This week in birds - #50

A roundup of this week's news of birds and the environment:

Sometimes a fellow has to share. This juvenile male Rufous Hummingbird is sharing the drips from his feeder with a bee.

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An endangered finback whale washed ashore on a New York City beach this week. The badly emaciated 60-ft. whale was still alive when it came ashore but it later died.

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Sport fishermen in Oregon have found a new use for old Christmas trees. They are collecting the used trees and placing them in coastal streams to provide habitat and a food source for coho salmon.

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Sage Grouse in North Dakota have suffered a severe decline in population this year because of West Nile virus. Now the state is asking its neighbor, Montana, to send some female grouse to help replenish the population. Montana is considering the request and may send up to 80 of the birds.

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Thousands of new species were described by scientists for the first time this  year. Here is an article which lists, describes and features pictures of some of the top discoveries of the year.

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Haast's Eagle, a giant raptor with an 8-ft. wingspan, once hunted Moas from the skies over New Zealand as late as 600-700 years ago.

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EPA administrator Lisa Jackson announced this week that she will be leaving the agency. Her four-year tenure has been marked by constant controversy and resistance by radical conservatives to any efforts to regulate emissions that harm the environment. In spite of that, quite a bit of progress has been made, but because of indomitable opposition by the deniers of global warming, very little progress has been made in that important area.

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A Kumlien's Iceland Gull has returned to the same territory in Hammond, Indiana, for at least the fourth consecutive year.

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A Florida man has pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to the smuggling of dinosaur skeletons. The skeletons were obtained in China and Mongolia and were illegally transported into the United States where they were offered for sale.

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A seabird called the Razorbill is a bird of the North Atlantic and rarely is found south of North Carolina, but this season, large numbers of the birds are turning up in Florida waters to the great delight of birders there.

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A new biogeographical map of the world's vertebrates has been published. It depicts the interrelationships of animals from various parts of the world. Images of the map can be found here.

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Around the backyard:

Everything seems in motion in the yard this week. Birds are everywhere! Especially at the feeders. New sparrows turn up almost daily and the coming of the hungry Pine Siskins means that the feeders are emptying a lot faster.

Even the seeds in my big feeder in the front yard that haven't had to be replenished for weeks are beginning to noticeably decline.

From now through about the middle of February is the height of the feeder season in my yard and it is one of the most fun times of the year to be a Backyard Birder.

I hope your New Year brings you good health, contentment, and lots of beautiful birds.