Salem-News.com Birds articles Page 1

Conservation Groups Call for Increased Protections for Rapidly Declining Seabird

Murrelet habitat on state and private lands continues to be lost to logging.

(WASHINGTON DC) - In a letter sent today, over 100 conservation and scientific organizations are calling on the Obama administration to provide new protective measures for the Marbled Murrelet.

The federally listed bird species population is rapidly declining.

New Study Provides First Direct Evidence of Feral Cats in Hawaii Killing Endangered Hawaiian Petrel

Carcasses were adult birds, presumably ones that were actively breeding or seeking mates.

(WASHINGTON DC) - A new study by federal and university scientists has provided the first direct videographic evidence of depredation of the endangered Hawaiian Petrel by feral cats.

The study affirms large amounts of earlier anecdotal evidence that feral cats are an important factor in population declines of the species...

New Study Finds Pesticides Leading Cause of Grassland Bird Declines

Researchers focused on lethal pesticides, such as organophosphate and carbamate.

(WASHINGTON DC) - A new study identifies acutely toxic pesticides as the most likely leading cause of the widespread decline in grassland bird numbers in the United States.

The finding challenges the widely-held assumption that loss of habitat is the primary cause of those population declines.

First Nest Ever Discovered of One of the World`s Most Endangered Birds

Two Brazilian researchers credited with discovery.

(WASHINGTON DC) - The first known nest of one of the world's rarest birds - the Critically Endangered Stresemann's Bristlefront - has been discovered in Brazil. Of perhaps equal significance is that strong evidence of active nestlings was also found.

The Stresemann's Bristlefront is one of the world's most threatened bird species -- unrecorded for 50 years until it was rediscovered in 1995 near Una, Bahia, in Brazil's Atlantic Forest region.

Crucial Bird Conservation Programs Cut by 50 Percent by House

The bill will now move to the full House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

(WASHINGTON DC) - Bird conservation groups are attacking a new political move as “one of the most regressive wildlife appropriations” ever.

Crucial conservation programs were slashed by 50% of FY 2012 funding levels in a funding bill approved by the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee for Fiscal Year 2013.

10,000 Birds Die as `Everglades of West` Dries, Spreads Disease

The problem is that it has been a dry year and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) hasn't allowed water into the refuge since December.

(WASHINGTON DC) - Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are estimating that over 10,000 migrating birds have died so far this year because of reduced water flow to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and California.

Washington Western Bluebird Reintroduction Effort a Success

Birds Now Thriving on San Juan Island Following Completion of Five-Year Project.

(WASHINGTON D.C. ) - A five-year cooperative effort involving several organizations has succeeded in returning the Western Bluebird to Washington’s San Juan Islands.

The bird had historically inhabited the islands, but changing land use practices and a paucity of nesting sites meant the species had not nested there for over 40 years.

Second Wave of Mystery Pelican Deaths Hits Topsail Beach, NC

The Brown Pelican is found in the Chesapeake Bay, and in southern California.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - A second wave of mysterious pelican injuries and deaths has occurred in the past several weeks at Topsail Island in North Carolina. About 250 pelicans died six months ago in this area from still undetermined causes.

This recent incident involves about 30 pelicans that washed up on the shores either dead or so badly injured that they had to be euthanized.

Rare Bird Captured for First Time, Fitted With Tracking Device and Released

Yellow-billed Cotingas are about the size and shape of a pigeon and are strong flyers.

(WASHINGTON. D.C.) - American Bird Conservancy and Friends of the OSA today reported that three endangered Yellow-billed Cotingas were for the first time ever, captured and released unharmed near the Costa Rican town of Rincon.

This rare bird about which relatively little is known is endemic to the Pacific slope mangrove forests of Panama and Costa Rica.

Massive Six-State Habitat Restoration Project Sees Progress on 130,000 Acres in Year One

The goal is returning vegetation in key locations to a condition approximating its natural state.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - Leaders of a massive, six-state, 1.1 million-acre habitat restoration initiative for wildlife and birds say restoration work has been initiated on about 130,000 acres.

The project is taking place in Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Illinois.