Posts
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| Sanderling / Photo by Keenan Adams (USFWS) |
- A study concluded that birds passing though central California have been growing larger in response to climate change. The study used banding data collected over the past forty years at Point Reyes Bird Observatory. Meanwhile, birds elsewhere have been shrinking rather than growing according to research conducted in eastern North America.
- Experiments showed that Eurasian Jays plan for the future by caching food that they may want to eat but will be in short supply later.
- Gunnison Sage Grouse prefer isolated nest sites that are over a mile from human development.
- NPR has a slideshow of seabirds killed by eating plastic. These are albatross chicks on Midway that were fed bits of plastic by their parents until their guts became too full of plastic to process real food.
- Whooping Cranes are arriving at their winter habitat in Aransas NWR. There is some concern that the cranes may be affected by an ongoing outbreak of red tide, which has killed 4.2 million fish since September.
- Researchers found the remains of a bird colony from the Cretaceous in Transylvania. The colony was probably swamped by a sudden flood that left eggshells and dead birds in its wake. At the time, Transylvania was an island inhabited by a variety of unusual dinosaurs. The birds in the colony were enantiornithines, with toothed beaks and claws on their wings.
- Seabird colonies in Scotland had yet another poor breeding season. The colonies have fallen over 53% since 2000.
- A survey in Australia was dedicated to finding the remaining population of the Orange-bellied Parrot, one of the world's rarest parrots. There are less than 50 left in the wild, mostly near Melbourne.
- Meanwhile, the overall outlook for Australian birds has worsened according to a report from last year. For a variety of reasons, from invasive species to fire practices, 13% of Australian bird species are considered threatened or worse.
- An exhibit in London features art work commemorating birds that have been lost to extinction.
- A rare white kiwi in New Zealand survived surgery to remove a blockage from its gizzard.
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: Stunning wren duets are conceived as a whole but sung in two parts
- 10,000 Birds: Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
- Maniraptora: Evolution of Hawai'ian honeycreepers
- Mike's Birding and Digiscoping Blog: The Impulse to Chase
- Net Results: Myth-busting: Birds, buckthorn, and diarrhea
- BHL: Book of the Week: Voyages to South America
- The Daily Wing: Ten Tips for Winter Birding
- Birding Is Fun!: Big Brown Bird with a sharp tongue and a limp
- PetaPixel: Breathtaking Murmuration of Starlings Caught on Camera
- The Nemesis Bird: TRULY rare birds
- A new study finds that the summer dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay have declined over the past few decades thanks to efforts to reduce pollutants upstream.
- DNA barcoding of crustaceans found on dead corals suggests that coral reefs may hold more biodiversity than thought.
- A trade association of Gulf fishermen is starting a program to certify fish to reduce concerns about seafood mislabeling.
- Climate change, invasive insects, and other causes are pushing trees to shift their ranges across the American West. Among the findings is that lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce will decline while Douglas fir and western hemlock will expand. Wetter areas in the Pacific Northwest will see less change than drier areas elsewhere.
- South America was home to a small mammal with unusually large teeth in the Late Cretaceous.
- Two herpetologists are trying to save the endangered frogs in Ghana.
- A project is underway to capture trash floating down the Los Angeles River before it reaches the sea. Trash screens will catch and collect debris at storm drains before it causes problems downstream.
- Odorous house ants, common on the mainland United States, are now invading Hawaii.
- Three new unusual-looking tube-nosed bats were discovered in the forests of Cambodia and Vietnam. The link has photos of the new species.
