:: New York State’s Mute Swans get a reprieve
:: New research, from the University of Sheffield and University of Bristol, finds an even earlier origin for birds, at least 20 million years before the famous Archaeopteryx
:: Female Brown-headed Cowbirds are better than males at navigating, according to a new study
:: The first New Zealand Storm Petrel egg has been found by scientists
:: Republican Congressman James Langford of Oklahoma, who is running for the U.S. Senate, is worried about the financial, rather than environmental, impact of the Endangered Species Act on his state (especially when it comes to oil and gas development and ranching), particularly concerning the vanishing Lesser Prairie Chicken
:: A murmuration of Starlings is making a mess of a neighborhood in Hereford, England
:: According to France’s Bird Protection League, more than 21,000 sea birds have died since the end of January on the country’s Atlantic coast because of storms, in what the BPL calls the worst “slaughter” in a century.
:: More waterbirds in Michigan than usual are stranded and struggling this exceptionally cold winter
:: An American Airlines plane at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport declared an emergency and returned to the runway after a bird strike on takeoff
:: A remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “The Birds” is under way
Great posts in birding blogs this week:
:: From Laura at Laura’s Birding Blog: Baiting Owls
:: From Kenn at Birding with Kenn and Kimberly: The new Labrador Duck theory: Unlikely
:: From Jennifer at the ABA Blog: Open Mic: 9 Things to Know to Help Save a Species
:: From Amber at Underneath the Canopy: Adventures in the Great White North
:: From Mia at On the Wing Photography: Feeding Habits of Red-breasted Mergansers
:: From Julie at Birding is Fun: Penguins Galore in Antarctica: Part 2