Posted under birds (general) & science
The IBRRC is, of course, totally overwhelmed with birds from the gulf oil spill. They work in many other places too. They’ve done a lot of great work over the years, both developing better treatment and cleaning methods and actually saving birds. They could really use your contribution, now or any time: go to their blog and hit “Donate Now.”
Posted under science
BBN News has a story about a recent article in the medical journal “The Lancet.” It says:
When the records of more than 366,000 people who died between 2001 and 2005 were analysed, it revealed that even tiny green spaces in the areas in which they lived made a big difference to their risk of fatal diseases.
Although the effect was greatest for those living surrounded by the most greenery, with the “health gap” roughly halved compared with those with the fewest green spaces around them, there was still a noticeable difference.
So, support your local parks!
Posted under birds (general) & endangered species & science
Read the whole article at BBC Online, but here’s the gist of it:
The populations of the world’s common birds are declining as a result of continued habitat loss, a global assessment has warned.
The survey by BirdLife International found that 45% of Europe’s common birds had seen numbers fall, as had more than 80% of Australia’s wading species.
The study’s authors said governments were failing to fund their promises to halt biodiversity loss by 2010.
Posted under birds (general) & endangered species & science
Back in January, I blogged about how and why the south Asian white-backed vulture is on its way to extinction: a medicine called diclofenac, given to cows in India, is so toxic to vultures that a few bites from a dead cow will kill the vulture. In just a few years, vultures have gone from ubiquitous to nearly extinct. Some scientists have started captive breeding programs to save the species, in the hope of releasing them to the wild in the future. (Diclofenac is officially banned but is still being made and used).
Unfortunately, a new study, reported in ScienceDaily, says the genetic diversity in the captive birds may not be enough. They need to catch more birds.
The Science Daily article says:
While the death of an unattractive bird that scavenges for a living may not sound like a great loss, vultures have important cultural and religious significance in south Asia. The ancient Parsi religion holds earth, fire and water sacred, and to avoid contaminating them, the Parsis dispose of their dead by placing them on “Towers of Silence,” where vultures consume the remains. In addition, the vulture saint Jatayu is an important figure in Hindu religion. The absence of vultures poses a direct threat to public health as well, as uneaten livestock carcasses provide breeding grounds for bacteria and attract feral dogs, which may spread rabies and other diseases.
Posted under birds (general) & science
ScienceDaily reports: “Large flightless birds of the southern continents – African ostriches, Australian emus and cassowaries, South American rheas and the New Zealand kiwi – do not share a common flightless ancestor as once believed. Instead, each species individually lost its flight after diverging from ancestors that did have the ability to fly, according to new research conducted in part by University of Florida zoology professor Edward Braun.”
I’m surprised that they’re surprised! Well, OK, they’re maybe not “surprised,” I guess the data are ambiguous and now the evidence leans the other way from what they previously thought.
Whatever. At any rate it looks like the similarities of these birds are due to “convergent evolution” rather than the geographic distribution of a single type of bird.
Posted under bird behavior & science
The New York Times has an article about recent research by John M. Marzluff, who studied whether birds can recognize people’s faces.
To test the birds’ recognition of faces separately from that of clothing, gait and other individual human characteristics, Dr. Marzluff and two students wore rubber masks. He designated a caveman mask as “dangerous” and, in a deliberate gesture of civic generosity, a Dick Cheney mask as “neutral.” Researchers in the dangerous mask then trapped and banded seven crows on the university’s campus in Seattle.
In the months that followed, the researchers and volunteers donned the masks on campus, this time walking prescribed routes and not bothering crows.
The crows had not forgotten. They scolded people in the dangerous mask significantly more than they did before they were trapped, even when the mask was disguised with a hat or worn upside down. The neutral mask provoked little reaction. The effect has not only persisted, but also multiplied over the past two years. Wearing the dangerous mask on one recent walk through campus, Dr. Marzluff said, he was scolded by 47 of the 53 crows he encountered, many more than had experienced or witnessed the initial trapping. The researchers hypothesize that crows learn to recognize threatening humans from both parents and others in their flock.
Posted under science & volunteer
Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) Conservation cordially welcomes the California birding community and friends to help celebrate the 31st. Annual PRBO - Bird-A-Thon which supports the work of 120 staff and seasonal scientists with critical conservation science and education programs in the Pacific Flyway. Join an existing team, create your own team or bird individually! Whatever works best for you in 24 hours between
September 1- October 15th. To learn how you can participate visit - http://www.prbo.org/cms/389
Posted under endangered species & science
ScienceDaily has an interesting, though depressing, article about the effect of invasive, non-native snakes on the ecosystem of the island of Guam. As the article says, “In the last 60 years, brown tree snakes have become the embodiment of the bad things that can happen when invasive species are introduced in places where they have few predators. Unchecked for many years, the snakes caused the extinction of nearly every native bird species on the Pacific island of Guam.” Now researchers at the University of Washington have looked beyond snakes: without birds to eat and disperse the seeds of trees, the forests are being altered too.