Birds in the News

1. This story hits me hard because I just saw these critically endangered birds in April. Hurricane Harvey has basically wiped out the Attwater's Prairie Chicken in Texas with only 5 wild birds left.

2. How sad! Hurricane Irma wiped out 44 nests of the endangered Snail Kite in Florida.

3. In France, the Ortolan Bunting may soon be off the menu FINALLY!

4. Plastic is killing all animals not just those in the sea! Ospreys are now afflicted.

5. We all know birds are indicator species but did you know that they can tell us a lot about air pollution?

6. A new nest tracking app is out for biologists.

7. Youth birders are so valuable and cool.

8. Can the Hawaiian 'I'iwi ever recover even with a new federal listing?

9. The most endangered bird in North America (the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow) may soon be lost from Florida

10. This man makes incredible bird sculptures out of wood that not only help conserve these birds but allows blind people to see them through touch

11. Another great book on Grouse... I own his previous one. If you have ever seen Greater Sage-Grouse at the Lek you know how special it is to witness. This book allows everyone to experience the wonder through the pages.

12. Incredible photographs of birds eating.Look at the Sandhill Crane eating a Red-winged Blackbird!

13. Do you want to know when birds begin migrating your way? Soon you can.

14. Purple Martins in Canada are now being tracked with MOTUS.

15. Will we lose BC's Barn Owl population for good?

16. Are endangered Greater-Sage Grouse rebounding in Saskatchewan? 

17. Ruffs are not doing well due to peatland loss.

18. Young Birds and Kids are really alike.

19. Over 120 birds (songbirds and waterfowl) have died in Suncor's tailing ponds in Northern Alberta. When will it end?When will the government do something about this!

20. Canada's Prairie Birds are the worst off.

21. What one woman is doing to help save injured birds in Puerto Rico after the hurricane. She's certainly doing more than Trump ever did for Puerto Rico!

22. 21 new bird species were just discovered in the tropics!

23. Who knew Penguins love Jellyfish?

24. Birds are singing louder because we can't shut up!

25. David Attenborough says stop throwing plastic away as Birds are feeding it to their young!

26. Kiwis are evolving to not have eyes anymore.

27. "Shazam for birds" or "Song Sleuth" doesn't really work just like that other app "Merlin." The take home message is "there is no short cuts when it comes to learning bird identification."

28. Genetically modified mice may save rodent infested seabird colonies from predating mice and rats.

Comments

  1. sarah graySeptember 26, 2017 at 11:39 PM

    thanks for posting these interesting news articles mel. it must be very sad for you after seeing those attwater's greater prairie chickens in texas to now know they are doomed to extinction within the year. it is disturbing to know how many species or birds and animals will be extinct due to our own doing. regarding the birds dying in the oil sands it is no surprise the oil and gas industry pretends they don't cause any harm to wildlife but hundreds of birds and mammals have died in those tailing ponds. it seems it doesn't matter which party is in federal government power. the federal government has demonstrated two things that they don't care about first nations peoples and they don't care about wildlife and their habitat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Logan BaldwinOctober 6, 2017 at 2:36 PM

    Its sad to hear about the attwatter's greater prairie chickens sadly i think they are doomed for extinction with only five birds left in the wild

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Dowitcher Identification

Image
Birders notoriously find it difficult to tell Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers apart. I have got a request to do an identification explanation on them so here goes, I hope it will be helpful. Short-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed look so similar. Using their habitat is helpful but not diagnostic. Short-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer Salt water and brackish water and Long-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer fresh water. However, I have OFTEN seen Short-billeds in freshwater and Long-billeds in brackish and salt water. Therefore, DO NOT rely on habitat. Another feature many people will tell you to rely on is spotting on the side of the flanks of Short-billeds and barring on the side of Long-billeds. Usually this is a mark that you can use but it is not always as distinct as you like. I have seen Short-billeds with a barred appearance to the flanks. It is only at the side of the breast where you have to look for this diagnostic feature for the spots on a Short-billed and t
Read more

Hawk Identification Tips from every angle (Sharpie vs Cooper and Red-tailed Subspecies)

Image
I get several questions about the difference between accipiters. The most common ones are between Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks and between Cooper's Hawks vs Northern Goshawks (to a lesser degree). Next, I get many questions dealing with a certain race of buteos the Western Red-tailed Hawk and Harlan's. So I thought I would do a post on these to help answer those questions. I will deal with Cooper's and Sharpies and not Goshawks because they are much more common here and look much more alike. My friend John Reynolds inspired me to write this up. COOPER'S AND SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS EYE COLOUR - YELLOW OR ORANGE? RED? Normally a juvenile Cooper's hawk has a bright yellow eye and a Juvie Sharpie has a orange eye but some cooper's can have a dull yellow eye that looks a bit orangish. Cooper's Hawks usually only transition to the orange eye colour when they are sub adults, so in good light, it's a very very reliable feature. However you
Read more

STINT IDENTIFICATION

Image
As per request, here are some tips that I hope will be helpful in identifying and differentiating Red-necked Stint from Little Stint. I will also do a brief intro on Long-toed and Temminck's Stint... if you build it they will come right?😉 Red-necked and Little Stints look very much alike in worn breeding plumage. The amount of Red on the face, throat and breast in Red-necked Stint is vary variable). They look even more alike in non-breeding plumage, that is why it is essential to learn structural differences to separate the two. They are similar to Semipalmated Sandpipers as well as Sanderlings. Both species are often confused for Red-necked Stints. Little Stints rarely get confused with Sanderling because they have a hind toe which helps differentiate it from this species. Sanderlings in breeding or worn breeding are usually confused with Red-necked Stints but they are much larger than Red-necked Stints. Let's first start with Bills in this complicated ID proces
Read more

*Updated - The most famous Red-tailed Hawk is eating fish on the ground just like a Bald Eagle!

Image
Update - There are plans in the works to make a documentary film on this young Red-tailed Hawk who thinks he's an Eagle. You can read the latest news about that on CBC HERE . Watch this incredible footage of the little Red-tailed Hawk who grew up in a family of three Eaglets and 2 Bald Eagle Parents. He is imprinted now on Bald Eagles. He looks and acts just like one, as you can see here in the video below. He is standing over a large salmon carcass, just like a Bald Eagle would and he's eating the decaying flesh. Red-tailed Hawks like to eat voles and rabbits etc. not fish! Imprinting is usually irreversible according to raptor expert David Bird. However, I hope it's reversible so that he doesn't attempt to mate with a Bald Eagle, as the Eagle would kill him because it would view him as a Hawk. Eagle expert David Hancock said that the bird will likely starve and get killed by an eagle. He said this possibly can be prevented if someone grabs it and takes it to O
Read more

My First Mother's Day Without My Mother

Image
This is my first Mother’s Day without my mom. I am still deeply affected and afflicted with emotional pain. I took the day off from the RBA to just remember her and honour her. My dad, sister and I visited her grave with a bouquet of flowers. I cried a lot but it gives me a bit of comfort that she now has a head stone that I can touch. I didn't want to leave. I can’t believe it’s been just over 4 months since I lost her. To my Mom: Mom you were so great. You were so loved. I miss you so much today. I wish every day that you were here with Meghan, Dad and I.  I will never be truly happy again until I see you once more. Thank you for being such a wonderful mother. I will never ever forget you. I cannot wait to see you again in Heaven. Since you died in my arms, this is one of the hardest days I have been through without you. Normally I would be taking you out for brunch today, hugging you and telling you how much I loved you. Mom, you watched me take my first breath and I unfortunate
Read more