Tuesday night, as the sky fills with the temporary stars of fireworks, take notice of what you don’t see: Likely, there won’t be a bird in sight. Birds, like many animals, are (rightly) scared of explosions. At the first sign of incendiary celebration, they’ll fly away.
Using computers to sift through the cacophony of seaside sounds could help conservationists save species.
https://www.insidescience.org/news/sound-recorders-track-seabirds-seashore
The songbirds are used in the pet trade, in no small part because the males sport spectacular tail-feathers during the breeding season. In some places, the bird has become an introduced wild species when pet birds are let loose or escape from their cages.
Lux, one of two rare peregrine falcons born in the Campanile Tower last May, died Tuesday after flying into a glass-enclosed balcony on Evans Hall’s 10th floor, a campus press release announced Wednesday.
http://www.dailycal.org/2017/07/12/baby-peregrine-falcon-dies-flying-evans-hall-balcony/
But claiming the 2017 record in the annual North American Big Year quest to identify the most bird species in a single year on the continent went into a heart-sinking limbo the following morning.
I watched a scrub-jay land in our yard, hop over next to the wall, spread out his wings and stay motionless for several minutes – enough time for me to retrieve my camera and take his picture.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/19/california-scrub-jay-adopts-puzzling-pose/
Most of the remaining birds are found in isolated patches of riparian habitat along rivers in Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Surveys in California during 1986-1987 found only 30-33 pairs remaining in the state, compared with an estimated 15,000 pairs in the late 1800s.
http://scvnews.com/2017/07/20/western-yellow-billed-cuckoos-commentary-by-linda-castro/
The Center for Biological Diversity announced they plan on filing a lawsuit against the California State Parks and Recreation Department to protect the Western Snowy Plover.
Golden and bald eagles are not uncommon sights at Camp Roberts, a California National Guard training base on California's Central Coast. The majestic birds of prey can sometimes be seen soaring over training areas, roads and the Nacimiento River, which runs year-round through the camp.
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/242066/golden-and-bald-eagle-nesting-pairs-call-camp-roberts-home
The Nüwa (Kawaiisu or Paiute) word for California Condor is wukumahazi, pronounced wu-ku-ma-HAZ-i, or sometimes wokid wukumahazi, meaning "chief vulture."
