This week in birds - #693

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is the Blue-capped Hummingbird, a resident of the forests of the Mexican highlands. This stunning little bird, also known as the Oaxaca Hummingbird, is seriously endangered and its population is decreasing. It is estimated that there may be less than 1,700 left in the wild. As is true of so many of the birds of Central and South America, the chief threat to the species is habitat loss due to deforestation. Conservation organizations are working to protect its habitat and help to ensure its continued survival.

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Thursday mornings at the Morrell Nature Sanctuary in British Columbia find volunteers removing nonnative plants that threaten that ecosystem. 

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In this political season, toxic waste that is bubbling up in Ohio has become an issue in the gubernatorial race.

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There are more than 1,500 kinds of bat spread across every continent except Antarctica but where did the species originate?

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Protecting habitats is the key to saving species such as endangered sharks and rays.

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This is the Leopardus tilcayo, a three-pound wildcat found in the cloud forests of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia. It is the first new feline species to be discovered in a century.

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You can track the migration of Pacific Northwest monarch butterflies on a new app.

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Two new stick insect species have been discovered in Australia.

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The current administration in Washington is making it easier to kill endangered wildlife.

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On a Mexican island, pygmy raccoons are learning to make toys and to sip margaritas!

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China's electric grid is emitting a super-pollutant that is cooking the planet.

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In a first, sea turtles have been spotted nesting on the U.S. West Coast. It may be thanks to the super El Niño forming in the Pacific.

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In northern Iran, the conservation effort to save the Caspian red deer, or maral, continues in spite of the war.

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An Aztec Codex, one of the most prized visual accounts of Aztec history, has been returned to Mexico City on loan from France and will be on display there for three months.

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Humans have breached seven of the nine "planetary boundaries" necessary for life to flourish on our planet.

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This little cutie is the Karure, or Black Robin, a critically endangered species found only on the remote Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand. It is that country's 2026 Bird of the Year.

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And finally, here are fifteen wonderful photographs of Kenya's wildlife.