Loose Feathers #767

Red-breasted Nuthatch / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds have died in the Southwest over the past month in an unusual mass mortality event. The cause is unknown at this point, but possible contributors include smoke from western wildfires and a sudden cold snap in early September. The deaths were first noticed in New Mexico but have spread to neighboring states.
• NYC Audubon again organized volunteers to watch for birds trapped by the Tribute in Light memorial. The lights are turned off when more than 1,000 birds are trapped in a light beam for 20 minutes.
• Puerto Rican Parrots developed a new dialect in captivity during the captive-breeding program to save the species from extinction.
  
• Rodenticides can harm birds of prey when they catch or scavenge poisoned rodents.
• The Dolan Fire in California killed two California Condor chicks.
• Christian Cooper wrote a comic about race and birding.
  

Science and nature blogging

• Feathered Photography: White-crowned Sparrow – A Common Bird In An Uncommon Pose
• New Jersey Audubon Blog: Little Butterfly, Big Journey: A little bit about monarch migration and why it matters
• Avian Hybrids: Are we missing something? Exploring the diversity of white-eye species on the African mainland
• Wanstead Birder: The limits of low carbon birding in the UK 
  

Biodiversity and conservation

• The US and Canada have lost at least 65 plant species and subspecies since Europeans arrived in the Americas, and the actual number is probably higher.
• Someone destroyed over 17,000 Tiehm’s Buckwheat plants on a 21-acre plot where an Australian company wants to mine for lithium. Tiehm’s Buckwheat is a rare flower in need of protection and only grows in a small area of Nevada.
• Governments are failing to meet their goals under an agreement to stop the loss of biodiversity.
  
• The gray wolves that were transported to Isle Royale National Park have formed packs and reduced the island's moose population.
• European colonization led to a 56% decline in mammal populations of the American tropics through habitat destruction and overhunting.
  

Climate change and environmental politics

• The Trump administration picked a climate change denialist to run NOAA, which produces much of the government's climate research. 
• Climate change will force people to migrate away from the hardest-hit areas, both within the US and in Central America. Maps show how climate will affect where people can live in the US.
• Right now the world is warming faster than it has in millions of years.
  
• Oil companies need to increase plastic production to stay profitable as the world turns to renewable energy. The solution they proposed to dealing with plastic waste, recycling, has barely reduced the plastic in landfills.
  
• A photographer began documenting discarded plastic gloves in March and photographed 363 in four days in his neighborhood.
  
• Part of the plastic problem comes from synthetic clothing (like fleece) which shed microfibers that end up in waterways.
• The Gulf Stream circulation system appears to be slowing down, which is one of the consequences predicted by climate models. This will lead to a colder North Atlantic and higher salinity in the South Atlantic, among other things.
• In the context of recent wildfires, Gavin Newsom promised to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but many of his recent actions have been counterproductive.