This week in birds - #586

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

My son-in-law is currently in China on a business trip and he sent me pictures of some of the various birds he has seen there. Among them were these, of what I identified as an Oriental Magpie, a lovely bird, which is apparently quite common there.






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And back on this continent, this lovely bird is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is the Northern Waterthrush, a bird of the bogs and swamps of the northern parts of the continent during the breeding season, returning to Central America and the northern parts of South America during the winter.

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Studies show how environmental changes can actually rewrite a species' genome.

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Severe flooding in southern Brazil could cause the extinction of some local species.

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But the good news is that science has proved that conservation does actually work.

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African Penguins are in peril and conservationists are taking action to try to force the government to provide protection and prevent the species' extinction.

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Just how nasty are Asian hornets? Or are they simply misunderstood?

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Here in Southeast Texas, the battle against bloodsucking mosquitoes is well underway. (I think we are losing.)

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Over in East Sussex, the Great Tit chicks are fledging.

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In Mexico, extreme heat is causing the death of howler monkeys.

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P-22, the famous mountain lion from Los Angeles, is no longer with us but a new lion has been seen recently in the Hollywood Hills. A successor perhaps.

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Mangrove forests of the world are imperiled by human behavior, as are so many species.

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Migratory fish populations have fallen by more than 80% since 1970 according to recent reports.

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Here are some wonderful pictures from The Guardian of the Week in Wildlife.

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In Great Britain, the revival of medieval farming practices has provided a haven for wildlife.

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A soil fungi could help to save some of the world's threatened orchids. Scientists are transplanting the fungi in an attempt to help them.

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Streams and rivers in Alaska are turning orange, apparently as a result of melting permafrost.

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Can the endangered right whale be saved?

Comments

  1. ...my orchids could use some saving at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Dorothy has resumed the weekly roundup so that I am quite sure when it is Saturday morning! It also indicates that you are getting better and that’s the best part of all. I have to leave shortly to lead a nature walk for a branch of the Kitchener Public Library, but I will get to this later. Thank you and welcome back!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish we had better tools with which to fight mosquitoes. I often hesitate to go to the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge because the mosquitoes are so awful.

    How fun that your son-in-law can birdwatch a bit for you in China!

    I am very glad you have returned to posting about nature. I have missed seeing your post very much.

    ReplyDelete

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