Loose Feathers #325

Male Short-tailed Albatross and Chick / Photo by Pete Leary (USFWS)

News about birds and birding

• Wandering Albatrosses are benefiting from climate change since changes in winds near the South Pole have allowed them to take shorter and more frequent foraging flights. This has resulted in healthier offspring. The changes are not necessarily long-term, however, as further warming is expected to change the winds again.
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to regulate the Hawaiian swordfish fishery to protect endangered Short-tailed Albatrosses, a pair of which recently started breeding on the Midway atoll.
• Because of a warming climate, elk have been overgrazing songbird habitat in mountainous areas of Arizona. The elk are having a negative effect on Red-faced Warblers, among other species.
• A Chinstrap Penguin spotted in the South Shetland Islands appears to have isabellinism, a genetic mutation that dilutes its feathers' pigments. This penguin appears almost like an albino, but with a pale brown back. There is a picture of this unusual bird at the link.
• Here is a photo of a Blackthroat, a member of the robin family.
• Zebra Finch chicks are able to recognize their relatives by smell.
• The series on Elegant Quail in The New York Times wraps up this week.
• Here is an interview with the author of The Owl and the Woodpecker on this year's Snowy Owl irruption.

Nature blogging

• AnimalWise: Show Me the Honey! Honeyguides and Humans Team Up at Dinnertime
• The Nemesis Bird: Birds in Flight – Evening Light: Using the ‘Golden Hours’ to get great flight shots!
• Myrmecos: English Majors Discover a New Species in Manhattan, Everywhere
• Anything Larus: A Taste of the Pacific Northwest
• The Daily Wing: Getting Gulls
• 10,000 Birds: What is a Kumlien's Gull?
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: No, wait, THIS is the world’s smallest frog
• 10,000 Birds: In defense of county listing
• Birding Is Fun!: Winter Birding Traditions
• Outside My Window: Winter Trees: Norway Maple
• Chuqui 3.0: How not to be a doofus with a camera
• 10,000 Birds: Birders Ignoring Signs

Environment and biodiversity

• The US EPA released data on greenhouse gas emissions throughout the country for the year 2010. At the link you can find information on the top polluters in your state. Here is the emissions map for New Jersey. You can refine the search to the county level as well.
• A camera trap took the first known photograph of a Myanmar sub-nosed monkey. The species was described in 2010 from a specimen killed by a hunter, but the species has never been encountered alive in the wild by a scientist.
• Secretary Salazar approved a 20-year ban on mining around the Grand Canyon. The ban covers mining of uranium and other minerals but not exploration for oil or natural gas.
• A new snake species, Matilda's horned viper, was discovered in Tanzania. The species is assumed to be critically endangered based on its rarity. It is worth clicking through to see the photos of it.
• National parks will waive admission fees this weekend in honor of Martin Luther King Day. The National Park Service has posted a list of the fee free dates and parks for 2012.
• Increasing urbanization in Bolivia and Peru is threatening to overwhelm Lake Titicaca with sewage and other pollutants.
• Gulf currents helped break down the oil spewing from BP's broken well by circulating oil-eating bacteria back to the wellhead again and again. As a result, oil disappeared more quickly than it would have otherwise.