This week in birds - #681

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

This is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week doing what he is known for - skimming. It is the well-named Black Skimmer, a bird found in both North and South America in ocean or freshwater habitats. Its conservation status is of least concern presently although its population trends are unknown.

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There's been no tropical storm threat to the Americas so far but there are some Pacific weather systems currently being tracked that pose a potential threat if they develop. 

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The current administration sees no value in maintaining an ocean monitoring system and has ordered it to be dismantled.

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The nation is a tinderbox, literally, and this wildfire season is worrying wildfire experts.

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As if we didn't have enough to be worried about, flesh-eating screwworms have been detected in the United States 60 years after they were considered to be eradicated here.

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Pigeons are famously able to find their way home when released long distances away from it, but how do they do that? Does it have something to do with their liver?  

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One could argue that California and Florida already have more than enough mosquitoes so why would we want to introduce more?

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Paleontologists have discovered an ancient sea reptile the size of a school bus that they are calling the T. rex of the sea, Tylosaurus rex.

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Researchers are studying how the engineering choices in the building of the Great Pyramid have helped it survive for 4600 years.

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Did an ancient ancestor of humans navigate the world on all fours?

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There is an outbreak of Ebola in Congo and Uganda. Scientists are hoping that some experimental treatments and vaccines might be able to slow its spread.

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The Okefenokee, a blackwater swamp and Georgia wildlife haven, is under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage status.

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Mangrove forests fight climate change but sea level rise is a threat to their continued existence.

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A rare Przewalski’s horse has been born at the Bronx Zoo much to the delight of conservationists. These horses were declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s.