This week in birds - #651

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


I always enjoy watching the Double-Crested Cormorants whenever I'm near a body of water, and, thankfully, the birds are still common enough that they are almost always present on any body of water around North America. This species' population was declining, as were many birds, before the outlawing of DDT in 1972 but it is now considered stable, although the bird sometimes faces persecution from fishermen who consider it a rival. The cormorant is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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The current administration in Washington has released a climate report and, as you might expect, it was a bit of a farce. It has been denounced by researchers who have reviewed it.

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Light pollution at night can be a serious problem. Should we establish a "right to darkness"?

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The journey south continues for Monarch butterflies seeking their winter homes.

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The "Roadless Rule" protects 58.5 million acres of national forests and 1600 at-risk species. The current administration plans to gut it.

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Aardvark burrows offer homes to many different species and that can be a problem if one of those species is carrying a disease. 

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Here's an appreciation of one of my favorite birds, the Purple Martin.

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A new study identifies deforestation as the culprit behind declining rainfall in the Amazon region.

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80,000-year-old stones found at an archaeological site in Uzbekistan could prove to be the world's earliest known arrowheads.

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Finland and Poland are considering restoring their wetlands as one line of defense against possible land invasion by Russia.

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Could this be what the earliest penguins looked like?

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An orange nurse shark was caught recently off the coast of Costa Rica. The fisherman who caught it released it back into the sea.

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Restoring the bison to Yellowstone has helped to restore and reawaken the entire ecosystem there.

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Can we save the Kākāpō, the world's fattest parrot?

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A young Cooper's Hawk in New Jersey has apparently learned to use traffic lights to help it catch its prey.

Comments

  1. jabblogSeptember 6, 2025 at 4:15 AM

    I am always impressed by how animals take advantage of human activity to feed themselves. The Cooper's Hawk demonstrated extraordinary observational skills.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersSeptember 6, 2025 at 10:30 AM

      It is quite amazing, isn't it? Animals do seem to have unlimited abilities to fit into the niches that we humans have left for them. But then, I suppose it is a matter of "adapt or die."

      Delete
  2. David M. Gascoigne,September 6, 2025 at 5:32 AM

    Good morning, Dorothy. Thank you for the roundup and the work you devote to assembling it. The assault on environmental sanity in Washington continues and accelerates, to the despair and consternation of the rest of the world. Irreparable harm is being done. The whole administration is a wrecking crew, whether environmental health or human health is involved. How many incompetents can one administration harbour? I guess we know the answer. Have a good weekend. All the best - David

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersSeptember 6, 2025 at 10:39 AM

      It seems that for the next three years and three (plus) months the world will have get along without the United States' participation in solving problems and, in some instances, will have to try to counter this country's malign influence. Truly, one weeps.

      Delete
  3. Lark September 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM

    I love cormorants! There's a couple that live by the river trail I like to walk...it's always fun to see them diving for food and then sunning themselves. :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. thecuecardSeptember 8, 2025 at 8:43 AM

    I was happy to see many Monarch butterflies when I was in Southern California at the beach in August. Beautiful to see them flying around on the flowers. And I think sound & light pollution could have some ordnances, which would help wildlife and us all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersSeptember 8, 2025 at 11:36 AM

      Our lights and sound undoubtedly have deleterious effects on Nature and I think it is only responsible to try to curbs those effects as much as possible.

      Delete
  5. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzSeptember 8, 2025 at 10:25 AM

    There are, I think, two kinds of cormorants that live around here, and one kind nests every year in a county park near me. I did not realize they were once being hurt by DDT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersSeptember 8, 2025 at 11:34 AM

      We have the Neotropic and the Double-Crested Cormorants, the Neotropic being the smaller of the two. The outlawing of DDT was a life-saving boon to birds of many kinds and is one of the reasons that Rachel Carson is my hero.

      Delete

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