This week in birds - #612

(Note to readers: If you are unable to access any of the links below, I encourage you search Google on the subject and find a link that is available to you.)

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

This is a Plain Chachalaca that I photographed on a visit to the Rio Grande Valley a few years ago. The Chachalaca is primarily a resident of Eastern Mexico and Central America but it does stray north into southernmost Texas where I saw it. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Bird flu is abroad in the land once again, with several cases having been reported in California.

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If countries do not curb production of plastic, the world may not be able to handle the volume of plastic waste within ten years.

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Scientists are studying the flight of hummingbirds in order to help them design robots for drone warfare. That just seems wrong. 

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Ancient footprints discovered in Kenya indicate that two of our related species probably shared the same habitat and may have interacted. 

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Whale sharks are the largest fish found on our planet but their size does not protect them from predation by killer whales.

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Wisdom, a Laysan Albatross, is the oldest known banded bird in the wild, aged at least 74 years. She has a new mate and has returned to her nest and laid an egg which the mate is now incubating. 

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Drones and artificial intelligence have helped researchers discover more Nazca lines in the Peruvian desert. The discoveries have doubled the number of known geoglyphs in the area.

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In the 1960s, the Bald Eagle was driven perilously close to extinction in the country where it is the "national bird." But, with a little help from its friends, it has come all the way back.

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In Massachusetts, where wetlands were once turned into cranberry bogs, there is a move afoot to restore the wetlands. 

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It turns out one can learn quite a lot from dinosaur poop. Well, if you are a paleontologist you can.

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This is the fossilized skull of an amphibian that lived more than 230 million years ago on the land of the Eastern Shoshone tribe. The tribe gave it a name in their language. It is the Ninumbeehan dookoodukah.

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What a good idea this is! Across the country, cemeteries are rewilding, becoming homes for native plants, wildflowers, and animals.

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Finally, here are photos of the week in wildlife.

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