Loose Feathers #337

Eastern Phoebe / Photo by Bill Thompson (USFWS)

News about birds and birding

• White-crowned Sparrows in San Francisco's Presidio district have raised the pitch of their songs so that they can be heard better over increased ambient noise.
• Invasive Burmese pythons in Florida are eating bird eggs in addition to the birds themselves.

Nature blogging

• 10,000 Birds: Junco Mashup 
• Bug Girl: Are Neonicotinoid Pesticides Killing Bees? 
• Birding Dude: Banded Turkey Vulture Information
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Yutyrannus, a giant tyrannosaur with feathers
• Neurotic Physiology: Friday Weird Science: A profusion of pressurized penguin poo

Environment and biodiversity

• Since Ethiopian Christians give up meat throughout Lent, hyenas that normally scavenge human trash are forced to hunt for their own food until after Easter.
• A new study argues that a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide caused the end of the last ice age.
• Scientists have discovered a new species of hammerhead shark off the coasts of Florida, South Carolina, and Brazil.
• A climate model run through 10,000 simulations predicted a rise of 1.4 to 3 degrees Celsius by 2050.

Blog carnivals

• Carnival of Evolution #46

Mating Hoverflies

Spring brings many things along with warmer temperatures. One of them is a resumption of normal insect activities, including mating. These two hoverflies appear to be Toxomerus geminatus. I was able to identify this insect thanks to a helpful key on BugGuide. Toxomerus is one of the genera in family Syrphidae, the flower flies or syrphid flies. Syrphid flies can often be found nectaring at flowers, and they are important pollinators. Toxomerus larvae have been recorded feeding on corn pollen.

Tulips

Tulips are also coming into bloom. Like the other flowers, they are about a week or two ahead of schedule.

Grape Hyacinths

Grape Hyacinth is an introduced exotic plant that blooms in the spring and has short racemes of bell-like flowers.

More on Neonicotinoid Pesticides

In the last week, there has been a lot of coverage on what effects pesticides have on bees, between the release of a Xerces Society report and the publication of two studies on the issue in Science. This is an important and complex issue because of the economic importance of bees and other pollinators and because of the interaction between pesticides and other environmental issues. Honey bees have been the focus of attention because they are vital to producing so many agricultural products, but many native bee species are also in severe decline, due to pesticides and other causes.

Visit Bug Girl's post on the new bee research to learn more about the problem with neonicotinoid pesticides.