1. A flood of patients: When a highly contagious strain of avian influenza began racing across the United States this spring, the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota prepared for an influx of ailing birds. “But we never could have anticipated the flood of patients that arrived,” said Dr. Victoria Hall, executive director of the center, which provides medical care for birds of prey. From late March to early June of this year, Dr. Hall and her colleagues saw more than 180 flu-afflicted birds, including scores of great horned owls, red-tailed hawks and bald eagles. Caring for these animals — just one of which survived — was emotional, draining work that required long hours in personal protective equipment, including Tyvek suits and respirators. So it came as an immense relief when cases tailed off this summer, falling to just one in July and zero in August. (via The New York Times)
2. State of the Birds in North America – 1: America’s birds are having a rough go of things, a new report from the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) this week has found. The findings show that many bird species in the U.S. are in decline, with nearly a hundred species losing more than half of their population since the 1970s. The report is the latest in the NABCI’s State of the Birds series, which has been published since 2009. The project is primarily led by researchers from Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. (via Gizmodo)
3. State of the Birds in North America – 2: The number of birds in America's grasslands and shorelines has declined by a third in the last 50 years, according to a new report. But birds are staging a comeback in wetlands. (via National Public Radio)
4. “Stop the bus!”: During the pandemic, I had developed a love of birds, clinging on to their constancy and conviviality in a suddenly unreliable and frightening world. So when, a couple of months back, I read about Colombia, about how it was the world’s number-one country in terms of bird diversity, with nearly 2,000 species (compared with just over 600 in the UK), many endemic and most of them ridiculously beautiful, a plan was formed. About 70 per cent of Colombia’s bird species are found in the south, the former heartland of paramilitaries and cocaine cartels, but an area in the process of emerging from fear and isolation. Thus I found myself on the Trampoline of Death, with birders from Finland, Germany, the UK and the US, wistfully thinking about my safe little Welsh valley. “Golden-eyed flowerpiercer,” someone shouted from the back. “Glowing puffleg,” somebody else yelled. “Stop the bus!” (via Financial Times)
5. Life listers, take note!: Penn State researchers have identified a rare hybrid of two western Pennsylvania songbirds. The bird is a combination of the rose-breasted grosbeak and brightly-colored scarlet tanager. Stephen Gosser—a self-described “diehard birder”— spotted it in Lawrence County, along the Commonwealth’s western edge, in June 2020. But while the rose-breasted grosbeak tends to nest along the open edges of woodlands, tanagers prefer mature forest canopies. It’s the first documented bird of its kind. Toews, alongside researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the National Aviary, published a confirmation of the bird hybrid in the journal Ecology and Evolution this summer. (via WITF News)
6. This happens far too often unfortunately: Birdwatchers have been blasted for chasing a rare migratory warbler out of a bush so that 50 of them could take pictures of it. RSPB Scotland said that the animal's welfare should 'always come first' after three people were seen circling a bush housing the small bird. Around 50 people could be seen standing on the side of the road trying to take pictures of the lanceolated warbler as it took flight. 'Seeing nature in the wild is a privilege that we should never take for granted. Such experiences should be accepted on the terms of the species, not people,' RSPB Scotland told. The incident, which is understood to have happened in the Shetland Islands, angered others. One of the best places to catch a glimpse of the rarely seen bird is Fair Isle, in the Shetland Islands. (via Daily Mail)
7. Would that farmers would do this: Fallow land is effective in protecting wild birds—but only if it remains undisturbed for at least two years, according to a study by Julia Staggenborg and Nils Anthes from the Institute for Evolution and Ecology at the University of Tübingen. Over the past 40 years, populations of farmland birds in Europe have plummeted by an average of 56 percent, and by as much as 90 percent for some species such as the partridge. Pesticides and land consolidation have suppressed wild herbs and cut back unused habitats such as verges, embankments and grassy paths, which are not useful for agricultural production but which are essential for the survival of insects and the rearing of chicks. (via Physical Org)
8. Cornell Lab’s BirdCast software makes news in central Texas: On Wednesday and Thursday, thousands of birds will migrate through Central Texas and Austin to get to warmer locations as temperatures drop. Maps of the migration will be available through BirdCast, a website created by ornithologists and computer scientists from Cornell University and Colorado State University. The website provides a forecast that tracks nightly bird migration. Big Bend Ranch, Enchanted Rock, Copper Breaks and South Llano River have earned the title of “International Dark-Sky Parks.” Live bird migration maps are also available through BirdCast. (via KXAN News)
For active birders, check our BirdCast if you haven’t already: BirdCast - Bird migration forecasts in real-time.
9. Another nice NPR story – this from Georgia: Tim Keyes, wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, talks about some of the bird species found on the coast of Georgia. When it comes to autumn in Georgia, many may think about Friday night lights, the changing colors of the leaves, or maybe even those pesky Joro spiders. But with millions of birds migrating south, autumn is also a great time to view the many species of birds that spend some time along Georgia’s coast. Some 300 species of birds have been spotted along Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding Trail, which spans 122 miles and has 17 sites. (via National Public Radio, GPR)
10. The ultimate death stare: Many prey species have eyespot markings that are believed to ward off predators. But how, and does a predator's angle of approach make them less effective? Dr. Hannah Rowland and Dr. John Skelhorn write for Frontiers about their research, published today in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, into how these protective patterns on moth wings convince birds it's not worth attacking the insects. (via Phys Org)
11. Something both parties should support: This week, Congressman Ron Kind and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar introduced H.R. 9135, the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act, in the House of Representatives. This bipartisan bill will enhance the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA), an innovative and cost-effective approach to the conservation of the more than 350 neotropical bird species in the U.S. that travel to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Canada every year, such as the Scarlet Tanager, Purple Martin, and Blackburnian Warbler. (via Audubon)
12. Finally, this two-time champ banned in New Zealand: Fresh off the back of the cheating scandal that rocked Fat Bear Week, New Zealand’s contentious Bird of the Year Competition is already off to a suspect beginning. The two-time winner of the competition, the kākāpō, New Zealand’s famous flightless parrot, has been barred from entering. Despite claiming the title in 2020 and 2008, the world's fattest parrot has been denied a place in the competition due to concerns it would take away the focus from New Zealand’s other worthy, albeit less show-stopping candidates. This is not the only scandal to have rocked the Bird of the Year Competition. Last year voters were shocked when the competition was won by a bat. Yes really. (via IFL Science)
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Hap Ellis, Young Piping Plover, Kennebunkport, ME.
Bird Videos of the Week
By Cornell University, “Cornell Researchers help keep avian flu at bay in New York”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Young bald eagle.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Rufous Hummingbirds.