Loose Feathers #362

Osprey with spotted sea trout / Photo by Mike Weimer (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson — a book that linked the use of synthetic pesticides to the disappearance of many formerly common birds and sparked the modern environmental movement in the process. There are numerous tributes and reactions across the web. Here are a few: Silent Spring after 50 years (RRBO), Listening to nature (Smithsonian), 50 years on: Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” (Why Evolution Is True), Rachel Carson Didn’t Kill Millions of Africans (Slate), How ‘Silent Spring’ Ignited the Environmental Movement (NYT Magazine), and How Rachel Carson Spurred Chemical Concerns by Highlighting Uncertainty (NYT Dot Earth).
• Scientists in British Columbia attached geolocator backpacks to birds from two subspecies of Swainson's Thrush to track their migratory movements. One subspecies traveled south along the West Coast to Central America, while the other flew southeast to the Gulf Coast and on to Colombia.
• Mongabay.com interviews Pablo Garcia Borboroglu, the President of the Global Penguin Society, on the conservation challenges facing the 18 extant species of penguins. More than half of all penguin species are threatened with extinction, with climate change and overfishing playing prominent roles.
• Researchers found that Eurasian Jays use flexible strategies in storing food and raiding other jays' food caches; social status and proximity of other jays factor into which strategy is used.
• A study of Caribbean bullfinches found that different species used different genetic paths to similarly-shaped bills.
• Spotted Antbirds on Barro Colorado Island in Panama forage almost exclusively around marching columns of army ants, unlike their mainland counterparts that mix foraging near army ants with finding food on their own. The change in behavior seems to be linked to the recent disappearance of Ocellated Antbirds from the island.
• Dredge spoils from Rincon Channel, which serves the port of Corpus Christi in Texas, are being used to increase nesting habitat for terns and Black Skimmers.
• A Golden Eagle that had been fitted with a satellite transmitter for research purposes was killed by a trap in Scotland.
• Malabar Pied Hornbill is one of the many bird species that can be seen on Sri Lanka.

Nature blogging

• The Smaller Majority: Our top predator
• Why Evolution Is True: A marine mystery solved (and a bit about birds)
• 10,000 Birds: Kettling Broad-winged Hawks
• The Birders Report: To International Bird Rescue “Every Bird Matters”
• March of the Fossil Penguins: Killer Bobble-Headed Penguins!
• Myrmecos: A Cretaceous Haidomyrmex as the first trap-jaw ant?

Environment and biodiversity

• Painting rooftops white can lower the urban heat island affect, but it can also reduce rainfall, which may be a significant disadvantage in some areas.
• A genetic study of urban coyotes in Chicago found complete monogamy, which is unusual among animals adapted to cities.
• The National Park Service is testing 96 employees who worked at Yosemite National Park for hantavirus infections. One historian noted the irony of a hantavirus outbreak happening at a national park that was originally envisioned as a place of healing.
• The IUCN is creating a green list of fully protected species and ecosystems to complement its red list and promote conservation success stories.
• Washington's decision to kill one of its wolf packs has ignited significant opposition.
• A priest is under investigation for ivory smuggling in the Philippines. His role was brought to light by an article on the global ivory trade that appeared in National Geographic recently. Religious images (in the Philippines and elsewhere) remain a major market for smuggled ivory.
• Salt marshes sequester large amounts of carbon, but rising sea levels threaten their continued existence.

Phoebes and a Merlin

Yesterday morning I birded the Heathcote Meadows complex near Kingston, New Jersey. One of the more interesting sights was a series of Eastern Phoebes lined up along the fence surrounding the old plant nursery buildings. There were at least four, maybe more, flicking their tails and swooping down to catch insects near ground level. One even sat in the grass for a moment before flying back up to the fence. (One of them is shown above.) While I was still in the same field near the buildings, a Merlin (my second of the season) flew overhead at about treetop level. It seemed to be actively hunting rather than migrating. There were fewer warblers than I expected, but I was pleased to see a Blue-winged Warbler among them.

Loose Feathers #361

Swainson's Hawk / Roger Peterson (US Forest Service)

Birds and birding

• Scientists tagged 25 Atlantic Puffins that breed in Ireland with geolocators that will track where they spend their winter. A previous study of puffins from the North Sea found that they spent the winter in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Climate change is likely to ease the northward spread of avian malaria, which could devastate Arctic bird populations that lack immunity to the pathogen. Avian malaria was recently discovered in bird populations near Anchorage and Fairbanks in Alaska.
• A study of New Caledonian Crows suggest that the crows are able to reason cause and effect, even when the cause is hidden.
• Surveys of Brazil's state of Acre found that the region is home to numerous rare and endangered bird species, even though it is rarely visited by birders. Results of the surveys are published in Tropical Conservation Science (pdf).
• On Saturday, Heinz National Wildlife Refuge hosted its annual Cradle of Birding festival to celebrate its status as the most urbanized wildlife refuge in the US.
• Some observers have reported seeing European Hornets attack hummingbirds.

Nature blogging

• GrrlScientist: Extinct Carolina parakeet gives glimpse into evolution of American parrots
• 10,000 Birds: The Incredulous New Caledonian Crows
• The Birdist: Interview with Rosemary Mosco of Bird and Moon Comics
• Sibley Guides: My Pen-and-ink technique
• Earbirding: The “Two-part Calls” of Empidonax
• Outside My Window: The Pirate
• Myrmecos: The infamous Rasberry Crazy Ant is Nylanderia fulva
• The Smaller Majority: Dangerous candy
• BugBlog: Are male false widow spiders ant mimics?
• Extinction Countdown: Tiny, Critically Endangered and Controversial Nevada Fish Experiences Dramatic Population Increase
• Why Evolution Is True: Horseshoe crabs aren’t really “living fossils”

Environment and biodiversity

• In 2011, the US generated 14 million megawatts of electricity by burning trash, mostly along the east and west coasts. This output places waste energy on equal footing with geothermal energy.
• Coral diversity around Madagascar and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean rivals that of the Great Barrier Reef.
• Climate change is causing warmer water temperatures in the Atlantic, which is prompting fish to shift their ranges northward, out of US waters.
• Scientists in Tennessee have built an artificial bat cave that they hope will help limit the spread of white-nose syndrome.
• New Jersey scientists are testing ways to reduce the numbers of invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, an indoor pest in the fall and winter and an agricultural pest during the growing season.
• Arctic sea ice reached its annual summer minimum on September 16 and set a record low in the process. The gradual disappearance of Arctic sea ice (along with the possibility of future ice-free summers) has set off a race to extract the Arctic Ocean's mineral resources.
• Meanwhile, Dutch Royal Shell has had to cancel its plans to drill in the Arctic this year because of a series of mistakes.
• A conservation effort is focused on saving endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs in California.

Green Heron

This Green Heron was in a shallow pond behind Morgan Mudflats. Shortly before I took the photo on top, the heron caught and ate a frog (seen below). I am not sure what type of frog it is. My guess would be Green Frog, since those are so common, but a few other species might be present there.

Loose Feathers #360

Herring Gull / Photo by Bill Thompson (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• A 73-year-old birder was raped and beaten in Central Park this week. The assailant has been arrested, but the brutality of the attack has left the park's birding community uneasy.
• Brown Treesnakes have reduced the numbers of birds on Guam, whose absence has in turn increased the number of spiders. 
• Crows use similar parts of the brain to remember familiar faces as humans do.
• Bird diversity is at risk if shade plantations and forests are converted into open farmland.
• Scientists are using radio transmitters to track social networks in New Caledonian Crows, in order to see if social networks transmit information about sophisticated tool use.
• A five-year research project is evaluating the breeding population of Kittlitz's Murrelets. The study may result in placing the species on the Endangered Species List.

Nature blogging

• The Birdist: Defining East Coast Pelagic Borders
• Audubon Guides: Hawk ID, Part 4: Buteos 
• Round Robin: 9/11 Tribute in Light Illuminates Thousands of Migrating Songbirds 
• Extinction Countdown: Endangered Cayman Islands Parrots and Iguanas Could Use More Shelters and Havens
• The Smaller Majority: The Mystery of Flying Honeydew: A Strange Case of Unabashed Thievery 
• View from the Cape: Sorting out the saddlebags
• Laelaps: Ida Hands are Paleontologist Playthings
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Ancient flower lives only on two Spanish cliffs, and uses ants to survive
• Flickr Blog: Colorful ode to salt ponds
• Blue Marble: Fisheries Declared Disasters on Four Coasts
• March of the Fossil Penguins: Fossil penguin…. poop?

Environment and biodiversity

• The continued progress of climate change means that the new USDA plant zones map is already out of date.
• A German monk was found naked and disoriented in the woods after he mistakenly ate the berries of a Deadly Nightshade plant. While many wild plants and fungi are edible, this should serve as a reminder not to eat plants if you are uncertain about their identity.
• A new monkey species called the lesula has been discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The IUCN has created a list of the world's 100 most endangered species.
• This summer was the 3rd-hottest in US history. 
• A man was arrested for trying to smuggle lorises in his underwear.
• Researchers in New Jersey are trying to revive American Chestnut trees, which were decimated by blight in the 20th century.
• A ninth person has been infected with hantavirus linked to cabins at Yosemite National Park.