Last week, a volcanic eruption on White Island off mainland New Zealand killed several unfortunate people and likely had devastating effects on the bird population, including thousands of Australasian Gannets and some endangered bird species. How the bird populations will recover is unknown at this point but there is some good historical information to foretell …
Continuing a previous discussion of pseudoscientific and simply nonsensical beliefs about birds, let’s talk about the weather. Some of these actually make a bit of sense. “When the fish hawks (Osprey) come north, winter’s over.” “On the eastern shore of Maryland, they always arrive on St. Patrick’s Day.” That is of course exaggerated as the …
A 2007 study of urban birds and their close relatives in the wild in 73 major cities across the world found that the native ranges of urban birds are wider in latitude and elevation than those bird species that have not invaded cities. The House Sparrow, for example, was native to Europe, most of the …
In the northern hemisphere, birds have been heading south for the past few weeks, or even longer, depending on the species and where they are starting from. Some birds have not begun their southward trek yet. Wherever they begin and whatever their destination, it’s a perilous journey. Just before I sat down to pen this …
You have probably heard from one of many news sources, like the NY Times and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, that birds are vanishing. Somewhere between 25 and 30% of all birds in North America have disappeared since 1970. That’s about three billion breeding birds. I have heard estimates of up to 40%. It’s devastating …
Imagine coming home one day and finding your house severely damaged, all your bank accounts drained, and people you don’t know hanging around. It would be intimidating and stressful. You might be able to adjust and rebuild there or nearby and recoup your financial losses or you might move elsewhere if you could find suitable …
Many people feed or just watch birds out their kitchen window; that’s a treat but one might eventually get bored with watching the same conglomeration of birds from day to day. After all, having a mob of a few dozen Eurasian Collared Doves, a throng of jays, and a coterie of House Sparrows visiting one’s …
Even though Big Bird was 8 feet two inches tall, he wasn’t the biggest bird we know about. The biggest bird that ever lived was the Elephant Bird of Madagascar that stood nearly 10 feet tall and weighed about 1700 pounds. Its egg weighed 22 pounds. Extinct since the 17th century, there were reports by …
From NPR: The new Secretary of the Interior, responsible for the protection of our natural resources, is a former gas and oil lobbyist. Bernhardt says that responsible energy development on public lands is good for both American taxpayers and towns dependent on oil, gas or coal. The Department of the Interior manages one-fifth of all …
“It’s estimated that as many as 1 billion birds die each year in the United States due to collisions with windows. Daniel Klem, a biologist at Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College, has been studying the problem for three decades and cites window strikes as a major cause of bird fatality. The primary danger stems from reflective …
