Sea Birds

March, 2010

• 12 March

  Coastal and ocean birds most at risk from global warming

  

  Birds that rely on oceans and live on coastlines are more vulnerable to climate change than birds found in any other habitats in America, according to a new report released Thursday by federal biologists and other researchers. Terns that live on California”s beaches — along with murres, auklets, puffins and …

February, 2010

• 11 February

  Formerly endangered brown pelicans struggle to survive

  

  Two months after being removed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Endangered Service species list, California brown pelicans already find themselves in trouble again. The pesticide DDT isn’t the culprit this time around, and it remains a mystery as to why the seafaring birds are starving to death all along …
• 10 February

  Penguin future looks perkier with marine zone: study

  

  A ban on fishing around a colony of threatened penguins in South Africa has  brought swift benefits to the beleaguered birds, marine biologists reported on Wednesday. The population of the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) fell by 60 percent between 2001 and 2009, driven by a plunge in anchovies and sardines, …
• 3 February

  Lawsuit launched to stop lead poisoning of up to 10,000 Albatross chicks each year on Hawaii’s Midway Island

  

  The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and affiliated agencies for their failure to clean up toxic, lead-based paint at federal facilities on Midway Atoll that kills up to 10,000 Laysan albatross chicks each year and also threatens …
• 1 February

  Waterbirds in mangrove forests under threat

  

  The number of species and the populations of waterbirds in Muara Angke natural conservation area, North Jakarta, have decreased because of water pollution and human encroachment into the area, an environmental organization says. During its annual survey on Saturday, volunteers of Jakarta Green Monster (JGM) found 206 waterbirds, down from …

January, 2010

• 28 January

  Oregon pelicans face starvation

  

  California brown pelicans now stranded along the Oregon Coast are starving by the hundreds and begging for food instead of migrating south in what is seen as a rare and somewhat macabre phenomenon. Dead birds in full mating plumage have washed ashore in Oregon, while hundreds of others are congregating …
• 28 January

  Future bleak for little penguins

  

  Every year, hundreds of tourists visiting remote islands off the Tasmanian coast are enchanted by the site of little penguins – also known as fairy penguins – making their way across the sand dunes after dark towards their burrows. But on Bruny Island, south of Hobart, visitors are just as …
• 21 January

  Rare Northwest seabird still merits protection

  

  A rare seabird that nests in Oregon”s coastal old growth forests still merits federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said today. The agency determined the marbled murrelet is still threatened, which means that limits on logging meant to save the bird”s remaining habitat will likely stay in place. …
• 17 January

  Atlantic puffins may be dying because of worsening conditions within North Sea

  

  A new research has determined that a recent increase in winter mortality in Atlantic puffins could be due to worsening conditions within the North Sea. The research team included scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the British Antarctic Survey and was led by Professor Mike Harris, Emeritus …
• 5 January

  Suit to be filed over delay in protection for penguins hurt by climate change and industrial fisheries

  

  The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network filed a formal notice today that they intend to sue the Obama administration for illegally delaying protection of penguins under the Endangered Species Act. The Department of the Interior failed to meet the December 19, 2009 legal deadline to finalize …

December, 2009

• 4 December

  Island penguin chicks die of starvation

  

  Scientists say early predictions that Phillip Island would have a record number of penguin chicks this season, have proven tragically wrong. Indications in October suggested more chicks would be born than ever before, significantly boosting the species” population. But penguin biologist, Andre Chiaradia, says half of all hatchlings have died …

November, 2009

• 9 November

  Seabird numbers dropping around Iceland

  

  There has been another significant decrease in the numbers some species of cliff birds around Iceland. The situation of some populations, such as puffins and Brunnich’s guillemots, is much worse along the south coast than in the north. Around a quarter of all seabirds in the North Atlantic live, breed …