December 2010

Study shows alarming drop in Kenyan vultures BirLife International (on a Biological Conservation paper) Five New eBird Animated Occurrence Maps eBird Birds and killer windows: Interview with Dr. Dan Klem UrbanBirdscapes (blog) Blue tits with territories near streetlights mate better. The Washington Post Mirrorlike Feathers Give Bird of Paradise Its Shine LiveScience On the discovery rate of new bird species (an interesting blog post) Biological Ramblings NextEra Energy Res. plans to replace 2,400 turbines and shut down some others at the infamous Altamont Pass wind farm. Los Angeles Times Giant Storks May Have Fed On Real Hobbits LiveScience Humans Helped Egyptian Vultures Colonize the Canary Islands ScienceDaily (on a BMC Evol. Biol. paper) Soaring Is Better Than Flapping for Birds Big and Small AVoCet: a global database of well-documented, downloadable bird sounds AVoCet Electrocution of Birds and Collision With Power Lines: Solutions to a Global Problem ScienceDaily How birds see magnetic fields – an interview with Thorsten Ritz DISCOVER Common cuckoos have evolved host specialisation but not local adaptation BBC Earth News (J Evol Biol paper)

November 2010

75% British barn owls bred in man-made nest boxes. BBC EarthNews Engineer Provides New Insight Into Pterodactyl Flight: they soared using thermally driven air. ScienceDaily DNA uncovers a new parrot species... and it is already endangered. ScienceDaily Leading Canadian conservation groups say wind farm doesn’t belong in Important Bird Area BirdLife International Some amazing shots (enjoy!) NewScientist How Hummingbirds Fight the Wind: Robotic Wing May Reveal Answer ScienceDaily Physicists say bird song could be less complex than it seems (or... if you think you understand something build it) ScienceDaily Across the Southeast of USA, volunteer banders study apparent shifts in the cold-weather ranges of several hummingbird species. National Wildlife Colouring the temperature of a starlings' roost. BBC EarthNews The 'bird people' of St Kilda (Interesting article and two videos on how this people made a living from birds) BBC EarthNews Young light-bellied Brent geese learn their migratory destinations from parents ScienceDaily BOU Small Research Grants. Awards of up to £2000 per project aimed at supporting small projects outright and to part-fund medium-sized research programmes. (DEADLINE December 31, 2010) BirdGrantsBlog Sparrowhawks behind sparrows decline in UK. MailOnline (on this Auk paper) Prehistoric Winged Reptiles 'Pole-Vaulted' Into Flight ScienceDaily Alaskan Birds with Beak Deformities A DC Birding Blog (on a USGS new)

Cyprus: Two MILLION birds caught illegally 10,000Birds (on a BirdLife Cyprus new) Feather-Loss Disorder in African and Magellanic Penguins Conservation Magazine (on a Waterbirds paper) European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010 (amazing Kingfisher capture) BBC EartNews Polar bears can't eat geese into extinction, but predating on gesse eggs may help bears to survive ScienceDaily (on an Oikos paper) Altitudinal moult migration in hummingbirds Conservation Magazine (on a J Trop Ecol paper) Bird-mimics steal meerkats' food BBC EarthNews (on a Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper) How ostriches run faster than us BBC News Why power lines 'invisible' to bustards cranes and storks? BBC News Golden eagles score key victory in battle with wind farm firms in Scotland NEWS.scotsman.com A Peregrine's (Nocturnal?) Diet A DC Birding Blog Study launched to assess the impact of wind farms on golden eagles. ScienceDaily Cosmetic uropygial gland in flamingos. ScienceDaily (on a Beh Ecol Sociobiol paper)

October 2010

Clever New Caledonian crows go to parents' tool school BBC EarthNews Database Matches Plants to Birds A DC Birding Blog Bird brains show chain reactions govern timing of complex tasks. ScienceDaily (on a Nature paper) Philippines May Have More Unique Bird Species Than Thought ScienceDaily(on a Biological Conservation paper) Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010 BBC News Penguins flirt with homosexuality BBC EarthNews (on an Ethology paper) Sparrows identify 'troublemakers' from innocent birds BBC EarthNews (on an Anim Beh paper) Kinship affects investment by helpers in long-tailed tits The Rattling Crow Blog (on a Proc R Soc London paper) Red parrot feathers resist bacterial degradation Punctuated equilibria Cat bell collars could halve native bird deaths stuff.co.nz Is Anxiety Contagious? Scientists Study Owls and Voles to Find out ScienceDaily (on a Beh Brain Res and Neurosc Biobehav Rev paper) Wind turbines wrong colour for wildlife BBC Earth News A potential link between metabolism and animal personalites. ScienceDaily (on a Trends Ecol Evol paper) Geolocators show red knots' flights extraordinary Philly.com Spanish petrels avoid oil spill damage from Prestige tanker BBC Earth News (on a Marine Pollution Bulletin paper) Bioenergy Choices Could Dramatically Change Midwest, US, Bird Diversity ScienceDaily (on a PNAS paper) Placing the passenger pigeon into the family tree of pigeons and doves. ScienceDaily Vultures Use Face Flushing Technique for Instant Status Updates ScienceDaily Climate risks greater for long distance migratory birds. BBC News (Proc R Soc London paper) Using melanosomes to infer the unusual color of a fossil penguin. Punctuated Equlibrium blog (on a Science paper) A personal summary about the 143rd meeting of the Deutschen Ornithologen-Gesellschaft (on recent advances in bird migration) Wesley Hochachka for Round Robin A preliminary analysis of banding data on the migration of the irruptive Pine Siskins across the United States Project FeederWatch (The Cornell Lab) Barred plumage in birds: camouflage and sexual communication ScienceDaily (on a J Evol Biol paper)

September 2010

Ancient terror bird stabbed its prey to death NewScientist Catastrophic forest fire in Madeira threatens Europe’s rarest seabird BirdLife International Parasite threatens many of Britain's best-loved birds Greg Laden's Blog (on a PLoS ONE paper) Mice can learn to detect faces infected with avian flu ScienceDaily Avian Influenza Virus May Persist on Feathers Fallen from Domestic Ducks ScienceDaily A new blog provides information on GRANTS for ornithological research projects Bird Grants Up to 80% of the Spilled Oil Remains in the Gulf A DC Birding Blog eBird receive a million bird observations monthly. Cornell Lab and Audubon are working together to use this information to show bird distribution maps as never seen before. Round Robin (The Cornell Blog of Ornithology) Increased Destruction of Bird Populations Are Predicted With Rise in Global Temperatures ScienceDaily Why many bird species have totally dependent offspring? Oxford University On how budgerigars use male "calls" (not "songs") to choose mate. ScienceDaily Audio on crossbill migration by Pim Edelaar (2yr old but still interesting) BBC Radio Amazing Natural History blog post: bivalves vs. birds. Tetrapod Zoologuy A report on cannon netting shorebirds Biological Ramblings Orcas regularly feed on penguins in Antarctica BBC Earth News Why do Great tinamous Tinamus major lay conspicuous eggs on the ground? An interesting idea NewScientist

August 2010

Ancient terror bird stabbed its prey to death NewScientist Catastrophic forest fire in Madeira threatens Europe’s rarest seabird BirdLife International Parasite threatens many of Britain's best-loved birds Greg Laden's Blog (on a PLoS ONE paper) Mice can learn to detect faces infected with avian flu ScienceDaily Avian Influenza Virus May Persist on Feathers Fallen from Domestic Ducks ScienceDaily A new blog provides information on GRANTS for ornithological research projects Bird Grants Up to 80% of the Spilled Oil Remains in the Gulf A DC Birding Blog eBird receive a million bird observations monthly. Cornell Lab and Audubon are working together to use this information to show bird distribution maps as never seen before. Round Robin (The Cornell Blog of Ornithology) Increased Destruction of Bird Populations Are Predicted With Rise in Global Temperatures ScienceDaily Why many bird species have totally dependent offspring? Oxford University On how budgerigars use male "calls" (not "songs") to choose mate. ScienceDaily Audio on crossbill migration by Pim Edelaar (2yr old but still interesting) BBC Radio Amazing Natural History blog post: bivalves vs. birds. Tetrapod Zoologuy A report on cannon netting shorebirds Biological Ramblings Orcas regularly feed on penguins in Antarctica BBC Earth News Why do Great tinamous Tinamus major lay conspicuous eggs on the ground? An interesting idea NewScientist

July 2010

Three million years ago North and South America joined, leading to new migration routes and explaining species diversity today. ScienceDaily Senescence and dominance in roosters ScienceDaily On the polymorphism of Oystercatcher bills Tetrapod Zoologist (Blog) How do Oystercatchers learn how to forage and keep alive Greg Laden's Blog Tags reveal puffin food 'hotspot' BBC News An interesting article by Corina Logan (PhD student) on corvid social behaviour NewScientist I Wouldn't Mate With You If You Were the Last Finch on Earth? (blog post on a PLoS ONE paper) Mike the Mad Biologist (Blog) Egyptian vultures use twigs to gather wool for their nests NewScientist Avian empathy Living the Scientific Life (Blog) Sensitive males: inbreeding depression in an endangered bird ScienceDaily Ostrich feathers useful for Ostrich (and dinosaur) bipedal locomotion ScienceDaily Effect of Fire on Birds Evaluated in the Pyrenees ScienceDaily In Zebra finches, muscles controlling male vocal organs are crucial to sing over a wide range of frequencies; females only make short, lower-frequency calls. ScienceDaily Concern over plans to downgrade Indian national park BBC News Citizen Science: Birders Contribute Valuable Data on Invasive Plant Species (Ecological Applications paper) ScienceDaily

June 2010

The uropygial gland and the spread of avian influence viruses ScienceDaily Builders urged to allow for swift nests BBC News The Catalan Journal of Ornithology announces its annual prize to the best 2009 paper. Institut Català d'Ornitologia Caring for Caspian Tern chicks (slideshow) Round Robin Pleasing to the Eye: Even Brooding Female Birds Are Sensitive to Visual Stimulation ScienceDaily Evolution of Bird Bills: Birds Reduce Their 'Heating Bills' in Cold Climates ScienceDaily Hiking quietly benefits birds... and birders Conservation Maven Harmful Bacteria Carried by Pigeons ScienceDaily Living Fast and Dangerously: Hormones Influence the 'Pace of Life' of Songbirds ScienceDaily Bright sexy birds are poor fliers (Naturwissenschaften paper) BBC EarthNews How endangered are the Gulf's brown pelicans? NewScientist Wetland Aliens Cause Bird Extinction ScienceDaily The neuroscience of birdsong (an interesting blog post) NeuroKüz 86 turbines of a wind farm in Ontario killed 602 birds and 1,270 bats between July and December 2009 The Globe and Mail Amazing bird photo with a story – A new section of "Birdlife Community" worth following Birdlife International Oldest prehistoric pelican also had big beak BBC News Great bustards "on the rise" in Britain RSPB (via Surfbirds) Bar-Tailed Godwit Sets Record for Long-Distance Non-Stop Flight ScienceDaily (PLoS Biology paper) Invasions linked to more people and more money ScienceDaily (PNAS paper)