Archive for the "Birds" Category

  • Leading the Bioblitz

    Dr. Pimm is taking a leading role in this year's Bioblitz. According to Wikipedia, a Bioblitz is "a special type of field study, where a group of scientists and volunteers conduct an intensive 24-hour (or 48 hour) biological inventory, attempting to identify and record all species of living organisms in a given area." Stuart led the birding contingent for a Bioblitz in Indiana in 2009. (Read the blog posts about the 2009 bioblitz, in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.)

  • Suit Seeks to Protect 70,000 Additional Acres for Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

    WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and Florida Biodiversity Project filed suit today to obtain a larger protected area for the highly endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow by reversing a Bush-era decision that struck down 70,000 acres of critical habitat identified by scientists as essential for the survival of the rare songbird. The lawsuit is part of a larger campaign on the part of the Center to undo a slew of decisions by the Bush administration that ignored the government’s own scientists and weakened protections for endangered species. More

  • Birding at the BioBlitz with Stuart Pimm

  • Conservation success in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!!

    It's one of those rare days. One where you can read conservation news and NOT hear something depressing. A hugely important and strategic piece of land has been purchased in Rio de Janeiro, purely for the environment. It will reconnect one of the most important protected areas on the planet, União Biological Reserve, to nearby tropical rainforest, ending a decades long isolation. This is hugely exciting for me! I identified this piece of land early in my research career (I think in 2000) as probably THE most important place for bird conservation in all of the Americas. Luckily there were many

  • Kill the Cat That Kills the Bird?

    Last summer, even as he talked about facing jail time, Jim Stevenson couldn’t stop looking for birds. “There’s a couple yellow-crowned night herons,” he said, pointing out his living-room window. “They roost in that chinaberry tree.” He rested his eyes on the blue-gray birds. “Anyway, the cops pulled me over and searched my van and found the gun, and —” New York Times Magazine

  • FWS Tacitly Accepts Massive Damage to Everglades

    Stuart L. Pimm Background Since 1993, water managers have dumped historically unprecedented amounts of water into the western part of the Everglades — and not the East, which is the natural flow path. In doing so, they have destroyed the natural vegetation over nearly 1000 square kilometers in the West, leaving the eastern Everglades too dry and prone to fire. What has limited their ability to do more damage, has been the Federally listed Cape Sable sparrow. In the past, FWS has made it clear that the western populations of this bird were essential to its survival. Indeed,

  • Discussion Forum in BirdLife International

    Recent paper by the PimmGroup started a discussion forum in BirdLife International. Follow it

  • The Search for the Grey-winged Cotinga

    All adventures end at precisely the same point. Thirty seconds into the hot shower, a stream of dirty water runs down the drain. It takes with it the mud, changing skin color from blotchy grey to pink, uncovers the until-now forgotten scrapes and cuts, and exterminates the thriving ecosystem of bacteria and fungi, each with its own distinct and pungent smell, to which one's skin had been playing host. This is exactly when one has the first dangerous notion that the last days or weeks might have been fun. Most adventures start the same way - packing one's gear and heading to the airport.