1. Excerpt: I was in the Samarga River basin, a mountainous, roadless corner of the Russian Far East inhabited by indigenous Udege hunters, Amur tigers and—most importantly for me—Blakiston’s fish owls. Joined by Sergey Avdeyuk, an experienced woodsman, I was dipping my toe into my first year of fish owl fieldwork, the first of many. We were here to better understand fish owls’ habitat needs so we could develop a conservation plan to protect them. Fish owl pairs vocalize in duets. This is an uncommon attribute recognized in less than 4 percent of bird species globally, most of which are in the tropics. It is so synchronized that many people, hearing a fish owl pair vocalize, assume it is one bird. (via Scientific American)
More by Jonathan C. Slaght: Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl / The New York Times Book Review
2. Outrageous: On the first day of a new project to study the long-billed curlew, North America’s largest shorebird, ornithologist Jay Carlisle came across something upsetting: a dead curlew with a bullet hole through his head. It was 2009, and populations of the knobby-kneed bird with an eight-inch beak were struggling in southwestern Idaho, though no one was sure why. A recent paper Carlisle co-authored in the journal Conservation Science and Practice suggests that illegal shooting of wildlife in parts of Idaho may be contributing to declines among not just long-billed curlews but native raptors and rattlesnakes as well. (via National Geographic)
3. An engineer investigating mystery power outages in a Scottish village has discovered they were caused by a spectacular murmuration of starlings. Villagers in Airth, near Falkirk, were bewildered by the brief early-evening interruptions to their power supply. Initially power firm SP Energy Networks was also unable to explain the problem. But their engineer Neil McDonald finally solved the mystery when he spotted thousands of birds "dancing" on overhead power cables. The starlings were causing the lines to bounce and the power to trip between them, causing power cuts of just a few minutes in about 50 local homes. Mr McDonald captured the spectacle on his phone. (via The BBC)
4. Birds exposed to artificial lights at night nest up to a month earlier than those dwelling away from humanity’s glow. But, perhaps counterintuitively, this disruption may actually benefit some birds—in part by helping them adjust as global warming alters the rhythms of the natural world. Using data gathered by citizen scientists through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch program, authors of a new study analyzed more than 58,000 nest observations for 142 species in the contiguous U.S. between 2000 and 2014. (via Scientific American)
5. A comprehensive new study into the key user groups in Indonesia's bird trade offers hope for protecting species through behavioral change. Novel research led by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and Chester Zoo has identified three main groups within the Indonesian songbird owner community: 'hobbyist', 'contestant' and 'breeder'. Songbirds, in particular, are highly sought after, with bird owners falling into three main consumer groups: hobbyists, who own birds primarily as pets; contestants, who own birds to enter in singing contests; and breeders, who own birds to breed and/or train for resale or as a pastime. (via Science Daily)
6. Since 2018, Corina Newsome has spent many of her days wading in and out of southern Georgia’s salt marshes in search of the seaside sparrow’s intricately woven nests. Studying the intimate life of these small birds as a master’s student in biology at Georgia Southern University has been a passion for Newsome. She hopes to be a role model to aspiring Black wildlife scientists that she lacked growing up. She is committed to creating pathways to help those students navigate a career in STEM. (via Vice)
7. In China, a large number of people take the sport of pigeon racing very seriously. Many competitors spend big money to get their hands on top-performing birds. One such competitor is 57-year-old Yu Yuguang. Recently, his 7-month-old pigeon named “Little Ancestor” placed first in a Chinese Racing Pigeon Association race. The bird beat more than 4,800 other competitors. Little Ancestor completed a trip of about 1,000 kilometers in a record time of 16 hours, 24 minutes and 54 seconds. The win earned Yu $760 in prize money. That amount, however, is far less than the $30,600 he spends on his 500 pigeons each year. (via Voice of America)
8. Like many states, Arizona observes little legal connection between groundwater and an adjacent river; water users are free to keep pumping even if it drains a stream. This regulatory vacuum has forced advocates to think creatively, shifting their focus toward protecting the river’s dependents, often via the Endangered Species Act. The strategy has worked. Beginning with the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, in 1995, activists have forced the government to list eight species that rely on the San Pedro, tying population declines to dwindling flows and withered riparian habitat, and thus helping to ensure would-be water users don’t cause further destruction. (via Auburn Magazine)
9. It’s that time of year: There’s a Christmas bird count underway, and it has nothing to do with the number of swans a’swimming or geese a’laying. For the 121st year, the National Audubon Society is conducting its annual bird count, a community science project running through Jan. 5. The “count” is actually an aggregation of data from scores of individual count circles, all 15 miles wide and each led by a “compiler” who’s responsible for submitting observations to Audubon. Volunteer participants tally all birds seen or heard within their given circle on a selected day. “All” birds means the total amount, not just the species — so, three French hens, not just “French hen.” The goal is to obtain a sense of the health of an area’s total bird population. (via WTTW PBS)
10. Listers take note: For some teens, getting a license means offering rides to friends, taking trips to the mall, freedom. For one Evanston senior, it was mostly about the birds. Isoo O’Brien, 17, is expected to break the Cook County record for individual bird species spotted in a year, clocking 282 species by the end of October. With a little more than a month left before 2021, O’Brien is still working to check off a few final species in the hopes that his record holds for years to come. Topping the record was a big deal for O’Brien, and for other birders, who banded together to offer tips so O’Brien could drive — or sometimes sprint — to a yet unseen bird. (via The Chicago Tribune)
Bird Photo of the Week
By Hap Ellis, Belted Kingfisher.
Bird Videos of the Week
By Mark Smith, “Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 100-500 - First Impressions Bird Wildlife Photography”.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - American Kestrel.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Red-shafted Northern Flicker.