• Animals

Trump Takes Aim at Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Reduces Protections for Nations Birds

• birds
• Department of Interior
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act
• rollback

On Friday, the Trump administration moved another step closer to cutting federal protections for birds despite opposition from conservation groups and experts. Former federal officials have come forward to say that cuts will severely endanger the U.S. bird population.

Why This Matters: There are approximately 7 billion birds in North America. Harmful industrial practices in the U.S. kill an estimated 450 million to 1.1 billion birds each year in the U.S., according to estimates by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

• Politics

New Study Finds Species In Crisis Are “Clustered”

• Arctic
• birds
• extinction
• mammals
• marine mammals
• reptiles
• wildife

A study published last week in the journal Nature provides a new view on the extinction crisis — that most of the planet’s species are not in decline and the ones that are in deep trouble are “clustered.” 

Why This Matters:  Is the glass half empty or half full? It all depends on how you look at it. These scientists argue that “the way global averages were being estimated could be strongly influenced by a small number of populations that were experiencing extreme declines, even if most were stable.”

• Animals

Do Animals (Besides Us) Vote For Their Leaders?

• Bees
• birds
• election
• endangered
• extinction
• honeybees
• pollination

We humans aren’t the only ones who have devised democratic methods for electing leaders. As our count for the presidential winner continues, the Guardian explains how other species “vote” for leaders that can make or break their survival. 

Why This Matters:  We need to ensure 30% of the planet is protected by 2030 because the human-induced imbalances in the natural world are impacting waggling honeybees and soaring birds, among other species.

• Animals

Climate Change Kills Thousands of Birds in the Southwest

• biodiversity
• birds
• migratory birds

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Contributing Writer On Sunday, journalist Austin Fisher stumbled on a horrifying sight: hundreds of bird carcasses scattered across the hiking path. This isn’t an isolated incident; thousands of migrating birds have inexplicably dropped dead, falling out of the sky into nature reserves, golf courses, and driveways across the southwestern US. The […]

• Politics

Judge Invalidates Trump Bird Rule Rollback Quoting “To Kill A Mockingbird”

• birds
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act
• To Kill A Mockingbird

In what The Washington Post characterized as a “blistering ruling,” federal Judge Valerie Caproni threw out the Trump Administration’s interpretation of the terms “killings” and “takings” under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, saying that the Trump Administration viewed the Treaty too narrowly.  The Trump Administration rule required that the birds be intentionally and specifically targeted […]

• Animals

One Cool Thing: Border Collies Help Relocate Birds from VA Construction Project

• birds
• Chesapeake Bay
• migratory birds
• Virginia

As Chesapeake Bay Magazine recently wrote, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project needs to encourage birds that used to build nests on part of the connector to move to a new site. To make sure they don’t come back, the project has brought in a pack of working dogs to get the job done–border collies […]