This week in birds - #636

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


This pretty little bird is Virginia's Warbler and it is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is found in patches throughout the western United States in mixed coniferous/deciduous habitats. It feeds low in trees and shrubs and close to the ground. It is closely related to the more widespread Nashville Warbler and Lucy's Warbler, a species that is found farther south in the Sonoran Desert.

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Acute global hunger surged for the sixth consecutive year in 2024. The number of people experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger more than doubled to 1.9 million.

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The Blyde rondawels flat gecko has been confirmed to still be in existence more than thirty years after it was last seen. It was found atop an isolated South African mountain.

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It seems that humpback whales have shockingly bad vision which may explain why they are so vulnerable to collisions with boats and entanglements in fishing nets.

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Science, who needs it? That at least seems to be the attitude of the current administration in Washington as they make plans to wipe out a large part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey. Is the current Secretary of Commerce actually intent on destroying NOAA? If even Ted Cruz is worried you know something is amiss.

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Coyotes are amazingly adaptable critters. Just ask the residents of San Francisco where they have become a ubiquitous presence.

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The president seems determined to complete his border wall between this country and Mexico, wildlife corridors be damned!

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Palm oil plantations are still devastating the landscape and the wildlife of Borneo.

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The Amazon Basin continues to lose acres of forest each year and that has the effect of also reducing rainfall in the area.

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The weather phenomenon known as an "omega block" means poor flying weather and that affects spring migration.

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Birding in Arizona can be quite the adventure and can mean finding many interesting things besides birds.

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