part 1 and part 2.
• Monarch caterpillars and pupae are stressed when handled by humans, but adult Monarchs do not appear to be as stressed.
• Ecologists are trying to figure out how much recreation activity is too much for wildlife to survive.
• Destruction of koala habitat actually increased in New South Wales and Queensland after the koala was listed as vulnerable in 2012.
• Freshwater mussels are having an increasing number of mass die-offs. The causes are unclear, but they are part of a long-term decline across many species.
• Logging threatens woodland caribou since the young forest that takes its place attracts moose and wolves.
• Plant diversity is declining in European forests, and less common plants are disappearing. 
• One of the easiest ways to support conservation at a small scale is to plant native plants, which support insects, birds, and other wildlife.
• There are a few iNaturalist projects specifically for observations during the COVID-19 shutdowns, including the COVID-19 Quarantine Blitz and Socially Distant Bioblitz.

Climate change and environmental politics

• The EPA is gaming the cost-benefit analysis of air pollution rules to allow coal plants to release more mercury.
• The Trump administration's campaign to scale back environmental regulations is likely to undo years of work to clean up places like the Chesapeake Bay. 
• The drought in the Southwest is already as bad as any in the last 1,200 years according to new research. The only megadrought that was worse occurred in the 16th century. Without climate change, there might still be a drought, but it would not be nearly as bad.
• A severe and prolonged drought is devastating Anjouan in the Comoros islands.
• In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic that is plaguing other regions, parts of eastern Africa are dealing with unusually large swarms of locusts. The swarms were triggered by an extreme weather pattern last year that has been linked to climate change.
• This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and the results of the spill were under-reported and worse than anticipated.

Loose Feathers #744

American Robin / my photo

Birds and birding news

• The American Birding Association has some recommendations for birding while practicing social distancing.
• A study in Brazil showed that forest birds will quickly recolonize an area that has been reforested after fragmentation.
• An ornithologist at the Field Museum has been documenting the dangers that buildings pose to migratory birds since the 1970s, and his findings have helped make their migrations safer.
• A group of amateur naturalists is documenting the lives of rare and little-known birds of the Phillippines, such as the South Philippine Dwarf-Kingfisher. 
• Birds that can adapt to new foods or foraging strategies are less likely to go extinct. 
• High winds killed swallows and swifts that were migrating over Greece. Many of the birds arrived exhausted and malnourished.

Science and nature blogging

• BugTracks: The Yard List(s)
• Vermont Center for Ecostudies: Updated for 2020: State of the Mountain Birds Report
• Arachnofiles: Arachnews: April 6, 2020 

Biodiversity and conservation

• As the climate warms, it will be possible for more species to invade Antarctica, which has generally been too cold for newcomers. The first appears to be a mussel from Patagonia. 
• It seems that Black Rhinos listen for the alarm calls of Red-billed Oxpeckers to know when humans are nearby. 
• Cold snaps help control some invasive species, but the Emerald Ash Borer benefits from extreme temperature variability because it kills the parasitoids used to control them. 
• The Interior Department wants to remove the Canada Lynx from the threatened species list, even though their population is still declining in the lower 48 states. 
• During the pandemic, there have been numerous stories about how wildlife have reacted to the shutdown, some of which are true and many of which are false.
• Preserving established habitats like old-growth forests, grasslands, and peatlands, can do more to reduce atmospheric carbon than aggressive tree-planting programs, especially when the latter involved non-native trees.
• Another study found that breeding and releasing Monarchs probably does more harm than good because captive-bred Monarchs are weaker fliers.

Climate change and environmental politics

• Due to social distancing and restrictions on travel, air pollution and carbon emissions have fallen dramatically compared to recent years. However, there is no guarantee that they will stay down once the pandemic ends.
• It would be good if they stayed down because air pollution exacerbates respiratory diseases like the coronavirus.
• Another side effect of the economic shutdown is that food is being wasted that would normally go to restaurants, school cafeterias, caterers, and similar buyers.
• Many local communities want their national parks closed down because increased visitation puts them at risk. 
• New Jersey closed all of its state and county parks this week, and many towns in the state have done the same.
• There are questions about whether park shutdowns are useful or sustainable, given that outdoor exercise is good for mental and physical health and that a heavy-handed approach can increase resistance to more important restrictions.
• Many states are using the pandemic to roll back single-use plastic restrictions or even ban reusable bags, but reusable bags are still allowed in New Jersey. 
• New Jersey's DEP classified an additional 600 miles of rivers and streams as Category One waterways, which receive strong protections under state law.
• The White House gave industry groups a back channel to rewrite regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act because the industry groups were unhappy that their opponents were dominating the required public comment periods.
• Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration is pushing ahead with construction of the border wall.

Loose Feathers #743

Masked Booby / USFWS Photo

Birds and birding news

• The coronavirus pandemic has made birding more complicated. EBird has some recommendations for safe birding. One option is backyard birding. The NJDEP has a list of best practices for outdoor recreation. The Sierra Club also has some guidelines.
• Most bird festivals and birding trips have been cancelled, but the World Series of Birding is still on, with a different set of rules to allow for social distancing.
• Many locations have closed their parks or restricted activities there for social distancing. In New Jersey, state lands are open, but some counties, like Ocean and Bergen have closed their parks. Most parks in the Chesapeake Bay region are still open.
• The University of Washington is looking for volunteers to study how bird behavior changes when people have to stay at home.
• Wetland loss forces Whooping Cranes to gather into larger flocks, which increases the threat posed by disease or severe weather. 
• Red-winged Blackbirds respond to the alarms calls made by Yellow Warblers when they see Brown-headed Cowbirds.
• Common Nightingales have shorter wings than they used to, which seems to be linked to climate change.
• The islands of Tristan da Cunha are home to endangered seabirds, and their waters need protection.

Science and nature blogging

• Vermont Center for Ecostudies: Field Guide to April
• On The Wing Photography: Smoke Phase Wild Turkey Hen Plus A Displaying Tom
• awkward botany: Weeds of Boise: Abandoned Pizza Hut on Ann Morrison Park Drive
• In Defense of Plants: Opossum Pollination of a Peculiar Parasite
• robertscribbler: Introduction — Climate of Pandemic
• 10,000 Birds: Blue-throated Frenzy
• Feathered Photography: Meet The Mated Pair Of Red-tailed Hawks, Together This Time  
• Myrm UK: A Very Different Myrmica 
• Birds Korea Blog: Opinion: One conservationist’s take on the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Arachnofiles: Arachnews: March 30, 2020 
• The Urban Nature Enthusiast: A Message in the Sky
• Avian Hybrids: How mountains, rivers and hybridization drove the evolution of the Blue-crowned Manakin 

Biodiversity and conservation

• Kelp forests are thriving around the Tierra del Fuego.
• Recent studies have found some form of counting ability across a broad array of animals. 
• The Mount Charleston Blue is threatened by the proposed expansion of a ski resort in Nevada.
• This Twitter thread (by a big cat biologist) does through all the things wrong with the Tiger King documentary. 
• A Harp Seal somehow ended up in a pond in Monmouth County.

Climate change and environmental politics

• If you wear masks or gloves as protection against the coronavirus, make sure to dispose of them properly to avoid contributing to the problem of plastic in the environment. 
• Several scientists have noted differences in the natural world due to noise reduction during the shutdown.
• The upcoming climate conference in Glasgow has been postponed due to the pandemic. The goal of this year's conference was to persuade parties to the Paris agreement to tighten their emissions targets.
• The Trump administration has taken advantage of the pandemic to sneak through as much of their anti-environmental agenda as possible. This week they rolled back fuel efficiency standards set during the Obama administration. There will probably be more like this to come.
• Some states increased penalties for protesting fossil fuel infrastructure to shut down actions like the protests against the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
• Brazil is also cutting back on enforcing environmental laws.
• Some activists see similarities between the pandemic response and climate change, in that both require a mix of individual and collective action.
• The cost of solar energy keeps going down, and in sunny places it is one of the cheapest sources of electricity.