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1. Let’s start with a wonderful article in the Washington Post on this continuing theme of birds, birding and mental health: Looking to improve your mental health? Pay attention to birds. Two studies published last year in Scientific Reports said that seeing or hearing birds could be good for our mental well-being. So give them a listen as you learn why they may help. Research has consistently shown that more contact and interaction with natureare associated with better body and brain health. Birds appear to be a specific source of these healing benefits. They are almost everywhere and provide a way to connect us to nature. And even if they are hidden in trees or in the underbrush, we can still revel in their songs.(via The Washington Post)
2. Wait just a minute!!: If there’s new hope, it’s blurry. What’s certain: The roller coaster tale of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a majestic bird whose presumed extinction has been punctuated by a series of contested rediscoveries, is going strong. The latest twist is a peer-reviewed study Thursday in the journal Ecology and Evolution presenting sighting reports, audio recordings, trail camera images and drone video. Collected over the last decade in a Louisiana swamp forest, the precise location omitted for the birds’ protection, the authors write that the evidence suggests the “intermittent but repeated presence” of birds that look and behave like ivory-billed woodpeckers. (via The New York Times)
3. And from Madagascar - “Boom!”: It was the first day of 2023 and John Mittermeier was feeling dispirited. He and his colleagues had been in Madagascar for 10 days searching for a bird last seen more than two decades ago. Long treks looking for its native forest habitat had revealed swathes of land cleared for agriculture and vanilla production. They had faced rain and leeches and Mittermeier had been ill much of the time. And, in two days, they would start heading home. The team had just moved to a new location and Mittermeier had awoken full of hope, but he soon realised that the environment there was also degraded. Then it happened. “Boom! There was a dusky tetraka.” This little green bird with its yellow throat and eye rings is so special that it makes the “most-wanted” list of the Search for Lost Birds. (via New Scientist)
4. Some kind of egg - Read on: Scientists are working to improve the breeding success of the California condor. Their secret assistant: a plastic, 3-D printed, sensor-laden “smart egg.” For two months this spring, a pair of California condor parents carefully tended to a single, enormous egg. They took turns sitting on the egg to keep it warm, and they routinely rotated the egg, a behavior believed to promote proper chick development. What the birds, part of a breeding population at the Oregon Zoo, did not appear to notice was that the egg was a high-tech fraud. The plastic shell, made with a 3-D printer, was stuffed with sensors designed to surreptitiously monitor conditions inside the condors’ nest. (via The New York Times)
5. And speaking of hi-tech help, a “fleet” of 3-D printed drones masquerading as hawks? : Farmers, airport operators, pipeline operators and others looking to shoo away unwanted avian pests are turning to a suite of new high-tech tools, including drones designed to look like threatening hawks and lasers meant to humanely disperse crop-eating or airplane-threatening flocks. Birds are a major economic threat to farmers — some of whom use anti-bird netting that can unintentionally trap or harm birds — a hazard for aircraft, and a nuisance to industrial sites. The spread of avian flu, meanwhile, is giving some farmers and others new cause to keep wild birds at bay. (via Axios)
6. Cornell Lab hooks up with the N Y Times: The New York Times is working with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to gather observations from readers about the birds around us. This data will help scientists understand better how birds are affected by forces like climate change and habitat loss. You can participate by signing up here. They’ll also be covering the latest developments in the science of birds and sharing what we’re learning here. (via The New York Times)
7. A recent study on how birds adapt to climate changes: The warming climate has led to some subtle changes in the size and wings of birds. The research – published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – relied on data from two papers on migrating birds in Chicago and non-migrating birds in the Amazon. Combined, the analysis draws on data from more than 86,000 birds and nearly 130 species collected in the Western hemisphere over the past 40 years. Researchers found that despite geographical differences, the sets of birds were getting smaller and longer-winged as temperatures rose. (via Boise State Public Radio)
8. And then this study from UCLA on climate and habitat loss in East Africa: In recent decades, scientists have produced countless studies on the effects of one environmental factor or another — climate change, deforestation or pollution, for example — on wildlife and habitats around the world. But few have examined the interplay and overlap among multiple factors at the same time in the same location. But understanding how such threats work together, and whether certain factors intensify or mitigate others, will be crucial for protecting plant and animal species in a rapidly changing world. A new UCLA-led study takes that approach, analyzing how warming temperatures and fragmenting habitats — areas of wilderness that have been separated by agriculture and other human development — are affecting 24 species of tropical birds in the Usambara Mountains of East Africa, one of the most species-rich regions on the planet. (via UCLA)
9. Spatial memory skills are not enough if you are hiding seeds: Corvids (birds including jays, crows, and magpies) are known for their caching behavior: hiding food to retrieve and eat later. Some species hide thousands of seeds to survive the lean winter months. Remembering the locations of all those caches involves impressive spatial memory skills, but it’s only half the challenge. The birds must also protect their caches from potential thieves—fellow birds who may be watching and waiting for an opportunity to pilfer another’s seeds. “There are studies showing corvids protect their caches from other individuals of the same species, but these caches can be stolen by birds of other species, as well,” says Alizée Vernouillet, a behavioral ecologist at Ghent University. “That is what got me excited to study how different birds understand when and how to protect their food from being stolen.” (via Psychology Today)
10. Sadly, not a surprise: A large team of ornithologists, zoologists, biologists and ecologists from across Europe and the U.K. has found that the chief cause of declining bird populations in Europe and the U.K. is the use of pesticides and herbicides by farmers. In their study, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group examined the effects of pesticides and herbicides on bird populations in a variety of locations. Some in the field have estimated that there are now 550 million fewer birds in Europe alone. It has been believed that the decline is due to the usual suspects: pollution and loss of habitat. In this new effort, a research team with over 50 members took a closer look to pinpoint the factors most at fault. (via Phys Org)
11. ‘Tis a “fickle” season – Spring weather and bird migration in Britain: The British spring is a fickle season. We can experience floods and droughts, snow and rain, heatwaves and cold snaps. So, imagine how the range of different weather patterns in spring can affect migrant birds, many of which have made the epic journey from sub-Saharan Africa to be here. Some years are worse than others. During adverse weather conditions, migrants such as swallows and warblers will often stay put on the other side of the Channel, waiting for the situation to change. But doing so has its risks: birds that arrive back later than usual may struggle to find a mate or nest site; and even if they do, then face a race against time to raise a family. That year, however, they were right to be cautious. (via The Guardian )
12. Maybe call Alfred Hitchcock?: Laura Young was at a breaking point when she submitted a post titled “Request: Make 500-1,000 crows leave my street alone” to the subreddit r/lifeprotips in January. “I think you can tell that I was feeling very frustrated and running out of options and I clearly needed help,” she said. Starting last October, Laura’s neighborhood in Baltimore was the site of a massive crow roost. And unlike past years’ roosts, which usually only last a few weeks with a few dozen crows, this one showed no signs of leaving. “The numbers that they’ve attracted ever since then are unbelievable,” she said. “I mean, we’re at the point where it is frightening to walk out at night.” According to Laura, hundreds of them filled the trees in the park outside her apartment. “And they’re all screaming,” she said. (via Science Friday)
13. The answer makes perfect sense: Few birds have puzzled scientists more than the eclectus parrot (Ecelctus roratus). The legendary evolutionary biologist Bill Hamilton used to show a slide of two eclectus parrots in his lectures: one crimson with a cobalt bib, the other green. They were male and female, but not as you’d expect. In most sexually dimorphic birds the male is the colourful character – ornamentation being an indicator of his fitness – and the female drab. But with the eclectus parrot, the female is the scarlet show pony and the male more camouflaged. Hamilton would finish his talks proclaiming that once he understood why the birds were red and green, he’d be “ready to die”. (via Discover Wildlife)
14. Finally, back to A.D. 62 for a look at cults, birds and Romans: Archaeologists excavating the Temple of Isis in Pompeii have discovered the remains of a ritual banquet where dozens of birds were eaten, possibly to placate the goddess after her temple was downsized. The find shows the importance of birds to worshippers of Isis, an Egyptian cult that had become established in Roman society by the first century A.D., according to a study published April 27 in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. "The ritual … was likely performed by three priests of Isis in a single day," possibly to atone for renovations that had made the temple slightly smaller, study first author Chiara Corbino, an archaeologist at Italy's Institute of Heritage Science, told Live Science in an email. (via Live Science)
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Hap Ellis, Cooper’s Hawk – Arnold Arboretum, Boston, MA.
Bird Videos of the Week
By ABC 7 News, “Talking Parrot that Escaped Cape Coral Home Talks his Way Back to Owner”
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Chicks reveal!
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Chachalaca!