Posts
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| American Avocet / Photo by Steve Tucker USFWS |
- A new species of tailorbird was discovered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in the course of avian flu monitoring. Here is the paper describing the species (pdf).
- Judging color of fossil feathers is difficult, but new analysis of an Archaeopteryx fossil suggests that its feathers had pale bases and dark tips — a pattern common among birds today.
- Birders in New Jersey will be happy to hear that parts of De Korte Park in the Meadowlands reopened this week.
- The UK environment secretary has approved a cull of hundreds of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls even though their breeding populations are protected.
- The endangered Millerbird population on Laysan Island has doubled to 100 individuals.
- Audubon North Carolina is publicizing the breeding outcomes for individual American Oystercatchers to promote their conservation. You can follow along at the American Oystercatcher Tracking Project.
- Common Cuckoos being tracked by the British Trust for Ornithology have already started their return flights to Africa.
- A study of Bullfinches found that they recall songs in short phrases rather than the whole song at once. The experiments included having a human teaching songs to the birds by whistling.
- The Meadowlands Nature Blog: Our Latest South Bergenite Column: Black Skimmers
- Myrmecos: Up is down, down is up, and moths are butterflies
- PetaPixel: How Not to Photograph a Deer in the Wild from a Safe Distance
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: The Myth of the Komodo Dragon’s Dirty Mouth
- Skeptical Science: Media Overlooking 90% of Global Warming
- Ecosystem Gardening: Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
- The Smaller Majority: The miracle of parallel evolution
- Obama gave a climate policy speech this week. It was somewhat undercovered in the flurry of other news, but it outlined strategies that his administration can use to advance climate policy in the absence of cooperation from Congress. A lot of the reaction I have seen has been speculation about his cryptic comments on the Keystone XL project, which environmental groups are urging the State Department not to permit.
- However, it is hard to maintain optimism about Obama's climate plans when the EPA repeatedly backs off regulations and its own scientific work.
- The Senate approved Anthony Foxx as the new transportation secretary.
- Scientists are developing a new method for surveying bats that uses LIDAR. The new method is potentially a less intrusive way of monitoring bats at their roosts.
- There are real questions as to how effective habitat offsets are.
- Ingredients in some body washes may contribute to plastic pollution in the Great Lakes region.
- Ugly animals need conservation too.
- An invasive psyllid threatens citrus crops in Florida, and so far there are no effective controls aside from pesticide.
- Australia has brought an international lawsuit against Japan for its "research whaling," which conservationists believe is just a front for commercial whaling.
- Many plants and animals in India have their closest evolutionary relatives far away rather in nearby Asia because of India's unusual geological history.
- Deforestation of the Amazon is on the rise in countries other than Brazil.
- Ailanthus is one of the primary reasons native forests fail to regenerate after clearcuts or gypsy moth infestations.
- A new assassin bug species was discovered in Arizona.
