This week in birds

This week in birds - #116

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

Juvenile birds, like this young male Northern Cardinal, are all over the backyard these days. Often they look very similar to adults and it may be difficult to distinguish that they are juveniles, but the cardinals make it easy. The young ones have dark bills. Only when they mature will they develop the distinctive red beaks of their species.

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Environmental groups have been attempting to convince the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to change the status of the Lesser Prairie Chicken from threatened to endangered so that it can receive more vigorous protection. Persuasion has not worked so now three environmental organizations have filed suit against the agency to try to force the change.

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Pesticides that get into the environment can have unintended and detrimental consequences. This is the case in the use of rat poisons in urban settings. Raptors and other predators that feed on the rats can have the poison passed on to them in the flesh of their prey and can be made sick or even killed.

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Since the early 1990s, frogs around the world have been struck by a doomsday fungus which has looked as though it had the capacity to wipe that species off the face of the planet. Scientists have now found that some frogs have been able to develop immunity to the fungus, which offers at least a sliver of hope that our favorite amphibians might be saved.

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Vampires are alive and well on Wolf Island in the Galapagos. Vampire finches that is. The well-named Sharp-beaked Ground Finch that lives there has learned to survive in its harsh environment by drawing blood from other birds and feasting on it. The bird pecks away at the tail feathers of its victim until it draws blood that it then slurps up. Interestingly, the victims which are generally much larger do not really resist this invasion of their bodily fluids.

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Sociable Weavers from the savannahs of southern Africa are known for being cooperative nesters. A new study throws some light on just how and why the birds, as well as other cooperative species, may be willing to work together to achieve a goal.

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Long-billed Curlews that nest and summer in places like Idaho and Montana will be tracked by The Nature Conservancy. Many of these curlews, which are our largest shorebird, spend their winters along the Gulf Coast, offering a treat for those of us who enjoy birding those coasts.

Long-billed Curlew photographed on a Rockport, Texas beach.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has caved to the objections of states where the last 300 wolverines in the country live and have decided not to list the animal as "threatened." In doing so, they have disregarded the conclusions of two independent panels which recommended the listing.

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Scientists in Europe are analyzing the diet of the threatened Bonelli's Eagle to try to find ways to increase the Mediterranean area bird's chances for survival.

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Scientists studying the Japanese Quail have identified a key photoreceptor cell deep inside the brain that helps to tell the bird when it is time to nest.

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A discussion in "The Nature of Cities" addresses the problem of exotic species in urban areas and ways of managing or eradicating them.

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Jochen of the "10,000 Birds" blog writes about the "Best. Crossbill. Encounter. Ever!" It was with Red Crossbills in the Black Forest area of Germany and he managed to get some fantastic pictures of the birds.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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