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I and the Bird

I and the Bird #75 is online at Gallicissa.

Polar Bears to Be Threatened

The Interior Department has decided to list the polar bear as a threatened species. It is the first species to be listed under the Endangered Species Act due to the threat of climate change. This is also the first listing announced since Kempthorne became Secretary of Interior in 2006. (Remember, the department has changed the rules so that species have to meet an excessively high standard to be listed.)

Today's decision cites the loss of Arctic sea ice as a cause of the polar bear's decline in recent years. Government studies predict that two-thirds of the polar bear population could disappear by mid century. Still, Kempthorne doesn't want anyone to get any crazy ideas:

But the designation will come with a qualifier: an administrative letter that will have conditions to "keep from harming the economy."

Kempthorne said that the Endangered Species Act shouldn't be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and that the listing will not "set backdoor climate policy."

"That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the ESA," Kempthorne said.

"This listing will not stop global climate change or prevent sea ice from melting."

Without such regulation of emissions, it remains to be seen what practical effect this listing will have.

Update: It appears that the polar bear is not the first listed species whose decline is caused by climate change. Press releases from 2006 cite warmer ocean temperatures as a reason for listing elkhorn and staghorn corals, two Caribbean species.

Riverside Park Hawk Nestlings Dead

In the comments on a previous post, a reader linked an article about the apparent death of three red-tailed hawk fledglings in Riverside Park (NY).

The body of only one young hawk — or eyas — has been recovered so far. The city’s avid bird-watchers have confirmed that the other two babies are not in their West Side nest and are feared dead as well.

“It’s so devastating,” said Dr. Leslie Day, who recovered the body of one of the chicks on Sunday and kept it refrigerated to preserve it.

On Monday morning, Dr. Day, a naturalist who teaches at the Elisabeth Morrow School and the Bank Street College of Education, gave the body to a friend, the photographer Lincoln Karim. Mr. Karim planned to drive to Delmar, N.Y., near Albany, and turn the corpse over to Ward B. Stone, who runs the Wildlife Pathology Unit of the State Department of Environmental Conservation. Mr. Stone was expected to perform a necropsy to determine the cause of death.

Over the past few days, there has been a running discussion on the fate of the Riverside Park hawks at the Pale Male Irregulars blog. The latest post reports that the necropsy indicated that the recovered chick died from acute lung hemorrhage. That suggests the hawks ingested rat poison, but the chick still needs to be tested for toxins to confirm this suspicion. The Urban Hawks blog, which first mentioned the potential nest failure at Riverside, has photos of the three Riverside eyasses while they were still alive. I expect that both blogs will post about the tests as results become available. Readers who are interested in following the story should check there for updates.

Update: The Riverside Park hawk nest fell down, and birders recovered the remaining two dead nestlings and sent them to Audubon for testing.

McCain on the Environment

Some readers might be interested in this review of McCain's environmental record. In terms of voter scorecards he does not register very well. According to the article, the League of Conservation Voters gives him a 24% lifetime score. (Clinton and Obama both get an 86% lifetime score.) Scores alone are of limited usefulness since they mask individual priorities and (to some extent) the machinations necessary to pass legislation. So it helps to delve into the details.

The senator from Arizona has been resolute in his quest to impose a federal limit on greenhouse gas emissions, even when it means challenging his own party. But he has also cast votes against tightening fuel-efficiency standards and resisted requiring public utilities to offer a specific amount of electricity from renewable sources. He has worked to protect public lands in his home state, winning a 2001 award from the National Parks Conservation Association for helping give the National Park Service some say over air tours around the Grand Canyon, work that prompts former interior secretary and Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt to call him "a great friend of the canyon." But he has also pushed to set aside Endangered Species Act protections when they conflict with other priorities, such as the construction of a University of Arizona observatory on Mount Graham....

"Look, he always balances what are the environmental implications of these enterprises and what are the economic benefits that could come from them," Holtz-Eakin said. "That is, in general, an approach which may be harder to read than a flat ideological X or Y, but it's how he reads these things, it's how he evaluates these kinds of decisions." ...

For the most part, McCain follows a fairly instinctive approach to deciding environmental questions. In recent interviews he has said he thinks the government should list polar bears as endangered because shrinking sea ice threatens their survival, that sharks deserve protection because they're a crucial part of the marine food web, and that the nation needs to act on climate change because it risks an environmental catastrophe if it doesn't.

The senator does not boast an extensive staff of experts on these issues, however, and doesn't delve into the scientific and policy details the way former vice president Al Gore or some of his Senate colleagues do. In one conversation on his "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus, he voiced his frustration with activists who oppose nuclear power plants....

As a result, many advocates said they remain uncertain as to how McCain would tackle environmental issues if elected president this fall. They are still waiting to see whether he will vote in favor of Lieberman's latest climate bill, which is headed to the Senate next month.

The article seems to have run in preparation for a speech on environmental policy that McCain is giving today. Here is a preview.

My impression in reading these is that McCain is not as outrightly hostile to the environment as some other members of his party, but that conservation is not a strong priority. Time will tell if that impression is correct. Unfortunately, coverage of the candidates' plans has been limited, with few questions on climate change and conservation during debates and interviews. Better coverage would give us a better sense how candidates would handle environmental protection.

See also his advisor's op-ed.

High Gas Prices

Here is Stephen Colbert on the causes of high gas prices:

[Link here if video fails to embed.]

On a related note, the rise in gas prices has led more people to use public transportation.

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots....

Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited....

Transit systems in metropolitan areas like Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Francisco reported similar jumps. In cities like Houston, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Charlotte, N.C., commuters in growing numbers are taking advantage of new bus and train lines built or expanded in the last few years. The American Public Transportation Association reports that localities with fewer than 100,000 people have also experienced large increases in bus ridership.

Public transit still accounts for a very small portion of overall commuting trips. However, a surge in ridership could encourage more cities to invest in new or expanded systems and thus encourage higher ridership. That would go a long way towards reducing carbon emissions and urban traffic congestion. It would be even better if increased ridership encouraged investment in regional rail.

World Series of Birding

Patrick found this old video from the Daily Show in which Steve Carell reports on the World Series of Birding. Or, rather, he distracts some teams while they are trying to find birds – all in good fun, of course. Enjoy!

Good luck to the Sandy Hook Century Run and all the other teams heading out today!

[If the video does not embed properly, you can find it here.]

Arctic Tern

This Arctic Tern is one of sixteen photographs of migratory birds presented by The Guardian in honor of World Migratory Bird Day / International Migratory Bird Day. Arctic Terns fly the longest known annual migration of any animal species.

This year, the festival is May 10.

Loose Feathers #149

Bird news and links

• Great tits are adjusting to climate change by nesting earlier. Tits at Wytham Woods near Oxford have been banded and their nests monitored since 1947. On average, they now lay eggs two weeks earlier than in 1961. The earlier nest date allows birds to take advantage of an earlier peak in caterpillar availability due to the warming climate. It appears that the British great tits, unlike continental great tits and North American wood warblers, are able to adjust their breeding dates based on ambient temperature and food availability.
• Other birds have not adjusted as successfully; 41 percent of Europe's 522 migratory waterbird populations are declining.
  
• Scientists discovered a new bird ancestor, Eoconfuciusornis zhengi, in northern China. Its feathers are fairly well-preserved compared to other fossils. The new specimen was probably better able to fly than Archaeopteryx, as it had a skeletal and muscular structure closer to modern birds.
• Audubon California worked out a deal to protect a colony of 80,000 tricolored blackbirds, one of the largest remaining in the world.
• Towns in Japan are trying to discourage crows from nesting on utility poles since the nests cause power outages. Crow populations have soared there in recent years. (link via Aydin)
• Male herring gull embryos appear to be more sensitive to their environment than female embryos, leading to delayed hatching and poorer fledging condition.
• Wildlife rehabilitators in Idaho are preparing to attach an artificial bill to a bald eagle. Its original bill was shot off by a hunter. (The "bird recovery center in Anchorage" mentioned in the article is Bird TLC.)
• Also, via Bird TLC, an eagle that survived the Exxon Valdez spill died this week, twenty years after it was rescued.
• The San Bernardino County Museum and National Forest Service have launched a study of the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher to determine the causes of its decline and its habitat needs.
• Environmentalists near Edmonton are trying to relocate a power line that causes numerous bird deaths from collisions.
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• BSI Blog: A Sad Mistake
• Natural Notes: Blue-winged, Golden-winged Warbler Hybrid?
  
• Julie Zickefoose: The Fuertes Library
• BrdPics: A Royal Tango
• Iowa Grasslands: Farm Birds
  
• Towheeblog: Traffic noise and birdsong, which shall prevail?
• Northwest Nature Nut: Here in Oregon, we grow 'em big!!
  

Environmental news

• According to a recent National Geographic survey, U.S. consumers rank last in following green habits. Here is a simplified Greendex if you want to test your own habits.
• You can reduce your impact by producing and discarding less waste. Many products can and should be recycled. Food waste can be turned into compost for gardens or houseplants.
• Electronic waste is being dumped illegally in west Africa, where people (often children) break it up for scrap without taking proper safety precautions. As a result they are exposed a host of dangerous toxins.
  
• Tropical insects may suffer the worst effects of climate change, since they have more difficulty regulating their body temperature than other organisms.
• A new report shows that the EU's biofuels policy is likely to cause environmental harm around the planet. Clearing land for biofuel feed stocks represents a threat to natural habitats.
  
• The Lieberman-Warner climate bill appears moribund.
  
• Enviroblog: Cheatsheet: Phthalates
  

Carnivals and newsletters

• Friday Ark #190
• Linnaeus' Legacy #7
• Carnival of the Blue #12
  
• Birds in the News #129
• BirdLife News Round-up: April 2008
  

Penguins Have DDT

The extent to which humans have managed to poison the planet is scary. In the latest case, the pesticide DDT has been found in Adélie penguins in Antarctica, a place where DDT was never sprayed.

A 1964 survey found modest amounts of the pesticide in Adélie penguins, and Geisz's team expected to see even less four decades later. Instead, her team found DDT levels unchanged in birds that live near the continent's western peninsula.

As DDT crawls up the food chain, from plankton to krill to penguins, it breaks down into a sister molecule called DDE. The more DDE in an animal, the longer the chemical has been around, Geisz says. But her team recorded low levels of DDE in the birds, suggesting a fresh source.

Geisz couldn't figure out where the DDT came from until she looked back at glacial records. In the 1950s and 60s, Antarctic glaciers swelled, potentially locking in chemicals like DDT.

However, average winter temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula have warmed 6 °C the past 30 years, and glaciers now melt faster than they grow. A recent study noted elevated levels of DDT in glacial runoff.

As the continent's western ice sheet melts, the DDT drips back into the ecosystem at a rate of 1 to 4 kg per year, her team estimates.

The levels of DDT and DDE present in the Adélie penguins are too low to cause much harm. However, the findings indicate the presence of other harmful chemicals being released as the glaciers melt. The Arctic and Antarctic are visibly pristine landscapes, but the pollutants we release in warmer regions all migrate there eventually.

Stream Restoration to Reduce Nitrates

A team from the University of Maryland found a way to measure some benefits of urban stream restoration:

Using state-of-the-art techniques in a long-term study, Kaushal's team injected stable isotope tracers into restored and unrestored sections of an urban stream, and measured how microbes in the streambanks naturally absorb nitrate and convert it into inert nitrogen gas. By analyzing those samples, the team was able to determine in-the-field nitrogen reductions by stream microbes through a process known as denitrification.

The research showed that stream restoration techniques that "reconnected" the banks to the stream doubled nitrogen removal rates by microbes, and reduced nitrogen levels in ground water by 40%, contributing to significantly lower nitrogen levels in the stream compared to unrestored conditions. Getting water out of the stream channel into denitrification "hot spots" in floodplain wetlands helped improve water quality.

Reducing waterborne nitrates is particularly important in the Chesapeake Bay region. The bay suffers from large dead zones during summer months due to a lack of dissolved oxygen. Hypoxia is caused by algae that feeds on the excessive nitrates and phosphates that flow into the bay year-round. Cleanup efforts have failed to meet their goals for reducing nitrate content in the watershed because there are so many sources scattered over such a large area. Faulty sewer systems, agricultural fertilizers, and lawn fertilizers are the main culprits.

Urban stream restoration is only part of the solution to improving the health of our watersheds. It looks like one that could benefit urban wildlife, as well as ecosystems downstream.

Long Record of Duck Deaths

Today there is a bit more news on the 500 ducks killed at a Syncrude tailings pond in Alberta. This is not the first such incident. Researchers with the Boreal Songbird Initiative have recorded many bird deaths in tailings ponds over the past 30 years.

-At least 15 species of waterfowl have already been documented as having been killed on Syncrude Tar Sands tailings ponds along with an amazing 22 species of non-waterfowl.
-Research at tailings ponds in the late 1970's based on once a week surveys of two Syncrude tailings ponds observed at least 100-300 birds killed annually. Since this was based only on birds observed floating or on the sides of the ponds once a week there was clearly a larger number of birds that sunk or were unobservable so these numbers represent a minimum mortality from only two tailings ponds.
-At single tailings pond sites, research has documented tens of thousands of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent birds migrating over in periods of weeks during spring and fall migration.
-Based on research at the Alberta tar sands tailings ponds it is well documented that birds are most likely to land on the ponds at night, under weather conditions that restrict visiblity and when surrounding natural lakes and ponds are frozen under such conditions there is a very high risk of large numbers of casualties because waterfowl and shorebirds and other wetland dependent birds normally travel in flocks that can regularly number into the hundreds and sometimes into the thousands or tens of thousands. The conditions under which these large mortality events are likely to occur are also periods when it is unlikely that the ponds are monitored in order to observe mortality events. Because of this it is highly likely that mortality events like this may have occurred more frequently than reported.

The duck deaths are a major embarrassment and potential legal liability for Syncrude and other companies invested in boreal tar sands mining. Even before the incident, tar sands lobbyists had been trying to overturn a recent provision in U.S. law that forbid the use of liquid fuels with a higher carbon lifecycle than conventional gas. Canadian government ministers have been trying to reassure the Canadian and American publics that they are investigating the incident very seriously despite Syncrude's public apology.

Mercury in Marshes

The Baltimore Sun shows the key role that wetlands play in cycling mercury from air pollution into water and then into fish.

Mercury isn't created by marshes. The element occurs naturally in rocks, dirt and coal, and it floats into the air when coal is burned in power plants and factories. This airborne form of the metal, called inorganic mercury, doesn't usually get into people, Mitchell said.

The metal becomes a health hazard when it's changed by microorganisms that multiply in the oxygen-deprived muck at the bottoms of rivers, lakes and wetlands. In this mud, bacteria transform inorganic mercury into methylmercury, which is at least 10 times more toxic and collects in the bodies of animals.

Tainted worms are gobbled by small fish, and these are eaten by big fish - such as tuna and shark - that are eventually eaten by humans. The methylmercury accumulates as it moves up the food chain, with the toxicity multiplying 10-fold at each step.

The Smithsonian researchers at the center of the article see the production of methylmercury as something that artificial wetland designs need to alleviate if possible. In particular, how the planners handle mercury will influence the outcome of a 12,000-acre wetland construction project at Blackwater NWR. The wetlands are planned to remove some of the carbon dioxide being emitted by those same power plants that are causing the problem.

Mitchell said natural wetlands - such as Kirkpatrick Marsh, owned by the Smithsonian research center - should be left alone so the wildlife is not disturbed.

But to the east, on the other side of the Bay Bridge, the federal and state governments are studying a vast wetlands-building proposal at the Blackwater refuge. Funding for this effort could come in part from power companies that face new state greenhouse gas limits and want to build wetlands as a way of "offsetting" their pollution.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will look carefully at the mercury-producing potential of the proposed Blackwater wetlands as they are designed, said John Sherwell, manager of DNR's power plant research program.

The article mentions a few methods of remediation, such as adding charcoal to wetland beds to reduce mercury and building new wetlands on gravel to increase the flow of oxygen and discourage bacteria. Ultimately, reducing mercury at the source would help more.

Reducing Emissions on the Local Level

Today's Post highlights ways in which states and cities are trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Officials in King County and other places are rethinking the way their communities grow and operate, all with an eye toward reducing their overall carbon footprint. After decades of policies that encouraged people to move out to the suburbs in pursuit of larger homes and bigger back yards, some policymakers are now pushing aggressively to increase urban density and discourage the use of private cars.

In Massachusetts, the state demands that developers calculate and disclose the climate impact of their projects. In California, Attorney General Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. has sued communities and power companies for failing to offset the greenhouse gases generated by their expansion plans. And Washington, D.C., officials are installing a new trolley line and bike rental kiosks in an effort to cut back on car trips within the city.

Even though national politicians are beginning to eye a federal carbon cap more seriously, the flurry of activity in state and local jurisdictions highlights a little-noticed reality: Most of the measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions will be enacted outside the nation's capital.

"The vehicle for delivery, in terms of achieving greenhouse-gas reductions, is often going to be the states," said Ian A. Bowles, Massachusetts secretary of energy and environmental affairs. "It's going to happen through things like building codes, utilities and zoning."

To some extent that is how it should be. States and cities have more flexibility to adapt to local conditions that might make some changes harder and others easier compared to other regions. We still need federal action, however, because not all regions are equally interested in reducing emissions. The Southeast has particularly lagged behind; six southeastern states would be the world's seventh-largest source of greenhouse gases if they were a separate country.

"This region is a major part of the problem," said Oliver A. "Trip" Pollard, land and community program leader at the Southern Environmental Law Center. "So far, we are not a major part of the policy solution."

As the Southeast continues to grow -- North Carolina, with a population of 8 million, is projected to add another 4 million residents in the next 20 to 25 years -- people are spreading out rather than concentrating in cities, which translates into longer commutes....

Most other Southeastern states are accelerating their carbon emissions by expanding roads and curtailing public transit projects. Officials are planning to expand a highway in northwest Atlanta to 23 lanes, even as they missed a deadline to install new commuter rail lines.

I grew up in a town that was developed prior to World War I, so it was designed to be convenient for the transportation available at the time: feet and streetcars. All houses are within easy walking distance of the main avenue, which has public transportation (buses) and retail, and almost all properties have sidewalks so that walking is safe. Neighboring towns developed later, after World War II, and therefore show signs of car-oriented development: cul-de-sacs instead of a grid, with no sidewalks, often far from any type of retail or transportation. Suburban and exurban development still favors the latter pattern. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through greater use of mass transit will require not just providing the transit, but also orienting land use patterns to ones that favor energy savings. Denser, more walkable development will reduce car use (and associated emissions) a lot more than simply adding a few extra bus routes.

The Post article also mentions that some cities are trying to account for bicycle commuting as a formal part of public policy. Washington, D.C., in particular, has been experimenting with a bicycle-sharing program analogous to similar programs in Europe. As with public transportation, widespread adaptation of bicycles requires that transportation and land use planning accommodate their use. As with mass transit, denser developments with shorter commutes will favor bicycle over car use. More importantly infrastructure and proper driver education needs to be in place for bicycle commuting to be safe. Safety can be a problem even in places that encourage bicycling.

On streets clogged by pollution-emitting cars, buses and trucks, New York City’s quest to establish reasonably safe cycling paths by adding to its roughly 300 miles of bicycle lanes has been welcomed by cyclists. But the lanes are often battlegrounds between cyclists and drivers who seem undeterred by the clearly demarcated paths.

Although city regulations forbid cars from blocking bike lanes — a violation that carries a $115 fine — those rules are routinely ignored by drivers who use the lanes as parking spots, loading zones and places to pick up passengers. Such maneuvers have enraged cyclists who say they are unlawful, rude and dangerous.

Bicycle lanes are a start, but a lot more needs to happen to make bicycle a safer means of transportation.

Alberta Ducks Update

The incident in which 500 ducks died in an oil waste pond is still under investigation. Of the hundreds of oiled ducks, only five survived the initial landing. Of those five, three have since died. In the meantime, another oiled duck was found by a hunter far away from the tailings pond.

On Tuesday evening, native hunter Roland Campbell discovered an oil-coated duck in Wood Buffalo Park, about 250 kilometres away from the tailings pond.

Campbell said he was shocked when he went to prepare a duck for his dinner.

"I assumed it was mud when I first killed it, it was covered in oil," he said.

"I took a better look at this duck and that's when I noticed he was all full of tar on his stomach and feet."

Campbell gave the duck to Environment Canada's office in Fort Chipewyan. Federal park rangers are out searching for other contaminated birds in the area.

The oil on the bird will be tested and compared with samples taken from the tailings pond belonging to Syncrude Canada.

The finding may indicate that other oiled ducks have yet to be found.

Loose Feathers #148

Bird news and links

• Continuing research posits a chemical mechanism that helps birds navigate according to Earth's magnetic field. The finding is based on laboratory experiments and has not been confirmed in actual birds.
• Three Asian vulture species could be extinct within 10 years unless the veterinary drug diclofenac is completely eliminated. The white-backed vulture has lost 99.9% of its population since 1992; long-billed vulture and slender-billed vulture have each lost about 97% of their populations. The drug has been banned by the Indian government, but it continues to be used.
  
• You might want to be careful of other visitors in national parks and wildlife refuges. The Bush administration wants to revoke the federal ban on carrying loaded and concealed weapons on federal parkland.
• Eating meat that contains fragments of lead shot may pose risks for humans as well as California condors.
• Greenland allowed an extra month of hunting at its seabird breeding colonies this year. Some of Greenland's indigenous people rely on seabird meat for their livelihood; others hunt for pleasure.
  
• Wings Over Wetlands tracks bird migration along the Africa-Europe flyways.
• Drilling in Arctic NWR has reared its ugly head once again, in the form of Sen. Ted Stevens. (See Gristmill for why this is pointless.)
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• Birdfreak: Bird Conservation Movement: An Introduction
• Tortoise Trail: Gambel's Quail Family
• Birdchick: New Mind Games To Play With Starlings
• 10,000 Birds: It takes guts…a feeding Black Kite
• BES Group: Blue-throated Bee-eater handling a bee
  

Environmental news and blogging

• Maryland's Department of Agriculture is trying to get residents to reduce their use of chemicals that are harmful to the Chesapeake watershed. Homeowners may contribute as much fertilizer runoff to the watershed as agriculture.
• The natural carbon cycle tends toward equilibrium because carbon dioxide emissions would be captured and recycled into the Earth's crust as sedimentary rock.
• Regulatory changes proposed at the EPA may make it easier to build coal-fired power plants close to national parks. Apparently the changes are opposed by the agency's staff experts.
  
• Island of Doubt: Why climate change is so tricky to cover
• Conservation Report: GREEN CONSERVATISM: The mechanism for conservatives to be relevant in the environmental debate
  

Carnivals and newsletters

• Friday Ark #189
• Festival of the Trees #23
  
• I and the Bird #74
• Tangled Bank #104
  
• Berry Go Round #4
• Birds in the News #128
  

Sabal Palm Action Alert

Audubon is asking birders to sign a petition to stop the border wall from cutting off the Sabal Palm sanctuary from the rest of the country and to request a full environmental review with public hearings.

(link via Birdchaser)

Ducks Trapped in Oil Waste

The Alberta Tar Sands mining projects have long been identified as a threat to boreal birds by the Boreal Songbird Initiative. Their requires an energy-intensive development process, which destroys habitat and releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Yesterday, an incident showed another type of environmental harm when 500 ducks landed and drowned in a pond filled with oil waste. Few birds survived.

"A completely oiled bird would likely sink immediately. We've recovered the ones that we could," said Steve Gaudet, a Syncrude staff member managing the recovery effort.

The company has said it normally has bird deterrents deployed on the three-kilometre-wide lake of waste from early spring until late fall. But the noisemakers and scarecrows were not in place because of the harsh winter weather last week, officials said.

The ducks involved were not identified to species in the article. A picture accompanying the article appears to be of an Anas sp. If anyone knows more about their identity, please leave a comment.

I and the Bird

Consworld has posted I and the Bird #74.

A Legless Lizard, a Dwarf Woodpecker, and Climate Change

Yesterday, several news agencies reported a story about new species being discovered in Brazil. The highlight was a legless lizard of the Bachia genus (pictured left); the 13 other possible new species included a small woodpecker of the genus Picumnus. (I would love to see a picture of the new woodpecker!) Other significant finds included hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), Brazilian merganser (Mergus octosetaceus), and dwarf tinamou (Taoniscus nanus), all of which are threatened species.

As the linked article mentions, the new species were discovered in Brazil's Cerrado, a wooded grassland area. The region, like many in the tropics, is a biodiversity hotspot with globally significant populations of many species. New species are constantly being discovered in such regions; I am sure that there are many more waiting to be found.

It sounds like an exciting area for research and conservation. The fly in the ointment is that, like many places in the tropics, the Cerrado is under constant threat. The region is being turned into cropland and ranchland at twice the rate of Brazil's rainforests. Why not leave it alone?

Well, the answer is that Brazilian cropland is in great demand. Brazil's Agriculture Ministry has projected record biofuel production for 2008, up to 27,400 million liters. About 4,200 million liters of that will be exported; the rest is used internally. At the same time, there is a food crisis. Part of the reason is that biofuel mandates cause cropland to be used for fuel instead of food. (Other factors include transportation costs, fertilizer shortages, and severe droughts in Australia.)

The president of Brazil denies that the current food crisis is due in any way to growing biofuel production. Other powerful people have a ready-made solution: expand agricultural land:

Blairo Maggi, the governor of Mato Grosso state and Brazil's largest soy producer, was quoted in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper as defending deforestation.

"With the worsening of the global food crisis, the time is coming when it will be inevitable to discuss whether we preserve the environment or produce more food. There is no way to produce more food without occupying more land and taking down more trees," said Maggi, a farming pioneer in the vast western state who is widely known as the "King of Soy."

"In this moment of crisis, the world needs to understand that the country has space to raise its production."

Last year the Amazonian rain forest lost about 2,700 square miles, the first increase in deforestation in about three years. Other natural habitats face similar threats. As I have noted before on this blog, conversion of natural habitat for grain production is happening in the United States, as many farmers are taking their land out of the federal Conservation Reserve Program. When it happens here, it reduces the breeding populations of known species. When it happens in the tropics, it threatens to wipe out species with small ranges, perhaps even ones that have yet to be discovered.

Expanding cropland into Amazonian rainforest or the Cerrado is not just a threat to biodiversity; it is also a major cause of climate change. Clearing a forest releases the carbon that had been stored in the trees. Subsequent land use absorbs airborne carbon dioxide at a far lower rate than natural habitats. Reducing the impact of climate change and protecting biodiversity go hand. Existing arable land ought to be used for food rather than fuel, and existing natural habitats should be left alone as carbon sinks.

Sniffing Out Ferrets

When we think of animals with a good sense of smell, we typically think of the Class Mammalia. Dogs, for example, are well-known for their ability to pick up and follow scents over long distances. With the exception of some vultures, birds generally are not known for this ability. The conventional understanding is that birds have only a weak sense of smell.

Some new research may change that understanding. Smell could provide a useful tool to lower the risk of predation, if birds could use it. Such a smell would be especially helpful during breeding season to warn of potential nest predators. To find out whether birds use a sense of smell, researchers studied a colony of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) in Spain.

The researchers carried out an experiment with a population of blue tits that raise their young in nest boxes in Miraflores de la Sierra in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, in Madrid province. The researchers placed the scent of mustelids (ferrets) inside the nest boxes when the chicks were eight days old, and “the parents took longer to enter the boxes to feed their chicks, and they approached the boxes more often without going inside,” Ms. Amo de Paz told SINC.

Thanks to the images captured by a video camera located several metres from the nest box, the scientists were able to work out the number of times the chicks were fed, and deduced that the birds did not feed their chicks on fewer occasions, although “they spent less time inside the nest while feeding their babies,” according to the biologist. By spending less time in the nest box, the parents lessened the risk of predator attack while still feeding their chicks.

As a control, the researches also added a quail scent to some nest boxes and water to other boxes. The quail scent and water did not deter the parent tits to the same extent as the ferret scent. The researchers later checked all the nestlings again to see if the presence of a "predator" had impaired their physical development. The ones in the ferret-scented boxes were just as healthy as the ones in other boxes, so their development did not suffer as a result.

So does this new information have implications for helping baby birds? There is a common concern that picking up a baby bird or handling its nest might cause the bird's parents to abandon their young. Typical advice reassures people that this is not the case, sometimes with a comment that birds will not smell their touch.

In light of this study, the latter part seems mistaken; at least some birds use their sense of smell to avoid predators. However, the basic advice is correct. Even though the tits in the study sensed the presence of potential predators and were more cautious around the nest, their urge to care for their young was stronger, and they still fed the baby birds. The brief handling necessary to place a nest back into a tree or move a fledgling out of harm's way is unlikely to discourage parent birds from returning.

Cuts for the National Arboretum

Longtime readers will know that the National Arboretum was one of my favorite birding spots when I lived in D.C. and that I visited very frequently. It has the highest number of posts of any birding site with its own label. Over the weekend, I read some sad news about it. The National Arboretum faces severe cuts in its already underfunded budget.

Next year's proposed budget for the federally funded institution has been cut by $2 million, targeted at the arboretum's public face. The amount is small in the scheme of things, but it would reduce funding by 60 percent for the arboretum's public programming and the care of its rich garden displays and pioneering plant collections.

This comes after almost a decade of funding erosion: The operating budget has shrunk 20 percent in five years. A master plan to fix crumbling infrastructure and forge a future has remained essentially unfunded for eight years. Even if next year's money is restored, the arboretum will continue to suffer from years of chronic underfunding and the absence of capital investment.

Members of the Friends of the National Arboretum, a largely volunteer support group, say the reductions would force closure on weekends, when 70 percent of the visitors come; curtail classes, tours and exhibits; close part of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, with its world-class display of miniature trees; and abandon important plant collections cultivated for decades.

I have trouble believing that the Arboretum would be closed on weekends; one or two weekdays seem more likely candidates for closure if it came to that. The fact that this is a topic of conversation, though, is disturbing. As the article mentions, many of the road surfaces and pathways could use better maintenance or resurfacing. Trails in the Asian Gardens are in particularly bad shape. This did not bother me, but it did prompt the staff to close several trails. Potentially it makes visits more uncomfortable for people who have difficulty walking.

Some of the Arboretum's supporters believe that the underfunded budget creates cosmetic problems that discourage potential visitors from coming.

"I don't know that many cities that have 450 acres of pristine land," said Eric Price, senior vice president of Abdo Development, which is building Arbor Place. "One of the reasons we wanted to build this neighborhood is to make that connection to the arboretum . . . D.C.'s Central Park, if you will."

Also:

Compared with other major botanical gardens, the National Arboretum has a smaller staff and less funding. It also draws fewer visitors, and FONA members say that if it were fully funded and polished, it would attract larger crowds. The U.S. Botanic Garden at the foot of the Capitol, reopened in 2001 after major renovation, now attracts nearly a million visitors, up from 750,000.

There is something to that, since tourists are more likely to make a point of visiting something that looks inviting. But it is not the end of the story. One of the major differences between the Arboretum and both the U.S. Botanical Garden and Central Park is access. Central Park and, to a lesser degree, the U.S. Botanical Gardens are located in close proximity to multiple subway stations, as well as numerous bus routes. The National Arboretum, on the other hand, is served by exactly one bus route (the B2), ever since Metro cut another route (the x6) that connected the Arboretum directly to Union Station. Ease of access is more comparable to the New York Botanical Garden, which lies far from the city center, but even that is served by both subway stations and commuter rail. Even with cosmetic improvements, the Arboretum would likely still fall short of other major gardens' visitation rates without improvements to its accessibility.

Both the Arboretum's budget cuts and its inaccessibility fall into a more serious pattern. There is a disregard for infrastructure at all levels of government. (I use the term "infrastructure" broadly – for both physical infrastructure like transportation systems, and public institutions like research centers.) This manifests in some cases as a failure to maintain existing infrastructure, including recreation and research institutions like the National Arboretum. Governments consistently fall to the temptation of kicking the maintenance can down the road for a few more years, and we all suffer as a result.

It also includes as a reluctance to build new infrastructure or expand what already exists. In this case, D.C.'s Metro system could serve more people and expand economic growth outside the downtown if new lines were built. If this plan were implemented, for example, it would improve accessibility to the National Arboretum and other parts of NE Washington. However, this is unlikely to happen when even maintenance funding for existing services gets sabotaged in the U.S. Senate, and the system's three jurisdictions squabble over funding priorities.

It is understandable that governments might cut back in times of economic trouble, like we have now. The trend of cutting or shortchanging infrastructure, though, stretches back over several decades, through both good times and bad. This reluctance to fund public works and institutions needs to change, and soon. As we have seen from recent incidents, neglect of infrastructure creates unnecessary hazards and wastes resources. It also hampers our ability to respond to new challenges like climate change. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require investment in new public works: e.g., cleaner power generation and more mass transit to reduce reliance on automobiles. Likewise, coping with rising sea level and other hazards will require careful planning and major changes to some existing infrastructure, especially around major coastal population centers. These things will not happen unless infrastructure funding becomes a priority.

Drinking Doves

These three doves were among the many birds that visited the birdbath recently.

Windy Day at Negri-Nepote

Today I visited the Negri-Nepote Grasslands in Franklin Township with my mother and sister. This morning reminded me of birding in March - high winds, overcast sky, and chilly temperatures. Of those, the wind was the most distracting because it made it difficult to hear the soft spring songs of many birds and forced them to lie low in the vegetation. Despite the adverse conditions, there were plenty of birds, including some firsts of the year.

Newly-returned grasshopper sparrows were singing all over the preserve. That song is one that I might have missed prior to seeing my first grasshopper sparrow last spring as it sounds more insect-like than bird-like. The same goes for other Ammodramus songs, which I find to be one of the more challenging song-types to hear and identify.

Several other sparrows were present, including singing chipping and field sparrows. Savannah sparrows are still moving through in great numbers. I do not know if any stay to breed in Franklin Township. That will be something to watch over the summer. One sparrow that flew past me seemed to have a short, square tail with white outer feathers. This is one field mark of a vesper sparrow, but I would not make such a call based on a single field mark.

One highlight was seeing a wild turkey run across an open field in the back area.

A few warblers have returned in the last week. Yellow warblers were busy setting up territories along the hedgerows in the back area. Common yellowthroats were also singing at several points. One northern parula was singing in the cedar grove.

While dark-eyed juncos have departed, some winter species are still around. Yellow-rumped warblers are still at the grasslands. I saw a few white-throated sparrow in the hedgerows at Negri-Nepote, and they are still coming to the feeders at home as well.

A crew from the county was mowing the field close to the parking lot, and another crew was cutting trees along the wooded patch near the cedar grove. I was wondering whether the timing of these actions was appropriate, given the proximity to the nesting season. A few Field Sparrows were already carrying nest materials, and Kestrels and Eastern Bluebirds were setting up in the boxes. I imagine other species are doing the same. I understand that this is necessary to maintain the habitat, but it would seem better to do it earlier in the spring.

Fringilla Melodia

This is the fourth posting in a series of bird related poems in honor of National Poetry Month. Birds have been a common poetic subject. This poem honors one of the most common North American birds, the Song Sparrow.

290. The Fringilla Melodia

By Henry Beck Hirst

HAPPY Song-sparrow, that on woodland side
Or by the meadow sits, and ceaseless sings
His mellow roundelay in russet pride,
Owning no care between his wings.

He has no tax to pay, nor work to do:
His round of life is ever a pleasant one;
For they are merry that may naught but woo
From yellow dawn till set of sun.

The verdant fields, the riverside, the road,
The cottage garden, and the orchard green,
When Spring with breezy footstep stirs abroad,
His modest mottled form have seen.

The cedar at the cottage door contains
His nest; the lilac by the walk as well,
From whence arise his silver-swelling strains,
That echo loudly down the dell.

And when at dewy eve the farmer lies
Before his door, his children all around,
From twig to twig the simple sparrow flies,
Frightened to hear their laughter’s sound.

Or when the farm-boy with his shining spade,
Freshening the mould around the garden flowers,
Disturbs him, timid but not yet afraid,
He chirps about him there for hours.

And when, his labor o’er, the urchin leaves
The haunted spot, he seeks some lofty spray,
And there with ruffled throat, delighted, weaves,
Gushing with joy, his lovely lay.

Perchance, his nest discovered, children come,
And peer, with curious eyes, where lie the young
And callow brood, and then, with ceaseless hum,
He, shrew-like, scolds with double tongue.

A little while, and on the gravelled walk
The nestlings hop, or peer between the grass,
While he sits watching on some blossom stalk,
Lest danger might toward them pass.

He sees the cat with stealthy step, and form
Pressed closely to the ground, come creeping through
The whitewashed fence, and with a loud alarm
He flies; and they—they swift pursue.

So passes Summer; and when Autumn treads
With sober step the yellowing woods and vales,
A mellower song the gentle sparrow sheds
From orchard tree or garden pales.

And, as the nights grow cold and woodlands dim,
He seeks, with many a kin, a warmer clime,
And perching there, along some river’s rim,
Fills up with song the solemn time.

But, with the sun of March, his little soul,
Warm with the love of home, impels him where,
In bygone hours, he owned love’s sweet control;
And soon he breathes his native air.

And then again his merry song rings out,
And meadow, orchard, valley, wood, and plain
Ring with his bridal notes, that seem to flout
Dull echo with their silver strain.

And so his round of life runs ever on:
Happy, contented, in his humble sphere
He lives, loves, sings, and, when the day is gone,
Slumbers and dreams, devoid of fear.

Song Sparrows are no longer named Fringilla melodia, but Melospiza melodia. Originally they were classified as finches, first named by Alexander Wilson.