Posts
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| Ferruginous Hawk / Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS |
Birds and birding news
- Seasonal migrations of White-breasted Nuthatches are disguised by their status as common residents in many areas, but migration watches are starting to document their irruptions.
- The roosts of a Barred Owl in Central Park have been highly publicized, which raises familiar questions about birding ethics.
- Here is a profile of Roxie Laybourne, the Smithsonian's forensic ornithologist.
- Scientists documented the deliberate killing or mutilation of seabirds that become entangled with fishing lines in waters off the coast of South America.
- A study of shorebirds in Spain shows how much dogs can disturb nesting.
- The availability of prey, particularly insects, determines how diverse urban bird populations will be.
- A zoologist writes about his experience studying pardalotes, a bird native to Australia.
- A dehydrated Northern Saw-whet Owl was found inside the tree for Rockefeller Center and taken to the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center for care and release. It will be released near the clinic in Saugerties.
- Bolivia has approved a private preserve to protect the endangered Blue-throated Macaw.
Science and nature blogging
- Feathered Photography: American Goldfinch – ‘Common’ Species Deserve More Respect
- Avian Hybrids: How many ancestral species gave rise to the domestic chicken breeds?
- Princeton Hydro Blog: After 100 Years, Fish Passage is Restored at Critical Migratory Fish Spawning Grounds in NJ
- Chicago Ornithological Society: Dan's Feathursday Feature: Sanderling
- Backyard and Beyond: Catharus guttatus
- Animal Ecology In Focus: A Migratory Bird’s Journey from the Andes of Colombia to North America: leave early and take it easy or leave late and migrate fast?
Biodiversity and climate change
- A new report catalogues the types of plastic that harm marine animals, which are also threatened by climate change and other factors.
- The USGS and state biologists mapped mammal migrations across the West.
- When milkweed is scarce, Monarch caterpillars get aggressive with each other.
Climate change and biodiversity
- The Department of Homeland Security and Army Corps of Engineers are pushing ahead with border wall construction even though Biden has promised to stop construction when he takes office. While Biden can stop further construction, the wall has already done long-term ecological damage. Those links focus mainly on Arizona; this one documents the environmental situation along the Texas border.
- Burning fossil fuels contributed to the Permian-Triassic mass extinction when volcanic activity in what is now Siberia ignited oil and coal deposits.
- Greenhouse gas emissions in the US are going to drop 9.2% this year, to roughly the level from 1983. The reduction is linked to lower economic activity due to COVID-19.
- The Trump administration is rushing to lease as much of Arctic NWR as possible before Biden takes office in January.
- Trump's golf course in Bedminster is draining 63 million gallons of water from the Raritan Basin per year and paying less for it than normal customers. (Wasting water like this is not just a Trump problem; it is feature of golf courses and other manicured lawns.)
- A new agreement cleared the path for removal of four dams along the Klamath River that block fish migration.
- Hurricane Iota was the tenth named storm to show rapid intensification this year and was the second major hurricane this November. Both numbers are anomalous.
- Maryland is studying the potential for removing sediment trapped by the Conowingo Dam, which is known among birders for its concentration of Bald Eagles in winter.
