This week in birds - #658

 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 Groove-billed Ani, a bird of the most southern tip of Texas, into Central America and on into the northern and western parts of South America. The bird is given the common name of "Tick eater" which is a bit misleading, but like Cattle Egrets, it does enjoy dining on the insects that are stirred up by the feet of cattle.

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Although the federal government is shut down, some employees are still working - those who issue permits for oil, gas, and mining operations, for example. Priorities...

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And no more climate research in the Arctic region, it would seem. Will we even notice when everything finally melts?

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It seems the phrase "survival of the fittest" may be somewhat misunderstood.

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A close friend of Vice President J.D. Vance has just been appointed to take over the NIH Environmental Health Institute.

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Was the evolution of our species shaped in part by our exposure to lead? New research seems to indicate that.

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Colorado is building the "world's largest" wildlife overpass, giving big animals like elk a safe way to pass.

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Here's a link to fifteen images from this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.

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A 3,500-year-old Egyptian military fortress has been discovered in the Sinai Desert.

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A zoo filled with misfit animals is almost out of money for its operation.

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A maternal lynx named Lena was rescued from a fur farm and now she helps to raise young orphaned animals including kittens, bear cubs, and puppies.

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The North Atlantic right whale is one of the planet's rarest whales, but the good news is that its population is growing.

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Fire Island, New York's only federal wilderness area has seen an explosion of the population of feral cats which has dire consequences for the islands native birds.

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Off Santa Cruz, California, those feisty otters are at it again - stealing surfboards.

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The first discovery of hand and foot bones of an ancient cousin of our human ancestor, Paranthropus boisei, suggests they were capable of making and using simple stone tools.

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The "Coral Triangle" is a biodiverse patch of ocean around the Philippines and Papua New Guinea that seems to be resilient to climate change.

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In Sequoia Park, California, a young black bear broke into the zoo in order to visit the zoo's bears.

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A 1-in-30 million calico lobster was recently caught off the coast of Massachusetts, after which she found a home in the Northeastern University's Marine Science Center.

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The green sea-turtle is making a comeback and the once endangered critters have now been reclassified as "a species of least concern."

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A new study has found that lizards with missing limbs still seem to thrive amazingly well.

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A California student took chickens from a slaughterhouse. Was it a rescue or a crime? (As one who grew up on a farm and whose early playmates were often chickens, I'm definitely on the side of the rescuer and the chickens.)

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Finally, here are the finalists from this year's Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. Enjoy! 


Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,October 25, 2025 at 4:03 AM

    Thank you for the weekly roundup, Dorothy. The assault on the environment continues apace, without concern for science or respect for the individuals providing that science. This reversal will turn out to be one of the greatest travesties of the 21st Century. You’ll have a new gilded ballroom, though! Let me go and look at the Wildlife Comedy Awards. A little light relief is called for. All my best - David

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