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| California Condor |
So small, birds can seem so
vulnerable. And yet these beautiful,
winged, often tuneful descendants of dinosaurs have proven able to cope with
conditions that would baffle or defeat us.
Much like sharks, another ancient
breed, birds survived after dinosaurs and others went extinct and after drastic
environment changes. But, like sharks,
they’re now seriously threatened . . . by humans.
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| Tufted titmouse |
Today, largely unaware of their long
history that includes 150-million-year-old bird fossils, we take birds for
granted. They started out as feathered small,
meat-eating dinosaurs (theropods) with sharp teeth that over time evolved into beaks.
Their
survival, one theory has it, occurred because they were small, could eat a
variety of foods and could fly. But now,
population numbers have declined by around 3 billion birds in North America during
the last 50 years alone. http://tinyurl.com/mr385vxu and http://tinyurl.com/2p9d6tmr
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| Female cardinal |
Given the estimated 11,000 bird species
in the world, it’s impossible to imagine the great variety that must exist
among them. But this look at some of the
birds mentioned lately in the media might suggest the possibilities – and
enhance the respect. There’s much more to say about birds than the common
advice in health and fitness articles – listen to bird song and feel better.
First, back to that concern about how
birds survive major storms. Their
methods are surprising. A large
percentage of birds are migratory, which helps, as does their ability to detect
and “read” air pressure system changes, then react accordingly. http://tinyurl.com/3px7wz2z
However, even in migrating, birds face obstacles,
starting with habitat losses along the way http://tinyurl.com/54dme94m and modern
hazards, like building lights at night, which can attract them and cause fatal
or debilitating window strikes. http://tinyurl.com/sp9c3s2f
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| Pelicans & pouches |
Whether stay-at-homes or travelers,
birds are also affected by temperature changes, particularly severe cold snaps
that can lessen survival rates of new-born hatchlings. One for-instance: cold
kills nsects, so parent birds can only scout up less food for their young.
Then this sadly familiar fact about
birds: As is true in human life, birds too are sometimes the victims of sexism
in science. Male specimen birds have
been found to prevail in 5 respected natural history museums, often accompanied
by denigrating assumptions about female birds that were reached because of
incomplete study. http://tinyurl.com/yezzh2cd
In short, “Half of all birds are
females, yet they have long been overlooked in ornithology.” (And yes, steps are underway to correct this practice of sex-skewing!)
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| Hawk |
I’m not a “birder,” in the usual sense
of the word, but more and more I’m intrigued by news about birds – such as word
that a particular woodpecker may not be extinct after all (http://tinyurl.com/2hxar8k6 ) or that near
New Zealand’s capital, conservation
efforts succeeded in the hatching of kiwi eggs in the wild for “the first time
in living memory.” http://tinyurl.com/2ebhhpy6
Further, I’ve been delighted to learn
that love still actively lives between 2 long-separated macaws in Brazil. For decades now, one bird regularly visits
the other and they commune between the netting that keeps them apart. I challenge you to read their story without
welling up. http://tinyurl.com/2vjbu7yv
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| Chickadee |
Vultures. Did you “Ugh!” at that word alone? Both their looks and their job of
carrion-eating can prompt such reactions.
But read this story and learn how very smart these birds are in pursuing
their scavenging occupation – using their “wide-angle intelligence.” http://tinyurl.com/2y8hvnum
Stale bread with soup: wouldn’t you dip
the bread to make it more palatable?
That’s just what these white parrots also do with their dry, twice-baked
toast and water every day at lunch — and they’re the first known to do
so. (Shades of our tendency to dunk biscotti!)
http://tinyurl.com/mr2jyjax
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| Seabird |
Birds are such varied and fascinating creatures,
we may all be happy about plans to improve on their North American names – to focus
“attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves,” rather
than keeping names with “associations with the past that continue to be
exclusionary and harmful today.”
Starting this year, the re-naming process
will be carried out by the American Ornithological Society, and affect around 150
birds, some now named for racists, slaveholders and others now in disrepute. As the admired writer of the article linked
here says, “If renaming the birds
becomes part of a broad reorientation toward nature itself, it’s a symbolic
gesture that could be the start of saving it all. The birds and us.” http://tinyurl.com/5cys36fs
