A New York Times Science article on the new species of New Guinea includes a photo slide show featuring the new bird species.
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Urban Eyes is a service combining CCTV networks and pigeons to provide an alternative view on the city. Users have to feed the pigeon with Urban Eyes bird seed. The special seed can be bought in a camera shop and contains RFID tags.
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At Germany’s Bremerhaven Zoo, male penguins have paired together and care for pebbles as if they are eggs. Zoo officials tried to get the gay penguins to mate with females brought in from Sweden, with no success. Read the story German zoo fails to make gay penguins straight at Expatica.
At least 863 birds have been killed from wetlands pollution or poisoning in India in about a month. In addition to almost 50 birds killed at Okhla Bird Sanctuary, birds in Assam, Gujarat, Uttaranchal and Delhi have been found dead from poisoning. Read the story Pollution killed 863 birds in a month across India in the Times of India.
Quite a fowl situation indeed. A retired nurse and insane-person frontwoman, Marian Morris, reportedly saved a chicken’s life by performing “mouth-to-beak” resuscitation on the bird.
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Last weekend 49 dead migratory birds were found at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary on the Yamuna River not far from Delhi, India. Forty of the birds were shovellers. The cause of death is not yet known; water contaminated with farm fertilizers is one possible culprit. Read Lalit Kumar’s story Mercury may have caused bird deaths in the Times of India.
“State biologists counted 244 eagles during an aerial survey of a 180-mile stretch of the river this month, compared with 117 eagles last year.” Read the story Bald eagle population rebounds in Lower Wisconsin River valley at ABC 7 Chicago.
Poultry companies are advised to keep their free-range chickens away from areas where waterfowl are known to congregate. The Animal Sciences Group of Wageningen University advises poultry concerns to make a strong statement among their ranks, or to even make strict controls.
Chickens without shelter or a fence to protect them are exposed to several risks. The birds can intermingle with wild birds, increasing the chance of illness.
Source: ‘Buitenlopende kippen liever niet in buurt watervogels’
Last month’s oil spill off the coast of Estonia is now believed to threaten up to 35,000 birds, significantly more than the early estimates of 5,000 birds. As of today more than 3,000 dead birds have already been collected in the spill area. The cause of the leak is still under investigation; Estonian authorities admit that the ship which caused the spill may never be indentified. Read Elizabeth Davies’ story Estonian oil spill threatens 35,000 birds in The Independent.
Britain’s great ornithological mystery of recent years, the vanishing of the familiar house sparrow, may finally be solved. A postgraduate researcher in Leicester conducted a study of sparrow chicks and discovered that their food supply in their first few days of life is critical, and the recent scarcity of protein-rich insects in Britain may be contributing to the sparrow’s demise.
Read Michael McCarthy’s story Revealed: why the sparrows are dying out in The Independent.
