This week in birds - #633

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week for this week is the Worm-eating Warbler, a bird that breeds throughout much of the eastern United States from southern New England all the way down to eastern Texas. It is a rather plain-looking bird of the forest interior and is not closely related to other warblers. Its name is a misnomer as it doesn't really feast on worms; rather its favorite food is caterpillars which, of course, are sometimes colloquially referred to as worms.

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Here is a list of the top five fossil fuel companies that produce harmful emissions. They are mostly the ones you would probably expect.

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Who needs to know about how climate change is affecting this country? The current administration in charge thinks the answer is "Nobody." All the scientists working on a report detailing that have been fired.

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The current iteration of the Environmental Protection Agency is rolling back public health protections right and left but says it will take action to combat toxic forever chemicals. Color me skeptical.

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It appears that the Yellowstone supervolcano has a safety cap.

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Two previously unknown species of crocodile have been identified in the Caribbean.

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It's not really Nature-related but I find it infuriating so I include it here: The state of Texas wants to punish bookstores that sell what it defines as "obscene" books, because of course they do! Reminder: The book burners/banners are NEVER heroes.

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It turns out that the songs of humpback whales like this one share patterns with human language. 

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In Peru, archaeologists have discovered the graves of twenty-four members of the Chuquibamba culture that preceded the Incas and dated from 1000 to 1450 C.E. The remains were wrapped in textiles and buried with offerings that indicated they were being honored.

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Terminator sparrows? Well, Lili Taylor thinks so!

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The beautiful Bali Myna once faced extinction, but it has been saved by a unique approach, at least for now.

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"Crypto noise pollution" is now a thing and the people of a small town in Texas are fighting against it.

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A public art initiative featuring herds of life-sized animal puppets is helping to raise awareness about the climate crisis.

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Bite marks on an ancient skeleton found in England is taken as physical evidence that Roman gladiators fought lions in the arena.

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I was pleased to read that Chattanooga, home of my alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has been designated as North America's first "National Park City."

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Here's some good news about Monarch butterflies from Arizona's lower deserts. Turns out there are quite a lot of them there.

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Swans are considered invasive in New York City but they have their champions there.

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Amazingly, Valerie, the miniature dachshund, survived alone in the Australian wilderness for 529 days and now her story has had a happy ending. She has been rescued.