Posts
Feet of a Blue-footed Booby / Photo by ex magician
Bird and birding news
- Brown-necked Ravens have been observed to hunt cooperatively. When they spot a lizard, two ravens block the entrance to the lizard's burrow while the other birds move in for the kill.
- Male Blue-footed Boobies that mate every other year have brighter blue feet than the males that mate every year. Brighter feet are considered more attractive.
- The scolding calls of songbirds work to warn other songbirds and scare off predators.
- Despite its rediscovery in 1992, there is still very little known about the Anjouan Scops Owl.
- Spanish researchers argue that vultures should be allowed to feed on cow carcasses; currently livestock carcasses may not be left in the open due to BSE regulations.
- Common birds that act warily around bird feeding stations may actually be newly-arrived long-distance migrants rather than resident birds. This applies mainly to year-round species like robins.
- Female canaries will sing if given doses of testosterone and the protein BDNF.
- The Wildlife Center of Virginia treated a record-breaking 37 Bald Eagles as patients this year. The 37th was found shot and had to be euthanized.
- Meanwhile Golden Eagles are getting additional special protection areas in Scotland.
- Conservationists have identified the ten US species most likely to be affected by climate change, with a Hawaiian bird at the top of the list.
- In case you have not heard, there is an Ivory Gull hanging around in Cape May. Here is an article on the bird and a photostudy.
- Here is a profile of Sacramento NWR in California.
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: British birdfeeders split blackcaps into two genetically distinct groups
- Sibley Guides: Variation in immature Ring-billed Gulls
- Birdchick: Aerial Waterfowl Identification Survey Part 1; Part 2
- Bird Canada: Short-eared Owls Need Your Help
- The Marvelous in Nature: Tay Meadows Tidbit – empty nest
- NaturalVisions: Photography: It's All About the Light
- Net Results: Recovery -- a rare event!
- The Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India, was 25 years ago yesterday. Groundwater at Bhopal is still toxic. Here is another essay on Dow and Union Carbide's refusal to take responsibility.
- Male blue whales are singing deeper songs all over the world; pitches are lower by as much as 31% since the 1960s.
- A new national scenic byway travels through New Jersey's Delaware and Raritan Canal greenway.
- The US wastes about 40% of its food supply per year, with profound effects on health and the environment.
- A government report argues that wind farms have no effect on nearby property values.
- Some species took refuge in Antarctica during the Permian extinction, a major warming period. At that time Antarctica was closer to the Equator than it is today.
- Earlier climate anomalies such as the Medieval Warm Period were probably caused by natural phenomena such as El Nino and the North Atlantic Oscillation.
- Skeptical Science: Can you make a hockey stick without tree rings?
- Maryland plans to increase the Chesapeake's protected oyster areas from 9% of the best oyster habitat to 24%. The move is part of a long-term plan to restore the bay's oyster population.
