Robertson's astonishing legacya professor of biology and Greek at Blackburn College in Carlinville Illinois Charles Robertson collected flower-visiting insects near Carlinville between 1887 and 1916.
#Exurban residences impact bird communities up to 200 meters away, study findsaccording to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) impacts to bird communities from a single rural exurban
The study also determined that sensitive bird species such as the hermit thrush and scarlet tanager prefer unbroken forests with no houses.
Others like the blue jay and black-capped chickadee seem to like having and often thrive with human neighbors.
As part of the study scientists sampled the presence of 20 species of birds both near and far from 30 rural residences in the Adirondack Park.
Calculating their occurrence at increasing distances from the residences they determined that human-adapted species are 36 percent more likely to occur near the homes than in the surrounding mixed hardwood-conifer forests
and lawn can change bird communities some 200 meters away which means more than 30 acres of the surrounding landscape depending on
It is important that we learn how birds and other wildlife react to particular kinds of human activities
The study found that species sensitive to human impacts include the black-throated blue warbler black-throated green warbler hairy woodpecker hermit thrush ovenbird scarlet tanager and the winter wren.
The presence of some species like the scarlet tanager are a good indicator of undisturbed forest health.
Glennon and Kretser believe that the similar results in two different ecosystem types may indicate that human behaviors associated with exurban homes play a larger role in shaping avian community characteristics nearby than do created habitat alterations
While breeding bird communities were used to measure the impacts of exurban development in the study the authors note that birds can serve as valuable indicators of overall biodiversity.
#How human language could have evolved from birdsong: Researchers propose new theory on deep roots of human speechthe sounds uttered by birds offer in several respects the nearest analogy to language Charles darwin wrote in The Descent of Man (1871)
while contemplating how humans learned to speak. Language he speculated might have had its origins in singing
first the elaborate songs of birds and second the more utilitarian information-bearing types of expression seen in a diversity of other animals.
His conclusion is based on earlier work by linguists including Noam Chomsky Kenneth Hale and Samuel Jay Keyser.
Based on an analysis of animal communication and using Miyagawa's framework the authors say that birdsong closely resembles the expression layer of human sentences
Todd saw a condor. We can easily create variations of this such as When did Todd see a condor?
This rearranging of elements takes place in the expression layer and allows us to add complexity
the subject Todd the verb to see and the object condor. Birdsong lacks a lexical structure.
Instead birds sing learned melodies with what Berwick calls a holistic structure; the entire song has one meaning whether about mating territory or other things.
The Bengalese finch as the authors note can loop back to parts of previous melodies allowing for greater variation and communication of more things;
a nightingale may be able to recite from 100 to 200 different melodies. By contrast other types of animals have barebones modes of expression without the same melodic capacity.
Bees communicate visually using precise waggles to indicate sources of foods to their peers; other primates can make a range of sounds comprising warnings about predators and other messages.
Humans according to Miyagawa Berwick and Okanoya fruitfully combined these systems. We can communicate essential information like bees
or primates--but like birds we also have a melodic capacity and an ability to recombine parts of our uttered language.
and then managed to integrate specific lexical elements into those songs. It's not a very long step to say that what got joined together was the ability to construct these complex patterns like a song
but with words Berwick says. As they note in the paper some of the striking parallels between language acquisition in birds
and humans include the phase of life when each is best at picking up languages
Well in birdsong there is also this limited number of beat patterns. Birds and beesthe researchers acknowledge that further empirical studies on the subject would be desirable.
It's just a hypothesis Berwick says. But it's a way to make explicit
If this is right then human language has a precursor in nature in evolution that we can actually test today he says adding that bees birds
while maintaining trust said Dr Penny Sparrow from the John Innes Centre. This will be of high importance especially in Europe where the issues surrounding the cultivation of GM agricultural crops remains a contentious concern.
and for investors said Sparrow. Regulations need to be harmonised across the world in order to keep advances and competition on a level playing field.
Dr Sparrow was involved in a collaboration with EU partners to road test the challenges faced by potential investors.
To do this the K-State team including graduate students Nan An Brent Christenson and Nathan Keep used a ground-based spectroradiometer to gather spectral data in the visible and infrared spectra at various stages of growth
Wildlife biologists say pinyon-juniper woodlands are popular with scores of bird and mammal species ranging from black-chinned hummingbirds to black bears.
A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Northern Arizona estimated that 150 Clark's nutcrackers cached roughly 5 million pinyon pine nuts in a single season benefiting not only the birds themselves but also the pines
whose nuts were distributed more widely for possible germination. For the new study Redmond revisited nine pinyon pine study sites scattered throughout New mexico
Vandermeer and colleague Ivette Perfecto of the U-M School of Natural resources and Environment study the complex web of interactions between resident organisms there including various insects fungi birds and bats.
#Worlds oldest-known wild bird hatches another chicka Laysan albatross known as Wisdom--believed to be at least 62 years old--has hatched a chick on Midway Atoll National Wildlife
and Wildlife Service superintendent for the Papahä naumokuä kea Marine National monument (Monument) which includes Midway Atoll NWR.
Staff and volunteers stationed on Midway are responsible for monitoring the health of the beautiful seabirds that arrive every year by the hundreds of thousands to nest.
Upon the seabirds'arrival field staff monitor them and gather information for one of the longest and oldest continuous survey data sets for tropical seabirds in the world.
Wisdom has worn out five bird bands since she was banded first by U s. Geological Survey scientist Chandler Robbins in 1956.
Robbins estimated Wisdom to be at least 5 years old at the time since this is the earliest age at which these birds breed.
Typically they breed at 8 or 9 years of age after a very involved courtship lasting over several years
Bruce Peterjohn chief of the North american Bird Banding Program at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research center in Laurel MD said Wisdom has raised likely at least 30 to 35 chicks during her breeding life though the number
Albatross lay only one egg a year but it takes much of a year to incubate
As Wisdom rewrites the record books she provides new insights into the remarkable biology of seabirds Peterjohn said.
It is beyond words to describe the amazing accomplishments of this wonderful bird and how she demonstrates the value of bird banding to better understand the world around us.
If she were human she would be eligible for Medicare in a couple years yet she is still regularly raising young
Sue Schulmeister manager of the Midway Atoll NWR said Wisdom is one is one of those incredible seabirds that has provided the world valuable information about the longevity of these beautiful creatures
This information helps us measure the health of our oceans that sustain albatross. Almost as amazing as being a parent at 62 is the number of miles this bird has logged likely--about 50000 miles a year as an adult
--which means that Wisdom has flown at least 2 to 3 million miles since she was banded first.
About Albatrossalbatross are legendary birds for many reasons--in Samuel Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner a sailor has to wear an albatross around his neck as punishment for killing the bird.
According to seafaring legends albatross are the souls of lost sailors and should not be killed. However as reported by James Cook sailors regularly killed
and ate albatross. Albatross are remarkable fliers who travel thousands of miles on wind currents without ever flapping their wings.
They do this by angling their 6-foot wings to adjust for wind currents and varying air speeds above the water.
Nineteen of 21 species of albatross are threatened with extinction according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Present threats to the birds include lead poisoning of chicks on Midway from lead paint used in previous decades;
longline fishing where the birds are hooked inadvertently and drowned though conservation groups have banded with fishermen
The birds ingest large amounts of marine debris--by some estimates 5 tons of plastic are fed unknowingly to albatross chicks each year by their parents.
In addition albatross are threatened by invasive species such as rats and wild cats which prey on chicks nesting adults and eggs.
Albatross evolved on islands where land mammals were absent so have no defenses against them.
and the University of Aix-Marseille. Gaining ground on the seaalthough The french Guiana coastline remains protected by human developments for the time being that of Guyana is disrupted already highly.
I. Eglinton of the Eidgenã ssische Technische Hochschule and Raymonde Bonnefille of the Universit d'Aix-Marseille. The role that the environment played in the evolution of hominins--the tribe of human and ape ancestors
and vineyards with a greater prevalence of West Nile virus in mosquitoes and the insects'ability to spread the virus to birds horses and people.
Is that because there are more birds there? says Crowder. Is that because there are more mosquitoes there?
and birds surveys of virus-bearing mosquitoes breeding bird surveys and detailed land use maps and climate data from around the Northwest.
and birds also have significantly more mosquitoes--as well as American robins and house sparrows the two bird species implicated the most in the disease's transmission.
These same habitats are also resulting in much higher rates of infection within mosquitoes themselves said Crowder.
We find that all three of these things--abundances of house sparrows and American robins abundance of mosquitoes and the actual prevalence of West Nile in mosquitoes--are increasing in landscapes with a higher proportion of land in orchard habitats.
These habitats says Crowder include both orchards and vineyards. It's still unclear why the habitats would create such a perfect storm for the virus. The researchers speculate that mosquitoes are drawn to orchards for plant nectar during flowering
while robins and house sparrows use them for nesting and feeding. Together the insects and birds become focal points for the disease.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Washington state University. The original article was written by Eric Sorensen.
#Vultures foraging far and wide face a poisonous futurea first ever study of the range and habits of white-backed vultures across southern Africa shows that they often shun national parks preferring to forage further afield on private farmland.
This behaviour and their tendency to scavenge in groups means that vultures risk encountering dead cattle that have been administered veterinary drugs that are poisonous to them
or even poisoned carcasses intended to control other carnivores such as jackals. The research using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite transmitters to track the movements of adolescent vultures is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The white-backed vulture is a widespread but declining species in Africa and it is listed now as endangered.
In India several vulture species are on the verge of extinction due to accidental poisoning from cattle carcasses that contain anti-inflammatory drugs administered by farmers.
These drugs are nonlethal to cattle yet fatal to vultures. There is a concern that these drugs could become more widely used in Africa.
Vultures prefer to feed in savannah grassland habitats and away from other competing carnivores such as lions and the new study shows that the birds will go to considerable lengths to find food crossing multiple state boundaries with each bird on average ranging across an area twice the size of England.
Co-lead author Dr Stephen Willis School of Biological and Biomedical sciences Durham University said: We found that young vultures travel much further than we ever imagined to find food sometimes moving more than 220 kilometres a day.
Individuals moved through up to five countries over a period of 200 days emphasising the need for conservation collaboration among countries to protect this species. In South africa the vultures avoided the national parks that have been established to conserve wildlife.
As a result these parks are unlikely to protect such a wide-ranging species against threats in the wider landscape.
The vultures may actively avoid parks with numerous large mammal predators due to competition for food
and find easier pickings on cattle carcasses in farmland outside these protected areas. We found evidence that individual birds were attracted to'vulture restaurants'where carrion is regularly put out as an extra source of food for vultures
and where tourists can see the birds up close. As a result these individuals reduced their ranging behaviour.
Such'restaurants'could be used in future to attract vultures to areas away from sites where they are at high risk of poisoning.
The team tracked six immature African white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus: five for 200 days and one for 101 days) across southern Africa using GPS tracking units
which were strapped carefully to the birds'backs. Co-lead author Louis Phipps who recently graduated from the University of Pretoria said:
Modern farming practices mean that vultures face an increasing risk of fatal poisoning. The provision of an uncontaminated supply of food research into veterinary practices and education for farmers could all be part of a future solution
if vulture numbers continue to plummet. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Durham University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#In beef production, cow-calf phase contributes most greenhouse gasesscientists have known long that cattle produce carbon dioxide
and barnacles would never survive the heat stress above the tides in isolation. They could only persist in groups suggesting that with stress organisms were better off together--despite their competition--than apart.
These climate-driven changes could lead to changes in the com po si tion of north east ern forests
i cal Research proved accu rate when com pared to data on actual bud burst in the north east ern United states. In the cur rent paper pub lished online in Geo phys
used in plan ning exer cises by the Inter gov ern men tal Panel on Cli mate Change.
They found that the north ern parts of the United states will have more pro nounced changes than the south ern parts with the largest changes occur ring in Maine New york Michi gan and Wisconsin.
For seeds and fruit in particular bright color is thought to have evolved to attract the agents of seed dispersal especially birds.
Deceived birds eat the fruit and ultimately release its seeds over a wide geographic area. The fruit of this bastard hogberry plant was scientifically delightful to pick says principal investigator Peter Vukusic Associate professor in Natural Photonics at the University of Exeter.
Combs bars concentric rings and even microscopic Rice Owls were laid down through a lithographic process.
That is different from most species such as deer warblers and swallowtail butterflies whose populations tend to be regular around some average abundance based on food weather and other external factors says Matt Ayres a professor in the Department of Biological sciences at Dartmouth and senior author on the paper.
Over less than a decade the rates of land and water grabbing have increased dramatically said Paolo D'Odorico Ernest H. Ern Professor of Environmental sciences in the University of Virginia's College of Arts
Madidi National park contains 11 percent of the world's birds more than 200 species of mammals 300 types of fish and 12000 plant varieties.
and offer nutrient-stingy berries to migrating birds. They even release toxins to make it less likely native plants will germinate near them.
and to provide bird habitat is the black hat in the oak-hickory forests. The fire tree (Morella faya) a canopy tree from Macaronesia that boosts nitrogen levels in the soil making it inhospitable to native species
It was seeded by birds carrying honeysuckle berries from backyards. To prevent it from turning beloved nature preserves into shrub monocultures people must remove it from their yards
which could in turn affect the migratory prey that reside in the area in the summer such as sea birds and barnacle geese.
but the birds choose to lay their eggs on a substrate that maximizes camouflage said P. George Lovell of Abertay University
and the University of St andrews. Furthermore the maximization seems specific to individual birds. Karen Spencer also of University of St andrews and a co-author had noticed earlier that female quail lay eggs that vary a lot in appearance
Some birds consistently lay eggs covered in dark spots; others have many fewer spots or in some cases almost none at all.
that birds might make optimal egg-laying choices based on the special characteristics of their own eggs. To find out they gave female quail in the lab a choice between four different backgrounds on
Birds laying eggs with little patterning instead choose lighter surfaces to match the predominant background color of their eggs.
In this specific case birds know what their eggs look like and can make laying choices that will minimize predation.
The code of practice requires mandatory vaccination of all young hens destined to lay Lion eggs against Salmonella as well as traceability of hens eggs
what people think of as crummier images says Curtis Woodcock a remote sensing specialist at Boston University who employs a similar method to Kennedy to build an image of the landscape out of Landsat data pixel by pixel.
The imagery produced by Landtrendr is a remarkable tool for looking at change over time says Woodcock.
Similarly there are 83 arthropods per species of bird and 312 per species of mammal. Now that we know the answer what is the question?
The area is is the largest block of continuous mangrove forest in the world being home to almost 500 species of reptile fish bird
and Astronomy have calculated that it would take 2425907 seagulls rather than the 501 described in Roald Dahl's James
The physics of aircraft was applied later to calculate the number of seagulls it would have taken for the giant peach to be lifted.
and photograph birds control Scalextric cars and build interactive toys that react to the weather.
and stress from the emerald ash borer is woodpecker damage because the beetle larva is a food source for the woodpecker.
Unfortunately once these symptoms appear the beetle has already been in the tree for a few years
#New tree of life traces evolution of a mysterious cotinga birdsthey are some of the brightest loudest oddest-looking least-understood birds on the planet.
But thanks to a comprehensive new evolutionary tree of life generated for the tropical cotinga family of South america the door is now open to new discoveries about the more than 60 species in this amazingly diverse group of birds.
Our study provides comprehensive insight into how nearly all the cotinga species are related to each other going all the way back to their common ancestor says lead author Jake Berv a Ph d. student in the Fuller Evolutionary Biology lab at the Cornell Lab
Rick Prum a leading expert on cotingas. Understanding how one species is related to another within this group allows scientists to trace the evolution of specific traits and behaviors.
if the evolution of differently-colored males and females in this bird group (sexual dimorphism) is linked directly to a breeding system in
which males have multiple mates (polygyny Darwin first theorized that the increased pressure of sexual selection in polygynous birds spurred the development of color differences between the sexes.
This appears to be true for many species--but not the cotingas. When Berv and Prum examined patterns of evolution for these two traits across their new tree of life it turned out that they didn't perfectly match up.
The statistics they calculated also supported the conclusion that these traits may be coupled evolutionarily de in the cotingas.
Sexual selection appears to have played a role in the evolution of non-plumage gender differences in some cotinga species. In one case the Screaming Piha the males
but the male sings one of the loudest songs on the planet says Yale's Rick Prum.
'We hope other scientists who are interested in these birds take our phylogeny and do all sorts of great things with it.
Egrets and herons soar overhead as do airplanes and helicopters. A five-minute drive will put you in downtown San diego
One of them is the light-footed clapper rail a cinnamon-and-gray long-legged wading bird that lives only in Southern California and the northern Baja Peninsula.
This bird makes its nest in the marsh's shallow slush forming its home with strands of the California cordgrass Spartina foliosa.
#Balancing birds and biofuels: Grasslands support more species than cornfieldsin Wisconsin bioenergy is for the birds.
Really. In a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE University of Wisconsin-Madison
whether corn and perennial grassland fields in southern Wisconsin could provide both biomass for bioenergy production and bountiful bird habitat.
The research team found that where there are grasslands there are birds. Grass-and-wildflower-dominated fields supported more than three times as many bird species as cornfields including 10 imperiled species found only in the grasslands.
These grassland fields can also produce ample biomass for renewable fuels. Monica Turner UW-Madison professor of zoology and study lead author Peter Blank a postdoctoral researcher in her lab hope the findings help drive decisions that benefit both birds
and biofuels too by providing information for land managers farmers conservationists and policy makers as the bioenergy industry ramps up particularly in Wisconsin and the central U s as bioenergy production demand increases we should pay attention to the ecological consequences
This is especially true for grassland birds as populations of species like the eastern meadowlark dickcissel and the bobolink have declined in recent decades.
The study began when UW-Madison's Carol Williams coordinator of the Wisconsin Grasslands Bioenergy Network and the DNR's David Sample approached Turner
and counted the total numbers of birds and bird species observed in them. According to Blank and Turner the study is one of the first to examine grassland fields already producing biomass for biofuels
and is one of only a few analyses to examine the impact of bioenergy production on birds.
While previous studies suggest corn is a more profitable biofuel crop than grasses and other types of vegetation the new findings indicate grassland fields may represent an acceptable tradeoff between creating biomass for bioenergy and providing habitat for grassland birds.
The landscape could benefit other species too. Because they are perennial the grassland fields can also be used year after year following best management practices that preserve the health of the soil
and provide reliable habitat for migratory birds. Plant diversity is good for wildlife diversity says Blank.
Our study suggests diverse bioenergy crop fields could benefit birds more so than less diverse fields.
Among the grasslands studied the team found monoculture grasses supported fewer birds and fewer bird species than grasslands with a mix of grass types and other kinds of vegetation like wildflowers...
new findings indicate grassland fields may represent an acceptable tradeoff between creating biomass for bioenergy and providing habitat for grassland birds.
The team found that the presence of grasslands within one kilometer of the study sites also helped boost bird species diversity and bird density in the area.
By locating biomass-producing fields near existing grasslands both birds and the biofuels industry can win.
and provide habitat for rare birds in the state. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Wisconsin-Madison.
and dormant crustaceans give respite to birds migrating on the Pacific Flyway and ease strains on fisheries in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of california).
and slack flows and a holistic look at the plants fish fungi birds and other life inhabiting the river its banks and its marshes.
#Captive whooping cranes released into the wildfour whooping crane chicks raised in captivity began their integration into the wild Saturday as part of the continuing effort to increase the wild population of this endangered species. The cranes hatched
The parent-reared whooping crane chicks were hatched and raised by captive adult whooping cranes. This method relies entirely on the expertise of captive parents who care for exercise
and feed the chicks. These chicks will join a flock of about 95 cranes that inhabit wetlands on the refuge and elsewhere in central Wisconsin during the spring and summer.
in order to establish a migratory flock of whooping cranes in the eastern United states. The Eastern Migratory Flock flies south to wetlands in the Southeast United states for the winter.
Over the past 13 years USGS biologists--dressed in costumes to avoid having the birds imprint on people--have raised between five and 20 whooping crane chicks annually that have been released into the Eastern Migratory Flock said John French leader of the USGS whooping crane
and whooping cranes in Florida this is only the second year it has been attempted with a migratory population.
or threatened bird species to the area said Doug Staller Necedah National Wildlife Refuge manager.
Necedah is the summer home for the bulk of the Eastern Migratory Flock of whooping cranes some
and provides a unique and important opportunity to learn more about these endangered birds. It was only natural for us to be involved in the parent rearing effort.
while they acclimated to their new surroundings near other free-ranging whooping cranes. The pens are located in the vicinity of pairs of adult whooping cranes without chicks of their own.
Such pairs have a tendency to adopt other chicks and when adopted will lead them south during migration
In addition to the four parent-reared chicks released at Necedah NWR seven costumed-reared whooping crane chicks will join the eastern migratory flock this year as well.
All of the releases of whooping cranes in Wisconsin add to the Eastern Migratory Flock a reintroduction project undertaken by a broad coalition of Federal state
At one point in the past researchers believe the Whooping crane population dropped to fewer than two-dozen birds.
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011