This week in birds - #673

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

The Eastern Warbling Vireo is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is a rather drab bird and tends to stay high up in trees which often makes it difficult to spot, but it can be found during spring and summer over much of eastern North America. Its population is in good shape overall and it does not appear to be in any immediate risk; however it is sometimes a victim of the Brown-headed Cowbird's brood parasitism.

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Scientists have found a surprising trove of fossils in a Texas cave.

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In case you haven't already seen them, here are some of the amazing photos sent back by from the Artemis 2 mission.

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"Overnight successes" in conservation definitely do not happen overnight.

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Five missing bird species that had been thought to have been lost were rediscovered in 2025.

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More bad news for the Gulf of Mexico: The Trump administration will exempt oil and gas drilling from measures meant to protect endangered whales and other imperiled species.

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature announced this week that Emperor Penguins, the largest of the penguins, have been added to the endangered list.

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Underneath California's Salton Sea sits a treasure trove of lithium, making it the "Saudi Arabia of lithium."

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Cascade red foxes are very reclusive and difficult to photograph but one photographer managed to overcome those problems.

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What is a shark? New genetic analysis is giving us a better understanding of the answer to that question.

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And we are still learning more about the Neanderthals, including the fact that they did indeed hunt big game.

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More crops are grown for fuel and livestock feed than are grown for human food.

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Can we help control global warming by stashing carbon dioxide in the sea?

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In New England, fishermen are contributing to science as they ply their trade.

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In Australia, rock art gives clues that Tasmanian tigers may have survived on the mainland for longer than previously thought.

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A new study has found that sharks in the Bahamas test positive for drugs including cocaine and painkillers.

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The North American butternut tree is struggling to survive but new research is giving it a second chance.

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Octopus sex can be a very weird thing, indeed.

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In war-torn Ukraine recently, people gathered to watch the release of hundreds of rescued bats.