Long-billed Curlew walks the beach next to Galveston Bay.
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Do American Crows suffer from stress? They are highly intelligent birds, so it seems likely that they would be aware of stress and that they would have mechanisms for coping with it. Researchers at Binghamton University think so anyway and they are attempting to determine how stress affects the birds' lives, in hopes that it might also teach us something about human stress.
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There is a new guide to the most common species of ants in the southeastern United States and you can download it as a PDF document for free! Head over to this site for the link.
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How did dinosaurs evolve into birds? It's a question that has fascinated scientists and ordinary bird lovers for years. There are new theories and discussions of how the whole thing happened, as well as a virtual representation of the evolution of dinosaurs to birds at the Not Exactly Rocket Science blog.
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How common is crossbreeding and resulting hybridization among birds? There are some 10,000 species of birds in the world and scientists believe that about 10% of them have mated with a different bird species.
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The UK continues to suffer seabird losses due to a mysterious viscous substance in the waters off the southeastern coast. Current investigations are focusing on dumping of oil from tankers at sea.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced plans to drop the gray wolf from the list of endangered species, but scientists and conservationists fear the move is premature. The animal faces extreme pressure from hunting in many areas of the West.
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Here is an interesting series of photos of a Brown Booby capturing flying fish in the air over the ocean.
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A European songbird called the Great Tit has had its breeding cycle disrupted by the changing climate. So far, breeding success and family size seem not to have been affected, suggesting, perhaps, that birds may be able to adapt more readily than feared.
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The E.P.A. has criticized the State Department's environmental impact study of the Keystone XL pipeline because it fails to take into account the effect of global climate change.
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Malta is hell on Earth for migratory birds. They are shot indiscriminately as they attempt to make their way, spring and fall, between Africa and Europe. The BBC has a photo gallery of many of the birds shot.
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The horror continues for bats in the eastern part of the continent. The disease known as "white nose syndrome" is still killing the little creatures by the thousands. In one cave in Pennsylvania that once held over 10,000 bats, only 23 now remain alive.
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Around the backyard:
I am being eaten out of house and garden by a voracious flock of White-winged Doves! I suppose it is my own fault really. I have a open platform feeder as part of my bird feeder system in the backyard. Many birds prefer this feeder, but when the doves descend, the food doesn't last long.
Here's what I mean. The birds flock in by the tens. I fill the feeder and an hour later, it is empty!
While one crew cleans up, a second wave waits its turn.
So, I've made my decision. The platform feeder has to go, to be replaced by something that is more small-bird friendly. I don't mind feeding the doves, but they can feed on the ground like the Eurasian Collared-doves, Mourning Doves, and, occasionally, the Inca Doves. There's always plenty of food there.
The Cedar Waxwings are still here. They are usually the very last of my winter birds to leave. I typically see flocks of 50 to 100 of the birds socializing late in the day in the trees around my yard.
And, yes, the Pine Siskins and a few American Goldfinches are still here, too. They seem in no hurry to leave and I'm certainly in no hurry to see the go.
I checked the Eastern Bluebirds' nest box yesterday. Five perfect blue eggs were nestled in the neat pine straw cup, just like with their first brood. And speaking of that first brood, I saw two of them in the yard late one afternoon this week. They were as large as their parents and their tails were long, not the stubby affairs of the new fledgling, but they still have their spots on the breast which mark them as thrush babies. They were flying strongly and I saw each of them capture insects. Very satisfying!
Also making their appearance in the yard this week was the young family of Carolina Wrens. And, really, is there anything cuter?
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