Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Bobwhite Community Adopts Guidelines for Interstate Translocation

With demand growing for wild bobwhite quail in states pursuing population restoration and the subsequent pressure on states that have quail to provide them, the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) has adopted an official position — and voluntary guidelines — for interstate translocation of the birds. Purpose of the guidelines is to maximize the potential for success, protect the existing public resources, ensure public accountability and promote scientific learning. Both the steering committee of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee as well as the NBCI Management Board, comprised of senior-level officials of the 25 state wildlife agencies that are members, have approved the document, which will be reviewed in three years.

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Wildlife

Arkansas: monarch butterfly sees population rebound

LITTLE ROCK — For the first time in 12 years, eastern monarch populations are up significantly. The overwintering monarch population numbers, released by the World Wildlife Fund in Mexico, show the highest numbers since 2007.

Monarch numbers have been declining since the late 1990s, causing much concern and prompting many conservation groups to take action. This winter, the population saw a 144 percent increase from the previous winter. Researchers think favorable weather during spring and summer breeding season and fall migration period played a role in the increase. There has been a significant effort to conserve monarchs for the last five years in Arkansas and across the U.S., including planting milkweed and nectar plants and reducing the use of herbicides. Perhaps some of these efforts are starting to bear fruit.

The first monarchs began trickling into The Natural State around late March. These first-generation monarchs wore faded and tattered wings as they frantically searched for milkweed to lay their eggs on. First generation monarchs are slowly giving way to second generation monarchs, which will look much fresher and brighter. Some of these butterflies will stay and breed, while others will continue to migrate north. AGFC has been monitoring monarchs using citizen science for the last two years. Data collected are helping biologists understand the timing of migration and where exactly the monarchs are occurring in the state. If you would like to report your observations, the Arkansas Monarch Mapping project can be found on the iNaturalist webpage, https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/arkansas-monarch-mapping-project.

Wildlife

Enter the “Funky Nests in Funky Places” Contest

A puzzling nesting site could earn cool prizes

Ithaca, N.Y.–What prompts birds to build nests where they do? Some of their real estate choices are real head-scratchers. That’s where the Funky Nests in Funky Places challenge comes in. Anyone who finds a bird nest in a creative, quirky location can participate. Entries can be photos, poems, stories, or artwork. Past participants have found nests built on statues, barbecue grills, traffic lights, wind chimes, golf shoes, and–pretty much anywhere. The contest is run by the Celebrate Urban Birds citizen-science project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The entry deadline is June 30. Submit entries at funkynests.org.

Robin nestlings in door wreath
This pretty spring wreath for the door is also an
attractive nesting site for an American Robin. Photo by
Marion Haynes-Weller.

Entries are judged in several categories, including nests that are the funkiest, the cutest, the funniest, and the most inconvenient. Kind-hearted people have given up a favorite or necessary activity while they wait for chicks to fledge from a nest nestled in a pair of golf shoes, a motorcycle helmet, or on a tractor tire!

Participants don’t have to be bird or photography experts. We’re just looking for interesting stories. All ages are welcome to participate as individuals or with a class, community center, or afterschool program. Entries are being accepted from anywhere in the world. Read more

Wildlife

Critically endangered Florida grasshopper sparrows released into wild

Captive-reared Florida grasshopper sparrows are being released on public lands in Osceola County during the coming weeks in an ongoing effort to reverse a near collapse of the species.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners are releasing captive-reared sparrows in an effort to boost the existing population. Current survey counts show fewer than 80 sparrows in the wild.

In recent years, the population of Florida grasshopper sparrows has declined sharply. Extinction in the wild is a very real possibility, and the multi-partner recovery program’s captive breeding and release efforts are part of the strategy to avoid this outcome.

“There’s no time to waste for this charismatic songbird found nowhere else in the world. The sparrow is fighting hard for its existence and so must we,” said Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida. “This release throws a lifeline to the species while agency researchers continue to search for the key to the sparrow’s recovery in the wild.” Read more

Wildlife

May 11 is World Migratory Bird Day

MEMPHIS, Tennessee – May is American Wetlands month and as duck nesting season gets underway across North America, Ducks Unlimited and the rest of the world will celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) on Saturday, May 11.

“Each year, World Migratory Bird Day focuses awareness on conserving migratory birds and their habitats throughout the world,” Ducks Unlimited Chief Operating Officer Nick Wiley said. “The program is dedicated to conservation efforts and environmental education all over the world, including North America, where Ducks Unlimited works every day to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl. DU’s conservation work benefits hundreds of species of migratory birds in addition to waterfowl, including some species whose populations are struggling, especially grassland nesting species in the Northern Great Plains like Baird’s sparrow or Sprague’s pipit.”

The conservation theme for this year’s World Migratory Bird Day is “Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution.”

The accumulation of plastic and plastic pollution has become a threat to birds across the globe. Most plastic is not recycled, but discarded as waste, accumulating in landfills and the environment. Some birds eat plastic debris, mistaking it for food. Read more

Wildlife

Brownell’s Offers Inaugural 4WD Desert Adventure Experience

GRINNELL, Iowa (May 8, 219) – Brownells customers can now experience the overland 4X4 adventure of a lifetime by purchasing a spot in the inaugural Brownells Desert Dash by Yeti Bilt , October 10 through 15.

Starting October 10, Desert Dashers will spend six days with Brownells Adventure Team members Yeti and Yolo roaming the rugged, wild landscape of the Mojave Desert and following a route mapped out exclusively for Brownells.

Along the way, expedition members will spend time honing skills at the Truckhaven 4X4 Training Grounds, encounter the art installations of both Salvation Mountain and the Sculptures of Borrego Springs, and visit the shores of the famous Salton Sea. Read more

Wildlife

Herbicides and Weed Control with Chestnut Hill Outdoors

One of the biggest advantages mast orchards have over food plots is that once established, they require far less effort. But maximizing the growth potential of your trees does require occasional regular maintenance, particularly in the early stages of growth. That maintenance includes reducing competition in the form of grass and weeds that steal water and soil nutrients away from your trees, and it can be done mechanically and chemically. Read more

Wildlife

Utah: Watch Baby Bears and Birds Online Via Livestreams

SALT LAKE CITY — Do you love wildlife? Do you wish you could watch baby animals at any point in the day? If you answered yes to these questions, we have great news for you: Three livestreams were recently posted that allow you to watch a constant feed of baby bears and several bird species, including sandhill cranes incubating an egg that will hatch in late May.

The two baby bears are being housed at the USDA APHIS Predator Research Facility in Millville, Cache County. These 3-month-old female black bears were orphaned and discovered by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists who were tracking collared bears in southern Utah this spring. They were taken to the Predator Research Facility to be cared for and rehabilitated.  Watch the livestream here. Read more

Wildlife

Watch a Red-tailed Hawk Chick Hatch on Camera

On Monday, the first chick hatched in the seventh season of our Red-tailed Hawk live cam. Big Red (the mom) and Arthur (the dad) are feeding meals to the youngsters right now. Watch the amazing close-up highlight of the first chick hatching, one of the fuzzy chick’s first meals the next morningas the second chick starts to hatch, or check in on how the third egg is doing right now.

Watch Cornell Hawks on American Spring Live: This hatching chick starred on Monday’s episode of a three-day PBS Nature series celebrating spring’s arrival. Other segments featured Cornell Lab projects including Bird Cams, Celebrate Urban Birds, and BirdCast. If you missed it, you can still stream American Spring Live from PBS.

Wildlife
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