Great Backyard Bird Count Goes Global, Shatters Records

Feb. 21, 2013 — From Antarctica to Afghanistan, bird watchers from 103 countries made history in the first global Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), February 15-18, 2013. In the largest worldwide bird count ever, bird watchers set new records, counting more than 25.5 million birds on 120,000+ checklists in four days -- and recording 3,144 species, nearly one-third of the world's total bird species. The data will continue to flow in until March 1.

Building on the success of the GBBC in the United States and Canada for the past 15 years, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada opened the count to the rest of the world for the first time this year, powered by eBird, a system that enables people to report birds globally in real-time and explore the results online. Bird watchers are invited to keep counting every day of the year at www.eBird.org.

Cornell Lab director Dr. John Fitzpatrick says: "This is a milestone for citizen science in so many respects -- number of species, diversity of countries involved, total participants, and number of individual birds recorded. We hope this is just the start of something far larger, engaging the whole world in creating a detailed annual snapshot of how all our planet's birds are faring as the years go by."

Audubon Chief Scientist Gary Langham: "People who care about birds can change the world," said Audubon chief scientist Gary Langham. "That's why this year's record-setting global participation is so exciting. Technology has made it possible for people everywhere to unite around a shared love of birds and a commitment to protecting them."

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221091827.htm

Germany discovers bird flu case on poultry farm

Published February 15, 2013

Reuters

German authorities said a case of H5N1 bird flu had been discovered during initial tests on a poultry farm in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

The case was discovered in a duck farm, which was carrying out its own tests, the Brandenburg state agriculture ministry said on Friday.

The H5N1 virus mainly affects birds but occasionally jumps to people. Experts fear it may mutate into a form that could spread easily among humans, who have no natural immunity against it.

The initial finding was confirmed by a state laboratory, and final tests are currently being carried out, the state ministry said.

The farm has been sealed off and its poultry will be culled, the statement said.

The cause is unknown and an investigation has started.

Bird flu is currently present in Asian countries including China, Cambodia and Indonesia. It has also been reported in wild birds in parts of Europe.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/15/germany-discovers-bird-flu-case-on-poultry-farm/#ixzz2LMKBuPUL

Winter Hunger Causes North Jersey Bird Invasion

By Townsquare News Network 

North Jersey is in the midst of an invasion from Canada.

The feathered intruders — finches, to be exact — normally spend winter far to the north but have been arriving here in waves over the past several months, giving birders a rare winter treat.

Clouds of redpolls, a species of finch, have taken over a large stand of birch trees in Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry. “The trees were just loaded with them one morning,” Don Torino, president of the Bergen County Audubon Society, told The Record of Woodland Park (http://bit.ly/XXPqZx).

That, in turn, has drawn flocks of bird-watchers to the park.

The redpolls make a distinctive buzzing sound. “You could hear them before you could even see them,” Torino said. “And then there were birders from all over the state wandering through the woods.”

While the redpolls have been landing en masse, other, more exotic birds have been discovered — including a lost American white pelican and a pink-footed goose.

The invasion of redpolls and other species of finch, including pine siskins and the white-winged crossbill, has been spurred by lack of food in their normal range. They feed on the seeds of conifer trees, and in seasons when pine cones are few they head south to scavenge for other food sources.

“Last winter was really boring — there was nothing going on,” Torino said. “This year it’s incredible. I’ve never seen so many redpolls in my life. This is the kind of thing birders wait for.”

Continued:  http://nj1015.com/winter-hunger-causes-north-jersey-bird-invasion/

South coast rescued oil birds set to be released

Dozens of rescued birds washed up on the south coast covered in an oil additive are recovering well and are set to be released back into the wild.

More than 300 birds, mainly guillemots but some razorbills, were taken in by the RSPCA after being found covered in glue-like polyisobutene (PIB).

The birds were found in Dorset, Cornwall, Hampshire and Sussex.

About 70 of them have now been allowed into an outdoor pool area and could be released in the next two weeks.

Peter Venn, manager at West Hatch Animal Centre in Taunton, Somerset, said it has around 70 more birds which are not yet ready to go outside.

He said: "Overall about 200 birds survived, which can be anticipated for this type of incident.

"We will be weighing the birds who have been allowed outside and if all is well they could be released in a couple of weeks."

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21497436

Creating, rather than capturing, rare birds

By Patrick Lynch

Michael Anderson, the chief preparator at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, is also a noted sculptor, perhaps best known for the huge Torosaurus sculpture in front of the museum. Now he is using his modeling talents to help fill in the blanks at the museum’s Connecticut Bird Hall.

“In the museum, the Connecticut Bird Hall is about 80% complete, but we have a wish list of rare or unusual birds that we just can’t find,” explains Anderson. ”Given the fact that we don’t go out and collect bird specimens like these anymore, we’re trying this experiment to put bird carvings into the Bird Hall to fill the holes, so people can at least see what the birds look like.”

Currently, he is working on a model of the Caspian tern, which is the largest and most widespread tern species.

Anderson came to Yale 25 years ago, after a five-year stint at the American Museum of Natural History, and holds a graduate degree in medical illustration and sculpting from the University of Illinois.

In addition to maintaining and enlarging the museum’s collection of scientific specimens, Anderson has sculpted models of everything from the world’s largest flower to some of the world’s smallest insects (the latter, albeit, in large-scale).

“That’s the kind of work I love to do — to work with scientists to make things as close to life-like as I can,” he says.

http://news.yale.edu/2013/02/15/creating-rather-capturing-rare-birds

Tropical bird thriving on LI after Atlantic water rescue

Originally published: February 15, 2013 5:18 PM

Updated: February 15, 2013 5:24 PM

By PATRICIA KITCHEN  

This Purple Gallinule tropical marsh bird that spends the summer months in the southernmost portion of the United States, and the rest of the year in Central and South America, was plucked from the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean, 75 miles south of Nantucket, Mass. by the crew of the commercial fishing vessel "Bookie" on Jan. 16. Frank Green of Oakdale was part of the crew and brought the bird to the Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays where the bird is recovering, and awaiting transport back to a warmer climate to be released. (Feb. 14, 2013)

Photo credit: Doug Kuntz |

The Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays is nurturing back to health a wayward tropical bird fished out of the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Purple Gallinule, a marsh bird ordinarily associated with areas much further south, was chomping on live crickets at the center Friday after a rescue at sea one month ago by a Long Island fisherman.

Found Jan. 16 struggling in the waters...

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/tropical-bird-thriving-on-li-after-atlantic-water-rescue-1.4656264

Reward after Sproatley buzzards shot dead

The police and RSPB have urged anyone with information to come forward

Two birds of prey have been shot dead and thrown into a ditch near an East Yorkshire village.

The RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward to help catch the person who shot the buzzards on the outskirts of Sproatley earlier this week.

Tests have revealed the birds were wounded with a shot gun.

Buzzards are protected by law and anyone found guilty of shooting one faces a maximum penalty of six months in prison or a £5,000 fine.

Sgt David Jenkins, Humberside Police's wildlife officer, said the birds appeared to have been shot several times at close range.

'Cold and calculating'

He told BBC Look North, buzzards were often targeted because of concerns they could attack pheasants.

"It's a very archaic point of view. Buzzards, if anybody really does their research, tend to eat more dead animals. It's a very lazy bird," he said.

"They've been persecuted for years and years."

Howard Jones, from the RSPB's investigations team, said he hoped the £1,000 reward would help them catch the birds' killer.

He said: "I think that this person has done this in a very cold and calculating way and is probably now thinking that they've got away with it.

"We think that the £1,000 reward will provide the encouragement for someone to come forward to the police or the RSPB in confidence and share their information and hopefully progress this investigation."

Read on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-21491451