ZARQA GOVERNORATE, Jordan; ERBIL, Iraq; QAMISHLI, Syria — In the darkness of a small, windowless room, half a dozen falcons were perched on low wooden stools, their eyes covered with leather hoods. Crouching on the sand-covered floor, their caretaker gently unhooded some of the birds, which stretched their wings cautiously. For most of them, free […]
Tag: Peregrine Falcon
Cities have a role to play in bird conservation
Cities provide important connections to nature as well as habitat for many species, according to new research in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Many people tend to think of cities as places devoid of nature, but a study by researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Auburn University and Rutgers University suggests that cities […]
Study identifies traits that help birds adapt to urban living, shows better planning can bolster biodiversity
As cities gobble up natural spaces, some birds have learned to live alongside skyscrapers, traffic and noise—and large numbers of humans. A UCLA-led team of biologists wondered if those city-dwelling birds share common characteristics around the world that help them survive. In a paper published in Current Biology, they reveal the answer: Urban bird species […]
After a Climate Disaster Last Year, Maine’s Seabirds Get a Reprieve
This year, twice as many seabird chicks survived the summer and fledged from their nests along the coast of Maine compared to last year. This exciting success rate is much closer to what’s considered normal for Maine’s seabird colonies, following a steep decline last year as climate change dealt a blow to nesting birds like […]
How birds of prey are exposing a toxic time bomb
Rui Lourenço first started collecting eagle-owl feathers because they were beautiful. Below the birds’ cliff-side nests in rural Portugal, he would find their shed feathers and bring them back to his ecology lab at the University of Évora. “It was just the typical curiosity of a naturalist,” he says. “Especially the flight feathers, they’re large, […]
Ospreys make triumphant return as breeding pairs spread across UK
“I’m over the moon. We’ve waited a long time for this.” Beth Dunstan, environmental project manager at Belvoir Castle is celebrating the birth of the first osprey chicks in Leicestershire for two centuries this summer, one of a series of recent successes in bringing the osprey back across the UK. The birds of prey were […]
A Visit to a Remote Maine Island Finds Puffins and Terns Are Having a Good Year Despite Climate Change
The title of supervisory wildlife biologist for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service does little justice to Linda Welch (pictured above). In practice, she is the housing and unusual development secretary for seabirds on Maine’s Petit Manan Island. This was clear as she led me to nesting areas there for Atlantic puffins. Over the […]
A peregrine falcon named Grinnell and his partner Annie captured the hearts of thousands of viewers
At the foot of a bell tower on the campus of UC Berkeley, bouquets of flowers, written eulogies and framed photos have piled up as residents mourn the death of a beloved celebrity. But not just any celebrity – a peregrine falcon named Grinnell, whose live-streamed exploits with his partner Annie captured the hearts of […]