African Penguins by Paul Mannix

Learn about one of the largest animal rescue operations to ever occur. It saved a total of 40,000 penguins: 20,000 were oiled and the other 20,000 were shipped away.

Dyan deNapoli talks about her experiences during the oil spill which happened on June 23rd, 2000. It happened off the coast of South Africa in between two of the most important African Penguin nesting islands. Towards the beginning of the video, Dyan brings up the german scientist by the name of Silvia Gaus. Silvia said during the Gulf Oil Spill :

Kill don’t clean. The survival rate of oil-soaked birds is under 1 percent. We, therefore, oppose cleaning birds.

I don’t agree with this and neither did Dyan in her presentation. She said:

More than 90% of the oiled penguins were successfully returned to the wild. And we know from follow up studies that they have lived just as long as never oiled penguins and bred nearly as successfully.

Another thing I found interesting in the video was that up to 1000 people a day would show up to volunteer. Ultimately, a total of 12,500 different people volunteered!

I also really liked the quote towards the end of the video by Ryunosuke Satoro:

Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean.

Together we really can make a huge difference.

Common Loon, image from video

Listen to the call of the Common Loon in this video from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The Common Loon is also referred to as the Great Northern Loon or Great Northern Diver. Whatever you call the bird, the sound is the same. The sound of this bird is easily one of my favorites. Such a haunting surreal sound!

Getting closer... by Danny Perez

Hummingbirds can’t live on nectar alone. They also need protein.

According to Gregor Yanega of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina:

Hummingbirds need the equivalent of 300 fruit flies a day to survive.

So how can a bird that specializes in feeding on nectar also catch insects?

While other insect-eating birds such as swifts and nighthawks have a cartilaginous hinge near the base of their beaks, hummingbird beaks are solid bone. Yanega said:

They’re also incredibly thin. This makes their lower beaks stiff yet springy, like a diving board.

So their lower beak can flex up to 25 degrees when it opens. This also widens the base to create a larger surface area to catch insects

When maximally bent, the beak snaps shuts. Yanega said:

Their beaks snap shut in less than a hundredth of a second.

That’s fast! According to Matthew Smith from Cornell University:

The extra speed likely leads to greater success in catching insects.

In the high speed video below, you can see how the lower beak bends and then snaps shut.

This phenomenon is known as snap-buckling. Smith said:

The phenomenon is similar to the opening and closing of a snap hair clip.

Snap-buckling has been observed in plants and insects, but this is the first time is it has been observed in vertebrates.

Mouth to Beak CPR, image from video

A veterinarian gives mouth to beak CPR to save a Bald Eagle.

The Bald Eagle was found in June by two women after it had been hit by a car in Oregon. The bird was brought to Dr Jeff Cooney. Jeff is an associate professor of biology at Central Oregon Community College, as well as a veterinarian specializing in raptor rehabilitation.

The Bald Eagle was under anesthesia for an exam and physical therapy. While under anesthesia, the bird stopped breathing. Jeff springs into action and gave the bird mouth to beak resuscitation.

In the video below, you can see the bird’s chest rise and fall with each breath.

Jeff said:

He has gained 10 percent of his body weight and is eating fish like crazy. His attitude is greatly improved, and he’s starting to act like a normal, rambunctious bald eagle.

Jeff goes on to say that the Bald Eagle is well on his way to recovery and that the bird’s fractured wing and dislocated elbow and wrist are all healing. The dislocated shoulder and his paralyzed right leg are his major problems right now. The next several weeks will determine if the bird can be released or live in a facility where the bird can get a second chance being used for educational purposes.

Good luck!

Kirtlands Warbler USFWS Midwest

In this video, learn about the Kirtland’s Warbler and what is being done to protect it in Wisconsin.

The Kirtland’s Warbler is a North American songbird that nests in young Jack Pine forests. The bird  is found in normally in Michigan and occasionally in northwest Ohio. In 2007, the bird was discovered in Wisconsin.

From the video:

Much of the Wisconsin land that hosts the warbler belongs to Plum Creek Timber Company, one of Wisconsin’s largest private landowners — the birds found enough Jack Pines within a Red Pine plantation to nest.

To me, the most important takeaway from the video is that the Plum Creek Timber Company is working with wildlife experts to create habitat for the birds. I like to see people and organizations working with nature and not against it.

Watch a mesmerizing flock of shorebirds dance in this video by the Nature Conservancy.

From the videos description:

Migrating shorebirds take flight in Skagit County, Washington at one of the Conservancy’s Farming for Wildlife project sites. Here, farmers are flooding their fields to create new habitat for shorebirds.

I really like the fact that farmers are working with the birds and not against them.

Pied Kingfisher by ian.white1

Being able to hover in mid air, good eyes to locate a fish, and a quick reaction time makes the kingfisher a great hunter. Nature never ceases to amaze me!

Here is a fantastic video about the Starlings at an RSPB reserve called Otmoor, near Oxford, England.

YouTube user Dylan Winter narrates. He explains how the Otmoor reserve came to be and explains why the starling create such incredible aerial displays.

Towards the end of the video, Dylan says:

And it happens every day, all through the winter, just a couple of miles from my doorstep. How good is that?

Dylan is very lucky to be so close!

Duckling with Blow Dart by Sequim Gazette

A duckling that was shot with a blow dart has been successfully rescued and rehabilitated.

The duckling was shot with a 5 inch blowdart in a pond at Lincoln park in Port Angeles, Washington. The Northwest Raptor and Wildlife Center rescued the bird.

Jaye Moore, the center’s executive director said:

The dart went straight through the duckling’s chest, close to the surface of his skin. He’s clearly in pain and undersized compared to his siblings, who we left with their mom.

After the dart was removed, the duck was released back in Lincoln Park where it was reunited with its family!

In this next video, the duckling is filmed swimming with his mother moments after the realease.

Matthew Randazzo, the center’s president said:

We believe we have identified the weapon of choice as a Terminator Blowgun. We also have received reports of kids and teenagers fishing at Lincoln Park who are intentionally striking ducklings when they cast their fishing lines.

I hope they find who ever did this.

Owl Wood Sculpture by Jason Tennant

Learn about Jason Tennant and his amazing handmade bird scupltures.

Jason uses vintage pieces of American Chestnut trees that he finds on his parcel of land located in the Finger Lakes region of New York. In the video by Etsy below, you can see just how much work goes in to making these beautiful sculptures.

To see more of his work, visit  Jason’s Etsy Shop