This week in birds - #628

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

A bird that nests in the salt and brackish marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, the well-named Seaside Sparrow appears to be holding its own, with a stable population. Its range reaches all the way from southern New Hampshire to southern Texas, and that range is home to at least seven distinct subspecies of the bird. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

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Measles is making a comeback in West Texas and is spreading to other communities. It's not a good time to be an anti-vaxxer.

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Spring migration is well underway and Journey North has some reports from the field.

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One of the byproducts of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been a deadly spill of oil on the Black Sea. 

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Hummingbirds are on their way and although I know they have reached my area I haven't seen any in my yard yet. But my feeders are stocked and waiting.

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Off the South African coast, killer whales are hunting great white sharks.

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Although they once opposed an oil pipeline in the Northeast, Democrats may now help to revive it.  

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Oh, Canada, you are the best neighbor any country could have and we are so sorry! (And, yes, that apology goes out to Mexico, too.) 

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Meteorologist James Spann is concerned about possible cuts to the budget for the National Weather Service. He is right to be concerned.

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There's some exciting news from the world of Egyptology: A huge tomb of an unknown pharaoh has been discovered at the ancient city of Abydos. The tomb is estimated to be 3,600 years old.

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Dozens of eggs and chicks of Double-crested Cormorants have been rescued from a collapsing eucalyptus tree in California.

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Spiders don't have ears but it turns out that sound vibrations do affect them and they build webs to help protect themselves from noise pollution.

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Eastern Bluebirds are once again checking out the nesting box outside my kitchen window. We'll see whether they or the Carolina Chickadees who have also been checking it out decide that it is a good place to raise a family this year. Here are six ways to attract bluebirds to your yard.

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Here's why funding basic science is a smart thing for government to do and why DOGE cuts to agencies like the National Science Foundation, NOAA, and National Institutes of Health are incredibly stupid.