“Ornithologists are pondering the possibility that birds strike up friendships after two female oystercatchers were netted together twice, 13 years apart.”
European health officials scramble to prepare for the possible arrival of bird flu this spring when migratory birds return to the continent. European birds are now mixing with South Asian birds in their common winter habitats in Africa. March and April will be “high alert times” in Europe.
If you have, then you are one of the lucky few this winter and the British Trust for Ornithology wants to hear from you.
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On Friday scientists announced a find of 700 bones of the extinct Dodo bird on the island of Mauritius. The announcement was made at Naturalis in Leiden, the Netherlands. The bones are estimated to be 2,000 to 3,000 years old. The cache will be on display at the museum until 8 January 2006. The last Dodo bird was killed on the island probably sometime before 1700.
A rare frigate bird flew 2,500 miles in 26 days on a search for food for her chick. The bird was tracked by scientists at Christmas Island National Park with a satellite tracking device.
A fire broke out early Saturday morning in the bird park Avifauna in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. The cause of the fire was unknown. The fire claimed the lives of approximately 20 birds, according to police. Surviving birds have been moved to temporary housing. Among the dead were parakeets and cockatoos.
A baby Jackass penguin was stolen from the Amazon World Zoo on the Isle of Wight on Monday. The three-month-old penguin, named Togo, cannot survive for more than three or four days without his parents, on whom he relies for his special diet. He was known to refuse food from humans. Togo has lived in an enclosure at the zoo with his parents, Kyala and Oscar, and four other penguins, since he was born in September. If he is not returned to the zoo by Thursday, his chances for survival are slim.
Zoo officials speculate that the penguin may have been taken to be used as a Christmas gift for someone, and that the popularity of the French movie March of the Penguins may have sparked this misguided idea.
Sources:
Who’s p-p-picked up our penguin?
STOLEN PENGUIN’S LIFE AT RISK, SAY ZOO
Keepers Fear Penguin Was Snatched as Gift
More than a thousand wading birds could be uprooted from their homes if a plan to dump power station waste in coastal lagoons goes ahead in Scotland. The ScottishPower station has stored ash in the lagoons for over 40 years. The plan is to remove the ash to clear space for waste. Read more at the Scotsman.com News.
An 8-month-old peregrine falcon that hatched in downtown Cleveland earlier this year has died one week after undergoing wing surgery. The young bird, which fledged from its nest on Terminal Tower in June, had surgery to repair a broken wing on 10 December. The injured bird was brought to the Back to the Wild rehabilitation center, where vets inserted two pins into the bird’s wing bones. The falcon survived the surgery and was well enough to eat live food shortly after the operation, but the stress of captivity was too great on the wild animal and it stopped eating. Read more from The Plain Dealer.
The endangered Siberian Crane, whose population has been dwindling since 1971, traditionally migrates from its Russian summer home to warmer climes in the winter months. This season, Siberian Cranes have failed to arrive at the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, India for the third straight year. Two hundred cranes wintered in Bharatpur as recently as 1964. The birds now prefer Chinese wetlands for their winter home. A map by BirdLife International shows the winter and summer habitats of these endangered birds, which live in two recognized colonies.
Related links:
International Crane Foundation
Siberian Crane Wetland Project
