Sage Thrasher / Photo by Dave MenkeBird and birding news
- A wind farm in Texas is studying ways to use radar to reduce collisions between turbines and migrating birds. Currently wind farms kill about 7,000 birds per year, with numbers likely to increase as more wind farms are built. At the Texas wind farm, turbines are programmed to shut down automatically if radar detects birds in danger of hitting the blades.
- BirdLife's scientists are using radio tracking tags to follow the movements of threatened seabirds. It is hoped that the data will help protect the seabirds from longline fishing deaths.
- Cape Gannets are threatened with extinction due to overfishing. Not only are they being deprived of food, but they are also increasingly becoming prey to other birds and mammals that formerly relied on fish.
- The stress of relocation is a major reason that reintroduction programs fail for threatened bird species.
- Soft tissue preserved from an 80 million-year-old hadrosaur provides further genetic evidence for an evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.
- One of the condors shot in March has been rehabilitated and returned to the wild. The other was wounded more severely and is still recovering.
- Michigan plans to kill 10,000 cormorants so that they will not compete for fish with anglers.
- Airports are discussing ways to implement bird detection radars to reduce collisions with aircraft.
- Florida declined to prosecute Navy officers who shot 21 protected wading birds; other charges are still pending.
- A smuggler was caught entering the U.S. with 14 birds in his pants.
- Mike's Birding & Digiscoping Blog: The Beauty and the Data
- birdspot: may 7 (on a very loud pisher)
- IBRRC: Update: Brandt’s Cormorant deaths in Bay Area
- The Clade: Biodiversions: White-Rumped Vulture
- Neurophilosophy: The universal grammar of birdsong is genetically encoded
- BES Group: Nesting of the Coppersmith Barbet
- Urban Hawks: Too Big A Meal For A Great Egret
- Towheeblog: Yellow-breasted Chat
- New research suggests that we have already used significantly more oil than previously thought. As a result, oil shortages may come sooner than expected.
- Many states are closing caves on their properties to prevent further spread of white-nosed syndrome among bats. Scientists suspect that humans may spread the disease from cave to cave and are asking people to suspend caving activities to prevent further spread. Here is a list of cave closures. (See also Charlie's take on white-nosed syndrome.)
- Wolves left the federal endangered species list this week and will be managed under state plans despite indications that these plans are inadequate to protect their populations. The decision will open wolf populations to hunting in Idaho and Montana.
- BirdLife released a report on how the European Union could improve its rural policies. In particular, the EU needs to make sure that its development programs encourage the conservation of important wildlife habitats like wetlands and cork oak woodlands.
- Brood II periodical cicadas are appearing four years early in some states.
- Converting plant matter to electricity rather than ethanol would produce more miles-per-acre for powering vehicles due to the inefficiency of internal combustion engines. Using switchgrass for bioelectricity may also reduce some climate impacts.
- Despite the past week's heavy rains, New Jersey could face drought conditions this summer due to lack of precipitation during the winter.
- Australia is suing the shipping company that spilled 53,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil off Queensland.
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