A plan to build a marina between Florida's Nassau Sound and Big Talbot Island State Park is a surprise to area locals.
"There's a viewscape coming across that bridge," said Jody Hetchka, co-owner of Kayak Amelia, a business that rents kayaks for quiet, nature-soaked water tours of Big Talbot Island State Park. "You're heading toward the park and see nothing but natural environment - trees and beaches. It's all natural. This would totally destroy the viewscape."
"It's insane, perhaps arrogant, to put it there," said Pat Leary, an area naturalist and conservationist who volunteers in state park efforts. "It's an extremely vulnerable location - it's in a state preserve and an aquatic preserve. And putting that many boats there is a threat to the natural resources of the area."
Many people, including the BEAKS sanctuary just four miles south of the proposed marina location, are concerned with the disturbance of "Bird Island", a popular nesting area and stopover for migrating birds.
Florida has 36 birds on its state Endangered/Threatened/Concern list(PDF). Even the local fishermen are against it. If you'd like to file a complaint, see Jacksonville's website.
Wildlife officials are planning the release of eighteen Puaiohi (Myadestes palmeri) into their native habitat, the Alaka`i Wilderness Area on Kauai. These birds are listed as critically endangered and estimates put the current population at less than 300. In 1995, a partnership was formed between the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and The Peregrine Fund to help save these birds. The first release took place in 1999 and the birds have since been confirmed breeding in the wild. In 2001, the Hawaiian Endangered Bird Conservation Program composed a five-year workplan and breeding operations were passed from The Peregrine Fund to the Zoological Society of San Diego.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service plans on reintroducing the endangered Northern Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis septentrionalis) to southern New Mexico, releasing up to 150 birds per year for ten years. Environmental groups such as Forest Guardians say this only feeds into oil and gas companies since the USFWS is designating the release as a "nonessential experimental population", allowing the falcon to be stripped of nearly all Endangered Species Act protections.
The Peregrine Fund is working hard on restoration efforts. They have been successful in Texas with the help of the Safe harbor Agreement, but the Northern Aplomado Falcon population is still struggling in New Mexico because of Safe Harbor exceptions.
In 1990, a homeless street musician by the name of Mark Bittner found himself being drawn in by a flock of 26 wild conures that inhabited San Francisco's Telegraph Hill. It started with a little curiosity, but with time and patience, Mark found the birds eating out of his hands. When he first noticed them in 1990, there were 26 birds, mostly Cherry-Headed Conures (Aratinga erythrogenys), but as breeding seasons passed, the flock grew, to an estimated 160 today.
Mark documented his experiences through the years and in January 2004, his story was told when "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" was published. And today, after four and a half years of painstaking filming, the movie version hits the theaters. Make sure to check out the trailer.
A pair of birdnappers were partially successful in their attempt to steal eight birds from the Newport Aquarium near Cincinnati, OH. The "Hidden Treasures of the Rainforest Islands" exhibit allows people to feed free-flying birds. The couple seduced eight of the birds and stashed them in their oversized coats and proceeded to leave. On their way out, a pair of lorikeets escaped in the gift shop, tipping off aquarium staff. The couple managed to take off with four Green-Naped Lorikeets, a Forsten's Lorikeet, and the endangered Chattering Lory.
The two people got away, but not before the security cameras got a good shot of them. The police managed to track down their residence. About the same time, aquarium biologists realized there was an exotic bird show nearby and decided to make a visit. Sure enough, the culprits were there. Police confronted them and they admitted to stealing the birds. After a visit to their residence, the birds were safely recovered.
It's breeding time for the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata), one of the world's ten most endangered birds. There's an estimated thirty to thirty-five birds left in the wild. A captive breeding program was set up over thirty years ago in Puerto Rico and the population hit its lowest point in 1975, with only thirteen birds being recorded. Since then, conservation efforts have been moderately successful, and in 2000 forty birds were released back into the wild. Another release is planned for next year to establish a second population in the island's western Rio Abajo forest.
It was announced earlier this week that birds aren't so...birdbrained after all. An international consortium led by neurobiologist Erich Jarvis of Duke University determined that avian brains are less primitive and more mammalian than originally thought. The previous system, developed in the 19th century by Ludwig Edinger, suggested that the avian brain was mostly capable of primative and instinctive behaior. But with the recent discoveries, it has been shown that birds are much more intelligent than that and now scientists are proposing sweeping changes(PDF) to the nomenclature of bird neurosystems to define the true power(PDF) of the avian brain.
NPR's Day to Day has an excellent audio program talking about the recent study. PBS's "Bird Brains" gives great examples as to how smart birds can be.
The California Fish and Game Commission rejected a recommendation — by its own biologists — to temporarily extend endangered-species status to the Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor). Their evaluation cited a 2003 report that stated the bird is "North America's most rapidly declining songbird."
The Department of Fish and Game scientists endorsed an April 2004 petition(PDF) by the Center for Biological Diversity to make the Tricolored Blackbird a candidate for the state's endangered species list, which would have granted the blackbird protection while the year-long study was conducted.
But farmers and landowners opposed the petition, stating that there was insufficient evidence to show that numbers were reaching a critical point. They believed that voluntary conservation efforts were sufficient. And, unfortunately, the Fish and Game Commission sided with them.
The Tricolored Blackbird is on the Audbon WatchList, where numbers are estimated at 233,000. It is critical that the state moves to protect the Tricolored Blackbird, as California is home to 99% of the population.
In November 2004, UK authorities discovered Daniel Lingham's collection of eggs that he displayed in his home near Norwich, UK. This collection consisted of 3,603 illegally gathered eggs, 226 from rare species protected by the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act. He recently pleaded guilty to seven charges filed against him. He has also been blamed for wiping out an entire population of Nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus) in Alderford Common, a reserve in Norfolk.
