This week in birds - #688

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week for last week was the Koloa Maoli (Hawaiian Duck), an endemic nonmigratory Hawaiian species whose population is vulnerable but increasing.

The Bird of the Week for this week is The Black-necked Stilt, a long-legged shorebird that inhabits wetlands. Their population appears to be stable but they are vulnerable to the threat of habitat loss and pollution.

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Europe is enduring heat wave after heat wave this summer with temperatures expected to soar to 109 degrees Fahrenheit this week. Meanwhile the United States suffered through its hottest month on record in July according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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Rising temperatures make pesticides a greater danger to farmworkers whose work brings them in contact with them.

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In more climate news, this year's El Niño is huge and it is already having an effect on the weather and on crop failures.

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In the Chicago area, an extremely rare half male, half female Bobolink has been causing a stir among birders.  

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A global web of subsea cables is able to detect whales even when they are silent.

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The current administration is moving ahead with plans to end the roadless rule for national forests over the strong objections of environmentalists.

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Arborists are working to save a three-hundred-year-old live oak that lived through the Revolutionary War in South Carolina.

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In Minnesota, the Monarch butterflies have begun their migration south to their winter home in Mexico.

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When predators are around, deer tend to avoid roads, thus making being hit by a car less likely.

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This is a Himalayan salamander. They are an ancient species and the people of Darjeeling are working to ensure that they are also present in the future. 

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British Columbia is logging the last of its old-growth trees. Protestors are sleeping in the roads in a desperate attempt to stop it.

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Sowing wildflowers on land scorched by wildfires in California is an attempt to shore up the land and heal the mess that has been left behind.

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Why do narwhals' tusks grow the way they do? Scientists are studying that question in an attempt to find the answer. 

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Do monkeys keep pets? Evidence certainly suggests the possibility.

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A coral reef that was presumed dead has been found to be teeming with life.

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The world's first rewilded sharks are bing raised by shark nannies.

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Kazakhstan has released its first tiger into the wild in more than seven decades. More are on the way.

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California is phasing out the use of paraquat, an herbicide that has been linked to Parkinson's Disease. 

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is showing one of the oldest surviving copies of Homer's "The Odyssey."

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There are actually a few dinosaur "mummies" that exist and they are avidly studied by scientists.

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Some octopuses are extremely smart and, of course, scientists want to know why.