This week in birds - #81

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

Photograph by Dave Palmer courtesy of ABC.

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the graceful, strikingly marked Swallow-tailed Kite. This kite rarely flaps its wings while flying, but almost continuously moves its tail—sometimes to nearly 90 degrees—to maintain a flight path, make a sharp turn, or circle. The species’ northern populations are migratory and come together with the non-migratory, southern populations in the wintertime.

In North America, this species once occurred up the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, along the Missouri River, and north along the Mississippi River into Kansas and Missouri. These northern populations were extirpated when the bottomland and riparian forests along these rivers were cut in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Swallow-tailed Kites have expanded their range in recent years and they now appear regularly in my neighborhood in summer.

The main threat to this kite is habitat loss and degradation, especially the loss of tall trees due to logging, clearing for agriculture, or other development. Although the species’ U.S. population seems to be increasing due to re-growth of trees in many riparian areas, the trend may not be long-lasting, as these trees are now threatened by development. 

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It was confirmed this week that the massive Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park was caused by a hunter's illegal fire.  This fire is now coming dangerously close to sending years of research at the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest up in flames. That forest has been the site of research on forest fires since the 1920s.

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Meantime, scientists say that increasing incursions by humans into forests, coupled with altered forest ecology and climate change, will make fires bigger and more destructive, with implications for air quality as well as homes and infrastructure. So the Rim Fire may just be a foretaste of forest fires to come.

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Nutmeg Mannikins, an introduced species that has long had a foothold in my area, are now being added to the official state bird list of California.

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Emperor Penguins have been shown to be able to dive to depths of more than 500 meters and to stay under water for as long as 27 minutes. That is deeper and longer than any other avian species.

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It may be true that there is nothing new under the sun, but it is apparently also true that there are plenty of things there that we haven't discovered yet. New species of animals are frequently being found. Lately, it has been five new species of bats in West Africa.

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And in the Philippines, three new species of birds have been found, including a ground-warbler that has the skills of a ventriloquist. It is able to disguise its location by "throwing" its voice.

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Wild animals live everywhere, including on city streets. An amazing diversity of animals has adapted to life in the city.

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A long term study of red cedars' tree rings proves that forests have become healthier since implementation of the Clean Air Act has reduced pollution.

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Birds are a valuable source of pest control on coffee plantations. They eat many troublesome insect pests, thus making it economically advantageous for owners to protect local forests where the birds live and nest. 

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The ongoing catastrophe of Fukushima is even worse than previously thought. Officials had been using the wrong tool to measure the radiation levels. When the right tool was used, it was found that radiation levels were 18 times greater than had been reported!  

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September 4 marked the 50th anniversary of the last confirmed live sighting of an Eskimo Curlew. The last Eskimo Curlew on record, a single bird, was seen and fatally shot in Barbados on September 4, 1963. It seems likely that the bird is, in fact, extinct.

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Scientists have long dismissed any ability by birds to smell things, but a new ground-breaking study in Michigan suggests that assumption was dead wrong. In a study of Dark-eyed Juncos, the researchers were able to show that the females used scent to select their mates and that odor reliably predicts their reproductive success. I wonder what other unsuspected skills or senses our feathered neighbors might have.