Loose Feathers #556

Black Oystercatcher / Photo by David Ledig, BLM

Birds and birding news

• This was a good year for Piping Plovers and American Oystercatchers nesting at Holgate.
• A study of three national forests in Wisconsin and Minnesota found that breeding bird populations were holding steady. 
• As embarrassing as birding might be for white birders, it can be even more uncomfortable or dangerous for black birders. 
• Cuba's Blue-headed Quail-Dove is even more unlike other doves than its appearance suggests.
• It is possible to find birds by knowing which trees to look in.
• Video monitoring might help scientists figure out why birds and other animals are dying around Ivanpah's towers and ultimately lead to a solution.
• New research using geolocators and isotopic analysis is complicating the concept of migratory flyways.
• The elegant Snowy Egret was an early conservation success.
• Gulls are more likely to raid other gulls' nests when sea temperatures are high near a nesting colony. 
• Contaminants that have accumulated in the bodies of marine mammals can harm condors' ability to reproduce if they eat marine mammal carcasses.
• An analysis of the evolution of birds' nests suggests that changing nesting habits may have contributed to their survival past the end of the Cretaceous.  
• A man in South Carolina was caught killing hawks because they sometimes preyed on his quail.

Science and nature blogging

• Extinction Countdown: Snails Are Going Extinct: Here's Why That Matters
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Life cycle of the Common Redeye butterfly
• The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Shorebirds of the Kearny Marsh
• The Rattling Crow: The beachcombing crows  
• View from the Cape: Identifying shorebirds in flight - Stilt Sandpiper
• 10,000 Birds: North American Gnatcatchers

Environment and biodiversity

• According to a new report, over-hunting, over-fishing, and habitat destruction (primarily for agriculture) are still the primary drivers of biodiversity loss while climate change remains a lesser threat (for now at least).
• Aggressive hunting may have wiped out the East Fork wolf pack near Denali, which is one of the longest-studied groups of wolves.
• Climate.gov released its State of the Climate report for 2015, which looks at the effects on marine life.
• Changes in land management practices have made the western juniper into an invader of the sagebrush steppe, which threatens to eliminate habitat for wildlife and livestock. 
• The poor reputation of coyotes is undeserved and leads to senseless killing. 
• The Greenland shark may be the longest-lived vertebrate, with its average lifespan estimated at 400 years old.
• Burying beetles help to clean up refuse, in this case by burying carcasses for their larvae to eat.
• Wild blue mussels are disappearing along the coast of the Gulf of Maine.
• The public has had to fund a substantial portion of the Mount Polley mine cleanup, even though the offending company is still profitable. 
• New Jersey is releasing a weevil to combat invasive mile-a-mile weed.