White-throated Sparrows in Autumn

White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) breed in northern forests and migrate south to the eastern and southern United States during the fall. In New Jersey, they stay through the winter, often in large flocks. I usually hear White-throated Sparrows before I see them. They call constantly to each other and kick up leaves with their feet to uncover food. Even though they are so noisy, it can be hard to see them under shrubs and thick tangles of branches.

I took all of these photos in my backyard over the past few days. There have been at least six, maybe more, hanging around. The challenge with photographing them is to catch them when they hop onto an exposed perch where they might only sit for a few second before going back down into the fallen leaves.

Loose Feathers #367

Merlin / Photo by Bill Thompson (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• A census of Island Scrub Jays on Santa Cruz Island in California documented fewer of these endemic jays than expected. With only 2,500 individuals, this is one of the rarest bird species in the U.S.
• A survey estimated that 22 million birds die from window strikes in Canada each year. The number is likely higher than that in the United States, which is more densely populated. For more about human-caused bird mortality, see this fact sheet (pdf) from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. David Sibley puts the same numbers into graphical form.
• Thousands of Lesser Flamingos have arrived at Tanzania's Lake Natron for their breeding season, which may be the largest breeding event since 2007. The habitat around Lake Natron is currently threatened by low water levels due to drought and proposed industrial development.
• The NY Times took a look at how hurricanes affect birds.
• Whooping Cranes are returning to Aransas NWR in eastern Texas to spend the winter. Meanwhile, there are lingering legal issues left over from the deaths of 23 cranes last winter. Environmental groups want the state to create a water management plan for the Guadelupe River that will provide adequate water for the refuge.
• A project is photographically documenting all 39 species of birds-of-paradise in their natural habitats. There are a few videos of bird-of-paradise courtship dances embedded in the article, and you can watch more here.
• A recent study found that New Caledonian Crows are able to infer hidden causes. 
• The National Post has an article on Canada's quest to collect and retire all of its $1,000 bills, which are mostly in the hands of criminal enterprises. The main reason I am linking that article is that the Canadian $1,000 bill has a lovely image of Pine Grosbeaks on it.
• A bee-eater found in Scotland is very rare for that area. Bohemian Waxwings are also irrupting into the UK this winter. Also in the UK, a new wetland reserve opened in the Trent Valley.

Nature blogging

• Birding Dude: Virginia's Warbler in Queens New York 
• ABA Blog: #ABArare - Calliope Hummingbird - Delaware
• Outside My Window: A Lasting Impression 
• Audubon Guides: Photo Essay: Get Down Low 
• Laelaps: Eocene Big Bird Not so Scary, After All 
• The Digiscoper: Man fined for putting volleyball court on Kirtland's warbler habitat
• The Birdist: The First American Birder?
• Extinction Countdown: Controversial Toronto Zoo Penguins Not Gay after All?
• The Rattling Crow: Carrion crows dunk their toast
• PetaPixel: Bird Found Wearing Lost Digital Camera Around Its Neck with Photos Intact
• DCist: Rock Creek Deer Won't Be Shot, At Least Not Yet

Environment and biodiversity

• BP and the Department of Justice have reached a legal settlement on criminal charges arising from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. BP will pay $4.5 billion in fines for negligent operation of the drilling rig, lying about the volume of oil gushing from the well, and killing migratory birds. In addition, some managers face charges for the crew member deaths, and BP is still liable for Clean Water Act violations and various other civil claims. 
• Speaking of oil spills, over 378,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Arthur Kill as a result of Hurricane Sandy, about a quarter of which has been contained. Nine oiled birds have been found so far.
• A study of computer models for climate change found that the models with the best track record so far predict more extreme warming than other models. That suggests that climate change may actually be worse than expected. LiveScience lists five ways that climate change is affecting the Arctic.
• Because of the lack of sea ice in recent Arctic summers, walruses are spending more time in coastal areas instead of out on the sea ice, their normal habitat.
• Bats are highly vulnerable to climate change, at every phase of their life cycles.
• This month the government of Ecuador is dropping 22 tons of poisoned bait on the Galápagos Islands to eradicate invasive rats. Hawks and iguanas that might be vulnerable to the poison have been relocated for the time being.
• More alternatives to incandescent light bulbs are becoming available.
• A recent study found that bonobos catch yawns from other members of their social circle. Contagious yawning is a behavior documented only among some social animals, including some birds. I yawned while reading that article.
• Hikers and hunters are changing wildlife along the Appalachian Trail. In particular, black bears and bobcats are negatively affected, while raccoons and red foxes have benefited.
• Wolf hunts have spread to the Midwest, and 196 wolves have been killed in the past month in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Loose Feathers #366

Western Grebe and chicks / Photo by Dan Nelson (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• The short and long-term effects of Hurricane Sandy on bird populations are still being tallied. Some rare birds showed up in Philadelphia on the morning after the storm passed. Jennifer Hanson has been tracking the Post-Sandy status of birding sites in New Jersey over at Today in NJ Birding History.
• Tanzania is still considering building a soda ash plant at Lake Natron, the world's most important breeding site for Lesser Flamingos. A recent report suggests that Tanzania would gain more economically from promoting ecotourism at the site than from soda ash.
• French scientists have found two previously unknown colonies of Emperor Penguins that together account for about 6,000 chicks near Mertz Glacier in Antarctica. 
• Wildlife officials in Oregon are concerned that cormorants nesting at the mouth of the Columbia River are eating too many of the endangered fish that spawn in the river. The linked article tries to compare how predation by cormorants compares to other threats to juvenile fish.
• A Goffin's Cockatoo in captivity has been recorded using tools to reach food, even though this species does not use tools in the wild.
• Analysis of Microraptor fossils suggests that it was a nimble flier.
• Birds can become intoxicated from eating fermented berries.
• Just as North America is undergoing a winter finch irruption, British birders are enjoying an impressive movement of woodland birds to backyard feeders.
• One rare bird that has appeared in the UK is a Little Bunting.
• City birds use different techniques to escape cats than their rural counterparts do to escape raptors. It is not clear if this is sufficient to neutralize losses to household and feral cat predation.

Nature blogging

• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Fairy wrens teach secret passwords to their unborn chicks to tell them apart from cuckoo impostors
• Outside My Window: Since 1600
• Birding Is Fun!: Audubon Birds App Update
• Sibley Guides: My trick to finding Rusty Blackbirds
• Extinction Countdown: Last 500 Ethiopian Wolves Endangered by Lack of Genetic Diversity

Environment and biodiversity

• President Obama's re-election this week means that his EPA will be able to proceed with regulations on greenhouse gas emissions if it chooses. However, what the administration will be able to accomplish on this front will be limited by Congressional opposition and the administration's embrace of an "all of the above" energy policy.
• Hurricane Sandy has entered the climate change conversation; whether it will spur significant action remains to be seen.
• One thing that may result from Sandy is the erection of barriers to protect New York Harbor from storm surges. There are various proposals floating around; one is to ring Manhattan and Brooklyn with artificial wetlands that would serve as parks most of the time but absorb some of the energy of storm surges that enter the harbor. Floodgates are another option.
• Monsoon failures may become more common in India thanks to climate change.
• Deforestation can be detected from space via a NASA satellite. Recent data shows extensive deforestation in South American and West Africa.
• A 2001-2002 drought in the Rocky Mountains made the mountain pine beetle infestation much worse.
• An extremely rare whale, the spade-toothed beaked whale, was found beached in New Zealand. It was the first time the species was recorded as a complete specimen, and it was only identified by DNA testing.

Brigantine after Sandy

It looks unlikely that birders will be driving around the wildlife drive at Brigantine in the near future.

Those cormorants are swimming through what used to by the road along the south dike. Other parts of the road are eroded as well.

It looks like the refuge will be closed indefinitely, but the status will be updated on the Forsythe NWR website.

Update: Some aerial views of the south dike:

All photos are courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Loose Feathers #365

A new avian family tree / Credit: University of Sheffield

Birds and birding

• What happens to birds in a hurricane? Some birds' habitat is destroyed or reshaped. Others try to hunker down in sheltered areas or get swept up in the storm's winds and carried to far-off locations. (via Nick) The ABA Blog reports on unusual bird sightings in Sandy's wake (part 1; part 2; part 3). Despite record flooding, the Wild Turkey at Battery Park survived the storm.
• Seabirds are among the most threatened birds. Conserving them requires a variety of strategies, from clearing islands of invasive predators to improving fishing techniques to make them less deadly to birds.
• A new study maps the evolutionary position of almost all of the world's 10,000 bird species based on their genetics.
• Much remains to be discovered about the critically endangered Northern Bald Ibis, and basic details of its life history have only recently come to light.
• Five British ornithologists met while being held in a German PoW camp during World War II and later went on to lead conservation efforts.

Nature blogging

• Extinction Countdown: 9 New Tree-Loving and Endangered Tarantula Species Discovered in Brazil
• Anything Larus: Primary Molt in an Adult Ring-billed
• The Birdist: Can you ID Selasphorus hummingbirds by call note?
• Net Results: Our online seed guide
• The Wilderness Alternative: Rediscovery of Sillem’s Mountain Finch
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: ‘Bird mimic’ dinosaur hints that wings evolved for show not flight
• Compound Eye: 13 Horrifying Ways To Die (Arthropod Edition)

Environment and biodiversity

• Hurricane Sandy dominated the news for the past week as it made its way from the Caribbean to Canada via New Jersey and killed dozens of people and set numerous weather records in the process. The obvious questions (from an environmental perspective) are how much climate change influenced the storm and whether a warmer climate will mean more storms like this in the future. Here is a roundup of articles on that subject. In light of climate change, does it make sense to rebuild the shore as it was, or should more allowance be made for rising sea levels? The storm stirred up all sorts of contaminants. 
• The last dam on the Elwha River is slowly draining as part of the Elwha restoration project. The goal is to restore the river to its natural, undammed state.
• Despite an active conservation program, axolotls have struggled to survive in the wild.