1. On July 1 longtime Director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, John Fitzpatrick, stepped down and handed the reins to Ian Owens: So where, I asked Linda Macaulay, do you think the Cornell Lab of Ornithology would be today if she and her colleagues on its administrative board hadn’t hired John Fitzpatrick as the director in 1994? “Well…we certainly wouldn’t have been able to build the program that we have now,” said Macaulay, now the chair of the Cornell Lab’s board of directors. “I don’t think anybody could have had the vision, but also the nerve, to go out there and try the things that he did. I think we’d just be a small component of Cornell out in the woods.” Instead, the Lab is a global driver of bird science and conservation, a testament to the 26 years that Fitzpatrick—known by his friends and colleagues simply and universally as Fitz—has been at the helm. (via All About Birds)
Fitz’s Farewell in Living Bird can be found here (via Living Bird)
Conversation with Fitz and Ian Owens in Living Bird can be found here (via Living Bird)
2. In his book Where Song Began, Tim Low reasoned that Australia’s birds have benefited from the island’s free-flowing calories, becoming unusually large, aggressive, intelligent, and vocal. Genetic studies show that the largest group of birds—the oscines, or songbirds—originated in Australia before spreading worldwide. That group now contains about 5,000 of the 10,000 known bird species, including robins, cardinals, thrushes, sparrows, finches, jays, and starlings. All of these birds descended from an ancestor whose voice lilted through Australian trees and whose taste buds were tickled by sweet Australian nectar. But this story has a catch. An animal should obviously be able to sense the food that it eats. And until recently, it didn’t seem as if songbirds could even taste sugar. (via ONAS, The Atlantic)
3. Very hard to overemphasize how important the coast of the Yellow Sea is to migrating shorebirds: Friends often are skeptical when my husband Hank and I tell them that some of our most extraordinary birding experiences have taken place on the coast of China. For sheer volume, diversity, and drama, nothing can top the days we spent on the coast of the Yellow Sea. The sheer numbers, the black ribbons of movement across the sky, the constant repositioning of groups on the mudflats—it made for an avian panorama in perpetual motion. It was there I had the nearly indescribable thrill of first seeing an exceedingly rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper, pointed out to me by a top-notch Chinese bird guide, then actually finding one myself. But the reason for the coastal visit was not simply personal interest or adding to a bird list. We wanted to see if—and how—we might contribute toward the efforts to protect their rapidly disappearing stopover habitat. (via All About Birds)
4. Remarkable: The sun is setting when we arrive in the small village of Lobitos, in southcentral Colombia, and we’re exhausted. It took us seven hours to drive nearly 100 miles on a dirt road to reach this remote spot in the department of Caquetá—an already precarious journey made even harder by a malfunctioning four-wheel drive truck, which has stymied seven mechanics across the country since January. We’re depending on the truck—named Fuertesi in honor of the critically endangered endemic bird Hapalopsitaca fuerte—to take us all over Colombia to record as many birds as possible in 2021. We are, as far as we know, the first people ever to conduct a Big Year in Colombia, and tomorrow we’re hoping to add a stunning species to our growing list: a family of Harpy Eagles, the world’s largest and most powerful eagles. (via Audubon)
5. With temperatures in the 70s on that beautiful sunshiny day of July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson no doubt listened to a melodious mockingbird as he walked to the Pennsylvania State House, where the Declaration of Independence would be approved. Jefferson loved the varied songs of what he called the “mocking-bird” and thought the bird was a more tuneful songster than Europe’s nightingale. He had even purchased a mockingbird as a pet in 1772 for his unfinished home, Monticello. As our third president, Jefferson kept a caged mockingbird, called Dick, in the President’s House, which was later named the White House. When alone, he let the bird fly freely and perch on his table to serenade him with its multiple melodies. (via Houston Chronicle)
6. A vast seabird colony on Ascension Island creates a "halo" in which fewer fish live, new research shows. Ascension, a UK Overseas Territory, is home to tens of thousands of seabirds - of various species - whose prey incudes flying fish. The new study, by the University of Exeter and the Ascension Island Government, finds reduced flying fish numbers up to 150km (more than 90 miles) from the island - which could only be explained by the foraging of seabirds. The findings - which provide rare evidence for a long-standing theory first proposed at Ascension - show how food-limited seabird populations naturally are, and why they are often so sensitive to competition with human fishers. (via EurekaAlert)
7. Grim: The silvery blue waters of the Great Salt Lake sprawl across the Utah desert, having covered an area nearly the size of Delaware for much of history. For years, though, the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River has been shrinking. And a drought gripping the American West could make this year the worst yet. The receding water is already affecting the nesting spot of pelicans that are among the millions of birds dependent on the lake. Sailboats have been hoisted out of the water to keep them from getting stuck in the mud. More dry lakebed getting exposed could send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe. It comes as the drought has the U.S. West bracing for a brutal wildfire season and coping with already low reservoirs. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has begged people to cut back on lawn watering and “pray for rain.” (via The Washington Post)
8. Neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have demonstrated in new research that dopamine plays a key role in how songbirds learn complex new sounds. The finding that dopamine drives plasticity in the auditory pallium of zebra finches lays new groundwork for advancing the understanding of the functions of this neurotransmitter in an area of the brain that encodes complex stimuli. Studying vocal learning in songbirds provides insight into how spoken language is learned, adds behavioral neuroscientist Remage-Healey, professor of psychological and brain sciences. "It's not just the songbird that comes up with this strategy of binding sounds and meaning using dopamine. There's something parallel here that we ¬- as humans -- are interested in." (via Science Daily)
9. Hawaiian birders among us take note: An endangered native bird has been found on Maunakea for the first time in nearly 70 years. University of Hawaii at Hilo researchers announced Thursday that they located an ‘ua‘u — a seabird also called the Hawaiian petrel — at a nesting site on Maunakea in May, the first time one has been recorded on the mauna since 1954. The ‘ua‘u is a federally endangered species mostly found around the Haleakala crater on Maui, but other populations exist on other islands. On the Big Island, the species largely nest on Mauna Loa. Only 50 or 60 breeding pairs are believed to remain on the island, according to the National Park Service. (via Hawaii Tribune Herald)
10. Some good context to this continuing story: Jennifer Toussaint, chief of animal control in Arlington, Virginia, can’t forget the four baby blue jays. The birds were lethargic, unable to keep their balance, and blinded by crusty, oozing patches that had grown over their eyes. Since May, when the illness was first recognized in and around Washington, D.C., researchers have documented hundreds of cases in at least a dozen species of birds in nine eastern and midwestern states. State, federal, and academic scientists are hunting for clues to a cause in bird carcasses and the environment. Last week, they reported some modest progress: Studies have ruled out a number of agents known to cause mass mortality in birds, including Salmonella bacteria, several families of viruses, and Trichomonas parasites. (via Science Mag)
11. Hats off!: While he carefully stepped from one moss-carpeted rock to another, Dara McAnulty outlined his rules for nature watching. “You’ll never see something if you bring a camera,” he said on this coastal stretch of Northern Ireland, “and you’ll definitely never see what you’re intending to find.” His rules quickly proved true. McAnulty had wanted to use the ramble near his home to show off the local curlew population, but it was high tide — with waves sending salt spray spurting over the rocks — and there were no birds to be seen. Instead, he squatted down to stare into a rock pool in search of his latest obsession: shrimp. Seaweed swayed in the water, but there were no signs of marine life. Then, suddenly, he noticed the smallest movement. “Oh, there’s a shrimpy boy!” he shouted. “Oh my God, it’s amazing. Can you see it? Can you see it?” (via The New York Times)
12. Photo extra: Photography, at its best, can heighten our awareness, allowing us to see the world more clearly. The same could be said about birding. And when we combine the two, magical things happen. Focusing our attention on the winged wonders that share our planet can reveal everything from the finest details to the largest patterns of life, as shown by many of the 8,770 images and 261 videos entered in this year’s contest. From the admissions focused on native flora for the Plants for Birds category to the more artistic compositions for the Fisher Prize, judges were amazed by the beauty and breadth of entries. The Audubon Society thanks all 2,416 photographers for sharing their visions with us all. (via Audubon)
Bird Photo of the Week
By Hap Ellis, Tree Swallows.
Bird Videos of the Week
By Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “How to get crystal clear focus with your binoculars”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Rufous Motmots.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Albatross on the cliffside.