1. Outsmarted!: When we attached tiny, backpack-like tracking devices to five Australian magpies for a pilot study, we didn't expect to discover an entirely new social behavior rarely seen in birds. Our goal was to learn more about the movement and social dynamics of these highly intelligent birds, and to test these new, durable and reusable devices. Instead, the birds outsmarted us. As our new research paper explains, the magpies began showing evidence of cooperative "rescue" behavior to help each other remove the tracker. While we're familiar with magpies being intelligent and social creatures, this was the first instance we knew of that showed this type of seemingly altruistic behavior: helping another member of the group without getting an immediate, tangible reward. (via Science Alert)
2. Four hundred years later: Binoculars in hand, I’m hunkered down beside the floodplain at the RSPB’s Nene Washes nature reserve in Cambridgeshire, England. It’s a cold, late-winter morning and there are few people around, but I’ve come early to try to get a glimpse of a giant among British birds: the common crane. There are few wildlife spectacles as impressive as cranes performing their courtship dance. The graceful, leggy common crane (Grus grus) stands at a lofty four-foot tall. 2021 proved to be the most successful year for cranes since the 17th century. A record-breaking 72 pairs were present in the UK, 65 of which attempted to breed, rearing an impressive 40 chicks. The total population, counting breeding and non-breeding birds, is thought to stand at over 200. (The Conversation)
3. Following the inner Compass: How migratory animals find their way to the wintering grounds, thousands of kilometers apart from their breeding ground, is a fascinating riddle of nature. Previous studies have suggested they possibly follow the geomagnetic field lines and olfactory cues to determine the direction. However, the physiological mechanisms behind this magnetic orientation remain unknown. Now, neuroscientists and ecologists from Doshisha University and Nagoya University, Japan, conducted a study to understand how birds know which direction to follow during long-distance flight. The study has been published on Feb 4, 2022, in the latest issue of the journal Science Advances. (via EurekaAlert)
4. Wouldn’t say it’s an “age-old” question but…: Why are there no birds that hibernate? Unlike reptiles, their closest relatives, birds don’t usually hibernate because they have an excellent means of transportation that enables them to overwinter in warmer climes where food is available. Just one bird species is known to fully hibernate: the common poorwill, a North American nightjar species. This was described by scientists in 1946 when an individual was found in a Californian cave with a body temperature of 5°C. But the Indigenous Hopi people had long known about poorwills’ winter habit. Their name for the bird is holchko, which means “the sleeping one”. The common poorwill, a North American nightjar, hibernates when its food disappears. (via New Scientist)
5. Birds and palms: Areas of the globe where fruit-eating birds have wider beaks also have larger palm fruits. This sounds banal, but it provides new insights into tropical biodiversity and clues for solving species conservation, forest restoration and animal reintroduction challenges. The biodiversity in tropical forests is enormous. But how did it come into being? In view of the large-scale destruction of such forests, this is a pressing question in ecological research. An international team led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL has now explored how interactions between birds and palms may have increased biodiversity. (via Phys Org)
6. No volunteers: A voluntary phasing out of lead shot in the UK has had almost no impact according to a report, with 99.5% of birds killed found to contain the toxic metal. While other industries have been forced to phase out lead, with the material banned from paint and fuel decades ago, shooters are still allowed to use it despite the fact it could poison soil and wildlife. In 2020, the British Association of Shooting and Conservation announced that it, along with other shooting groups, wanted to phase the use of lead out by 2025, and urged its members to start switching. But scientists from the University of Cambridge found there had been no change since this ambition was stated. (via The Guardian)
7. Fight or flight (spoiler: findings make sense): New research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst uncovers the negative link between flight-worthiness and fight-worthiness in birds. Evolutionary pressure demanded that birds could either fly or arm themselves — but not both. Furthermore, the new research suggests that developing wings and not bony spurs involved both sexual and natural selection. This insight helps us better understand how the enormous diversity of life and earth came to be. Beetles do it, deer do it, even crabs in the sea do it. But birds don't. Carry weapons that is. (via Science Daily)
8. It’s nice in the summer too: People on P.E.I. have been noticing more robins sticking around on the Island despite the recent snow storms. Islanders are not alone in this. "Across Canada we've been seeing more robins in winter," said Kerrie Wilcox from Birds Canada, a non-profit bird conservation group. Wilcox is leader of Project FeederWatch at Birds Canada, where citizen bird watchers can report their observations of different species of birds swooping into their backyards. The project's 17 participants on P.E.I. saw an increase of 50 percent more robins last week in comparison with the January average. And it's not just robins. Birds Canada have been seeing higher numbers of cardinals sticking around in wintertime. (via CBC)
9. UK bird tip (for seeing a beautiful bird): Great crested grebes may look drab out of the breeding season, but they more than make up for their nondescript winter plumage with the extraordinary outfit ushered in by their second partial moult. Keen to impress their dance partner, the end result is a gorgeous headset, composed of a frill or ‘tippet’ of chestnut and black-tipped feathers that surrounds their white faces like a sundial – faces that are topped off with a set of black horn-like plumes. With your front row seat guaranteed, the only other thing you will need to pack, apart from your binoculars, is that all important prerequisite to wildlife-watching: plenty of patience! (via Discover Wildlife)
10. Not too many uplifting stories out of Venezuela, but here’s one: Venezuelans gathered on Sunday at a park in Caracas to record bird observations as part of an ongoing effort by the conservation group Venezuela Audubon Society. The event, Sunday with the Birds, allowed bird lovers not only to record bird observations but to admire their beauty. Marieta Hernández, president of the Audubon Conservation Society of Venezuela, said citizen science allows ordinary people to collect important data. The Venezuela program joined the well known World Bird Count, held every year by the National Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (via EuroNews)
11. Disappointing news from Peru: Dozens of beaches near Lima were deserted and thousands of fishermen remained without work Tuesday, one month after an oil spill at a refinery created what the United Nations called the worst ecological disaster in Peru’s recent history. Clean up of the oil is going slowly, with Peruvian authorities saying that less than a quarter of the 11,900 barrels spilled into Pacific Ocean on Jan. 15 has been collected. Spanish oil company Repsol says only 10,300 barrels spilled that day at its La Pampilla refinery in front of Peru’s capital. Environment Minister Modesto Montoya on Monday said that 2,000 barrels have been recovered. Repsol did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the number of barrels collected. (via The Washington Post)
12. Grim story: A swarm of hundreds of birds plummeted to the ground outside your house. Carcasses lay strewed in the street, the birds killed from the impact. That's the view a handful of people woke up to in Chihuahua, Mexico, on February 7. Millions around the world got a front-row seat of the massacre when security camera footage was released of the event, but it left people with more questions than answers. "The cause of this bizarre and troubling incident is honestly anybody's guess at this point," said Carlos Botero, assistant professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis. The footage didn't show the entire swarm of birds, but Botero hypothesized that they could have flown through a cloud of lethal chemicals. Autopsies of the dead bird specimens would need to be completed to determine if that was the case, he said. (via CNN)
13. Finally, If you need 5 letter bird words for Wordle: Have you been scratching your head over Wordle and the potential solutions? So have we! And being the wildlife-loving (see also: -obsessed) folks that we are, we can’t help thinking of animal, plant and other nature-related words! Including some unusual ones. For example, whilst you’ve most likely heard of robin, eagle and venom, have you ever heard of a dhole or a quoll? We thought we’d collate these all together here, so you can refer to the guide when attempting the latest Wordle quiz – or if you fancy learning a bit about these wildlife terms, as we have also included a fact with many of the words and extra reading to find out even more. (via Discover Wildlife)
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Hap Ellis, Eastern Screech-Owl – Boston, MA.
Bird Videos of the Week
Video by CBS Sunday Morning, “Eagles in Washington State”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Nesting Owls.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Night hunting.