This week in birds - #552

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

Plain Chachalaca photographed on a trip to the Valley region of Texas.

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It was thirty-five years ago that NASA scientist James Hansen first warned us of the climate change that was coming.

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The Supreme Court, in a decision handed down this week, has limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to protect the environment by undercutting the agency's authority to protect millions of acres of wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

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The last Spotted Owl in Canada is fighting for its survival.

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Brazilian forests are being decimated in order to provide land for raising beef cattle.

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Companies that produce "forever chemicals" successfully hid the dangers of their products for decades.

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Is climate change disrupting the mating habits of Arctic squirrels?

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In yet another effect of climate change, insects are moving their habitat.

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Do you sometimes get a sinking feeling? Well, it may be real. Much of the land in the United States is, in fact, sinking.

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Environmentalists in Virginia and West Virginia view a proposed pipeline as a climate disaster and they continue their fight to stop it.

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A giant pile of ancient logs in northern Canada is trapping millions of tons of carbon, but climate change may cause the release of that stored material. 

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Climate change is causing insurance companies to refuse to insure parts of the country.

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Indigenous nations are calling on the Department of the Interior to increase protections for the Grand Canyon.

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A new ecological study confirms what we probably already knew: Our planet is very sick.

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Will a California law force the furloughing of the firefighting goats?

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The Biden administration has banned new oil drilling near Chaco Canyon, an irreplaceable tribal cultural site. 

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The melting of California snow is helping to alleviate the drought which plagues that region.

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America's national parks are getting ready for summer and the onslaught of visitors.

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Is this beluga whale bumming around the Norwegian coast a Russian spy?

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And, of course, if it's summer there must be a great white shark swimming in the waters off the coast of New Jersey. Cue the theme from Jaws!

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The amazingly well-traveled Red Knot breeds high up in the Arctic tundra and then flies south to winter at the tip of South America.

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The illegal wildlife trade is a threat to the already critically endangered vaquita.

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Environmentally important kelp forests are essential to the health of oceanic ecosystems. They are also threatened.  

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This handsome guy is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. He is a Common Yellowthroat, a species which, unfortunately, is becoming somewhat less common. 

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Also becoming less common are California beaches which a new study says could disappear by the end of the century.

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As we work in our gardens, we would do well to remember we are not alone. These spaces can be home to many different critters. 

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Meet some of the birds of Cape Ann, Massachusetts in springtime.

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There's once again talk of the "Lord God Bird." But does the Ivory-billed Woodpecker actually still exist?

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We know that the white bison exists. We have its picture.