1. This Christmas tradition started as an alternative to the “side hunt”: When ornithologist Frank Chapman and 27 volunteer citizens set forth on Christmas Day of 1900 to count North America's winter population of birds, they couldn't have predicted the start of an annual bird counting tradition lasting into the 21st century. Chapman's team was demonstrating an alternative to a fashionable but gruesome "side-hunt," during which teams of shooters competed for the most birds and other animals killed on Christmas Day. The "side-hunt" soon ceased, but the bird count continued. (via Houston Chronicle)
2. Tufted Titmice “taking over” the Big Apple: Eyes up here, New Yorkers — the Tufted Titmouse is out and about. An onslaught of tiny, crested birds with big voices has hit New York this season with a flock of sightings on city balconies, fire escapes and feeders, according to an apt source of avian news: Twitter. "Tufted TITMICE have taken over NYC, and they're acting like it's a deciduous forest in upstate NY or even Connecticut," the Wild Bird Fund said Tuesday in a tweet. No pun intended. Tufted Titmice used to be a rare sight in New York City before 1950, according to Brooklyn Botanic Garden's website. But the climate change and a boom in home feeders allowed the Tufted Titmouse to expand its range, the website states. Now, it's a year-round resident of all five boroughs and is a common sight around feeders. (via Patch)
3. BNI might say Columbia, but…: Chile is the country of birds. The statement can sound exaggerated; many experts could argue that we are far behind in bird diversity compared to countries like Colombia -which could claim its title. But I do not want to be untruthful and hope that after reading this column, you can also proudly state that Chile is the country of birds. I'll start from the basics. In Chile, we find 528 species of birds, of which 322 breed in the country. These numbers may seem small if we compare ourselves with other countries. But those 528 bird species are enough to mobilize 117 new birders, according to data from eBird Chile. That places us fifth in the list of countries with the highest number of new eBirders during the last October Big Day. (via Audubon)
4. Lights and glass – twin perils of our cities: In the contest between birds and cities, the cities are winning. Scientists estimate that, on average, at least a million birds die in collisions with buildings each day in the United States – and as many as a billion a year. Most perish during the spring and fall migrations in which vast numbers journey up and down the continent, flying mainly at night. City lights attract and disorient them, and many end up crashing into windows, not just the sides of gleaming office towers but suburban patio doors as well. The problem, then, is twofold: lights and glass. The light from ever-expanding cities is disrupting the movement of creatures that evolved to migrate in the dark, using the stars and the Earth’s magnetism as their guides. And the modern architectural penchant for glass has proved deadly for them. (via Christian Science Monitor)
5. You be the judge if this is “jaw-dropping”: Fossil experts have cooked the goose of a key tenet in avian evolution after finding a premodern bird from more than 65m years ago that could move its beak like modern fowl. The toothy animal was discovered in the 1990s by an amateur fossil collector at a quarry in Belgium and dates to about 66.7m years ago – shortly before the asteroid strike that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs. While the fossil was first described in a study about 20 years ago, researchers re-examining the specimen say they have made an unexpected discovery: the animal had a mobile palate. (via The Guardian)
6. An ode to wintering ducks: Winter is Weird Duck Time. Many duck species nest at high latitudes, raising their young in boreal forest wetlands or on the Arctic tundra. But soon the abundance of the brief northern summer gives way to the harsh, nutrient-poor winter. The ducks head to warmer shores. Since my local water bodies rarely ice over, these birds can spend their winters diving, feeding, resting, courting, and paddling. Rafts of them fill every ice-free patch of water, from ponds and creeks to ocean bays. And that’s when the show begins. (via Audubon)
7. Every dollar counts: Migratory birds are an important part of Canadian biodiversity. Despite their great adaptability, science shows that migratory bird populations are declining, and this has negative impacts on ecosystem health. The Government of Canada is committed to halting this loss of biodiversity by strengthening protective measures for migratory birds and supporting work with many partners, including other governments, Indigenous peoples, and non-profit organizations. The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced today that the Government of Canada is investing $1.998 million over three years in a wide range of programs for migratory bird monitoring and conservation, including for species at risk, throughout Canada. The results of these projects will assist in planning the recovery of species at risk and in protecting their habitats. (via Yahoo! Finance)
8. And speaking of Canada, all eyes on Montreal this month and the UN Biodiversity Conference: The world is losing species alarmingly fast. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent science and policy group, says a million species face extinction. Few animals bring these unsettling losses into sharper focus than birds: Populations of 49% of avian species are decreasing, according to a September 2022 report by the conservation partnership BirdLife International. In December, world leaders, policymakers and scientists will gather at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal to agree on a plan that will address the causes of the global loss of species by 2030. A key aspect of the negotiations is the quest to protect 30% of Earth’s land and water by the end of the decade, a move that many biologists say could improve the outlook for birds, other wildlife and plants if countries sign on and prioritize meaningful conservation measures. (via Mongabay)
9. This week’s feel good story: The bird rescue and rehabilitation center takes in injured birds and nurses them back to health so they can be released back into the wild. Baby birds who end up at the large renovated barn are raised by volunteers who must feed them every 30 minutes, 12 hours a day! Jennifer Rockwell is the Director of the Center. More than 20 years ago, she was headed to the grocery store when she saw an injured bird on the side of the road. She brought it to the Center and signed up as a volunteer. Now she’s the Director and she says it’s not a job, it’s a mission and an honor to help these injured and abandoned birds. The Center helps all kinds of birds, from western kingbirds to ducks to a pair of helpless baby screech owls who came into the Center filthy and covered in fleas. The Center cleaned them up, fed and raised them, and released them back into the wild when they were old enough. The Center is part of the Animals in Distress Association which rescues not just birds, but mammals like beavers, squirrels, and raccoons. (via Boise State Public Radio)
10. Rio de Rapaces - embracing birds, birding and ecotourism in Mexico: Every year millions of birds glide the air currents between Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental mountains and the Gulf of Mexico in a spectacle dubbed the "river of raptors" that attracts hundreds of foreign birdwatchers to coastal Veracruz. Different species of hawks, falcons, kites, vultures and eagles stream over the mountains or near the ocean during the August-November period to escape the onset of the boreal winter. Despite hopes the annual event could stoke an ecotourism boom similar to what Latin American counterparts Costa Rica and Ecuador have seen, it has not materialized partly due to what critics say is Mexico's failure to diversify tourism away from its bustling beach resorts like Cancun and Cabo San Lucas. (via Reuters)
11. Definitely weird: An extremely rare white bald eagle was spotted in Oklahoma by a college student returning home for Thanksgiving last week. Justin Briley said he noticed the bird feasting on an armadillo carcass alongside some turkey vultures and grabbed his phone to nab a few photos. “At first I thought it was an albino turkey vulture,” Briley told USA TODAY. “When I was looking at the pictures, I zoomed in on them and I could see its distinct white head and yellow beak.” The bird perched itself on a tree after it finished eating. Briley captured more photos and videos of the iconic American bird with his phone using a spotting scope. (via USA Today)
12. Prize-winning photo capturing death – not beauty – of birds: The winners of the 2022 Environmental Photographer of the Year have just been announced. Photographer Mehdi Mohebi Pour has won the top prize for his image ‘The Bitter Death of Birds’. The photograph depicts just three of the thousands of birds who died in the Miankaleh Lagoon, Iran, in 2021 due to water contamination. It was chosen as the winning photograph for its surreal portrayal of the circular relationship between humans and wildlife, as well as its powerful communication of real environmental issues affecting our planet. (via Science Focus)
13. But these pics capture beauty and “stories”: Jim Thompson - the Birdman of Maitland - was struggling through the rainforest to Mt Hypipamee, one of the crater lakes in Queensland’s Atherton tablelands. As usual it was before dawn, and Thompson was carrying a camera and 800mm lens, plus a wheeled trolley over the tree- root-strewn track to the summit. The day before, one of his bird-watching mates had teased him with the words: “I don’t suppose you’d like to photograph a pair of peregrines with a couple of nesting chicks?” It took three days and two equally arduous early morning treks for Thompson to capture the shot he wanted, of the parent peregrine feeding its chicks on an insurmountable ledge on the far side of the 58 metre chasm. Thompson, a former plumber and self-taught wildlife photographer, has won numerous awards, internationally as well in Australia, for his distinctive photos capturing what the legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson called “the decisive moment”. (via Australia Photography)
14. And finally why does Australia have all the colorful avian characters – like this rowdy sulphur-crested cockatoo?: “Here comes another one!” A passerby on Melbourne’s Flinders Lane yells as a third pot plant hurtles through the air, landing on a cafe sunshade before ricocheting on to a parked truck, eventually lying strewn along the footpath with the others. A sulphur-crested cockatoo perched on the ledge of a fourth-storey balcony launches a fourth pot from its beak, before flying from the scene. The video capturing the incident on Monday morning was shared by social media page Brown Cardigan, garnering more than 1.5m views across platforms. Paul Dennis, who lives in the apartment building, said he was alerted to the incident by his electrician, who almost had a pot plant land on his head. Dennis had never seen the cockatoos throw plants before. He asked his electrician: “Are you making this up mate?” Now it has become “the butt of all jokes in the apartment block,” Dennis said. (via The Guardian)
Bird Photo of the Week
Photo by Hap Ellis, Cooper’s Hawk – Celery Fields, Sarasota County, FL.
Bird Videos of the Week
By BBC Earth, “Attenborough: the amazing Lyre Bird sings like a chainsaw!”
Cornell Live Bird Cam - American Kestrel.
Cornell Live Bird Cam - Royal Albatross.