The robins are on the move! Spring is coming.
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A team of U.S. scientists has recreated to a remarkable degree of detail the creature which they say was the ancestor of every mammal species on Earth. This Adam and Eve animal was a small, scurrying, insect-eater that lived a few hundred thousand years after the apocalypse that finished off most of the dinosaurs.
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The Great Tit, a European relative of our own sweet little Tufted Titmouse, is apparently a bloodthirsty killer that preys on other smaller songbirds.
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More on the perils facing Indian vultures: Much of the decline of these valuable birds has been blamed on farmers use of an antibiotic called diclofenac for their cattle. When the cattle die, the birds ingest the medication as they devour the carcass. The problem is that the antibiotic is deadly to birds. After this became known the governments of India, Pakistan, and Nepal have outlawed the use of the drug and some areas are already seeing an increase in vulture populations.
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If construction of the Keystone XL pipeline is rejected by the State Department, its proponents in Canada have a backup plan: Build a pipeline due north to the formerly frozen Arctic Ocean. In order to reach the ocean, the pipeline would have to be built through a stretch of unstable permafrost. Now, why does this seem like a very bad idea? Actually, tar sands oil, period, seems like a very bad idea.
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Turkey has a plan to raise and release thousands of non-native Helmeted Guineafowl into their country in hopes the birds will eat ticks that carry a deadly disease. However, new research suggests that the birds themselves may be hosts to the ticks and spread them to new areas, greatly exacerbating the problem. Introducing an invasive species to combat a native problem seldom seems to work out well.
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A new study indicates that many Asian bird species may be especially vulnerable to the effects of global climate change and may need extra protection and help to adjust and survive.
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More than 11,000 elephants have been poached in Gabon since 2004 and the slaughter continues, threatening the very survival of the species.
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Every year around this time, it seems that I get to report this: The world's oldest known wild bird, a Laysan Albatross named Wisdom, has hatched a new chick on Midway Island in the Pacific. It is her sixth chick in as many years. The new mother is 62-years-old!
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The blackbird family in general is not known for being particularly melodious, outside of the meadowlark branch, but some of them do have very interesting calls. Among these is the Rusty Blackbird.
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Last year was the hottest on record for the United States but, worldwide, it was only the tenth warmest since such records started being kept in 1880. All twelve years in the 21st century rank in the fourteen hottest years on record.
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Ravens are amazing birds. We continue to learn more about just how smart they are. Scientific American tells us seven things that we didn't know about these birds.
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Around the backyard:
That's right. It's only one more week until this year's Great Backyard Bird Count. I'm so excited! Have you signed up to do your count? It's not too late. Just visit the website and sign on and join me next weekend in the adventure of counting birds.
I never knew there was a bird called the "Great Tit" and I had no idea that it preys on other birds - crazy! I did see a squirrel in my backyard feasting on a male red house finch. Very freaky!
ReplyDeleteThe tit family actually has several members worldwide, but I think the cutest and most charming is our titmouse.
DeleteIf a squirrel was eating an adult male House Finch, I think it must have been very sick or already dead when the animal found it. We know though that squirrels do sometimes eat nestlings, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised.