Loose Feathers #797

Bald Eagle / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Shorebird Stewards received a grant to help protect beaches for breeding horseshoe crabs and the shorebirds like Red Knots that depend on them.
  
• Audubon has some suggested exercises for avoiding warbler neck. 
• Diclofenac was banned in India and elsewhere for pushing vultures close to extinction, but now it is killing vultures in Europe after it was approved for use in Italy and Spain.
• Murres are still hunted for food in parts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
  
• Here are some recommendations for places to watch spring migration around the US.
• Data entered into eBird helps Fish and Wildlife Service biologists track Bald Eagle populations.
• Blackcaps are increasingly spending the winter in Britain and Ireland, and many of those wintering birds migrate northwest from mainland Europe.
• Philadelphia has become the latest US city to join the Lights Out initiative to protect birds during nocturnal migration.
  

Science and nature blogging

• The Nature of Cities: Is Cali the City with the Most Birds in the World?
  
• 10,000 Birds: A Survey of U.S. Birders
  
• awkward botany: Weeds of Boise: Awkward Botany Headquarters
• Feathered Photography: Pelican Surprise
• Avian Hybrids: The evolution of the genomic landscape in Silvereyes does not follow theoretical predictions
  
• On The Wing Photography: Red-naped Sapsucker Photos  
• New Jersey Audubon: Cape May Springwatch: Late March / Early April update
• Urban Hawks: End Of A 25 Year Run?
  

Biodiversity and conservation

• A new study finds that about 3% of the world's habitats remain intact, mainly in the tropics and boreal forests. and many in areas managed by indigenous peoples. Even protected areas are missing key species.
• The pandemic disrupted the normal regulation and monitoring of fisheries and reduced the ecotourism that helps fund protected areas.
  
• The new Valle de Oro NWR will become one of the few urban wildlife refuges.
• Common Foxglove plants introduced to the Americas evolved longer corolla tubes to match the long bills of hummingbirds.
• Butterflies like the Gray Hairstreak play a significant role pollinating cotton crops.
  
• Now is the time to find and destroy Spotted Lanternfly egg masses before they hatch.
• Early spring flowers have some unusual strategies for reproduction.
  

Climate change and environmental politics

• A new study finds that the overuse of DDT has had consequences over multiple generations, as the granddaughters of women exposed to DDT are more likely to have an array of medical conditions associated with the pesticide.
• DDT has also been in the news in California after a survey discovered hundreds of thousands of barrels dumped off the coast of Long Beach.
• Conservationists are trying to find ways to reduce the damage from border wall construction, potentially removing some barriers like the one blocking the San Pedro River. Tracking studies show animal movements being stopped by the wall in both the US and Mexico.
  
• Theoretically all new cars sold in the US could be electric by 2035.
• Abandoned, unplugged oil and gas wells emit greenhouse gases and threaten local groundwater, but it is difficult to get companies to take responsibility for fixing them.
• The American Jobs Plan can be more sustainable by following these suggestions, which include keeping new development within the existing footprint of the built environment and adding things like wildlife corridors and bird-safe glass to new or repaired infrastructure.
• Republican governors are already working to prevent any progress on climate change with delay tactics coordinated by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
• Pledges of "net-zero" emissions from fossil fuel companies are another delay tactic.
• Since greenhouse gases persist in the atmosphere, it could take several decades to see improvements from cutting emissions.
• The Southwest is likely to face a severe drought this year after a record-setting fire season last year.
• Microplastics can remain airborne long enough to be blown around the globe, even into the remotest areas.
• A new agreement seeks to reduce the massive carbon footprint of cryptocurrencies.