This week in birds - #550

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

A Herring Gull stands in the middle of a duck convention featuring several species.

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Does the Ivory Bill Woodpecker still exist? Though thought to be extinct, there is new evidence that its obituary might have been premature

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There's no doubt that bird flu still exists and is still killing animals. Moreover, it could become the next human pandemic.

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A heat dome weather system in western Canada threatens to push temperatures to new record highs and worsen the incidence of wildfires in the region.

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A new study assessed the economic burden imposed by fossil fuel companies and found that they owe reparations of $209 billion a year.

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Honeybees are essential to the production of healthy crops and to the protection of the environment.

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A proposed sanctuary on the California coast would be six times the size of Yosemite.

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Recent studies have reached a consensus that massive prehistoric stone structures, so-called desert kites found from Saudi Arabia to Kazakhstan, were built by ancient hunters to trap and kill wild animal herds.

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A new analysis has concluded that heat is likely to soar to record highs within the next five years.

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The consensus is that humans evolved in Africa but there is new information about just how and where they emerged.

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A Florida university professor is living undersea and plans to continue to do so until he reaches one hundred days and completes a research mission.

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Large parts of the Pacific Northwest are in the grip of an early and rare heat wave.

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Meet the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It's the conifer-loving Hermit Warbler.

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For the first time since 2010, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal has landed on an Israeli shore causing a sensation among local residents.

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Wild boars have reappeared in Kashmir after being absent for decades and their presence is not being welcomed. 

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Research shows that birds and their songs are good for our mental health, to which my response is, "Well, duh!"

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Scientists have warned that a rise of 1.5 degrees Centigrade in Earth's temperature could have dire consequences and it is now predicted that we may pass that threshold as early as 2027. 

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The opportunity to watch tens of thousands of Sandhill Cranes take off simultaneously draws tourists to Nebraska in March and April every year.

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Yakama Nation hunters hunt the bison of Yellowstone.

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California's "ghost lake," Tulare, has reappeared after a wet winter.

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A new species of shark, one having bright, white eyes, has been discovered in the deep waters off Australia.

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I need this! There is now a "smart bird feeder." It's a feeder that takes pictures of the birds that come to feed and sends them to your phone. 






Comments

  1. Hello, Dorothy. Thank you for the weekly roundup. How else would I know it's Saturday? There has been speculation about the continued existence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, both in Cuba and in the southern United States, for as long as I can remember, but I am quite sure that it is extinct. As for the wildfires in western Canada they are catastrophic. A good part of the entire province of Alberta is on fire and the smoke blankets the rest of it, and adjacent British Columbia. And we are set to exceed 1.5 degrees C within five years. "Never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."

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    1. As for the Ivory-billed, indeed the hope may be father to the thought. Nevertheless, I share that hope. And I also hope that Alberta gets plentiful rainfall soon.

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  2. I would love to see the cranes! Hopeful news for the Alberta wildfires. We might see some rain Sunday evening to Tuesday. I'm crossing my fingers. Today's count is 91 active fires, and 25 out of control. All are north in the province - Edmonton's air quality is off the charts Hazardous today ... poor them.

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    Replies
    1. That is hopeful news for Alberta and may it come to pass!

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  3. Fortunately, I don't have to go to Nebraska to watch thousands of sandhill cranes take off, but I would definitely like to have one of those smart bird feeders!

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    Replies
    1. I know. It sounds like a great product, doesn't it?

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  4. Yes, my neighbor has what she calls a Bird Buddy. The birds seem to pose for the camera. She was able to take her first good photo of an oriole at her feeder that way.

    This bird flu is worrisome. I know several folks who have started raising chickens. I hope bird flu doesn't strike their flocks.

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  5. I love the idea of the bird buddy camera. My neighbor has one, and she's always sending me photos her camera takes.

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