A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:
How well do you know hummingbirds? Well, here are seventeen facts about them that will help you know them just a little better.
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The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the Peruvian Thick-knee, a "shore bird" that lives far from any shore. It is, in fact, a desert-dwelling bird found in the dry coastal plains of northwestern South America. Its population is decreasing.
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The Environmental Protection Agency no longer seems intent on protecting the environment. One of its latest actions is to kill proposed rules for Pfas-contaminated sewage fertilizer.
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Beehives may operate as democracies but first the rival queens fight to the death.
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Poop from southern right whales is revealing that they have a more varied diet than previously thought and that just might make them more resilient to the effects of climate change.
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Video of orcas off the California coast shows them ramming a sunfish so hard that it explodes.
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Finally some good news about the endangered red wolves: There have been four litters born this year to the critically endangered species in North Carolina.
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Avocado seeds have been spread from South to Central America over a period of thousands of years. (And in fact I now have one growing in a pot in my backyard.)
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Hunter-gatherers introduced trout to a Norwegian mountain lake 7,000 years ago.
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Naked Mole-Rats are one of the more interesting (and surely one of the ugliest) species on Earth and it seems that the queens are able to emit a special scent that prevents their rivals from reproducing.
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We don't usually think of deserts and penguins together but there is one species of penguin that thrives in deserts. It is the Humboldt Penguin of Peru but its population is in trouble.
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In still more bad news for the environment, the Trump administration plans to auction off sections of water around American Samoa for deep-sea mining.
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Do our tiny acts meant to help the environment actually matter? They do indeed add up.
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A raccoon with a (possibly) rare congenital spine condition has become a celebrity in a Seattle neighborhood. He's even been given a name: Jimothy.
The glorious hummingbirds are a delight, little flying jewels.
ReplyDeleteI was very interested to read about the Humboldt penguins and the troubles they face, but the creature that most caught my attention was the puggle, or rather the twin puggles. What a beautiful name. Jimothy, too, was interesting, though I wonder what his future holds.
Those little puggles are amazing. And amazingly cute!
DeleteIt's nice to know that small things we do can have a positive impact. I have thought a lot about a take-away from a book of Doug Tallamy: even small gardens of native plants can significantly boost biodiversity. We have seen that at our little garden at our little house in our little yard.
ReplyDeleteI also have an avocado tree growing in a pot in my backyard.
It is at least some comfort in these perilous times to know that our small efforts do make a difference, isn't it?
DeleteThis week’s roundup never did make it to my reading list, Dorothy, and I only saw it by accessing the previous post on the Sunday poem. Strange things happen in the Blogger night. Strange things happen in the environmental world, too, where the people who we (collectively) have chosen to dispense wisdom and justice, to guide us through the perils we have created, to remediate and restore, only contribute to the problem, and with knowledge and deliberation propel us farther into the morass. We have gone quite mad! Best wishes - David
ReplyDeleteI can only agree with everything you say including the Blogger bit. It is a strange world we have made for ourselves and perhaps not at all what we intended.
DeleteIt was interesting to find out about the Humboldt Penguin .... I don't think I'd heard of them before. Also I hope Jimothy will live long and happily. I am sorry about his spinal deformity .... but wish him well.
ReplyDeleteWell, there seem to be a lot of people looking out for Jimothy so that bodes well for him, I think.
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