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Birds in the News
T40cfr403:
Another great story - rock climbers find a peregrine falcon nest in Georgia, the first one in 80 years!!! :)
http://onlineathens.com/sports/2015-05-15/falcons-nest-wild-first-time-nearly-80-years
T40cfr403:
Found this viral video on Neil Rettig Productions' Facebook page. The description of how it was filmed and edited provides some insight into Neil's other work, including "American Eagle."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/an-inside-look-at-a-timeless-battle-squirrel-vs-hawk/2015/04/11/b6e58db8-ddf9-11e4-a1b8-2ed88bc190d2_story.html
T40cfr403:
Takeaways: recent reports of eagles living more than 30 years in the wild; recent report of older nestlings surviving falls from their nests.
Bald eaglet banding in Kansas. I was rooting for the eaglets the whole way!!!
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article21191127.html
Interesting side note in the story is that the adult male eagle is at least 31 years old and still going strong. Take that with a previous posting ( http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3726929-raptors-banded-duluths-evans-set-longevity-record ) about a 33+ year old bald eagle, and we may have to raise the limit a bit on how long bald eagles can live in the wild.
Accompanying the Kansas banding story was another link that has captioned photos only.
http://www.kansas.com/sports/outdoors/article21187545.html
As you arrow through the photos, there are a couple of shots of an 8-10 week old eaglet that jumped from its nest and lived to tell about it. Again, take that with a previous posting ( http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/volunteers-unite-to-return-fallen-eaglet-to-nest/33045372 ) about an 8 week old California eaglet that survived an 80 foot fall from its nest, and we might be comforted to know that eaglets who haven't fledged yet may instinctively know how to soar and make a soft landing!!!! ;)
T40cfr403:
We're not winning the war against eagle poachers. :'(
http://kuow.org/post/fighting-eagle-poaching-when-single-feather-goes-500
T40cfr403:
This could be huge! Finally, other commercial arenas that "take" migratory birds will be regulated with permits that have "teeth" to punish and require mitigation. Those sectors include the following:
Oil, gas, and wastewater disposal pits can entrap birds that are attracted to a perceived source of water. Birds that land on or fall into the pit become covered with oil and may ultimately die from drowning, exhaustion, exposure, or effects of ingested oil. Closed containment systems or properly maintained netting prevents birds from entering these sites.
Methane or other gas burner pipes at oil production sites and other locations provide a hazard to birds from burning, entrapment in pipes or vents, or direct mortality from flame flare. Removing perches, installing perch deterrents, and covering pipes and other small openings can minimize this take.
Communication towers can have a significant impact on birds, especially birds migrating at night. Using recommended tower-siting practices and design features such as appropriate lighting, shorter tower heights, and eliminating or reducing the use of guy wires can minimize bird take caused by collisions with these structures.
Electric transmission and distribution lines impact a variety of birds through electrocution and collision. To reduce electrocutions, poles can be made avian-safe through pole and equipment design or through post-construction retrofitting measures. Collisions are best minimized through appropriate siting considerations.
They may also reconsider the rules that are in place now, such as they are, for the wind energy generation sector.
Here's the link to the USFWS Notice of Intent: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/05/26/2015-12666/migratory-bird-permits-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement
It will be published in the Federal Register on May 26, 2015, with a 60-day comment period. This is still a long ways from actually issuing permits to any of these sectors, but it's a start and deserves our attention now, in its earliest stages of development. You can bet the affected industry sectors will be commenting. Birds can't without our help.
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