This week in birds

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.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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