Loose Feathers #780

Belted Kingfisher / Photo by Scott Somershoe/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Hornbills are threatened by the wildlife trade and also by a lack of natural nesting cavities and the mature forests where they occur. 
• EBird has a new set of graphics showing the distribution and movements of 807 bird species, including some tropical species that were thought to be sedentary.
• The new European Breeding Bird Atlas documents how bird species are moving north in response to climate change.
  
• Black Rails have declined due to the loss of habitat to sea-level rise and coastal development, but their new threatened status will give conservationists a chance to protect and restore marshland.
• This fall has had one of the largest winter finch irruptions in recent memory. Irruptions are driven by mast cycles in conifers and other trees.
• Northern Spotted Owls qualify to be upgraded from threatened to endangered, but the federal government will not do it because other species have a higher priority.
  
• Barnacle Geese breeding at Svalbard have lost weight over the past several decades, but their population remains stable.
• Starling murmurations are being blamed for power outages in Scotland.
• Long-term drought is reducing wetland habitat for waterbirds in Australia.
• Chestnut-crowned Babblers reacted to climate change by nesting earlier and incubating less, which reduces their chances for survival.
• Snowy Owls are on the move again.
  

Science and nature blogging

• Birdchick: What's the Best Wild Bird Food to Buy?
• Feathered Photography: Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, American Kestrels And Bald Eagles – Raptors Need Elevated Hunting Perches
• Avithera: Eastern Reef Egret fishing  
• awkward botany: Winter Trees and Shrubs: Eastern Redbud
• Backyard and Beyond: So We’re All Lichens Now? 
• Avian Hybrids: Intermediate color morphs of the Common Buzzard are most successful
  

Biodiversity and conservation

• The US Fish and Wildlife Service rejected a petition to list Monarchs as endangered even though they qualify.
• An expedition into Bolivia's Zongo Valley found 20 new species of plants and animals. The difficulty of access, for both humans and wildlife, protects the area's biodiversity.
  
• Plant diversity has declined in Germany according to a survey of over 2,000 species.
• Invasive multicolored lady beetles are linked to declines in native lady beetle species.
• A new ginger species was found in Yunnan.
• A trail camera recorded a bobcat along the Bronx River.
• A new species of salamander was found in North Carolina.
  

Climate change and environmental politics

• Biden announced several appointments to environmental positions this week, including nominees for EPA head and interior secretary. Deb Haaland, the interior nominee, is a proponent of the "Thirty by Thirty" initiative to protect 30% of US lands and waters by 2030. Interior has significant power over federal lands and will be key to any climate change or conservation policies.
• The Trump administration is trying to push through as many last-minute changes as possible.
• That includes cutting through the mountains and canyons along the border with Mexico.
  
• Exxon released a climate plan that does not actually reduce emissions. (See also this Bird and Moon comic.)