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[T40cfr403]

This is horrifying news - African vultures may be critically endangered primarily due to deliberate poisoning, including poisoning by elephant and rhino poachers, and are virtually unprotected.

http://phys.org/news/2015-06-african-vultures-declining-critical.html

[T40cfr403]

Barn owls threatened by Africanized bees - a novel solution seems to be working well in Florida.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150619121955.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fbirds+%28Birds+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

[T40cfr403]

Q. Why are seabirds abandoning their ancestral nesting grounds in the Gulf of California?
A. Because of ocean warming and overfishing.

http://phys.org/news/2015-06-seabirds-abandoning-ancestral-grounds-gulf.html

[T40cfr403]

Nation's weather radar network used to track bird migration at night.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150630100609.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fbirds+%28Birds+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

[baziunc]

Nation's weather radar network used to track bird migration at night.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150630100609.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fbirds+%28Birds+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

Thanks, T40.  I have read in a couple of places now about using weather radar to locate large flocks of birds.

[T40cfr403]

Alarming news! Global trends show seabird populations dropped 70 percent since 1950s.

http://phys.org/news/2015-07-global-trends-seabird-populations-percent.html

[T40cfr403]

The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has released a study that will enable ecologists, managers, policy makers, and industry to predict the bird fatalities at a wind facility prior to it being constructed.

The study examined golden eagles as a case study because they are susceptible to collisions with wind turbines in part because of their soaring and hunting behavior.

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4265#.VZ8o7_nQN3F

Here's the research article itself, if you're really into math!

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0130978

[T40cfr403]

"This new dinosaur is one of the closest cousins of Velociraptor, but it looks just like a bird. It's a dinosaur with huge wings made up of quill pen feathers, just like an eagle or a vulture. The movies have it wrong - this is what Velociraptor would have looked like too."

http://phys.org/news/2015-07-feathered-cousin-jurassic-star-unearthed.html

[T40cfr403]

Long-term study of the population biology of the Cooper's hawk has interesting parallels to other raptors.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150716181122.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fbirds+%28Birds+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

[T40cfr403]

Reintroduced Channel Islands eagles thrive on a diet of seabirds and fish.

http://phys.org/news/2015-07-reintroduced-channel-islands-eagles-diet.html

[T40cfr403]

The hunting strategy of the white-tailed eagle closely resembles that of the bald eagle.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150723101024.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fbirds+%28Birds+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

[T40cfr403]

Roosters crow in descending order of their social ranking.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150724081943.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fbirds+%28Birds+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

[baziunc]

That crowing story is a bunch of poppycock, er, cock-a-doodle-do!     

I loved reading that rooster crowing report!  Who knew?!?     Thanks, T40!  

I want a report from you, Bird Obs, after you have checked your roosters' crowing order!   

[omasawyer]

Finally! Some good research to report. Ever heard of the alula feather? I never had, but it's important.

http://phys.org/news/2015-06-small-vortex-wing-elegance-birds.html

T40; fascinating information about the "alula" feather (s); I never heard that word but one of my granddaughters who is a "birdie" showed me more photos of it.  Always great to learn new info here and that is WHY I am here for hours each day; to learn, even at my age 

Thanks T40

[T40cfr403]

This was surprising to me - birds of prey may have a much better sense of smell than previously thought. They have larger olfactory bulbs than, say, songbirds, and have olfactory genes in common with other carnivores/hunters, like alligators. Very interesting.

http://phys.org/news/2015-07-birds-reveals-important-clues-behavior.html

And here's earlier research comparing dinosaur and bird olfactory bulbs. The conclusions were also surprising, namely that birds didn't "lose" their sense of smell as they evolved better vision, which had always been the prevailing theory.

http://phys.org/news/2011-04-birds-inherited-strong-dinosaurs-video.html