“Fire!” A baritone retort accompanies a spray of tawny sand as a large cannon net stretches wide. Small shorebirds with white bellies and mottled orange and black feathers try to flee, but the net is faster: It settles and traps a flock of Ruddy Turnstones underneath. A ragtag crew leaps up and dashes to the indignant […]
Tag: migratory birds
Philadelphia Sees Largest Mass Bird Collision Event in the City in 70 Years
In a single day, more than 1,000 migrating birds collided with buildings within a small area in downtown Philadelphia, killing a particularly large number of Parula, Magnolia, Black-and-white, and Black-throated Blue Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, and Ovenbirds as well as smaller numbers of many other species. Birds collide with many types of buildings on a regular […]
‘There’s nowhere like it’: Alaska’s wildlife refuge fears death by drilling
Biologist George Schaller has traversed the Amazon rainforest, studied lions in the Serengeti and searched for rare antelope in Tibet, but for him nothing quite compares to a vast and little-known wilderness found in the north-eastern reaches of Alaska. Schaller first encountered the region in the 1950s, taking a canoe down the Colville River, a […]
Victory! Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration’s Bird-Killing Policy is Illegal
NEW YORK – “Like the clear crisp notes of the Wood Thrush, today’s court decision cuts through all the noise and confusion to unequivocally uphold the most effective bird conservation law on the books–the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,” said Sarah Greenberger, Interim Chief Conservation Officer for the National Audubon Society. “This is a huge victory […]
New study quantifies impact of hunting on migratory shorebird populations
Habitat loss and climate change are often blamed for the decreasing numbers of migratory shorebirds in a major flyway in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years. But it might be time to add another likely suspect: hunting. More than 50 million waterbirds from more than 250 different populations use the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), a […]
Migratory Birds Like Native Berries Best
Twice a year, millions of birds embark on long, perilous journeys between their breeding and wintering grounds. These flights, spanning hundreds or thousands of miles, require a lot of energy. In the spring, neotropical migrants travel from Latin America to nest in the Northern Hemisphere, where they take advantage of budding plants and abundant insects. […]
Great Indian Bustard gets new level of protection
At first sight, the Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps (Critically Endangered) certainly doesn’t look as if it needs protecting. Towering at a metre tall, this imposing, robust bird struts slowly through the grassland of the Indian subcontinent as if it owned the place. And once upon a time, it did. Formerly widespread and abundant, this […]
Trump Administration Continues Effort to Strip Away Bird Protections
WASHINGTON – “While America is in turmoil, the Trump Administration is continuing its relentless war on nature,” said David Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society. “This administration is churning out policies that make it easier to kill birds, pollute our air and water, and endanger our health. The ’comment periods’ where the […]