Posts
Brant in Defensive Posture / Photo by Tim Bowman (USFWS)News and links about birds, birding, and the environment
- Climate change could cause the extinction of 30% of land bird species worldwide, most of which are not currently endangered. That result is based on a study that ran models of how IPCC scenarios would force bird species to change elevation in response to rising temperatures.
The US FWS must reconsider its decision not to list the Greater Sage Grouse under the Endangered Species Act.- The same gene, FOXP2, aids development of speech in humans and singing in zebra finches. [full article]
- The NY Times Magazine covered the issue of feral cats and birds in its last edition.
- Despite cold temperatures, hummingbirds are still turning up at feeders in the Northeast. Most December hummingbirds are likely to be vagrants from the West Coast.
- An expedition is researching the New Zealand storm petrel, a bird long thought extinct until its rediscovery in 2003. Since then seven individuals have been caught.
- An expedition in Ghana found species previously not recorded there, including brown-cheeked hornbill and Nimba flycatcher. The article on the trip is worth looking at for its photos of reptiles and amphibians.
- BP plans to back the extraction of oil from Alberta's tar sands. This operation is frequently cited as a threat to the boreal forest.
Marbled godwits, already an unusual sight, made Audubon's WatchList.- The current energy bill includes provisions to aid areas affected by logging restrictions on behalf of the northern spotted owl.
- Patuxent River Naval Air Station uses a special radar to track the movements of bird flocks around the base.
- In local news, Jenny Jump State Forest has been designated as an Important Bird Area.
- OC Warbler: Bling of Brightwater
- 10,000 Birds: In Praise of the Black-capped Chickadee
- It's a bird thing...: Avian Diversity at the Salton Sea
- Wildbird: Antarctic Oil Spill Threatens Birds
- Sibley: Redpoll Identification
- Friday Ark #168
- Linnaeus's Legacy #2
- Tangled Bank #94
- Carnival of the Blue #7
- Circus of the Spineless #27
- Festival of the Trees #18
- Birds in the News #108
