1. Mathematicians call it “statistical inference”- and the reference is to carrion crows, not humans: Crows can make decisions according to the likelihood of getting a reward – a cognitive feat known to mathematicians as statistical inference, and rarely found outside of primates. “‘Bird brain’ is often used as an insult, but that’s not really the case,” says Melissa Johnston at the University of Tubingen in Germany. Her team trained two carrion crows (Corvus corone) to peck at nine, different-coloured symbols to receive a reward: a small food pellet or worms. When given the chance to peck on symbols that carried different probabilities of getting food, carrion crows learned to choose the one with a higher probability of reward. (via New Scientist)
2. Seabirds and the threat from marine plastics: From struggling sea turtles entangled in packaging and albatrosses inadvertently feeding their chicks with plastic items scoured from the ocean’s surface to once idyllic beaches lined to the brim with plastic bags, bottles and other debris, plastic pollution is behind some of the starkest imagery of our ever-growing impact on the natural world. Its effects are pervasive, with rubbish making its way to some of the Earth’s most remote islands. However, plastic pollution is not evenly distributed around the world, and a key step to limiting its impact on nature is to identify where species are most at risk of being exposed to debris. An extensive new BirdLife-led study – in partnership with University of Cambridge, the British Antarctic Survey, Fauna & Flora and the 5 Gyres Institute – published in Nature Communications reveals the areas of the ocean where some of the world’s most threatened seabirds are at the greatest risk of encountering potentially deadly plastics. (via BirdLife)
As we often do when highlighting seabird articles, we recommend Adam Nicolson’s The Seabird’s Cry
3. And speaking of seabirds, this type of work is critical in so many places: Evidence of mice attacking albatross chicks on Marion Island, midway between South Africa and Antarctica, makes for grim viewing. One video, captured at a colony of endangered gray-headed albatrosses (Thalassarche chrysostoma) in 2015, shows the first mice emerging shortly after sunset. Chicks stand defensively in their nests through the night, but once fatigue sets in, they settle down. The mice quickly scurry onto their heads, and tear in. The video, filmed remotely by Ben Dilley, at the time a doctoral researcher at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, confirmed an alarming pattern. When mice come upon younger, down-covered chicks, they first attack the birds’ wings or rumps. (via Mongabay)
4. New study on earlier arrival of Spring and breeding productivity: A large collaboration led by scientists at UCLA and Michigan State University has found that birds produce fewer young if they start breeding too early or late in the season. With climate change resulting in earlier springlike weather, the researchers report, birds have been unable to keep pace. And, the authors write, the mismatch between the start of spring and birds' readiness to reproduce is likely to become worse as the world warms, which could have large-scale consequences that would be catastrophic for many bird populations. Birds' breeding seasons begin whenever the first green plants and flowers appear, which is happening earlier and earlier as the climate warms. (via Science Daily)
5. Breeding bird survey of New York harbor islands – the number of active nests will surprise, but the overall trend is discouraging: New York Harbor is a dating hot spot for migratory birds. About 40 islands dot the waters around New York City, but only a handful become a hotbed for bird breeding from the end of April to mid-July. These isles are typically off-limits to humans, but every May, New York City Audubon gets special permission from the city parks department to traverse the islands to count the nests of 10 wading bird species — and this year, Gothamist tagged along. The annual nesting survey for the NYC Harbor Herons Program is more than just counting birds. Audubon scientists use the numbers to gauge the effectiveness of conservation efforts. These wading birds — or waders, as the field researchers call them — are characterized by long necks, long bills and long legs that allow them to catch food in shallow water. (via Gothamist)
6. “Karen” and other birds of prey patrol this New Jersey city’s 2.5 mile boardwalk: Nestled in the beach town of Ocean City, New Jersey, a nondescript summer home stands among rows of vacation rentals. Inside in the darkness, a hawk snoozes, a hungry falcon flaps its wings, and an owl stares intensely with orange eyes. This birdy hangout is not a summer home: It’s a falconry mews, where up to 18 birds of prey, or raptors, eat, rest, cool off, and get groomed. Just before 10 a.m., as the town’s 2.5-mile boardwalk comes to life with shorebirds and humans riding bikes, veteran falconer Bill Brown is outside the mews preparing to feed a quail to a large Harris’s hawk named Karen. He’s been tending to her for only a few days, so the two are getting better acquainted. Brown smiles and talks to Karen as if she were a family member. To him, birds and the ancient art of falconry are sacred. “Once it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood,” he explains. (via Popular Science)
7. Divorce in the avian world (surprise! - promiscuity plays a role): Affairs or lengthy spells apart commonly spell divorce for human couples – but it seems similar factors play a role in breakups among birds. It is thought more than 90% of bird species generally have a single mate over at least one breeding season, if not longer. However, some monogamous birds switch to a different partner for a subsequent breeding season despite their original mate remaining alive – a behavior labeled “divorce”. While a number of studies have looked at possible factors associated with such breakups, experts say these tend to focus on individual species or groups of species. Now researchers say they have found two key factors that are involved in divorce across a broad range of bird species: male promiscuity and long-distance migrations. (via The Guardian)
8. Hmmm: Over the past 50 years, bald eagles in the U.S. have returned from the brink of extinction. Now, the birds perch on tree branches over rivers and lakes across much of the country. But as the climate changes, eagles will face new challenges. For example, in some areas, more frequent droughts may threaten bodies of water that eagles depend on. “If the area is becoming drier and if it affects its food resources such as fish in river systems then that’s going to be a big problem for the species,” says Brooke Bateman, senior scientist at the National Audubon Society. Bateman says global warming may also bring extreme weather with damaging winds that can endanger nests and baby birds. In the South, extreme heat could threaten the birds’ ability to reproduce. (via Yale Climate Climate Connections)
9. Saving curlews in lowland England: Conservationists are hand-rearing dozens of endangered curlew chicks in an attempt to help the species recover. Numbers of the wading birds have crashed in recent years, with experts blaming more interaction with humans. Chicks from 40 eggs are being cared for, in the hope that more survive than would do if the eggs were left in the wild. The birds hatched in May and will eventually be released on the Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent. "There's 250 pairs in lowland England still breeding," said Gareth Fulton, who runs the reserve, "if we do nothing, that'll be zero in the next 20 years, a local extinction. "That's driven by there being more of us, and we're using the land more intensively, cutting grass earlier or leaving more rubbish out so there are more foxes to eat the curlews' eggs." The birds have been added to the UK Red List for conservation as an endangered species. (via BBC)
10. Development pressure on Wood Thrush populations in Ontario’s Waterloo region: Population numbers for a migratory songbird that calls Ontario's Waterloo region home have been on a steep decline over the past 20 years, and housing and other developments built around their habitat may have something to do with it. Researchers with the University of Guelph (U of G) looked at wood thrush bird abundance and nest success from 70 woodlot sites across the region from two decades ago, and compared the findings with data they recently collected on those same sites. According to the Ontario government, the wood thrush lives in mature deciduous and mixed (conifer-deciduous) forests. While the birds prefer large forests, they'll also use smaller stands of trees and build nests in living saplings, trees or shrubs. (via CBC)
11. Royals, raptors and a Guardian investigation: King Charles’s private country estate at Sandringham in Norfolk has been linked to the deaths and disappearances of a string of legally protected birds over the past two decades, a Guardian investigation has found. The cases include the alleged poisoning, shooting and disappearance of some of the UK’s rarest birds of prey. One of the cases involved the mysterious loss of eastern England’s last breeding female montagu’s harrier, a critically endangered species whose future in the UK is now looking bleak. The Guardian has identified 18 cases since 2003 involving suspected wildlife offenses or the alleged misuse of poisons, linked to the royal estate and neighboring farmland owned by the king. (via The Guardian)
12. And speaking of the Royal Family, “Swan Upping” and a tradition that dates back to the 12th century: All of the swans which live on the River Thames will soon be counted for the first time under King Charles’ reign. This may sound unusual, but it’s actually a tradition which dates back to the 12th Century known as Swan Upping – and it’s happening for the first time under the new monarch. Essentially, all swans in open water across England and Wales are owned by the Crown, because they were once considered an important food for banquets and feasts (this is obviously now out of fashion). They were also traded between noblemen, so the annual Swan Upping means rounding up all the birds and for the owners to mark their property. The Royal Family still own all of the unmarked mute swans in open water, but the King only exercises this right on certain parts of the Thames and nearby areas, according to the Palace. (via Huffington Post UK)
13. Revisiting a story we (skeptically) posted a few months ago: The BBC’s Spy In The Wild demonstrated the unique insights into animal behavior that can be observed when we hoodwink wildlife into thinking that a hidden camera is just one of their own. More recently, Spy In The Ocean applied this concept to sea-dwellers, which were observed using "Spy Creatures". It doesn’t always go right, of course (RIP fake langur baby), but even accidents sometimes work out, such as an egg-cam stolen by a bird that managed to capture a killer shot of a penguin colony before it was discarded. It's one thing to stuff a camera in an egg and see what happens – but what about when the answers you seek are airborne? This is something that scientists at New Mexico Tech have been trying to tackle as they ponder the flying dynamics of migrating birds. Creating a naturalistic spy to enter the fold is easier said than done, but as Dr Mostafa Hassanalian and his team at New Mexico Tech have discovered, bringing wild animals into the picture can help in more ways than one. In their efforts to create energy-efficient, naturalistic drones, they have created concepts that use material taken from dead birds to blend in and fly better. (via IFL Science)
14. A travel tip from Conde Nast Traveler: “A First Look at Seabourn's New Expedition Voyage Through the Kimberley, Australia“ (Jul. 1, 2023) Conde Nast Traveler
Expedition ships aren’t just made for cruising the polar regions. In fact, next year Seabourn is planning one of the most epic journeys aboard its newest expedition vessel, Seabourn Pursuit—and the voyages are nowhere near the poles. The new sailings are through the Kimberley, a remote and rugged region of Western Australia. Along the untamed coastline and interior lie some of the most unique land formations and wildlife on the planet: Vertiginous cliffs churn with waterfalls, which give way to rivers where crocodiles swim. A few miles away, red rock canyons morph into tropical savannas that are home to rare bird species that nest in the palm and Boab trees. It’s a place to truly go off the grid and reconnect with nature. (via Condé Nast Traveler)
15. Finally, a book review: the winner of the 2021 Noble Prize in Physics, Giorgio Parisi has written a memoir entitled “Flight of Starlings” (spoiler alert, it is about physics, not starlings, but read on…): Giorgio Parisi won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2021. His new memoir, In a Flight of Starlings, reveals the secrets behind his research. “Researchers,” writes Giorgio Parisi, recipient of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics, “often pass by great discoveries without being able to grasp them.” A friend’s grandfather identified and then ignored a mould that killed bacteria, and so missed out on the discovery of penicillin. This story was told to Parisi in an attempt to comfort him for the morning in 1970 he’d spent with another hot-shot physicist, Gerard ’t Hooft, dancing around what in hindsight was a perfectly obvious application of some particle-accelerator findings. (via The Telegraph)
Bird Videos of the Week
By BBC, “Fish vs. Bird”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Hawks Growing Up.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Close-up Albatross.