This week in birds - #643

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

This is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is the nectar-sipping Masked Flowerpiercer, a bird of the mountain forests of the northern and central Andes. It is a common resident in its range but its numbers are decreasing primarily due to habitat loss from deforestation. 

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Measles was declared eliminated in the United States twenty-five years ago, but the disease has made a comeback. Cases have now reached a record high since that elimination.

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A study suggests that as glaciers melt it could lead to more volcanic eruptions.

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Minnesota has a new official state fossil: the bear-sized giant beaver that roamed the Twin Cities area more than 10,000 years ago.

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Scientists have been able to sequence the entire genome of an ancient Egyptian man. 

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Here are the fifteen species of hummingbirds that are at home in the United States.

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Those in this country who love pristine wilderness will be hard pressed to defend it over the next four years. One battle has been won - at least for now.

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But at least Canada and Mexico are working to conserve North American birds.

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Bird homes are as individual as the birds themselves.

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Here's how a ceremony of shearing wild vicuñas is helping to conserve the species.

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Brown-headed Cowbirds are nest parasites; they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and those unfortunate birds raise the nestling cowbirds. So, how do the young cowbirds, without an adult of their species to imprint on, know who they are?

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Here's how to turn a lawn into a "pollinators' paradise."

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So the "big, beautiful bill" is law and who gains from it? (If you guessed "the usual suspects" you are spot on.) 

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Gulf Fritillaries are normally frequent visitors to my summer garden, but, sadly, I've seen very few this year. 

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A pregnant ichthyosaur fossil found in Chile is giving much information about the Cretaceous world in which it lived.

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Can you name the eight species of orioles found in the United States? Here they are, along with their range maps.

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America's national parks hold some mysteries. Here are seven that you can explore.

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For many years we had Chimney Swifts nesting in our chimney during summer. Sadly, that hasn't happened for a couple of summers now. But they are still present in our skies and still making homes in some area chimneys.

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Want to attract more butterflies to your yard? And who doesn't? Here are some tips to help with that.

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An underwater fossil discovery in Indonesia has been found to include remains of human ancestors.

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Here are some amazing images from the International Aerial Photographer of the Year awards.