This week in birds - #666

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


I have been gratified this week to hear the voice of Mourning Doves whenever I have ventured out into our yard. Over the past few years they and the little Inca Doves had been largely displaced in our neighborhood by the invasive White-winged Doves.  The White-wings are still here but not in the numbers that they once were and the Mourning Doves and Incas have resumed their place in the habitat. 

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The daily news is filled with doom and gloom for those of us who care about the environment but there is hope.

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However the news about greenhouse emissions from last year for the United States was not good as it showed an increase while the two previous years had shown decreases. 

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Moreover, conservative activists seem poised to succeed in their efforts to stop government efforts to combat climate change.

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We know how it ended but how did the age of dinosaurs begin?

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What lies under Antarctica's ice? A new map shows us.

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This is a newly discovered deep-sea chiton. The public was offered an opportunity to give it its scientific name and 8,000 suggestions later that name has been chosen.

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China has engaged in mass tree planting around the Taklamakan Desert and has managed to turn one of the world's largest and driest deserts into a carbon sink that absorbs more carbon than it emits. 

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Gray wolves are returning to Los Angeles County in California for the first time in nearly a century.

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How did life first reach Earth? Physicists are creating experiments to try to figure that out.

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After that infamous asteroid hit the planet 66 million years ago, it seems that life bounced back surprisingly fast.

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The Environmental Protection Agency is not living up to its name. It has reapproved the use of the controversial herbicide dicamba.

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Antarctica's seals are collecting data for scientists in waters that could otherwise never be reached.

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Rove beetles are entirely dependent on ants for their survival but that seems to be working out well for both species. Nature finds a way.

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And here is (potentially) some good news for these rhesus monkeys at the Oregon National Primate Research Center: The center might be turned into a sanctuary.

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