Blue-winged Teal pair.
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Scientific American has a blog post about four presumably extinct species which people still hold out hopes of finding alive. One of them is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
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A new study shows that free-ranging domestic dogs have a significant negative impact on wildlife, birds included. In addition to killing or maiming the wild animals, the dogs also are carriers of diseases that can devastate wildlife populations.
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The American Bird Conservancy has petitioned the Department of the Interior to review a rule that would weaken protection for eagles under the Bald and Golden Eagles Protection Act. The rule would allow more eagles to be killed by wind farms without legal implications to the private industries involved.
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What was called a "super-mega-pod" of Common Dolphins was spotted off the coast of California. The pod contained as many as 100,000 individuals. The term "super-mega" does seem appropriate.
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The well-named Sociable Weaver birds of the Kalahari Desert in Africa build and maintain their nests communally. Hundreds of the birds weave their nests together and the massive nests look like stacks of hay piled on top of telephone poles. (There are pictures at the linked article.)
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Scientists have found that differences in pitch of the songs of male Purple-crowned Fairy Wrens, an Australian species, correlate to differences in size of the birds. The lower the pitch, the larger the bird.
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The Nature Conservancy is promoting bird-friendly farms in California's Central Valley as a win-win proposition for both farmers and birds. The farms are very productive but still provide suitable habitat for migrating birds, especially waterfowl.
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The continued drastic reduction in Arctic sea ice is guaranteed to have a significant negative impact on the world's weather and climate.
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About ten years ago, more than 50,000 Red-breasted Geese, an endangered species, disappeared during migration from their wintering grounds around the Black Sea in Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. Where did they go? What happened to them? Scientists are still trying to figure that out.
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The production of corn and soy for biofuel is destroying native grasslands in the Midwest at the fastest rate since the 1930s. Loss of habitat for prairie birds, many of which are already in serious decline, as well as other native animals, is of serious concern to conservationists.
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The source of the pollution that caused many seabirds to be washed up on the coast of southwestern England may never be known, authorities say. The birds were coated in a sticky substance. Some of them were able to be rescued and rehabilitated, but many died.
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If the scheduled sequester of government funds takes place on March 1, it will have a devastating effect on the national park system. Hours of operation will be cut, visitor centers closed, seasonal employees will not be hired, regular maintenance may be impaired. Since the parks are the most popular spots for family vacations during the summer, this has the potential for impacting families right across the country, making for some very unhappy non-campers.
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Around the backyard:
The heavy pressure on the feeding stations continues. I refilled all the feeders today. But it seemed to me in watching the birds today that perhaps the numbers of the finches, the American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins, were down a bit. Perhaps our early spring weather has encouraged the birds to start moving north again.
I haven't spent much time observing the birds in my yard since the Great Backyard Bird Count last weekend, but I also haven't seen any Red-breasted Nuthatches around for a few days. Have they moved on or have I simply missed them?
I got a big surprise when I arrived home from a shopping trip today. I stepped out of my car in the driveway and heard a wicker-wicker-wicker call from one of the live oaks in the front yard. A Northern Flicker! It's been quite a while since I've seen one of them in my yard.
Usually by this time in the season, I'm seeing pairs of Red-winged Blackbirds and small flocks of Brown-headed Cowbirds at my feeders, but so far there have been none this year. I don't miss the cowbirds. I do miss the Red-wings. Perhaps they will turn up later.
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