1. We’ll begin with New Zealand’s “Bird of the Year” contest and comedian John Oliver’s global campaign for the Australasian crested grebe: New Zealand’s annual “Bird of the Year” contest is underway, and there’s been a surge in votes for one bird in particular — thanks to “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver. From billboards in Mumbai to “The Tonight Show” in New York, he has spared no effort to promote the endangered Australasian crested grebe, also known by its Maori name of pūteketeke. “Even the name is just a dance in your mouth,” Oliver told Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s “Tonight Show” this week, during which he wore a pūteketeke costume. New Zealand is now home to fewer than 1,000 of the diving water birds, which are known for their slender neck and what the campaign team describes as a “mullet.” “They have a mating dance where they both grab a clump of wet grass and chest bump each other before standing around unsure of what to do next,” Oliver told Fallon. “I have never identified with anything more.” (via NBC News)
2. And then on to Australia for a “next level” approach to watching penguins on Phillip Island: Seeing penguins, not in a zoo or aquarium but in their natural habitat, takes some determination; the icy wind coming off the Bass Strait reminds us on this winter night that this part of Victoria, Australia is not far from the world’s southernmost continent: Antarctica. Of the 18 species of penguin, nine live in the Antarctic and on sub-Antarctic islands. The smallest species, however, known as little penguins and sometimes as fairy penguins, lives more conveniently along the coasts of New Zealand and southern Australia. When not out foraging at sea, the largest colony of little penguins, around 40,000 strong, can be found on Victoria’s Phillip Island. Every night, about 10 percent of them emerge from the crashing surf to cross the sand as they return to their burrows in the coastal scrub; a “penguin parade” that has made the 101 sq km (39 square mile) island internationally renowned. (via South China Morning Post)
3. NYC’s celebrity owl – Flaco - has a new address: Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl, whose February escape from the Central Park Zoo captured the public’s attention in New York and beyond, turned up in Manhattan’s East Village on Monday, about five miles from the wooded park area he had settled into since flying free. Just before 5 p.m., Flaco, who had spent most of the past nine months in and around the park’s North Woods section, could be seen perched on a tree branch in a sculpture garden next to Kenkeleba House, an artists’ space on East Second Street between Avenues B and C. About five minutes later, he swooped down, turned left and found a landing spot on a building on East Third Street, sitting placidly between two shrubs, silhouetted against the twilight sky. A few minutes later, he flew off again, headed east to points unknown. (via The New York Times)
4. Streaked Shearwaters flying at 15,000 feet at 105 mph? Read on: Streaked shearwaters normally fly so low they practically skim the surface of the sea, hence the name, and at low speed. It might have been surprising to track one at an altitude of 4,700 metres at speeds of up to 105mph (169km/h) – except this was during a typhoon that the bird was riding out. A researcher at Tohoku University has detailed the unusual flight in a paper in the journal Ecology. (via The Guardian)
5. “More to birding than watching” -and Merlin can help: The image you might have had of birdwatchers before you were enlightened by this column, was that of a stuffy older gent clad in a tweed jacket and deerstalker, perhaps smoking a pipe, peering through heavy brass binoculars and opining about the finer points of identification. If your mind had not been disavowed of such notions, taking a look at the latest crop of hot shot birders at UCSB would certainly be an eye opener. Indeed, the pandemic, by pushing people out into nature, has helped bring a whole new generation into watching birds. Birding is suddenly cool. (via Santa Barbara Independent)
6. Mathematical models, eBird data and avian ecologists: Mathematical biologists and avian ecologists are teaming up to study bird migration to help preserve bird migration. Different bird species have different migration strategies, with some being more flexible than others to environmental changes, said Scott Loss, professor of natural resource ecology and management at Oklahoma State University. Environmental changes could help more flexible bird species stay on course while others might be forced to change their migration routes and timing each year. “We want to know: Will they be able to track those changes, or will they be stuck with the migration routes and schedules they have historically followed? And if they’re stuck in the past, will that have a negative impact on their populations?” (via Oklahoma State University AG Research)
7. Kingfishers and a “gold mine for genetics researchers”: Some agile birds known as kingfishers can catch their favorite food—fish—by diving head-first into the water at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. They perform this dangerous maneuver over and over again—but how do they do it without getting concussions? The answer, scientists say, likely lies in their genes. Diving kingfishers have genetic variations that may be linked with their dietary preferences and unique hunting method, according to a paper published in October in the journal Communications Biology. (via Smithsonian Magazine)
8. Birds, bats and wind turbines: About twice a month, many of Australia’s wind farms receive an important visit from dogs and their handlers. The dogs are professionals and know exactly what they’re there for. Eagerly, they run along transects under the wind turbines, sniffing until they catch a scent then lying down, sitting or freezing once they’ve located their targets: the carcasses of bats and birds that were killed by turbine collisions. For nearly two decades, wind and wildlife ecologist Emma Bennett’s company, Elmoby Ecology, has been using canines to count the victims of wind turbines in southern Australia. The numbers are troubling. Each turbine yields four to six bird carcasses per year, part of an overall death toll from wind turbines that likely tops 10,000 annually for the whole of Australia (not including carcasses carried away by scavengers). (via Knowable Magazine)
9. Bergmann’s Rule rules in Alaska – “The size difference is…wild…”: North American song sparrows may be more resilient to climate change thanks to a remarkable adaptation: a stunning range of body sizes found throughout the bird’s westernmost range. Cornell researchers and their colleagues have done whole genome sequencing of North American song sparrows that has revealed the genetic underpinnings for the range of body sizes. This work is the first result from a larger research effort to sequence song sparrow genomes from across North America, spanning nearly all of the 25 recognized subspecies. The study offers support for what is known as Bergmann’s Rule, which states that broadly speaking, among organisms that regulate their own heat, natural selection in colder climates leads to larger-bodied organisms while warmer climates lead to smaller bodies. (via Cornell Chronicle)
10. “A novel and unexpected method of aperture transit”: Most birds that flit through dense, leafy forests have a strategy for maneuvering through tight windows in the vegetation — they bend their wings at the wrist or elbow and barrel through. But hummingbirds can't bend their wing bones during flight, so how do they transit the gaps between leaves and tangled branches? A study published today in the Journal of Experimental Biology shows that hummingbirds have evolved their own unique strategies — two of them, in fact. These strategies have not been reported before, likely because hummers maneuver too quickly for the human eye to see. (via Berkeley News)
11. “An accelerating decline in the U.K.”: Woodland birds are facing an accelerating decline in the UK, with species at risk of extinction if the government does not act, experts have said. Data released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has revealed that almost all bird types are reducing in abundance, despite years of warnings from nature bodies that action needs to be taken to protect habitats and save species. Bird campaigners have warned that urgent measures must be taken to “bend the curve” of nature loss. Faring the worst are woodland birds. (via The Guardian)
12. A star is born – well, actually a Malagasy Sacred Ibis named “Vorotsara”: One of the most endangered bird species in the world was just born in H-Town. The Houston Zoo announced Thursday that it recently welcomed a Malagasy sacred ibis chick, marking the first time the rare species has been successfully hatched in a North American zoo. Born on Sept. 3, the female chick was named Vorotsara by the zoo's conservation partner from Madagascar, Dr. Jonah Ratsimbazafy. Her name, which is pronounced VURU-CHARA, translates to "beautiful bird" in Malagasy. (via Chron)
13. A most unusual (and sad) story from the BBC: An ecologist is using birds of prey to help Israel's army recover dead bodies at the sites where Hamas attacked on 7 October. Ohad Hatzofe, of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, tracks the migratory patterns of numerous birds using GPS tracking devices. His data helped to locate four corpses after he was asked for help on 23 October. The Israeli ecologist said he first reviewed the data of a white-tailed eagle that had been born in Israel. It was hatched in the country in an effort to reintroduce the bird after its species' extinction in the region. It had just returned very hungry from a long migration north of Moscow and proved to be a keen searcher. (via BBC)
14. When it comes to an algorithm called Dynamic Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization, BNI suggests taking the researchers word for it: Researchers from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have proposed an improved algorithm called Dynamic Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization (DQPSO) to improve the accuracy and reliability of pressure sensors used in tracking and monitoring wild migratory birds. This algorithm optimizes the performance of a Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network, specifically designed for temperature compensation. This model ensures that the pressure sensors can effectively adapt to varying environmental conditions, a crucial requirement when monitoring the movements of wild migratory birds. (via Phys Org)
15. And finally, a book review on east African birds: 101 Curious Tales of East African Birds is a new book that uses academic research to tell fascinating stories about the tropical birds of east Africa, from well-known species to rare ones. It also explores changing bird behaviour in the region. Its author, Colin Beale, studies shifts in the distribution of birds and other animals. The Conversation asked him four questions. (via The Conversation)
Bird Videos of the Week
By The Tonight Show, “John Oliver Campaigns for a New Zealand Bird of the Century”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Hairy Woodpecker.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Pine Grosbecks.