A Dutch quail farmer has confessed to keeping a pair of rare songbirds in his hen house. He lost them both to mass poultry culling in 2003. He managed to save one egg, which has now been hatched. History is threatening to repeat itself, and the near-extinct Redscowl Bluesingsky.
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A North Island brown kiwi — an endangered bird — hatched at the zoo on Feb. 13 and was the second kiwi to hatch in the zoo’s 116-year history, zoo officials said. The National Zoo is one of just four zoos in the world to breed the flightless, nocturnal, burrowing birds outside of New Zealand.
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Birdlife Finland launched a new website this week, www.etelasuomenmetsat.fi, designed to highlight the need to save the forests in the south of the country. The website, in Finnish, Swedish and English, features information on seventeen forests in southern Finland which are currently unprotected.
According to the website of BirdLife International:
“Birds such as Siberian Jay Perisoreus infaustus, Capercaille Tetrao urogallus, and the White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopus leucotus, as well as hundreds of insects, plants and fungi have already become extinct or are rare in the region directly as a result of clear cutting and modern forestry methods that leave little room for wildlife or for visitors.”
About a hundred confiscated Mute Swans (cygnus olor), intended to be slaughtered, are in need of a new home in the Netherlands. The birds, which were being kept illegally, were confiscated at the end of 2004 from their owner in Utrecht. (more…)
Florida Gulf Coast University ornithologist Jerome A. Jackson states, “Even a cursory comparison of this figure with [photographs and illustrations of real Ivory-billed Woodpeckers] shows that the white on the wing of the bird is too extensive to be that of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker.”
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Female ovenbirds are attracted to males of the species who have strong, high-quality mating songs. Biologists say that noise created by industrial oil and gas machinery in Alberta, Canada may be hampering the mating success of the birds. Read the full story Bird songs muted by oil and gas machinery on CBC News.
Three young Bald Eagles, rehabilitated by the organization Wings of Wonder, are to be released into the wild this Sunday, 29 January. The public is invited to view the release. Visit the Wings of Wonder website for more details.
Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) birds were introduced to the French Atlantic coast in the mid-1970’s, when a pair was released in a nature park in southern Brittany. Today, experts believe there are over 3,000 birds living on the French coast in Brittany. The birds are dangerous for native species as they can be aggressive. Two year ago a group of ibis was seen destroying the nests and eggs of about 40 couples of sandwich terns. Read the story FRENCH BIRD-LOVERS CALL FOR ERADICATION OF SACRED INVADER at The Tocqueville Connection.
The judge in the case of the environmentalists vs. the planned Grand Prairie Irrigation Project in Arkansas has recused himself, delaying the proceedings until 6 February. The judge had donated to the Audubon Society in the past and recused himself after learning they had filed a brief in the case. Read Rob Moritz’s story in the Arkansas News Bureau.
The National Wildlife Federation and the Arkansas Wildlife Federation will present oral arguments in Little Rock federal court this week to try and prevent the Army Corps of Engineers work on the Grand Prairie Irrigation Project. The environmentalists believe the project threatens the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, thought to be extinct since 1944 but spotted in Arkansas’ Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in 2004. The refuge is 20 miles from the current Irrigation Project construction site.
The groups want the project halted so that scientists can study the project’s environmental effects. Two previous lawsuits filed by the groups were defeated, but both of those suits were filed before the rediscovery of the Ivory-Billed.
The Grand Prairie Irrigation Project plans to draw 158 billion gallons of water each year from the White River – 1.5% of the river’s annual flow – and distribute it to approximately 1,000 area rice farmers. Project leaders say that failure to complete the project will cost farmers as much as $46 million per year. The project will take 13 years to complete at a cost of $319 million.
Supporters of the National Wildlife Federation’s attempt to stop the Irrigation Project from continuing can visit the NWF’s campaign website.
Sources:
Environmentalists say irrigation project would harm rare bird
Bird’s Advocates Challenge Corps
Woodpecker’s discovery brings call to stop irrigation project
