1. Maybe too early to make this call: In terms of elusiveness, it is the Bigfoot or Loch Ness monster of the bird world, so rare and undetectable that the US government declared it extinct last year. But the ivory-billed woodpecker is, in fact, still alive and pecking in the forests of Louisiana, a team of researchers has claimed. A series of grainy pictures and observations of the bird, which had its last widely accepted sighting in 1944, show that the scrupulously furtive woodpecker is still holding on in the swampy forests of the US south, according to the team’s new research, which is yet to be peer-reviewed. (via The Guardian)
BNI recommends this wonderful book by Tim Gallagher on this extraordinary bird: “The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker”
2. Simpler may be better: Many of the bird nests you’ll spot this spring will have the familiar open and cupped shape, perfect for securing eggs and eventually hatchlings. About 30 percent of bird species are the starchitects of the avian kingdom, constructing elaborate domed nests with roofs. While ecologists have long thought that domed nests provided greater safety from predators and weather, a new study suggests songbirds who opt for simpler nests may be better off in the long run. Statistical analyses of songbirds’ traits and evolution found domed nests were the “ancestral architecture” of songbirds’ homes. But domed nests were then abandoned in favor of simpler cup designs when songbirds began spreading around the rest of the world some 40 million years ago. (via The New York Times)
3. On the wing: A migratory bird that almost never stops flying sometimes slips into a brief, hibernation-like state inside its nest during chilly breeding periods. When not breeding, the common swift (Apus apus), a small European and Arctic bird, spends more than 99 percent of its time in the air, and even flies while sleeping. However, when cold weather hits breeding sites in Europe, the birds occasionally lie still in their nests for up to 22 hours in an energy saving mode known as torpor, says Arndt Wellbrock at the University of Siegen, Germany. “Swifts are flying almost non-stop 10 months out of the year, even throughout the night,” he says. (via New Scientist)
4. Smart cranes: Cranes have a reputation as romantics. The birds live in faithful pairs, dancing and defending their territory together. In India, the sarus crane — crimson-headed and as tall as an adult human — is celebrated for its monogamy. “When one of the birds dies, the local mythology is that the other bird pines away in grief,” said K. S. Gopi Sundar, a scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation in India. Dr. Sundar discovered that sarus crane couples occasionally let a third bird join them. He described the behavior last month in the journal Ecology. Living as a trio — alas, not quite a throuple — may help the birds raise young in poor conditions, with one behaving perhaps a bit like an avian au pair. The birds even turn their signature duet into a song for three. (via The New York Times)
5. More on fascinating murmurations: A shape-shifting flock of thousands of starlings, called a murmuration, is amazing to see. As many as 750,000 birds join in flight. The birds spread out and come together. The flock splits apart and fuses together again. Murmurations constantly change direction, flying up a few hundred feet, then zooming down to almost crash to the ground. They look like swirling blobs, making teardrops, figure eights, columns and other shapes. A murmuration can move fast — starlings fly up to 50 mph. Biologists, mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists and engineers are all working to figure out how animals carry out these displays. Curiosity drives this research, of course. But it may also have practical applications too, like helping develop autonomous vehicles that can travel in tight formation and work in coordinated groups without colliding. (via The Washington Post)
6. In the summer of 2020, a massive flock of purple martins set up camp in the trees surrounding the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, in the heart of downtown Nashville. The birds had left their nesting territories, both nearby and farther north, and were gathering in preparation for the fall migration. They stayed for two months. The flock was a glorious sight — 150,000 birds descending from the sky night after night — but the problems they created for the cash-strapped symphony were extensive. Imagine the weight of so many birds on a few dozen trees, the stench of so many bird droppings on a public plaza. When word got out about the symphony’s troubles, though, the local conservation community stepped up. It was a true feel-good story at a time when everyone desperately needed to feel good about something. (via The New York Times)
7. Malleefowls doing what they can to help: Earthen piles built by a chicken-like bird in Australia aren’t just egg incubators — they may also be crucial for the distribution of key nutrients throughout the ecosystem. In the dry woodlands of South Australia, sandy mounds rise between patches of many-stemmed “mallee” eucalyptus trees. These monuments — big enough to smother a parking space — are nests, painstakingly constructed by the malleefowl bird. By inadvertently engineering a patchwork of nutrients and churned soil, the industrious malleefowl may be molding surrounding plant and soil communitiesand even blunting the spread of fire. Such ecosystem impacts suggest malleefowl conservation could benefit many species. (via Science News)
8. Birds can be the prompt: Birds bring so much joy to so many people. Their presence and our delight in them can connect us to the natural world. And with so many health benefits to spending time outside, birds can be the prompt to get a dose of nature therapy. As a bird lover and an occupational therapist, I think it’s time we expanded how we think about birding, and who can be a birder. People who are blind or have low vision might not be bird-watchers but can certainly enjoy birds by listening to them. Binoculars, often seen as a necessity for birders, are only a tool, and a tool that not everybody can afford, lift, carry or use. The image of people walking down a trail is also misleading: You don’t need to be able to walk to enjoy birds from a bird blind, or while sitting next to a lake. (via The Los Angeles Times)
9. Let’s talk about very hungry caterpillars. In Kansas and Missouri, they face an increasingly difficult time finding things to eat. That’s making it ever harder for butterflies and moths to survive. Their populations are shrinking, especially in the Midwest, and the birds that eat them are disappearing, too. The invasive Callery pear trees (also known as Bradford pears, Cleveland pears, etc.) spreading like weeds across Kansas and Missouri don’t get all the blame — not by a longshot. And yet these ornamental trees with the white springtime blossoms and a pungent smell pose a significant problem. Stopping them from continuing to choke out native flowers, shrubs and trees would bring back food for wildlife. (via HPPR)
10. Very Concerning: The drying of the Great Salt Lake could have dire consequences for the birds migrating through the area. It's not as simple as the lack of water, though. There are a few different things at play. "What happens is the birds that come here, and most of them are coming here for the food sources," says John Luft, the Great Salt Lake ecosystems project manager. "When you talk about shorebirds, that's mostly aquatic invertebrates. And when you're talking about waterfowl, it's mostly aquatic vegetation. When there is no water, basically you've reduced the amount of available forage habitat for those birds." Luft says this is most noticeably happening in the bay areas, like Ogden Bay, Farmington Bay and Bear River Bay — the latter being home to the nation's first bird migratory refuge. (via KSL)
Note: Visiting the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a must if you are in the Salt Lake area
11. More from the “Lights Out” front: Early on October 2, 2020, the Audubon Mid-Atlantic volunteer began scooping up bird carcasses dotting Philadelphia streets for scientific collection. He put each one in a separate plastic bag and labeled them—date, time, location of death—until he ran out of bags. It was peak migration season, and the victims, attracted by nighttime lights, had collided with buildings. They are among the hundreds of millions—mostly migrants—estimated to die from such collisions in the United States annually. Using the data and photos from that morning, Maciejewski and Russell inspired an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. “With all of this publicity generated, we felt this would be an excellent time to try to do something to leverage this, to make better conditions for birds that are migrating,” Russell says. (via Audubon)
See former First Lady Laura Bush’s Instagram post re. Lights Out Texas: @laurawbush
12. Some legislative news from Washington: In March, Congress passed and President Biden signed a federal spending bill that will fund the government through September 30, 2022. Overall, the funding is a win for conservation and provides helpful increases for programs that address climate change, build community resilience, and protect birds and wildlife. Compared with four years of drastic funding cuts implemented from 2016-2020, this bill sets the stage for a positive trend in federal funding for the environment. One bright spot is the (at least) $1.25 million included for Saline Lakes science, a key Audubon priority. In addition to this startup funding, Audubon is hopeful that Congress works to pass the bipartisan Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act and additional appropriations for this critical assessment and monitoring program. (via Audubon)
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Hap Ellis, American Oystercatcher – Longboat Key, FL.
Bird Videos of the Week
By Wired, “Bird Expert Answers Bird Tweets From Twitter”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Hawk Cam.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Happy Nest.