1. We’ll start with a wonderful story about the Cornell Lab’s Merlin app: I have a secret: I’m a mediocre birder. I write about birds for a living, so people tend to assume I must be a skilled, hardcore birder as well. But the truth is my birding style could generously be described as casual. I don’t keep lists or chase rarities, and frankly I’m pretty bad at identifying birds by sound. Or at least I was until this spring, when I decided to try out a new smartphone app designed to make birding by ear accessible to the inexperienced.
This tool, part of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Bird ID app, made me aware of birdsong around me in a way that years of birding with skilled experts never did. The app not only reinvigorated my interest in my favorite hobby, but also introduced me to my new favorite bird, the Warbling Vireo—a species that’s been all around me for years but had until now managed to fly under my radar. (via Audubon Magazine)
2. “I’ve seen it myself”: When a group of researchers caught sight of a large bird last year flying above an undisclosed forest in Louisiana, they thought they had spotted the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker. Using a drone, they recorded the bird's flight. They only recently released the footage in a public hearing, which is now evidence in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's inquiry into whether the rare bird can be declared extinct. "I've seen it myself," Mark Michaels, co-founder of the group Project Principalis, told As It Happens guest host Susan Bonner. Since 2008, Michaels and his team of researchers at Project Principalis, formerly known as Project Coyote, have been working alongside the National Aviary in Pittsburgh to collect proof of the bird's continued existence. (via CBC)
BNI (again) suggests The Grail Bird by Tim Gallagher regarding the rediscovery of the bird in Arkansas in 2006.
3. A conservation parable (from Nepal): Growing up in the southwestern plains of Nepal, Prashant Ghimire was always fascinated to observe birds roam the fertile farmlands. His interest in birds led him to study forestry and then ornithology. After completing his training in ornithology, Ghimire decided to return to his homeland to observe the storks and cranes again, especially the woolly necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), but this time through a scientific lens. “There was this ongoing conversation in the conservation community that intensification of agricultural practices and changing farmer behavior could be affecting the storks,” Ghimire, the lead author of a 2021 study on the issue. He decided to find out for himself. (via Mongabay, Bio One)
4. “This time is different” – H5N1 Avian Flu update: When an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza spread across North America this spring, researchers hoped for a replay of what happened after a different avian flu variant arrived in the United States in December 2014. Although more than 50 million birds died or were destroyed in a matter of months, costing farmers more than $1.6 billion, the virus had essentially vanished by June 2015. But this time is different. Whereas the 2015 outbreak primarily affected Midwest poultry farms, H5N1 has spread to practically the entire continental United States and infected at least 99 wild bird species, a record. (via Science)
5. Interesting Oxford study: A new study led by Oxford University researchers has demonstrated how hunting hawks solve the problem of intercepting a single bat within a dense swarm. The findings increase our understanding of how predators select and track a single target among thousands of potential prey. The research was undertaken by Dr Caroline Brighton, a post-doc with the Oxford Flight Group in the Department of Biology at Oxford University, alongside colleagues from the University of New Hampshire. The researchers observed Swainson’s Hawks (Buteo swainsoni) and other raptors hunting a colony of approximately 700,000 to 900,000 Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) as the bats emerged from a cave each evening. (via University of Oxford)
6. Just something about penguins: There's just something about penguins — and for the scientists and conservationists who work with Patagonia's flightless marine birds, it's usually love at first sight. Marine biologist Andrea Raya Rey decided on her career at age 10. As an animal lover who wanted to study the unique behaviors of creatures, she would find herself staring out at the sea for hours on end, watching dolphins frolic in the waves through her binoculars. Like dolphins, penguins are excellent divers and speedy swimmers. By studying the marine birds, Rey realized she could gain a better understanding of the ocean. Along Patagonia's edge at the southern tip of South America, different populations of penguins act as beacons for how ecosystems are responding to the climate crisis. (via KVOA News)
7. Interesting research on wrynecks, woodpeckers and sensory systems: Many mammals have a sweet tooth, but birds lost their sweet receptor during evolution. Although hummingbirds and songbirds independently repurposed their savory receptor to sense sugars, how other birds taste sweet is unclear. Now, an international team lead by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (in foundation) shows that woodpeckers also regained sweet taste. Interestingly, wrynecks, specialized ant-eating woodpeckers, selectively reversed this gain through a simple and unexpected change in the receptor. These results demonstrate a novel mechanism of sensory reversion and highlight how sensory systems adapt to the dietary needs of different species. (via EurekaAlert)
8. Santa Marta sabrewing sighting continues to make bird news: In the mountains of Colombia, an experienced bird-watcher saw an iridescent flash of blue and green. “A hummingbird caught my attention. I got out my binoculars and was shocked to see that it was a Santa Marta sabrewing,” Yurgen Vega said. “This sighting was a complete surprise, but a very welcome one.” This was only the second time the critically endangered hummingbird has had a documented sighting since 1946. The last bird was spotted in 2010. “It’s like seeing a phantom,” said John C. Mittermeier, director of threatened species outreach at the American Bird Conservancy. (via Mongabay)
9. BNI keenly interested in this shorebird: With their helmet-shaped shells and spiky tails, horseshoe crabs are “living fossils” that look much the same today as they did 450 million years ago. For countless millennia, horseshoe crabs living in the Delaware Bay have played a vital role in the life cycles of migrating shorebirds, which visit Bayshore beaches each spring to feast on the eggs the horseshoe crabs lay in the sand. The most fascinating of these shorebirds is the red knot, a sandpiper that can migrate 9,000-plus miles, from the tip of Tierra Del Fuego in South America to the Arctic tundra in Canada. Gorging on nutrient-rich horseshoe crab eggs along the Delaware Bayshore allows the exhausted birds to quickly double their body weight and gain enough strength to complete their journey to nest and raise young in the north. But horseshoe crabs aren’t so abundant these days, and neither are red knots. (via Trentonian)
10. Phorusrhacids (ok, “terror birds”): The ancient world was full of terrifying monsters. But while most know a thing or two about the dinosaurs, who ruled the animal kingdom until their extinction about 65 million years ago, few know about the predators who took their place: the aptly-named terror birds. Officially called Phorusrhacids, terror birds rose to prominence roughly 60 million years ago in South America. Though numerous different species have been discovered, the largest stood 10 feet tall and weighed more than 1,000 pounds. Fast, and with a sharp beak, they swiftly became a top predator. Yet, like the dinosaurs, the reign of the terror birds eventually came to an end. These enormous predatory creatures met their match around 2 million years ago when the continents of North and South America finally connected. (via ATI)
11. Help for the Northern Bobwhite!: A Rich Valley hill now sings in the mornings with a whistle that’s been absent for decades. The trill of “poor … bob-WHITE” once again echoes through the valley thanks to the efforts of a devoted trio of bobwhite quail enthusiasts. Their work has attracted the attention of state and national wildlife biologists who are cautious about the endeavor’s future but also stand ready to help. The biggest issue for bobwhites is habitat. The landscape changed when large cattle farms came on the scene and this area turned to fescue grass as a source of food. This area’s natural grasses typically grow during the summer months. However, the drought-tolerant fescue is a cool season grass and can flourish through November, allowing much a longer grazing period. (via Herald Courier)
12. Yikes! - Witch doctors and vultures: After 100 vultures in a South African park died, witch doctors are being blamed for poisoning them so that they can use their body parts in black magic potions. At least 150 critically endangered vultures were poisoned to death in Botswana and South Africa in two separate events last week. Around 100 were found dead in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The birds’ cause of death was from feeding on a buffalo carcass that was laced with poison. Unfortunately, vulture poisoning is not uncommon in southern Africa. They are often targeted by poachers because they draw attention to their illegal poaching activities. Vulture body parts are also common in illegal trade. Their heads, beaks, and other body parts are often sold and turned into ‘potions’, and it is helping drive the species to extinction. (via One Green Planet)
13. Life listers take note: The Sixty-third Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds, a publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS), is published today in the journal Ornithology and includes numerous updates to the classification of North American bird species. A few highlights from this year’s supplement, detailed below, include species splits in meadowlarks, kites, and several hummingbird species, among others; the addition of a giant-petrel; and a reclassification of the extinct Labrador Duck. Every summer, ornithologists, government agencies, NGOs, conservationists, and bird lovers who regularly consult the Check-list eagerly anticipate the annual update by the AOS’s North American Classification Committee (NACC). The Check-list was first published in 1886. (via EurekaAlert)
14. Finally, he wrote the book on Australian birds: Peter Higgins, the driving force behind Australian ornithology’s most ambitious undertaking of the 20th century — the encyclopaedic Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) — passed away on August 7. He was 63. Born in Deniliquin, Higgins grew up in Peakhurst, where the bush on the banks of the Georges River provided him with unbridled opportunities to immerse himself in nature, especially the district’s abundant birdlife. Later, he cemented his love of birds at the University of Sydney, graduating with a master’s degree, focusing on the social organisation and behaviour of white-eared honeyeaters. (via Sydney Morning Herald)
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Hap Ellis, Eastern Bluebird, Kennebunk Plains, ME.
Bird Videos of the Week
Videos of the Week
By 101 East, “Can New Zealand Save its Birds from Extinction”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Happy Hummingbirds.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Extensive Owl Cam.