About Those Birds

I know it’s been a while since I last posted anything. I’ve been extremely busy, but I haven’t forgotten the site! I won’t be able to post anything until mid-May because right now school is really hectic and keeping me very busy. I graduate in four weeks time so I am also rather stressed with everything. I do promise, though, to start posting around mid-May. See you then!

Yesterday, scientists in Australia were able to extract DNA from the egg shells of extinct birds. This is a big step for scientists who want to map out the genome of birds that have gone extinct due to human causes. However, they are not doing to resurrect the birds as that may not even be possible. DNA was extracted from the moa, elephant bird, an Australian owl, and a New Zealand duck species. The team was unable to retrieve DNA from very old specimens (older than 50,000), such as the Genyornis. The moa was a flightless bird that lived in New Zealand and was hunted to extinction by the Maori...

I have to start off by saying that I deeply despise the political arena due to the incessant lying and threatening. I also despise it for their complete lack of scientific knowledge, but love of discussing it. Politicians are not scientists and they hardly ever listen or care to listen to what real scientists say. Anyway, the greater sage grouse, which lives in the plains of the West, is not being listed as an endangered species even though its numbers are very low. At least for now its not receiving protection. However, this decision basically reverses a decision made by the We-Don’t-Really-Care-About-Nature...

The kakapo is a large, nocturnal, flightless parrot that lives in New Zealand. This yellow-green parrot is highly endangered as there are only 124 of them left in the world. Before people moved to the island, the kakapo was just fine roaming the wilderness without the ability to fly. They had no natural land predators, therefore they were never in any danger. Well, when people brought those land animals (cats, rats, stoats), the parrot could not defend itself and the population took a nose dive. There is a recovery program for this species, which is great. The program is a partnership between...

I’ve just finished reading the book A Shadow and a Song: The Race to Save an Endangered Species by Mark Jerome Walters. Here’s the Amazon link. Was that race won? No, it wasn’t. This book chronicled the extinction of the dusky seaside sparrow. That species had such a tiny range, which meant it was extremely specialized. It’s story starts with the building of the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida. However, that wasn’t what started their decline – it was Mosquito Control. Mosquito Control built dikes, which turned the water fresh. Ducks then moved...

Nobody wants to see species go extinct, especially very visible species, like the bald eagle. This list represents some of the best species success stories. I’m sure there are other very good stories, but this is just a short list. Bald Eagle Most everybody knows the story of the bald eagle, but here it is again for good measure. The species numbers dropped from about 500,000 to about 50 pairs. This is due to the extensive spraying of DDT (a pesticide) in the 1950s, which made the eggshells thinner. DDT was banned in 1972 and the bald eagle started to recover. In 2007, it was removed from...

Credit to Flickr user purrboycasey.

In 2007, the large-billed reed warbler was named the world’s least known bird. Recently, researchers discovered breeding pairs in Afghanistan. This is considered the only known range for this unknown warbler. The researchers found the birds in a place called Wakhan Corridor, which is in northeast Afghanistan and has been little affected by war. The researchers were apart of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Sweden’s Gothenburg University. A variety of techniques were used to identify the birds, such as field observations, DNA examples, and specimens. About 20 birds were even caught...

Well, Happy New Year to all my readers! It’s been a while since my last post, but the holidays are quite busy and I was not able to. I’m starting up again, but I still might not be around a computer everyday for a few weeks. I will try to post as much as I can, though. The Heard Museum is really an amazing place to bird. They have everything from grasslands to wetlands and its not out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve been to the sanctuary twice now and have seen a great many species on both occasions. The museum is located in McKinney, Texas and for those not familiar with the...

Credit to Flickr user johndykstraphotography.