A Little Halloween Love Bird…
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MOTUS A.D. ^
| 10-27-21 | MOTUS
We’re headed off to Ann Arbor at 0700 as Raj has an early hour EMG. If you don’t know what an EMG is consider yourself lucky because as a rule it means you have nerve damage, plus it’s, um, kind of painful. Yuk.So
here’s all I’ve got today: a very cute but holiday, and gender, confused peach faced love bird.First of all, it’s Halloween, bird brain, not Easter; no eggs involved. Secondly, this is Herbert, the peach faced love bird. He’s a boy. For goodness sake, males do not lay eggs. Nor do they have babies. How difficult is this?...
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The dead-bird detective
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theWeek ^
| Feb 5, 2017 | Chris Sweeney
Pepper Trail is the first to admit he has an unusual skill set. Give
him a single feather or a small fragment of a claw or a cooked hunk of breast meat, and he'll tell you the species of bird from which it came. As the world's leading criminal forensic ornithologist, Trail is asked day in and day out to perform these exact tasks. Over the past 18 years he has assisted with hundreds of investigations, testified in federal court 15 times, and handled more bird carcasses than anyone should. "All birders have life lists," Trail says. "I have a...
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Even bird brains respond
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BibleGateway.com ^
| 629 BC to 580 BC | Jeremiah
Jeremiah 8 English Standard Version (ESV) 4 "You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When men fall, do they not rise again? If
one turns away, does he not return? 5 Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. 6 I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, "What have I done?" Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle. 7 Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and...
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Bird flu infects second person in US: What we know
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The Hill ^
| 05/23/2024 | LAUREN IRWIN -
A farmworker in Michigan is the second person to become infected with the current H5N1 bird flu virus. The
farmworker had mild symptoms and has since recovered, local health officials said. According to Michigan’s chief medical executive, Natasha Bagdasarian, the current health risk to the public remains low, but the virus has circulated in dairy and poultry farms across the country this spring. Here’s what we know about the bird flu infections.
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NATIONAL BIRD DAY – January 5
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nationaldaycalendar.com ^
| n/a | n/a
Born Free USA emphasizes the importance of National Bird Day and lists it as a day to shine a spotlight on issues critical to the protection and survival of birds, both captive and wild. According
to Born Free USA, nearly 12 percent of the world’s almost 10,000 bird species are in danger of extinction. Join over half a million avian admirers celebrate National Bird Day through a bevy of activities. •bird-watching •studying birds •educating others •other bird-related activities •A particularly important National Bird Day activity is bird adoption. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper article, many bird enthusiasts celebrate...
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Giving Freepers the Bird
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biggeekdad ^
| 02/27/2018
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How to Stop a Bird-Murdering Cat
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The Atlantic ^
| Dec. 9, 2015 | Conor Gearin
Here’s an alarming but little-known figure—stray cats and pet cats allowed outdoors kill 3.6 million birds every day on average in the United States, for a total of at least 1.3 billion birds per year. That’s
most likely a sizable chunk out of the U.S. land-bird population, which the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center estimates is around 10-20 billion....[snip] But some cat lovers are also bird lovers. Two of them, a birdwatcher named Nancy Brennan and a bird biologist named Susan Willson, have developed what they believe is a solution...
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Big <s>Brother</s> Bird Is Watching You
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American Spectator ^
| Jan 12, 2018 | Daniel J. Flynn
There’s really no reason to join Twitter.f you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever,” George Orwell offered in the first half of the 20th century. He
did not foresee a bird wearing that boot in the new millennium. James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas team exposed the digital skullduggery of Twitter, an online platform built on unfettered expression that now styles itself as the thought police, albeit a secret police guarding the world from impure words. Unfortunately for Twitter, the world now knows their secret. Project Veritas, which better embodies the vision...
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Pandemic 2022: Bird Flu
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American Thinker ^
| 28 Dec, 2021 | Eric Utter
Wuhan Flu COVID-19, Beta Variant, Delta Variant, Lambda Variant, Mu Variant, Omicron Variant…had enough yet? They
just keep coming. And now “experts” are warning that a massive bird flu outbreak could be 2022’s deadly pandemic. Yes, scientists are now saying that a significant outbreak of bird flu in Israel’s Galilee could become a “mass disaster” for human beings, a global emergency. Though most strains of avian flu (H5N1) are not easily transmitted to people, the World Health Organization says the virus is deadly to those it does infect, killing over half of those who contract it. Israeli ornithologist Yossi Leshem...
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Are bird-watchers racist?
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American Thinker ^
| September 26, 2014 | Thomas Lifson
The National Geographic Magazine, a publication heretofore not noted for satirical excellence, has published an article that easily could have appeared in The Onion. In fact, it begins by quoting that satirical publication as an authority. In
Colorful World of Birding Has Conspicuous Lack of People of Color , author Martha Hamilton engages in hand-wringing and navel-gazing (yes, they can be done simultaneously, and for all I know, this might be good exercise) over the relative lack of “people of color” (as opposed to the colorless majority) out looking for exotic avian life. I kid you not: According to the...
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Squirrel-Bird Feeder Prevention 101
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self | 05/23/2015 | self
My Dad's been experimenting with ways to prevent squirrels from accessing his bird feeder. Mounting
it in another place would be too easy. Any other ideas?
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A NEW, DEADLY bird flu is infecting birds in the US and may not go away
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Strange Sounds. Org ^
| April 10, 2022
Some 24 million poultry birds like chicken and turkeys have already been lost, either because they died from the virus or were killed to prevent its spread. But
unlike a similar bird flu outbreak seven years ago, this one is unlikely to just burn itself out. That’s because this particular flu virus seems capable of hanging around in populations of wild birds, which can pass the virus on to poultry farms. While chickens and turkeys with the virus quickly sicken and die, some waterfowl can remain healthy with the virus and carry it long distances. Scientists believe that wild migratory...
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Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird it’s a drone! Its Stealth Girl!
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Michelle Obama's Mirror ^
| 4-6-2015 | MOTUS
Just a quick observation today, as I’m in charge of the potato salad for today’s MOTUS family picnic.Don’t get me wrong, I like Carly Fiorina. A lot! Butt
my inner SD** has been beeping lately, mostly because I don’t trust the GOPe. I think they’ve been secretly backing her, thinking she’d be the perfect running mate for Jeb. You know - give the low-energy white guy a jolt of enthusiasm while simultaneously squashing all that “war on women” talk.And after the now infamous General Soleimani episode with Hugh Hewitt (GOPe selected conservative moderator for the next R-debate), I’m convinced I...
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Bird That Killed Its Owner Now Up for Auction
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Newser ^
| 04-24-2019 | By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff
A Florida wildlife breeder was killed by one of his birds almost two weeks ago—and now that bird is going up for auction. More
than 100 exotic animals from the estate of Marvin Hajos are being sold off after the 75-year-old man was fatally attacked by a 6-foot-tall cassowary at his Alachua County farm. The flightless birds are often called the "world's most dangerous bird" thanks to their "dagger-like" claws that can grow up to 5 inches long. Hajos fell down between two cassowary cages on April 12 and was attacked through the fence by at least one of the...
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Bird Flu Spreads Across US, Egg Prices Soar
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Zubu Brothers ^
| 4-11-2022
A contagious strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza wiped out flocks across the US and killed millions of birds. The
direct effect has been a nasty ripple effect of tight poultry meat and egg supplies, sending retail prices sky-high — adding to record-high food inflation. The latest estimates from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show around 24 million poultry birds like chickens and turkeys have died or been culled due to the virus since February. Bloomberg published a shocking map of the bird flu spreading across the US, covering nearly half of the country. Even though the virus poses...
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A NEW, DEADLY bird flu is infecting birds in the US and may not go away
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Strange Sounds ^
| 4/10/22 | Strange Sounds
A newly arrived bird flu is sweeping through wild bird populations in the United States, and that may mean trouble for poultry farmers who have been doing their best to control this flu outbreak in their flocks. Some
24 million poultry birds like chicken and turkeys have already been lost, either because they died from the virus or were killed to prevent its spread. But unlike a similar bird flu outbreak seven years ago, this one is unlikely to just burn itself out. That’s because this particular flu virus seems capable of hanging around in populations of wild birds, which...
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Why Unprecedented Bird Flu Outbreaks Are Concerning Scientists
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Scientific American ^
| 5-31-22 | Brittney J. Miller
A highly infectious and deadly strain of avian influenza virus has infected tens of millions of poultry birds across Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. But scientists are particularly concerned about the unprecedented spread in wild birds — outbreaks pose a significant risk to vulnerable species, are hard to contain and increase
the opportunity for the virus to spill over into people. Since October, the H5N1 strain has caused nearly 3,000 outbreaks in poultry in dozens of countries. More than 77 million birds have been culled to curb the spread of the virus, which almost always causes severe disease or...
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Bird Flu Spreading as Scientists Look Everywhere for Clues
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NBC and TODAY ^
| May 23, 2015 | Maggie Fox
[The following is an excerpt.] Could
it be blowing from farm to farm in the dirt? Could determined starlings and pigeons be carrying it into poultry houses on their feet? Is it spreading in feed, or being carried on truck tires? Federal agriculture officials are looking everywhere they can think of for H5N2 bird flu, which has spread to poultry flocks in 14 states and killed or forced the slaughter of more than 39 million birds. Highly pathogenic avian influenza has never spread like this before in the United States, and it's flummoxed the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farmers and...
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Bird brains left other dinosaurs behind
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Phys.org ^
| 7/30/2021 | by University of Texas at Austin
Today, being "birdbrained" means forgetting where you left your keys or wallet. But
66 million years ago, it may have meant the difference between life and death—and may help explain why birds are the only dinosaurs left on Earth. Research on a newly discovered bird fossil led by The University of Texas at Austin found that a unique brain shape may be why the ancestors of living birds survived the mass extinction that claimed all other known dinosaurs. "Living birds have brains more complex than any known animals except mammals," said lead investigator Christopher Torres, who conducted the research while...
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How Bird Poop Could Help Keep the Arctic Cool
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www.smithsonianmag.com ^
| November 17, 2016 | By Jason Daley
Researchers have discovered that ammonia produced from tons of seabird guano helps form low lying clouds that can partially block sunlight. The
fight against climate change has led to some strange discoveries: researchers recently found that feeding cows seaweed could reduce the methane content of their burps, others have suggested that dumping iron into the ocean may superpower carbon dioxide-munching phytoplankton, and still others are experimenting with injecting carbon into the ground to turn it into stone. Now, researchers are turning to bird poop. A new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that excrement from our feathered friends...
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