birds

It was nature at its most primal atop the Brandywine Building in downtown Wilmington last week -- avian conflict, beak and claw. Viewers of the peregrine falcon webcam that's been perched with a look inside the nest for the last month have gotten an eyeful in recent days, with a new pair of falcons apparently bonding and preparing to mate. And scientists also have reported the death of the previous resident female falcon, though they're not sure when she died or the cause.  

"To me, it symbolizes the fight to survive," said Tom Stehn, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who's studied them for nearly 30 years. There are about 400 wild whooping cranes in the world, and biologists had feared that number would drop further this winter after last year's record 23 Texas deaths. Even though the birds fared better than expected - only one died this winter - the cranes face many obstacles to survive as a species.

To me, it symbolizes the fight to survive   -Tom Stehn

 

The New Mexico Department of Health and the New Mexico Livestock Board in a news release are urging families to avoid potential exposure to Salmonella by not giving baby chicks and ducklings to children as Easter gifts. "In the last four years, New Mexico has had 15 Salmonella cases related to baby chicks," the release states. "Many of the cases were in young children.  

Animal activists and environmentalists of Gujarat's Jamnagar observed World House Sparrow Day on Saturday to create awareness about their declining population. Initiated by a voluntary organization "Nature Club,' the day was observed by distributing around 50,000 artificial nests to the local residents. Suresh Bhatt, Chief of Nature Club, said that due to the increasing pollution and human interference the population of house sparrows is decreasing at an alarming rate.  

The Caracara is a jack-of-all-trades. It spends much of its life on the ground chasing snakes, lizards, and any other critter it can catch and swallow. The Caracara is also capable of spectacular aerial maneuvers in pursuit of its prey.  

If the arrival of spring signals a time of birth and renewal, springtime came a day early to the New River Gorge on Friday, when the first offspring from the first documented bald eagle nest in Southern West Virginia were seen for the first time. From a cliffside vantage point a quarter mile away, a downy pair of newly hatched eagle chicks could be seen wobbling their way around the nest and being beak-fed bits of prey by their mother. Their father could be seen standing sentry on a nearby limb, or hunt

I was taking my dog out for a walk at the falls when I saw two eagles sitting on a branch   -Jim Phillips

 

Life was a lot easier for Tennessee's cavity-nesting birds before so many woodlands were cleared and so many people developed a dislike for the not-so-neat look of dead trees and dead branches on their property. The shortage of soft dead wood suitable for nest cavities in most urban and suburban areas is only the first problem. The second problem is non-native, cavity-nesting European starlings (they spread into Tennessee around 1921) that outcompete native species for scarce natural nest cavities.  

A bird on the water might look like a duck and swim like a duck, but that doesn't mean it's a duck. A handful of common water birds are often confused with ducks, but they actually belong to other groups of waterfowl. Here's a look at five such impostors.  

Jekyll Island's popular fall birding festival has outgrown the all-volunteer board that once ran it. Rather than having it take flight, the state park's governing authority is taking over the festival and hired a staff to run it. The Jekyll Island Authority will put on the 2010 Georgia Coast Birding & Nature Festival Oct. 7-10.

This is the only event we hold that celebrates birding and nature   -Eric Garvey