Favorite holiday gifts given and received is a major topic of this episode and among those gifts mentioned are a hockey stick, a mink coat, ten-speed bikes, and a vintage saucepan. Ben’s nightmare Christmas Bird Count experience and Bill’s Disney World surprise stories take center stage. Also mentioned are a conspiracy theory about wild birds,… Read more »
Reprinted from the Birding Community E-Bulletin The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species maintains a record of how close species may be to extinction. BirdLife International is responsible for annually measuring the health of the world of birds for this tally. Every year, BirdLife updates which birds are stable, which are in recovery, and which… Read more »
Trail-based outdoor recreation, including dog-walking, jogging, and bicycling, is on an upward trend, especially near cities. Noting that the mere presence of humans can disturb wildlife, researchers in Sweden wondered whether the change of vegetation and fragmentation of habitat caused by creation of trails, or the presence of humans on the trails was more disruptive… Read more »
Don’t look for birds on Bird Island, in Port Orange, Florida. Just south of the Dunlawton Avenue Bridge, the 1.86-acre island was reliably packed with brown pelicans, herons, and egrets until sometime in October, when the birds vanished. Numerous birdwatchers frequented the island, and even held a Big Sit there each October for the past… Read more »
Acknowledging that numerous bird species have expanded their ranges to higher latitudes and altitudes in response to the warming climate, researchers in Finland studied changes in bird populations and distributions over five decades. Habitat loss and fragmentation can hinder such range adjustments. The research shows that protected areas with high-quality habitats slowed the northern retreat… Read more »
Release by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY—Scientists have shown that a bird found in Pennsylvania is the offspring of a hybrid warbler mother and a warbler father from an entirely different genus—a combination never recorded before now and which resulted in a three-species hybrid bird. This finding has just been published in the journal Biology… Read more »
(Washington, D.C., November 6, 2018) A coalition of more than 170 organizations supporting wildlife conservation and public lands sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen expressing serious concern over plans to expand the United States – Mexico border wall across environmentally sensitive conservation areas of Lower Rio Grande Valley National… Read more »
Three thousand feet above the Alabama Coast, small migratory birds face a critical decision. Ahead lies 600 miles of open water—the Gulf of Mexico—and a 22- to 24-hour flight without rest or food. On the other side, if they make it, they’ll continue the journey to their South American winter habitat. For some, the journey… Read more »
Source: American Bird Conservancy The Milwaukee Bucks have achieved a first with their new arena: Fiserv Forum will be the world’s first bird-friendly sports and entertainment arena, upon completion of the Bucks’ application for LEED Silver® certification. This is a significant victory for bird conservation because up to 1 billion birds die annually after colliding… Read more »
Approximately 33 whooping cranes, captive breeders at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, will take to the air on Wednesday, October 10, 2018, but not via their own wing power. The U.S. Coast Guard will transport the big birds from Laurel, Maryland, to Louisiana, according to a USGS news release. The birds’ destination… Read more »
