1. The red-legged cormorants that make their nests along the coast of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile normally use a mixture of seaweed, feathers and guano to build their homes. But in a pinch, they'll use whatever is available. And in Mejillones Bay, a busy port town, plastic waste is plentiful. The cormorant colony is the subject of a new paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, produced in conjunction with the nonprofit Marine Fauna and Whale-Watching Center. It found that every bird nest contained some plastic. (via NBC News)
2. Ranked second nationally in birdwatching participation and a longtime high flyer in bird monitoring, conservation and citizen science, Wisconsin has added another feather to its cap. The state’s bird lovers have submitted more than one million checklists to eBird, the popular online platform for reporting bird observations. “When it comes to bird monitoring, there is strength in numbers, and the more data we get from a broader swath of individuals, the more our sightings can make a difference for birds.” said Ryan Brady, avian citizen-science coordinator for Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (via On Focus)
By Hap Ellis, Great Blue Heron.
3. When Steve Nichols, the chief executive of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Park, heard employees loudly swearing in the next room, he went over to tell them off. But there were no employees in the next room. Just the birds. He then realized that five parrots who moved to the park in the same week shared an unfortunate trait: They all had filthy, filthy mouths. With more colorful language than plumage, the African grey parrots — Billy, Elsie, Eric, Jade and Tyson — used different curse words in different British accents, but they were all unprintably coarse. (via The New York Times)
4. Earlier this month, something unusual happened. Birds — thousands of them – seemingly dropped dead overnight in New Mexico. So Jenna McCullough, a PhD student in ornithology at University of New Mexico, went to investigate. Early reports speculated on the causes – wildfires on the West coast, poisoning or widespread drought. McCullough said the more likely explanation is a cold snap. Right before she started fielding calls, a historic cold front blew through the Southwest, blanketing areas with early snow. “And that makes sense because it was hot. it was actually abnormally warm and then it crashed like 55-60 degrees overnight after a huge windstorm,” McCullough said. (via The Texas Standard)
5. All human influenza pandemics begin with a strain of virus that evolved in wild bird populations. The virus doesn’t appear to harm the wild birds, but it can occasionally spread to other animals and jump to people. When that happens, the outcome can be mild—or devastating. That’s why a team of scientists gathered on the Jersey Shore’s Delaware Bay last year, as they have every May for nearly four decades, netting hungry shorebirds to swab them for viruses. (via Audubon)
6. For some city-dwellers there was at least one pleasing consequence of lockdown: the sharp drop in noise pollution meant that the chirps and trills of wood pigeons, sparrows, owls and finches could be heard more clearly. Now Cosmo Sheldrake, a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer from London, has released an album constructed almost entirely from British birdsong. The 13 tracks on “Wake Up Calls” make use of the noises of species on the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ red and amber lists of endangerment. The album covers a whole day of birdsong, from nighttime chirrups, through daylight calls to mates, ending with the evening ensemble. (via The Economist)
7. A rare bird has been found at Powdermill Nature Reserve in Westmoreland County, PA. The newly banded Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a gynandromorph, meaning that it is part male and part female. This particular Grosbeak is male on the right side and female on the left, making it a bilateral gynandromorph. Researchers at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History said less than 10 bilateral gynandromorph birds have been documented in the reserve's 64-year bird banding history. Annie Lindsay, Powdermill’s bird banding program manager, said finding the gynandromorph is a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.” (via National Public Radio, Pittsburgh)
8. Rare bird alert: The red-cockaded woodpecker, in in the southeastern U.S., is making enough of a comeback for the Trump administration to propose moving it off the federal endangered species list for the first time in 50 years. It would move to the federal “threatened” list under a proposal announced Friday at Fort Benning, GA, which has served as a refuge for a bird that, unlike other woodpeckers, spends years boring cavities into living pine trees. The proposal will soon go through a 60-day public comment period. (via The Progressive Pulse)
By Hap Ellis, Snow Geese with Canada Goose.
9. To kick off the United Nations Biodiversity Summit, seventy-five world leaders signed the Pledge for Nature to dedicate their countries to a new higher level of support for nature conservation. The list of signature nations includes so many that are critical to the birds of the Americas including Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Panama. Canada, the UK, the European Union, and a number of other countries committed to protecting 30 percent of their lands and waters by the year 2030 and urged the other nations of the world to follow suit. (via Audubon)
10. Dr. Bill Montevecchi, a research professor with the Memorial University Department of Psychology has received one of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists’ top honors. The Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award in Ornithology recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the mentoring of new generations of ornithologists. “Dr. Montevecchi exemplifies the spirit of the Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award, having mentored countless amateur naturalists and birders, as well as undergraduate and graduate students,” said Dr. Kyle Elliott, chair of the society’s award committee, regarding its decision to single the researcher out for recognition. (via Memorial University Gazette)
11. Helpful hint: Most of the time, birds can easily find all the natural foods they need, and they don’t rely on humans. But the recent unseasonably cold weather may have posed some challenges for birds. A heavy snow or ice storm can cover all the birds’ natural foods. It’s at these times that birds can really benefit from a well-stocked feeder. It's important that feeders are stocked with food well in advance of bad weather because it can take birds many days to find a newly established source of food. You can’t expect birds to discover a newly filled feeder that stood empty over the summer months. (via The Winston-Salem Journal)
Bird Photo of the Week
By Hap Ellis, Red-breasted Sapsucker.
Bird Videos of the Week
By ILTV, “Israeli Conservationists Protect Endangered Biblical Bird”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam, Black-chested Jays at the Panama Fruit Feeders.
Cornell Live Bird Cam, Flash-back to American Kestrel Chicks.