Salem-News.com Birds articles Page 4

National Ban on Lead-based Ammunition, Fishing Tackle Sought to End Wildlife Poisoning

Lead Still a Potent Killer of Millions of Wild Birds, Health Risk for Humans.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - A coalition of conservation, hunting and veterinary groups today filed a formal petition with the Environmental Protection Agency requesting a ban on the use of toxic lead in hunting ammunition and fishing tackle.

Chimango Caracara, Milvago Chimango, Chimango

The several subspecies of chimango caracara occur throughout much of southern South America and are found in parts of Chile.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - The chimango caracara is actually a falcon. Despite its great numbers, little is known of this raptor which is a common in southern South America.

It seems to take a similar niche to the Oregon crow, opportunistically eating carrion alongside roads, gleaning scraps near garbage dumps and following plows. It also consumes worms, insects and their larvae, small birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Many Gulf Spill Cleanup Efforts Ineffective and Harming, not Helping Birds

New Report and Recommendations Issued Today by American Bird Conservancy.

(WASHINGTON D..C.) - A new report shows how some of BP’s oil spill cleanup efforts are actually causing harm to birds and their habitats rather than helping them, that cleanup vessels are inadequate and operating in the wrong locations, and that deployed boom has failed to protect some important bird colonies from oil.

The Black -Faced Ibis, Bandurria, Theristicus Melanopis

Within my barrio and around the pueblo, are various bands that tend to sleep in the same roosting spots every night.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - For me, the bird that symbolizes Patagonia is not my old nemesis the tero - who tried to spoil my pea crop last spring - but the goose-sized bandurria, or black faced ibis.

Morning and evening the plastic horn honk of the bandurrias tells me when it is time for their ritual gathering. A band of 26 roosts across the road in the bosque and they announce their intentions loudly.

A Gothic Bird Story

The Black Vulture, Jote de Cabeza Negra, Coragyps atratus.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - “The important thing to remember about the Deepwater Horizon disaster is that it is environmental, not economic.” Joe Mysak, Bloomberg News.

Today, we have sad news of the first proof of oil migrating into the food chain. Harriet Perry of the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s Center for Fisheries Research and Development reports evidence of oil in post-larval blue crabs contaminated from oil drifting into the coastal marshes.

Mating Peacock Drawing Gunfire in Eastern Oregon

Peacock Problems in Central Oregon are not what you call an everyday situation.

(BEND, Ore.) - One really buff and sexually charged peacock near Bend, Oregon, has been causing a real fuss; the bird belongs to a local resident named Joy Graves.

She hasn't been able to nab the extremely striking bird, and some gun toting residents decided they want to shoot it.

By Many Names, Still the Same Egret

Ardea ibis Linnaeus, 1758, Ardeola ibis, Bubulcus bubulcus, Buphus coromandus, Cancroma coromanda, Egretta ibis (Linnaeus, 1758) & Lepterodatis ibis (Linnaeus, 1758)

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - The Ardeola ibis is actually a type of heron, but unlike most herons, it can be found away from water.

Commonly called the cattle egret, it is familiar from wildlife documentaries hitching a ride, and a lunch, on the back of a rhinoceros. Since a mere 150 years ago, it has expanded widely from its original range, and is now familiar to most of us.

Alliance for Zero Extinction and the Convention on Biological Diversity Join Forces

The United States participated in the treaty’s development but has not ratified it.

(WASHINGTON D.C .) - Two of the world’s premier institutions promoting biodiversity conservation are entering into a partnership through a new cooperative agreement to prevent species extinctions and maintain ecosystems and habitats at key sites for endangered species.

The Convention on Biological Diversity is the international legal instrument adopted in 1992 to sustain the diversity of life on Earth.

Peruvian Government Ramps up Habitat Protection for Endangered Bird Species

Three New Private Conservation Areas Approved.

(WASHINGTON D,C.) - The Peruvian government has announced the creation of several new conservation areas that will have significant ramifications in the ongoing efforts to protect habitat for endangered bird species in the country.

The Peruvian Minister of the Environment, Antonia José Brack Egg, recently announced his government’s approval of three new, community-owned, private conservation areas encompassing 8,438 acres on community owned lands to protect Polylepis forest in the Vilcanota Mountains of southeastern Peru, near Cusco.

Birds and Flying Dinosaurs

Continual reports of new dinosaur fossil discoveries appear in Argentine newspapers to this day.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - There is a restaurant on Calle San Martin in El Bolson named after Martin Shefflield. This Texan gained fame by becoming the first sheriff of El Bolson, for shooting the heels off of ladies shoes, and for inducing the famous scientist Dr. Clemente Onelli to help finance a search for live dinosaurs.

Sheffield may have been nothing more than a self-serving pseudo-scientific adventurer, but his efforts have left a permanent mark on Patagonia.