This week in birds - #664

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



The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the seven-colored Painted Bunting. Happily, this is a species that is still maintaining its population throughout its range which includes the southern tier of the United States and northern Mexico. Its greatest threats are being trapped for the illegal pet trade and, as for many other species, habitat loss. Despite its bright colors, the birds (especially the males) are difficult to see because they are very secretive and often hide in dense thickets and grasses.

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Research reveals that predators like alligators are our allies in protecting and preserving their habitats.

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It seems that melting ICE might have benefits for the natural environment as well as the human environment.

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Surveys of the overwintering population of Monarch butterflies in the West show a slight increase from last winter, but the numbers are still extremely low.

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Scientists say that vaccines could potentially help protect some vulnerable species.

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Archaeologists believe that a 430,000-year-old stick that has been unearthed in Greece may be the oldest wooden tool yet discovered. 

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A young mountain lion that had wandered into a San Francisco neighborhood has been successfully captured and released in the wild.

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New research indicates that Tyrannosaurus rex may have taken as long as forty years to reach adulthood.

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Camels actually played an important role in the U.S. military's exploration of the Southwest.

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Paraquat-maker Syngenta has settled a case that would have explored the pesticide's link to Parkinson's disease. They didn't want to go to trial.

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Amsterdam has banned outdoor advertising for fossil fuels and meat products.

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It seems that snakes eating snakes in the wild is a fairly common thing. 

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AI-generated images of animals are spreading disinformation that can distort the public's understanding.  

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Here's a Tom Toro cartoon that sort of says it all:


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Admittedly it has nothing to do with birds and the environment (maybe the political environment) but here's the image that has broken the hearts of so many of us this week: five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos taken by ICE agents as he came home from preschool. Damn this administration!


  

Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,January 31, 2026 at 10:30 AM

    Good morning, Dorothy. Thank you for the weekly roundup. It's a great step forward for the City of Amsterdam to ban advertising of fossil fuels and meat products. We can only hope that consumption diminishes as a result. It's hard not to conclude that bans on tobacco advertising were helpful in reducing the number of people starting to smoke, and perhaps stimulating others to quit. I am glad that you published the picture of Liam. His (and his father's) treatment is tragic beyond belief, inhumane and unwarranted. Masked thugs have now been given carte blanche to do almost anything they choose. Even the SS and the Gestapo didn't wear masks. We are seeing public executions on the streets of Minneapolis on our television screens. I was recently in Colombia, and people have asked me if I feared for my safety. Not even for a moment. It's safe to say that the citizens of Minnesota would be hard pressed to say the same. All the best - David

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJanuary 31, 2026 at 11:23 AM

      It is indeed sad when Minnesota can be said to be less safe than Colombia.

      Delete

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