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This healthy, 1-year-old male offspring of a rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager is the first-ever documented hybrid of its kind. The two species have such divergent nesting preferences that they have been on independent evolutionary trajectories for at least 10 million years—until now. Credit: Stephen Gosser In June of 2020, Stephen Gosser, a self-described "diehard birder," was out in the woods of Western Pennsylvania when he thought he heard the song of the elusive and strikingly beautiful scarlet tanager. The blood-red bird with black wings and tail is a favorite among birders for both its beauty and rarity, as the...

The Department of Homeland Security has requested assistance from the Pentagon to build 270 miles of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to combat drug smuggling, senior U.S. defense officials said. The DHS request arrived at the Department of Defense Wednesday and will take about two weeks to assess its feasibility, the officials said. The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, would not provide any cost estimates.

A federal judge in Washington on Monday denied a request by House Democrats to block President Donald Trump from transferring funds from appropriated accounts to construct his wall. Judge Trevor McFadden said the House lacks standing to bring the challenge and also he does not believe the court should step into the fight between the President and Congress. "The Court declines to take sides in this fight between the House and the President," McFadden wrote.

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Those of you who are regular visitors to this blog know that I have been supportive of the Minutemen and have praised their peaceful yet effective efforts in closing down the 23 mile stretch of the Arizona/Mexico border that they patrolled in April. The Washington Times has a column today by Jerry Seper in which he reports that a new effort to keep border enforcement in the area to a minimum because increase in apprehensions there would prove the effectiveness of Minuteman volunteers. More than a dozen agents, all of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retribution,...