This week in birds - #622

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

The traffic at the bird feeders has been heavy this week. Frequent visitors have been Red-winged Blackbirds, like this female. 

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The new administration's pro fossil fuel agenda is a threat to our national monuments.

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And right on cue, the administration has killed a major report that was due on the state of Nature in the country. Those who worked on the report are hoping to publish it anyway.

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Also thanks to the new administration, plastic straws will be returning to our lives, because, you know, that's what he ran on.

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The president has nominated an oil industry insider to oversee drilling on public lands, because, of course, there will be drilling on public lands. 

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Here are the species we lost in 2024.

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Pollution from factory farms can be seen from space.

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A new study has found that people do actually pay attention to and are willing to follow expert climate advice.

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Appallingly, a river near Buenos Aires turned red after a suspected industrial dye leak.

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Are we in for four years of the Orbánization of America? 

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Humans couldn't seem to get it done so the beavers took over!

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Scientists have found evidence of an exceptional ultra-high-energy neutrino, a messenger from the cosmos.

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This is the Red-crested Cardinal, the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. In spite of its name, it is not closely related to our beloved Northern Cardinal. It is, in fact a member of the Tanager family, the second largest bird family in the world. It is a native of South America and can be found in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina.

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Sadly, most countries are missing the climate deadlines that were set at the last Conference of the Parties on climate.

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Scientists have detected that the core of Earth is changing.

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This is the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count. Are you participating? It's not too late!

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There's new evidence that microplastics could be a danger to our brains.

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It was literally an unidentified flying object. What was it?

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I agree with the AP; it'll always be the Gulf of Mexico for me.

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Most Birds-of-Paradise species absorb light through their bodies and emit it through their plumage. They literally glow. As a part of the mating ritual, the males send off these bioflourescence signals.

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The National Park Service will be able to exempt some positions from the hiring freeze imposed by the new administration.

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And here's a kerfuffle about methane-cutting cow feed. What an interesting world we live in.

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Helen Hays, an ornithologist famous in the bird world for her work on Great Gull Island, has died at the age of 94.

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Arsenic as one of the building blocks of life? Maybe.

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Magnetic field signals can cause turtles to "dance for joy."

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The threat of "forever chemicals" to human health is very real and the new administration is rolling back limits meant to protect us.

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Moreover, the threat of avian flu is spreading and data censorship by the administration will make combating it even harder. 

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Years ago, Shell was responsible for polluting Nigeria. Finally, the trial regarding their actions is set to begin. 

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Fulfilling current land restoration pledges would require only a small portion of global gross domestic product. And the will to do it.

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The eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has become a tourist attraction.

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There are alligators and quite a bit of other wildlife living in the sewers of Florida.

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Off the coast of Chile, a kayaker was scooped into the mouth of a humpback whale. Apparently the whale didn't like the taste and spit him right back out again. Shades of Jonah and the whale.