This Week in Birding 56

This Week in Birding

The virus that caused the infamous 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic likely sprang from North American wild birds and domestic birds, according to a study by Michael Worobey, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The giant $2.2 billion Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station which officially opened last week in the California desert is the first of its kind, but, according to The Wall Street Journalmight be among the last, in part because of growing evidence that the technology it uses is killing birds.

The government of Albania on January 30th enacted a two-year hunting ban of animals and birds in the country, which lies along a major migratory flyway.

:: A father an son have been charged with poisoning Bald Eagles in Wisconsin

:: A Laysan Albatross named Wisdom is the oldest bird on record in the United States at about 63 years old, and has hatched another healthy-looking chick.

:: Researchers find that a pigeon’s coloration is determined by just three genes

Great posts in birding blogs this week: 

:: From Richard at Nature Travel NetworkTwo Months in Thailand — Asian Fairy Bluebirds

:: From Julie at Nature’s SplendorSuper Sunflower Seeds

:: From Kathleen at BirdworthySnow Break for a Birder

:: From Andrew at Birding DudeThe Conundrum of Identifying Sharp-tailed Sparrows to Subspecies in the Field…

:: From Rick at the ABAOpen Mic: Wader Quest and the Shorebirds of South Africa

:: From Tim at Bird CanadaUnexpected visitor – A Great Grey Owl in the ‘burbs