Loose Feathers #485

Greater Sage-Grouse / Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Birds and birding news

• Island Scrub Jays living in oak-dominated habitats have shorter bills than ones in pine forests, which suggests that the two populations might be diverging despite living in such close proximity to each other.
• The recently-discovered Cryptic Treehunter has a very small population, possibly as low as 10 individuals.
• A coalition of scientists has offered suggestions for reducing seabird bycatch in the Mediterranean.
• New York is scaling back its plan to reduce its feral Mute Swan population.
• San Jose will adopt bird-friendly building guidelines.
• The American Bird Conservancy wants better data collection at wind farms.
• White-collared Manakins struggle during El Niño events in young forests; mature forests may buffer climate effects.
• Wild animals such as Peregrine Falcons and Ring-necked Parakeets are reclaiming British cities.

Science and nature blogging

• View from the Cape: Beach birds and beached birds
• Wanstead Birder: Priorities and how to get them completely wrong 
• Native Plant Wildlife Garden: A Bestiary: Part Thirty-nine ~ Songbirds: Hermit Thrush
• Notes of Nature: Trunk of the Month: March 2015: Betula ermanii
• Martin Stervander: Again and again and again – evolutionary charter trips to the Canary Islands

Environment and biodiversity

• Researchers are looking for volunteers to look for and record the newly-described Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog.
• Cloride from road salt runoff lingers in wetlands long after winter has ended, with detrimental effects on people and wildlife.
• The number of ponds in the Arctic dropped about 17% and the average pond size shrank 33% over the past 60 years. 
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service is considering delisting the endangered endemic foxes on Catalina Island, but the foxes still face dangers from trash containers and vehicle collisions.
• While much of eastern North America had below average temperatures in February, the West Coast had a very warm winter, especially in Alaska, where the Iditarod had to be rerouted because of insufficient snow and unfrozen rivers.
• Lawyers could receive as large a portion of the Exxon settlement as would go to environmental restoration.
• Restoration of drained wetlands can reduce greenhouse gas emissions according to a Swedish study.
• The third derailment in northern Ontario in less than a month shows the need for action on oil train safety.

Loose Feathers #484

Prairie Falcon / Photo by Tom Koerner (USFWS)

Birds and birding news

• The image of a weasel riding the back of a Green Woodpecker, and the image appears to document a real event. Here is an account of what happened. (In typical Telegraph fashion, they also put it in a gallery with images that are probably faked/staged.)
• A Jerdon's Babbler was observed in Myanmar for the first time since 1941. The subspecies native to Myanmar (Chrysomma altirostre altirostre) was thought to be extinct until the recent rediscovery.
• Northern Goshawks use a combination of pursuit strategies to hunt prey.
• The Rusty Blackbird Blitz starts this month and continues through April. See the Rusty Blackbird Working Group website for details.
• During the 2015 Great Backyard Bird Count, birders submitted 147,265 checklists and reported 5,090 species. The represents about half of the known species in the world. See the link for more details.
• Many Bald Eagles are already sitting on eggs even through this week's snowstorms.
• British ornithologists are tracking Common Cuckoos on their migration cycle between Britain and Africa.
• The BBC has some recommendations for gull watching.
• How forests are managed affects what species of birds will breed there.
• A study found lasting effects from severe weather events in the feathers of young Grasshopper Sparrows. (Presumably the effect only lasts until the bird's next complete molt.)
• Scientists in North Carolina are tracking the movements of a coastal Bald Eagle by satellite.
• Birders in Canberra have enjoyed watching a Powerful Owl that is frequenting a suburban park.
• The Zapata Rail was rediscovered in Cuba.
• The RSPB has new recommendations to promote the recovery of European Turtle Doves in the UK.
• Norwegian mammals and birds have many different methods of surviving long, intense winter nights.
• Emperor penguins likely survived the last ice age around the Ross Sea according to genetic research.
• Research of Plain Wren duets could help scientists understand how animals communicate.
• Conservationists need to account for the full annual cycle of migratory birds.

Science and nature blogging

• Birding New Jersey!: What Kind of a Name Is "Dickcissel"?
• Beetles In The Bush: Flower ants? Check again!
• Birding Dude: Banded Ring-billed Gulls B5TH and BKKC
• Cross-Check: How a Goshawk Scalped Me-Twice

Environment and biodiversity

• Arctic sea ice thickness is down 65% since 1975 due to climate change.
• Last week the Christie administration decided to settle a $8.9 billion lawsuit against ExxonMobil for $250 million. This week it became clear that Christie's office and not the attorney general or DEP was behind the settlement. Democratic lawmakers have vowed to fight the settlement.
• Meanwhile a political fight continues over the proposed Pinelands pipeline.
• In other pipeline news, the environmental study on the PennEast pipeline is being done by a member of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.
• Also, New Jersey plans a significant expansion to its bear hunt, even if its bear population numbers may be sketchy.
• Recent research finds that worker ants benefit from companionship even if their food and water needs are provided.
• Here is a list of native milkweed species to plant to help Monarch butterflies.
• The organ pipe cactus is a characteristic plant of the Sonoran Desert.
• Colombia has proposed a protected corridor that would stretch across national boundaries from the Andes to the Atlantic.
• Drought linked to climate change may have sparked the Syrian civil war.
• There are fairly significant environmental problems linked to the use of K-cups for brewing coffee.

Loose Feathers #483

Horned Lark / Photo by Tom Koerner (USFWS)

Birds and birding news

• Snowy Owls are back in New Jersey and Pennsylvania this winter, though in smaller numbers than last winter. The Penn Vet Center has done necropsies on 27 dead owls, 13 of which died from collisions. Owls recovered in the Philadelphia area tended to be in better health than those recovered in New England.
• Several owls have been wintering at Island Beach State Park.
• The Big Roundtable has an excellent story on how two birders who grew up on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain later worked together to preserve the Iron Curtain's path as a green belt.
• A new blog will cover eBird-related topics for Colorado and Wyoming.
• In other eBird news, the website did a feature on Indiana Dunes State Park.
• Downtown Sacramento hosts a massive gull roost.
• Mountain Chickadees from higher elevations are faster problem solvers than ones from lower elevations.
• The American Bird Conservancy wants wind energy projects to apply for permits under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
• Veterinary drugs used to euthanize animals are causing comas for Turkey Vultures in California.
• Reserve expanded for the endangered Pale-headed Brush-finch.

Science and nature blogging

• 10,000 Birds: The Brazilian Pepper and the birds that love it
• Birding the day away: Ring-billed Gull ~ Ad. W ~ Lake Merritt, California - 19.02.15
• Bug Eric: Green-eyed Wasps, Tachytes
• Extinction Countdown: Critically Endangered Plant with Brilliant Purple Flowers Discovered in Hawaii
• Laelaps: When Did Dinosaurs Learn to Fly?
• Inkfish: A Few Citizen Scientists Do Most of the Work 
• The Freiday Bird Blog: Wandering Around Cumberland, NJ and a Scaup I.D. Tip

Environment and biodiversity

• New research argues that natural climate oscillations can both enhance and offset warming from human sources. If the authors are correct, we could see a sudden increase in warming in the near future. (See also Greg Laden's Blog)
• This week was National Invasive Species Awareness Week. The Smithsonian will have events featuring invasive species on Saturday. Not all invasive species are equally harmful.
• A few years ago, sea levels along the U.S. Atlantic coast jumped four inches, but it may have been due to natural variation.
• A prominent climate change contrarian did not disclose $1.2m in funding from fossil fuel companies for his scientific papers, which he described to his funders as "deliverables." His papers were not good science but were given undue influence in conservative media.
• The proposed PennEast pipeline has not gotten a welcoming reception from communities in its path.
• Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline bill this week, but a final decision has yet to be announced.
• A new bee species was discovered in Kenya.
• Oregon's wolf population grew from 64 to 77 wolves, which may prompt the state to remove it from its endangered species list.
• Southeast Brazil is in the midst of a crippling drought.

Loose Feathers #482

Red-shouldered Hawk during the Great Backyard Bird Count (my photo)

Birds and birding news

• Birds like Bald Eagles and American Coots are dying from ingesting bacteria that live on invasive Hydrilla.
• Another study finds that ecotourism brings economic benefits, in this case birders looking for rare gulls and migrating hawks in Lake County, Illinois.
• American Avocets depend heavily on wetlands in the Intermountain West such as the Great Salt Lake.
• Great Tits on territory sing at different rates than their neighbors.
• Dozens of birds were killed during a test of the new Crescent Dunes Solar Project in Nevada. Like Ivanpah, the Crescent Dunes project is a concentrating solar plant. The plant's owners claim to have found a way to prevent future deaths, but it will bear monitoring.
• A second Golden Eagle was killed at a wind project in Nevada.
• Great Horned Owls have already started nesting.
• Data from Project FeederWatch revealed 38 common species whose winter ranges have shifted north by about 7km per year.
• Scientists in Australia are studying how well the birds there tolerate warmer temperatures.
• A project at Glasgow University aims to resolve why urban European Robins sing at night.
• Penguins lack taste receptors other than those for salty and sour flavors.
• Cooper's Hawks have at times been despised because they prey on songbirds.

Science and nature blogging

• ABA Blog: 2015 AOU Check-list Proposals, Part 2
• Arthropod Ecology: Under the influence: how insecticides affect jumping spider personalities (Part 2)
• Tetrapod Zoology: Inside the Cassowary’s Casque
• Mercenary Ornithology: How to name a bird - or - what color is ‘rufous’ anyhow?
• Birding Dude: Banded Ring-billed Gulls B1XK and BMJM
• Project SNOWstorm: Updates Galore
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Pintail Snipe’s tongue and bill
• Penelopedia: Why I'm a Birder: Loving the Places They've Brought Me
• Laelaps: Sciencespeak: Fossorial 
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Why Do Luna Moths Have Such Absurdly Long Tails?

Environment and biodiversity

• Barack Obama designated three new national monuments this week: the Pullman historic district in Chicago, the Honouliuli Internment Camp in Hawaii, and the upper Arkansas River Valley in Colorado.
• Last weekend an oil train derailed and exploded in West Virginia. So far it is unclear whether oil spilled into the Kanawha River.
• A different oil train derailed in Ontario.
• Springtails are among the most common and diverse life forms on Earth.
• Natural history collections remain important even though institutional support for them has declined.
• Grizzly Bears are emerging earlier than usual from their dens in the Yellowstone area because of a mild winter.
• The snowpack in the Olympic Mountains in Washington is at a record low.
• Kootenay National Park in British Columbia holds clues to the early stages of arthropod evolution.

Loose Feathers #481

Darwin's Finches from Voyage of the Beagle (via Wikimedia)

Birds and birding

• A new genetic study of Darwin's finches found that the birds have a messy evolutionary history, with much hybridization among the various species. Among other things, the study found a genetic basis for the birds' diverse bill shapes and revealed three previously-undocumented species.
• The weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count. If you do your counts in the northeastern US, you will need to bundle up.
• Last year, India topped all other countries in the number of species submitted to the GBBC.
• A new study proposes splitting the Bahama Woodstar into two species.
• New proposals submitted to the AOU would split Northern Cardinal into six species and reorganize the Thraupidae, among other things.
• The critically endangered Araripe Manakin gets its first reserve.
• Migrating birds make morning flights if they drifted off-course at night.
• Black-headed Gulls are opportunists whose diets match what is available in their environment.
• Here is some discussion of how scientists count large flocks of birds.

Science and nature blogging

• The City Birder: My Birding Patch
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Olive-backed Sunbird - extra metallic plumage
• Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens: Less Honey Bee, More Native Bee
• Ohio Birds and Biodiversity: Rough-legged Hawk
• Anything Larus: Adult Nelson's Gull: Calumet River
• 10,000 Birds: The Most Interesting Gull in the World

Environment and biodiversity

• Despite some measures to limit plastic waste, around eight million metric tons of plastic still ends up in the ocean each year. The plastic waste collects in ocean gyres and is harmful to seabirds and other marine life.
• Global sea ice is still shrinking despite same gains around Antarctica.
• Europe had record wind power growth last year, with Germany in the lead.
• The USFWS announced a plant to increase habitat for Monarchs by planting milkweed along the butterfly's midwestern migration corridor. In addition to the federal effort, the Illinois Tollway Authority will plant milkweed along its roadways.
• The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail's genome has been sequenced, with an eye to the caterpillar's defense mechanisms.
• A few dozen beetles and stoneflies from Great Britain were recently classified as endangered.
• New Jersey lawmakers are stil trying to figure out how to divide the funds from the open space amendment that passed in November.
• Delaware River advocates want the USFWS to oversee management of the watershed.
• Yellowstone's elk population is the highest it has been in years. It had been in decline since wolves were reintroduced in the 1990s.