Red-tailed Hawk photographed at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in January.
*~*~*~*
A new study published this week and authored by scientists from two of the world's leading science and wildlife organizations, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has found that bird and small mammal mortality caused by outdoor cats is even more extensive than had been previously thought. Annual bird mortality is estimated to be between 1.4 and 3.7 billion and mammal mortality it thought to be between 6.9 and 20.7 billion. Those are pretty big ranges, but even at the lowest level it is an enormous amount of wildlife and represents a significant threat to many species. It is further confirmation of just how important it is that we keep our cats indoors. It also highlights the urgency of finding a humane solution to the problem of abandoned pets and feral cats.
*~*~*~*
Hundreds of seabirds, some of them dead, have been washing up on England's southwest coast, covered in a waxy substance. Official theorize that the substance is palm oil, although it is not clear how the birds came to be covered in it.
*~*~*~*
Butterflies from the southern U.S., like the Giant Swallowtail, that used to be rare in the northeast, are being found there now on a regular basis. It is another consequence of a warming climate, as reported by the authors of a paper in Nature Climate Change.
*~*~*~*
Extensive DNA tests on Rock Pigeon populations prove that most of the world's pigeons descended from escaped racing pigeons from the Middle East area. Pigeons are the world's oldest domesticated bird with a history with humans that goes back at least 5,000 years.
*~*~*~*
I reported in this space last week about the declining population of vultures in India and the problems that is causing for people there. Vultures in Africa also are threatened and their populations declining. Part of the problem is caused by the birds feeding on animal carcasses from farms where the stock have been given veterinary drugs that are toxic to birds. Another problem is that they sometimes get carcasses that have been laced with poison for hyenas.
*~*~*~*
The wolverine, one of the largest and hardiest members of the weasel family, is facing a new threat, one that it may not be able to escape - climate change. The warming climate is whittling away at the wolverine's winter range in the northern Rockies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is studying whether the animal should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
*~*~*~*
A New Zealand farmer is helping to save one of the world's smallest and most endangered penguins, the White-flippered Penguin. The farmer owns the the land where much of the world's population of these penguins breeds and he and his wife have turned the land into a safe haven for the birds.
*~*~*~*
Owls are known for being able to turn their heads almost completely - in fact about 270 degrees - around. Now a study of dead owls has shown how they are able to do that.
*~*~*~*
Paleontologists are busy documenting ancient seabeds to try to give an idea of just how high the sea might rise in a warming climate.
*~*~*~*
Peruvian officials are considering stricter laws to protect and conserve the iconic but endangered Andean Condor.
*~*~*~*
The EPA is banning the sale of some d-Con rat and mouse poisons because they pose an unacceptable risk to humans and wildlife, particularly to urban raptors.
*~*~*~*
Devastating western wildfires are not being exacerbated by the activities of the bark beetle as some have claimed, according to a recently published peer-reviewed study. Instead the fires seem almost entirely the result of dry conditions that are being brought about by climate change.
*~*~*~*
Around the backyard:
Spring is peeking over the windowsill, as even Punxsutwney Phil agrees, and the birds are getting ready for it, but the biggest news in my backyard this week continues to be the amazing rate at which birdseed is disappearing from my bird feeders. Another run to the birdseed store is in the offing.
*~*~*~*
Hundreds of seabirds, some of them dead, have been washing up on England's southwest coast, covered in a waxy substance. Official theorize that the substance is palm oil, although it is not clear how the birds came to be covered in it.
*~*~*~*
Giant Swallowtail on citrus bloom.
Butterflies from the southern U.S., like the Giant Swallowtail, that used to be rare in the northeast, are being found there now on a regular basis. It is another consequence of a warming climate, as reported by the authors of a paper in Nature Climate Change.
*~*~*~*
Extensive DNA tests on Rock Pigeon populations prove that most of the world's pigeons descended from escaped racing pigeons from the Middle East area. Pigeons are the world's oldest domesticated bird with a history with humans that goes back at least 5,000 years.
*~*~*~*
I reported in this space last week about the declining population of vultures in India and the problems that is causing for people there. Vultures in Africa also are threatened and their populations declining. Part of the problem is caused by the birds feeding on animal carcasses from farms where the stock have been given veterinary drugs that are toxic to birds. Another problem is that they sometimes get carcasses that have been laced with poison for hyenas.
*~*~*~*
The wolverine, one of the largest and hardiest members of the weasel family, is facing a new threat, one that it may not be able to escape - climate change. The warming climate is whittling away at the wolverine's winter range in the northern Rockies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is studying whether the animal should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
*~*~*~*
A New Zealand farmer is helping to save one of the world's smallest and most endangered penguins, the White-flippered Penguin. The farmer owns the the land where much of the world's population of these penguins breeds and he and his wife have turned the land into a safe haven for the birds.
*~*~*~*
Owls are known for being able to turn their heads almost completely - in fact about 270 degrees - around. Now a study of dead owls has shown how they are able to do that.
*~*~*~*
Paleontologists are busy documenting ancient seabeds to try to give an idea of just how high the sea might rise in a warming climate.
*~*~*~*
Peruvian officials are considering stricter laws to protect and conserve the iconic but endangered Andean Condor.
*~*~*~*
The EPA is banning the sale of some d-Con rat and mouse poisons because they pose an unacceptable risk to humans and wildlife, particularly to urban raptors.
*~*~*~*
Devastating western wildfires are not being exacerbated by the activities of the bark beetle as some have claimed, according to a recently published peer-reviewed study. Instead the fires seem almost entirely the result of dry conditions that are being brought about by climate change.
*~*~*~*
Around the backyard:
The weather-prognosticating groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow today!
Spring is peeking over the windowsill, as even Punxsutwney Phil agrees, and the birds are getting ready for it, but the biggest news in my backyard this week continues to be the amazing rate at which birdseed is disappearing from my bird feeders. Another run to the birdseed store is in the offing.
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