This week in birds - #626

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

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week was one of my favorite birds when I was growing up. It is the beautiful Eastern Towhee, although when I was a child I knew it as the Rufous-sided Towhee. By any name, it is a remarkably beautiful bird with a sweet song.

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Shall we celebrate "Gulf of Mexico Day" on March 18? 

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The Environmental Protection Agency has become the Environmental Destruction Agency in the new administration. Apparently that administration believes that greenhouse gases are good for our health and there will be no resistance to climate change. And birds will die as a result.

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In fact, the Fracker in Chief, otherwise called the Secretary of Energy, believes that the world needs more fossil fuels, not less.

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A new study indicates that microplastics may already be affecting our food supply. 

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Meanwhile, the fossil fuel lobby is campaigning for immunity from lawsuits.

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Planting more trees is one partial solution to protecting against heat deaths.

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Peregrine Falcons came close to being wiped out before DDT was banned in the United States in 1972. They've made a remarkable comeback but now they face new threats.

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Cacti smuggling has become a big thing but sometimes the smugglers do get caught.

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Monarch butterflies have been reported in my area but I've seen none in my yard yet.

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Dana Milbank of The Washington Post has an appreciation of the spotted salamander.

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As the current administration slashes foreign aid, including that for health care, it is having an effect around the world; e.g., tuberculosis is resurgent. 

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But aren't Snowy Owls supposed to be...er..."snowy"?

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The Supreme Court refused to hear arguments by Republicans that states cannot sue oil companies over their role in global warming.

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Evidence of old wildfires can be found in the bark of ancient trees. 

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Hawaii's endangered birds may be even further endangered by federal budget cuts.

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The Galapagos Rail had not been seen on Floreana Island in the Galapagos since 1835 when it was seen by Charles Darwin. But now it has turned up again, sighted at three different locations on the island.

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Sometimes moving animal species to new locations can be a good thing.

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This Bullock's Oriole has been causing quite a stir in the Bethesda, Maryland, neighborhood where it has turned up. The birds are normally seen out West or in Mexico.

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And in Washington, a Mallard Duck has been nesting at a busy intersection about a block from the White House.

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Drones flying over the Canadian High Arctic have captured images of Narwhals playing with their food.