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One hundred million years ago, the sky was filled with birds unlike those seen today, many with long, streamerlike tail feathers. Now, paleontologists have found examples of these paired feathers preserved in exquisite detail in 31 pieces of Cretaceous amber from Myanmar. The rare 3D preservation reveals the feathers’ structure is completely different from that of modern feathers—and hints that they may have been defensive decoys to foil predators. Such tail streamers—in some cases longer than the bodies—have been observed in early bird fossils from China for several decades, in particular, the 125-million-year-old Confuciusornis sanctus. They may also be present...

Born Free USA emphasizes the importance of National Bird Day and lists it as a day to shine a spotlight on issues critical to the protection and survival of birds, both captive and wild. According to Born Free USA, nearly 12 percent of the world’s almost 10,000 bird species are in danger of extinction. Join over half a million avian admirers celebrate National Bird Day through a bevy of activities. •bird-watching •studying birds •educating others •other bird-related activities •A particularly important National Bird Day activity is bird adoption. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper article, many bird enthusiasts celebrate...

News to Note, October 17, 2009: A weekly feature examining news from the biblical viewpoint (fascinating STEM CELL piece in story #5!)...

Freepers, I know we have a lot of bird watchers and book collectors here. I am in search of something I hope you can help me with. I am looking for an early copy of "Our Native Birds of Song and Beauty" by Dr. Henry Nehrling (my great-great grandfather, image below). Most of the copies have been donated to museums but I would like to own a copy. I am taking a wild chance that some of our members may have a lead on this. This is about the only place I know to trust posting this (correctly in chat...

Sikkim is renowned for its natural beauty Three French nationals have been detained in India after they were allegedly caught collecting butterflies, moths and beetles.Forestry officials in the northern state of Sikkim detained the trio on Friday in a Himalayan forest. They were allegedly in possession of 41 insects, contravening the Wildlife Act. The two men and a woman deny theft. They have not been arrested but have been asked to stay in west Sikkim until investigations are over, officials say. Ecology studentsThe three, who are all thought to be in their early 20s, were detained in Budang reserve...

Homosexual storks brood on eggs (and raise young) Spent: 18 May 2006 15.29 last modified: 20 May 2006 17.10 OVERLOON - Three homosexual stork couples in Zoo Parc Overloon are busy in a very modern way. They brood on eggs and look after their young. The European storks formed the couples, two male and a lesbian, on their own. Homosexuality in the animal kingdom is not unheard of, but is usually limited to caressing and imitation fertilization. The gay couples in Overloon have hatched their eggs and are raising their young, which according to the animal parc is very rare....

A hunting lodge with antler chandeliers and stuffed ducks on the walls seems a strange place to celebrate the comeback of the ivory-billed woodpecker, but wildlife officials are doing exactly that. They credit hunters in particular with helping bring the rare bird back from presumed extinction in the Big Woods section of Arkansas. "The people of Arkansas, the hunting and fishing community, conserved these woods," Scott Simon of The Nature Conservancy told reporters on Monday at the Mallard Pointe Lodge, where a coalition of environmentalists, academics and wildlife officials rejoiced in woodpecker's return to the living. Simon said hunters and...

It's splitsville for New York's favorite gay penguins — and one of the lover-birds has taken up with a fetching female. Now, the Central Park Zoo is dealing with a gay-straight love triangle Jerry Springer couldn't dream up. And nobody knows who will lay claim to the pair's adopted chick. The drama started when Silo left Roy, his mate of six years, for Scrappy, a female transplant from SeaWorld who'd never had chicks. "Silo and Roy stopped spending as much time together or building a nest," said John Rowden, the zoo's curator of animals. At first, Silo started hanging out...

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Scientists beware: Don't count your extinct bird species because one of them may hatch. Several supposedly extinct birds have recently been "rediscovered," raising hopes that others not seen for ages may still be taking to the skies. "The real message of rediscoveries is that we didn't look hard enough in the first place," said Nigel Collar of UK-based conservation group BirdLife International. "We think we've explored the planet when we haven't. We have this assumption that we know it all but we don't," he said. The most recent reported rediscovery that has ornithologists in a flap was...

'Extinct' Birds in Comeback But No Hope for Dodo Click to enlarge JOHANNESBURG -- Scientists beware: don't count your extinct bird species because one of them may hatch.Several supposedly extinct birds have recently been "rediscovered," raising hopes that others not seen for ages may still be taking to the skies."The real message of rediscoveries is that we didn't look hard enough in the first place," said Nigel Collar of UK-based conservation group BirdLife International."We think we've explored the planet when we haven't. We have this assumption that we know it all but we don't," he said.The most recent reported rediscovery...

Published: August 2, 2005 The phoenix had nothing on the ivory-billed woodpecker. It is hard to keep track of how many times this near-mythic bird, the largest American woodpecker and a poignant symbol of extinction and disappearing forests, has been lost and then found. Now it is found again. Even the most skeptical ornithologists now agree. They say that newly presented evidence shows that at least two of the birds are living in Arkansas.

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON - The chirp of the chickadee is charming to humans. To other chickadees, it can convey a lot of vital information. When the little black-capped songbird whistles "chick-a-dee-dee" it can warn flock mates to watch out: A predator is near. Christopher N. Templeton and colleagues recorded the chickadee songs, analyzed them by situation, studied the calls on acoustic instruments, and watched the birds react when the songs were played back. The researchers' findings are reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science. "These birds are passing on way more information...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) A chatty songbird thought to have disappeared from the Central Valley 60 years ago has been spotted nesting in a patch of restored habitat along the San Joaquin River. The least Bell's vireo, a little gray songbird that fits in a closed fist, was once widespread in the Central Valley. It disappeared from the area as the riparian habitat it favors was ripped up to make way for development and agriculture. About 90 percent of the valley's historic riverside vegetation has been lost, said Al Donner, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The bird was...

SIDE EFFECTS Emily Dickinson was right: hope is the thing with feathers. What she didn't know was that it lives in an Arkansas swamp and has a big ivory bill. On Thursday, the day that scientists announced the first confirmed sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker in 60 years, I went for a short paddle in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, where the bird was seen. I was with four other people, two from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which had made a major effort to confirm the sighting, and two from the Nature Conservancy, which has been buying land...

CLARENDON, Ark. - About one-quarter of the downtown shops are boarded up. The two factories - a steel basket manufacturer and a shoe company - fled for Mexico about four years ago. Many of the children leave town after graduation. But suddenly there is hope, talk of new motels being built, and a flock of newly printed T-shirts for sale. And the kids, at least the much younger kids, are showing civic pride with a strange multi-colored, moussed-up $25 "woodpecker haircut." And it's all thanks to a bird. Not just any bird, mind you, but an ivory-billed woodpecker. It's a...

BRINKLEY, Ark., April 28 - The ivory-billed woodpecker, a magnificent bird long given up for extinct, has been sighted in the cypress and tupelo swamp of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge here in Arkansas, scientists announced Thursday. Bird experts, government agencies and conservation organizations involved kept the discovery secret for more than a year, while they worked to confirm the discovery and protect the bird's territory. Their announcement on Thursday brought rejoicing among birdwatchers, for whom the ivory bill has long been a holy grail - a creature that has been called the Lord God bird, apparently because that...

Morning Edition, April 28, 2005 · A group of wildlife scientists believe the ivory-billed woodpecker is not extinct. They say they have made seven firm sightings of the bird in central Arkansas. The landmark find caps a search that began more than 60 years ago, after biologists said North America’s largest woodpecker had become extinct in the United States. The large, showy bird is an American legend -- it disappeared when the big bottomland forests of North America were logged, and relentless searches have produced only false alarms. Now, in an intensive year-long search in the Cache River and White...

For 50 years the ivory-billed woodpecker has been widely considered extinct. But the Elvis of the bird-watching world is alive in eastern Arkansas, bird experts announced today. (Watch a video on the discovery from the Nature Conservancy [requires QuickTime].) Ornithologists reported the bird's rediscovery in a remote area of wetland forest. The discovery "is huge, just huge," said Frank Gill, senior ornithologist at the New York City-based National Audubon Society. "It is kind of like finding Elvis." "Through the 20th century it's been every birder's fantasy to catch a glimpse of this bird, however remote the possibility," added John W....

Multiple sightings, video footage show bird survives in vast forested areas Click here to view a video news release. BRINKLEY, Ark. - Long believed to be extinct, a magnificent bird - the ivory-billed woodpecker - has been rediscovered in the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas. More than 60 years after the last confirmed sighting of the species in the United States, a research team today announced that at least one male ivory-bill still survives in vast areas of bottomland swamp forest. Published in the journal Science on its Science Express Web site (April 28, 2005), the findings include multiple sightings...

Leading environmental advocates in Maryland today called for the immediate resignation of Sierra Club's most powerful official in Maryland, citing the official's blatant suppression of scientific data that likely shows a wind farm in western Maryland poses no threat whatsoever to migratory bird populations. Dan Boone, Conservation Chair of the Maryland Sierra Club, has repeatedly refused to release the results of a bird study conducted in Garrett County, Maryland by a team of noted ornithology experts that Boone picked himself. The study data has been available since last spring, but Boone has rebuffed repeated requests by bird advocates and other...