This week in birds - #640

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

Gray Catbirds are among my favorites of the birds that visit my yard throughout the year. Here are ten interesting facts about these lovely critters.

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The pangolin is often referred to as the most trafficked animal in the world, traded for its scales and meat. Pangolins are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species And now they may be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as well. That is currently being proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Bird conservation is an important part of the federal budget. It is essential that those federal programs continue.

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Banks are the biggest funders of fossil fuel expansion and under the current administration which is a friend of fossil fuel they are retreating from their climate commitments.

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This administration's Environmental Protection Agency seems determined to forego the protection part of its name at least when it comes to the oil and gas industry.

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Mountain lion kittens have been seen recently on trail cameras in Oklahoma offering evidence that the big cats may be reestablishing themselves there.

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This is an Akohekohe, a Hawaiian honeycreeper, one of the species that is a victim of avian malaria. Scientists are releasing thousands of non-biting male mosquitos on the islands and it is hoped that these males will help produce sterile eggs that will aid in suppressing the disease.

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As the climate gets warmer, ticks of several kinds are flourishing throughout much of the continent, and they are a menace to both animal and human health. 

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In South Africa, veterinarians are shooting rhinoceroses with tranquilizer guns in order to remove their horns in a bid to save them from poachers. 

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As you might expect, the current administration is no friend to birds.

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The State of Utah is attempting to use public opinion in order to justify seizing public lands.

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How do viruses leap between species? Footage from a bat cave offers some clues.

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This beautiful creature is the Purple Quail-Dove, a South American species that is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Scavenger animals are in trouble and that is bad news for humans.

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The funding cuts proposed by the administration would have a detrimental effect on the Jane Goodall chimpanzee conservation project in Tanzania.  

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Long-billed Curlews seem to use prairies dogs as a warning system. Their alarm calls alert the birds to danger.

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What really constitutes an "invasive" species?

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This little Canada gosling was lucky enough to be adopted by a doting pair of Sandhill Cranes and the interspecies family is flourishing.