1. The old adage “free as a bird” doesn’t quite apply in the world’s tallest mountain ranges. Instead, songbird species are confined to specific elevations, where they have evolved to fit that particular climate. The crimson sunbird, for instance, lives from the foot of the Himalayas up to about 1,600 feet. The fire-tailed sunbird, rules the roost from about 11,000 feet to 13,000 feet. Scientists who study birds are still unraveling the factors that keep each bird in its elevational niche. Research published this week in the journal Ecography adds a new piece to the puzzle: the higher a songbird species lives in the Himalayas—and the colder temperatures it faces, because of the altitude—the thicker its downy feather layer. The finding could help researchers predict how songbirds will adapt to a changing climate. (via Eureka Alert, Ecography, Smithsonian Mag)
2. In 1920 the federal bird banding office was established in the U.S. Known today as the U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory, it works with its Canadian counterpart to run the North American Bird Banding Program, which manages more than 77 million archived banding records and more than five million records of encounters with banded birds from the past 100 years. Every year the program sends about a million bands to banders in the U.S. and Canada and adds some 100,000 new encounter reports to its database. Researchers around the world use the data to monitor resident and migratory birds. (via Scientific American)
3. Birdwatchers get very excited when a 'rare' migratory bird makes landfall having been blown off-course and flown beyond its normal range. But these are rare for a reason; most birds that have made the journey before are able to correct for large displacements and find their final destination. Now, new research shows how birds displaced in this way are able to navigate back to their migratory route and gives us an insight into how they accomplish this feat. Writing in Current Biology, the team from Bangor and Keele Universities describe how reed warblers can navigate from a 'magnetic position' beyond what they have experienced in their normal migration route, back towards that correct route. (via Science Daily)
4. Seven new coronavirus variants have popped up in the US since last summer, according to a new study — and scientists worry they may be more contagious. The new variants — each named after a bird —were detailed in a 25-page medical study published online Sunday, which has yet to be peer-reviewed. They include: “Robin 1,” which “is found in over 30 US states, but predominates in the Midwest,” according to the study. It was first detected in August; “Pelican,” which was first detected in Oregon in late October. However, it has been found in 12 other states, and is the only variant of the seven thus far detected abroad, popping up on tests in Australia, Denmark, India and Switzerland. “Bluebird,” which first appeared in August and is most common in the Northeast. Read about the additional variants here. (via The New York Post)
5. A sole Antipodean albatross chick born on the remote Chatham Islands has delighted conservationists who hope the bird may usher in the start of a new – and crucial – nesting colony. The Antipodean albatross is classified as “nationally critical” in New Zealand, meaning the birds, the largest on the ocean, are on the brink of extinction, with just 3,000 breeding pairs remaining. Now, a sole chick born late last year on Pitt Island in the Chathams is causing excitement among conservationists, who have attached a tracking device to the young bird to monitor its sea-faring explorations, about which little is known. (via The Guardian)
6. Consternation in the Big Apple – Part 1: On one side are people eager to broadcast these flying visitors on social media, which they say allows birders to catch a glimpse of species they might otherwise never see. On the other are birders who believe that indiscriminately publicizing the locations of sensitive birds attracts hordes of gawkers, who can disturb the animals, and violates the serendipitous aspect of birding. Perhaps the most prominent of the avian paparazzi is David Barrett, whose Manhattan Bird Alert account on Twitter, which has more than 42,000 followers, has turned birds into boldfaced names. “The main attraction of the account is the high level of bird photography and videography, but serious birders still do get their rare bird alerts,” Mr. Barrett said, adding that his account helped “make everyone’s birding more effective.” (via The New York Times)
7. Consternation in the Big Apple - Part 2: When a barred owl appeared in Central Park, crowds crept after it through the woods, guided by a birding enthusiast who tweets sightings of birds with the dedication of a Hollywood website tracking celebrities. But its success in guiding thousands of New Yorkers to the owls has caused consternation among some birdwatching societies that fear the creatures could be overwhelmed by flash mobs beneath their perches. (via The Times)
8. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed human behavior, and that has major consequences for data-gathering citizen-science projects such as eBird, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Newly published research in the journal Biological Conservation finds that when human behaviors change, so do the data. One of the biggest changes they noted was in the type of habitat the reports were coming from. With more people at home, there were more reports clustered in urban areas. With urbanized areas represented more frequently, birds species that live near humans may also be disproportionately represented. Less common habitats, such as wetlands, may then be under-sampled because restrictions on human travel make it less likely that birdwatchers will go there. (via EurekaAlert)
9. Earlier this month, Polly Willman of Gaithersburg, Md., spotted a single robin perched on the railing of her deck. Two days later, she looked out to see a veritable army of the red-breasted birds. They were alighting in the trees, marching across the grass, sunning themselves in her yard. She stopped counting at 40. “This is February!” Polly wrote to me in an email. “With snow on the ground!” Polly’s point: What is a bird commonly associated with spring doing strutting its stuff — en masse — in winter? Compared with some other species, the robin is a mishmash. The American robin is such a common species that it doesn’t get the fawning press that, say, the painted bunting or rufous hummingbird does. (via The Washington Post)
Book Alert: With the polar vortex swirling across the United States, there’s never been a better time to curl up with a good book. Thanks to a wonderful Bird News Items subscriber suggestion, we bring to your attention Julia Zarankin’s book titled Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder (Douglas & McIntyre, 2020). In it, she charts her flight path from a 'Type A, nature-avoidant' (Russian literature academic) to a 'bona fide bird nerd' who discovers joy in the unexpected. Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder available on Amazon as an e-book, audiobook, or paperback. Special thanks to Joanne Mackay-Bennett!
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Mike Hamilton, Varied Thrush.
Bird Videos of the Week
By BBC America, “Burrowing Birds Compete for Real Estate”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Baby Albatross Check-up.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Acorn Woodpecker.