1. “Birdbrain,” “silly goose,” “dumb as a dodo”—epithets like these reflect a widespread popular opinion that birds (except perhaps owls) aren’t very bright. Three recent books disagree energetically. “Crows and parrots perform as well as dogs in tests of reasoning and learning,” David Sibley writes in What It’s Like to Be a Bird. Jennifer Ackerman reports in The Bird Way that New Caledonian crows can assemble compound tools out of more than one element; children cannot do this until at least the age of five, she writes. Although Ackerman is a science writer, not a professional scientist, she has extensively surveyed the scholarly literature about bird cognition in The Genius of Birds (2016). (via The New York Book Review)
2. Bird watchers flocked to New York City's Central Park this week to catch a glimpse of a fluffy snowy owl — the first snowy owl sighting in the park since 1890. But what the owl's fans might not know is that back home in the Arctic, its habitat is seriously threatened. While the owl's spotting in the city was a rarity, snowy owls regularly flock to parts of New York to escape the Arctic and subarctic winter tundra. They're usually spotted along the coast and at airports, looking for flat, treeless lands that mimic their home. In the Arctic, the birds are apex predators feeding off small animals like mice, rabbits, and most often, lemmings. The abundance, or lack thereof, of these rodent populations dictate the snowy owl's fate. (via CBS News)
3. One of birdwatching's most commonly held and colorfully named beliefs, the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect, is more a fun myth than a true phenomenon, Oregon State University research suggests. Owing its moniker to an Arizona rest area, the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect, often shortened to PPTE, has for decades been cited as a key driver of behavior, and rare-species-finding success, among participants in the multibillion-dollar recreational birding business. But a study led by an OSU College of Science graduate student shows that the PPTE — which says that after a rare bird is spotted somewhere, birders flock to the area and then find additional rare species at an accelerated rate — is not borne out by the data. (via Science Daily)
4. St. Matthew Island sits alone in the frigid emptiness of the Bering Sea, like a great, gnarled stone thrown far from Alaska’s western coast. On these shores, the rhythmic lapping of brisk waves and a medley of tinny, chime-like songs are the only sounds rising above the island’s foggy, treeless crown. The songs come from male McKay’s buntings — brilliantly white birds that drift to the earth in graceful, sweeping arcs. The birds’ bewitching mating ritual and nesting occurs only here, in one of the most inaccessible places on the planet. Precious little is known about their world. Researchers are aiming to change that. (via Discover Magazine)
5. Humans, wildlife, and the environment are all interconnected and play a role in one another's health and well-being. Sentinel species, such as birds, are good indicators of environmental health, and they can send subtle warning signs that humans may be in danger next. In an experimental exposure study, scientists have found that lead levels like those reported in Flint, Michigan, can interfere with the neural mechanisms of vocal development of songbirds and affect mate attraction. By examining the effects of lead exposure in songbirds, more information will be known about how lead impacts learning and underlying neural networks in humans, since they share the same critical period of vocal learning. (via Science Daily)
6. Off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, the sudden abandonment of more than 1,700 Cape cormorant chicks has sparked the largest seabird rescue mission the country has seen in 20 years. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) is caring for the chicks until they are ready to be released back into the wild. On 11 January, ranger Andile Mdluli was conducting a regular patrol on Robben Island, most famous as the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, when he noticed that almost all of the island's thousands of adult Cape cormorants had disappeared. Unprotected, their chicks were being picked off by predators in their nests. (via BBC News)
7. Much like humans amid the current pandemic, it turns out birds in the Seattle area will also have to practice social distancing this winter due to an outbreak of salmonellosis. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is asking residents in King, Kitsap, Skagit, Snohomish, and Thurston counties to take down their backyard bird feeders to help stop birds congregating together and spreading the bacterial disease, which can be deadly to birds."When birds flock together in large numbers at feeders, they can transmit the disease through droppings and saliva," said WDFW veterinarian Kristin Mansfield in a news release. (via Seattle PI)
8. The 24th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), Feb. 12-15, is a great opportunity for budding birdwatchers and bird-count veterans to use their skills. People from around the world count the birds they see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, and then enter their checklists online. This year there is a new way to send in an observation – through the Cornell Lab’s free Merlin Bird ID app. If you use the app during the GBBC and save a bird you’ve identified, it is also counted for the GBBC. As in the past, using the eBird platform on your mobile app and computer are still great ways to enter your data. Visit the How to Participate page to learn more about entering your bird sightings. (via Cornell Chronicle)
9. “Oh Canada”: Canada has a national tree, a national mammal, two national sports and a national horse, but it does not have an official bird. So, goes the opening argument from Team Canada Jay, a group of people dedicated to making the Canada jay the country’s national bird. The Canada jay breeds in every province and territory. It is said to be a tough bird that does not migrate to warmer places in winter and is even able to breed in very cold temperatures. It is a member of the corvid family along with crows and ravens which are arguably the smartest birds in the world. Among other arguments made by the team, the Canada jay figures strongly in Indigenous folklore, it is friendly and no other country has claimed it as its own official bird so far. (via Radio Canada International)
10. The commercial fishery for herring has suffered in recent years due to new restrictions, but those same rules could benefit some of Maine’s most beloved birds — puffins. Atlantic puffins, known for their colorful beaks and waddling walks, were once nearly gone from Maine, the only U.S. state where they nest. Decades of conservation work have brought Maine’s population of the birds to about 1,300 pairs that nest on small islands off the coast. Puffins are dependent on small fish to survive, and new protections to the herring population could help them do that, said Don Lyons, director of conservation science for the National Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine. (via The Hill)
Bird Photo of the Week
By Hap Ellis, Downy Woodpecker.
Bird Videos of the Week
By NBC DFW, “Drunk birds? Swarms of Cedar Waxwings”
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Blue-gray Tanagers.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Morning Mourning Doves.