This week in birds - #647

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is a small Hawaiian honeycreeper called the Maui ʻAlauahio. The bird can only be found in montane forests above 4,500 feet in altitude on the slopes of the Haleakalā volcano in east Maui. It has been extirpated from the western part of Maui as its required habitat has been destroyed by the overgrazing of animals like feral cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats. Feral pigs also dig wallows that serve as breeding areas for introduced, disease-carrying mosquitoes. Important forest habitat has also been lost to human settlements. As a result, this bird's status is "endangered" and it is decreasing in numbers. 

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This may be the only recorded instance of a fish causing a fire!

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The Monarch butterfly die-off in California in 2024 was likely caused by exposure to pesticide, according to research.

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Many of the National Weather Service jobs that were cut in the big "Department of Government Efficiency" debacle will be rehired.

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A familiar sight to anyone visiting the Texas Coast during nesting season is flocks of Black Skimmers.

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Scientists have identified a six-foot-long dinosaur that roamed the landscape of modern-day Mongolia some 70 million years ago. 

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Borophagines were a type of bone-crushing dog that once roamed across North America but disappeared about two million yers ago.

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Female gorillas joining a new group tend to seek out individuals they've previously met.

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The International Monarch Blitz continues.

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If you have a problem with squirrels stealing your birdseed, you might want to consider "hot pepper birdseed."

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Here are some tips for attracting hummingbirds. And once you have attracted them, here's how to keep ants off their feeders.

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Scientists are releasing non-biting male mosquitoes in Hawaii in hopes they will breed with females of the invasive species that transmit avian malaria and produce sterile eggs.

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Centuries-old Hawaiian petroglyphs depicting human-like figures have emerged from the sand of the beaches for the first time since 2016.

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Uncertainty is very much a part of our lives so it is nice to have some things that are certain - like the yearly return of the Barn Swallows.

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Here's a report on the birds of the grasslands of Canada.

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When we anthropomorphize animals, we actually do them no favor.

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Potatoes and tomatoes are related. The potato likely evolved from a tomato ancestor nine million years ago.

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A third manta ray species has been identified in the Atlantic.

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A gigantic stick insect weighing almost as much as a golf ball has been found living in the high altitude trees of Australia.

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The Millerbird, a Hawaiian songbird, came close to extinction but, with help from its friends, it is slowly making a comeback. 

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The golden apple snail is able to regrow an amputated eye within about a month. 

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Is there a justifiable case to be made for attempting to regenerate extinct species such as the Moa or the dire wolf?

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A bird of the Great Plains, the Lark Bunting is not really a bunting - it is actually a sparrow.

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An invasive beetle is devastating Hawaii's coconut palms.

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The current iteration of the Environmental Protection Agency is making plans to rescind the legal foundation for many of the nation's climate regulations. 

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Scientists suspect that a massive sea star die-off is related to global warming.

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Construction is underway on the world's largest wildlife overpass in Colorado. It is meant to give wildlife a safe way to cross a busy freeway.

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Using digital imaging, hidden tattoos have been found on a 2,000-year-old "ice mummy." 

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Australian skinks, like this one, have evolved a resistance to the paralyzing effects of snake venom.

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The future of one of the best Piping Plover habitats remaining in Ontario is at risk.

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Global maps reveal where mycorrhizal fungi thrive and where they are unprotected.

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"Bird cities" is a joint program of Audubon Texas and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that helps people to safeguard birds and their habitats.

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Here are tips to help you identify that bird you just saw.