Hooded Merganser / Photo by Lee Karney (USFWS)
Birds and birding news
- German scientists have isolated a gene that appears to influence migratory restlessness (Zugunruhe).
- Calgary approved new building design guidelines meant to reduce the number of birds killed by crashing into windows.
- The Mother Nature Network has videos of three flightless birds.
- An FAA assessment at Midland International Airport in Texas suggested leaving the grass around the runways unmowed to discourage bird activity in areas where airplanes could hit them.
- The Guardian has eight winning images from a photo contest on the world's most endangered birds.
- The number of winter Barn Owl deaths has tripled in the U.K. this year because of a harsh winter.
- The first recorded Harpy Eagle nest in Belize was discovered in November; the species was thought to be extinct in that country prior to discovery of the nest.
- An essay argues that twitching is not just about checking items on a list but looking for new opportunities to marvel at the natural world.
- The second oldest Bald Eagle recorded in Alaska died by electrocution when it landed on the crossbar of a utility pole on Kodiak Island. At 25 years old, the female was also one of the ten oldest Bald Eagles recorded in the United States. The oldest recorded was a 32-year-old eagle from Maine.
- Phil Davis from the Maryland/DC Records Committee has unearthed some old checklists from bird walks led by Roger Tory Peterson for the DC Audubon Society. On one walk at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in 1944, Peterson was accompanied by 165 people.
- Bell Tower Birding: Pity the Gull
- 10,000 Birds: Cedar Waxwing vs. Bohemian Waxwing
- Birding Frontiers: Latest on White-cheeked Geese
- Bird Canada: Wednesday Wings: Busy Bitty Boreal
- The Birders Report: The Hoodie, Yet Another Cavity Nesting Bird
- Sibley Guides: Identifying scoters by shape
- Earbirding: Do Evening Grosbeaks sing?
- Laelaps: Terror Birds Ain’t What They Used to Be – A Titanis Take-Down
- WildNewJersey.tv: Nature's Focus: Scanning the sky for returning migrating hawks
- Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) in the Hudson River have evolved a genetic mutation that allows them to feed on the bottom of the river without being poisoned by the toxic PCBs that pollute the river. Some tomcod in nearby watersheds also have the mutation, so it is likely that the mutation existed in Hudson River tomcod before the PCB pollution, and any tomcod without the mutation were killed by the PCBs.
- When black bears hibernate, they only drop their core body temperature by a few degrees even though their metabolism drops by 75%. This is remarkable compared to other mammals, which need to drop their temperatures much more to achieve a similar drop in metabolism. One possibility is that the bears' size retains more heat.
- Researchers searched through 21 countries for 100 "lost frog" species last year. Of those 100, they only found 4, one of which was the Pescado stubfoot toad (Atelopus balios). However, the expeditions did find some other amphibian species that were not on their search list in Haiti and Colombia, and a related expedition in India also rediscovered some amphibians.
- David Cameron is backing down from his attempt to sell off government-owned forest preserves in England.
- A recent poll found that the American public trusts the EPA to regulate air pollution, including greenhouse gases such as CO2.
- New evidence shows that the birth control pill is responsible for only a tiny portion of the estrogen in the nation's waterways. Instead, the most significant source of estrogen is agricultural runoff, particularly soy and dairy farms and manure used as fertilizer. Hormones in waterways are a concern because they may end up in human drinking water and they interfere with the ability of aquatic organisms to reproduce.
- Bug Eric: Wasp Wednesday: Brachygastra mellifica
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