Like many in the Northland, I maintain bird feeders during the winter. Typically, I begin in October and continue through the cold season. Unless it is very snowy, I cease in April.
Though we feed birds, it is more for our sake. Unless conditions are very brutal, the local birds, so well-adapted to northern seasons, can survive without our handouts.
I think that spotting a Great Blue Heron would be a nice way to start off the New Year. It is such a gorgeous, graceful bird, with soft gray-blue feathering and long legs and an unbelievably long and slender neck. Its bill looks formidably long and sharp.
https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/see-a-blue-heron-this-year-2019
I'm torn as to whether I should keep putting hummingbird food or birdseed out during the winter. Will it keep the birds from migrating? Will it make them dependent on me for their food rather than find it in the wild?
Your average North American can recognize 150 corporate logos without practice or effort, a statistic made especially sad when you consider this same person can’t name most of the trees or birds or insects which make up their world.
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/community/the-endangered-perspective-can-you-name-150-273679/
A new lawsuit soon to be filed accuses the Trump administration of failing to make important decisions on the fates of dozens of species, including two in California: the tri-colored blackbird and the American wolverine.
When America adopted the bald eagle as the national symbol in 1782, the country may have had as many as 100,000 nesting eagles. Soon after, this species began to decline in population due to loss of habitat and outright persecution through poisoning and poaching. Many believed they were a threat to livestock as well as a competitor for game.
In 1940, noticing that the species was "threatened with extinction," Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act, which prohibited killing, selling and possessing the species.
https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/bald-eagles-of-lake-tahoe-a-story-of-triumph/
Citing evidence of a bird hardly anyone ever sees and dealing with permit paperwork they see all too much of, officials supervising the cleanup of the Whittaker-Bermite site said their year-end cleanup target date has now been pushed into 2019.
https://signalscv.com/2019/01/rare-bird-permits-delay-whittaker-cleanup/
It may be hard to imagine that a 4-pound bird could be responsible for igniting a grass fire or causing a power outage to hundreds of customers.
https://kernvalleysun.com/living-on-a-high-wire-to-stay-or-relocate/
While final numbers from the Christmas Bird Count on Saturday are still being tallied, 167 species, including several rare birds, were spotted this year by more than 100 volunteers.
The growing popularity of Joshua Tree National Park may be having an impact on the area’s bird population, retired ranger Joe Zarki said.
http://www.hidesertstar.com/the_desert_trail/news/article_63b13dec-1435-11e9-9d9c-e3e1a837089f.html
