This week in birds - #4 (with hummingbird update)

Here is your weekly recap of stories about birds, Nature, and science that were in the news this week. Follow the highlighted links to read the full stories.

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The American Ornithologists Union (AOU) is the organization that officially names birds in North America and occasionally splits species or moves a species from one family to another based on improved scientific information. For 2012, the organization is considering several changes, some involving hawks and sparrows. 

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The group of juvenile Whooping Cranes that are led on their first migration from Wisconsin to Florida by an ultra-light aircraft have been grounded in Franklin County, Alabama since December. There is a legal dispute over the operation of the ultra-light. An attorney for the crane project is hoping to have the issue resolved soon so that the birds can continue on their flight.

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The latest scientific theory about what has caused Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybees involves a parasitic fly that preys on the bees.

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Remember Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie, The Birds? How could you forget if you've ever seen it and everybody has seen it, right? Anyway, it seems that the idea for the picture may have originated from an actual incident that happened in North Monterey Bay, California in August 1961. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of seabirds seemingly went crazy and started flying into objects and generally acting weird, often dying in the streets. The cause was believed to be a toxic algae bloom that had gotten into the food chain.

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The idea of a fence along the border between Mexico and the United States is something that has been vigorously opposed by local residents and officials who live there, as well as being almost universally condemned by conservationists. Here is a photo gallery of a few of the animals and plants which would be affected by such a wall. 

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The population of Snow Geese has bounced back after receiving protection and is now threatening to become over-abundant in some areas. This could be detrimental to other species of geese, such as the Greater White-fronted. We saw several large flocks of Snow Geese during our visit to Anahuac last weekend, but only one small flock of the Greater White-fronted Geese.

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"This week in birds" last week reported on the gray wolf that had wandered into California, the first of its species known to have been in that state since 1924. This week we have a picture of the animal. The wolf has now wandered more than 700 miles away from its original pack.

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Seabird colonies in the United Kingdom have suffered severe declines in recent years. Now comes a report that the Kittiwake population has been particularly hard hit and has plummeted by more than 40% since 2000. The Arctic Skua population has suffered even greater losses, dropping by 57% during that same period. The culprit, according to scientists is the changing climate.

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More antibiotics for livestock are being put on the restricted list by the FDA because of a growing threat to humans of drug resistant bacterial infections.

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The state birding record for New Jersey was broken in 2011 by a 23-year-old birder from Cape May County named Tom Reed. Reed saw 362 bird species during the year, surpassing the old record of 337 that had been set almost a decade before. A very Big Year indeed!

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Around the backyard: In my own backyard this week, the most exciting thing to happen has been the appearance of an over-wintering hummingbird, as I blogged about yesterday. Today I got a better look at the little critter and also managed to get some pictures. My bird appears to be a female Rufous Hummingbird. 

This was taken from a distance as she sat among a tangle of vines along the back fence, but even here you can see the rufous wash along the side of her chest.

 As she turns her back you can see the rufous feathers shining through the green there.

As she perched in a nearby tree, one could get a  better look at the rufous on the sides and tail.

Another view from the same angle.

Finally, she flew down to the feeder and I was able to get a closer look at her.

She drank long and deeply from the feeder.

I think she enjoyed her meal. Maybe she'll stick around for the rest of winter.

Here's wishing you a very "Big Year" of birding in 2012!