Talk about

[maertha]

White-tailed Eagles were spotted for the first time at Chilika Lagoon (India) during the annual bird census. Chilika is the country´s largest brackish water lagoon and also the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on the sub-continent.
Read more: http://www.panasiabiz.com/5222/migrator ... -increase/

Info Chilika Lake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilika_Lake

[maertha]

"They've cracked it! Police can now detect fingerprints on eggs and feathers in breakthrough method to combat wildlife crime". Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z3OolHNQIW
The study "An investigation into the detection of latent marks on the feathers and eggs of birds of prey" has been published in the journal Science & Justice, 5 January 2015. Authors: Helen McMorris. Kevin Farrugia and Dennis Gentles http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 0614001695

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  Picture of an arch fingerprint pattern. Public domain

[maertha]

Interesting photo, taken by Jan Hofman in the Nationaal Park Lauwersmeer/Netherlands
http://www.rtvnoord.nl/groningeninbeeld ... p?id=10291

Information about the park: http://www.np-lauwersmeer.nl/documents/home.xml?lang=en

[maertha]

"Nature TV" too expensive – Staatsbosbeheer provides only two Dutch wildlife web cams in 2015

One of the cameras was installed again at an Eagle Owl nesting site. The second place will be announced in the coming weeks. Last year four cameras were available as part of the projcet “Follow the Eagle Owl/the White-tailed Eagle/the Fox/the Beaver”.

The new Eagle Owl season started yesterday: Volg de Oehoe http://www.volgdeoehoe.nl/


Published by Staatsbosbeheer, 19 January 2015

[maertha]

Hungarian Raptor Count 2015

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  By Alumnos de la UPC (Fotografía propia) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) via Wikimedia Commons

Click here to see the distribution maps of White-tailed Eagles and other birds of prey.

[maertha]

Hungarian Raptor Count: Species information

• White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) http://www.arkive.org/white-tailed-eagl ... albicilla/
• Imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) http://www.arkive.org/imperial-eagle/aquila-heliaca/
• Greater spotted eagle (Aquila clanga) http://www.arkive.org/greater-spotted-e ... la-clanga/
• Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) http://www.arkive.org/golden-eagle/aquila-chrysaetos/
• Saker falcon (Falco cherrug) http://www.arkive.org/saker-falcon/falco-cherrug/
• Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) http://www.arkive.org/peregrine-falcon/ ... eregrinus/
• Rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus) http://www.arkive.org/rough-legged-hawk/buteo-lagopus/
• Northern harrier (Circus cyaneus) http://www.arkive.org/northern-harrier/circus-cyaneus/

About ARKive: “With the help of the world’s best wildlife filmmakers and photographers, conservationists and scientists, we are creating an awe-inspiring record of life on Earth.”
Learn more: http://www.arkive.org/

[maertha]

Bird-to-bird blood transfusion saved the life of an Estonian sea eagle

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  By Conty (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Blood transfusions between organisms aren’t a rarity as they are used on a daily basis in human and animal medicine, but it is the first time in Estonia for it to be done on birds."
Read more: Estonian University of Life Sciences, 27 January 2015 https://www.emu.ee/en/about-the-univers ... gles-life/

Video available at Estonian Nature Tours http://estoniannature.blogspot.de/2015/ ... blood.html

[maertha]

The Swedish hunter who killed a White-tailed Eagle a while ago was now sentenced to ten month in jail. But, strangely enough, the Court of Aalborg has acquitted him of the charge of animal cruelty. The video in this article shows the brutal scene in which the man tortures the bird. Warning: Graphic content http://norrteljetidning.se/nyheter/nyhe ... l-fangelse

See also Wildlife Crime/doc. 115: Hunter accused of poaching, animal cruelty. Sweden, November 2014 viewtopic.php?f=46&t=241&start=100

[maertha]

Interesting book by the award-winning journalist John Pickrell: Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds

"The discovery of the first feathered dinosaur in China in 1996 sent shockwaves through the palaeontological world. Were the feathers part of a complex mating ritual, or a stepping stone in the evolution of flight? And just how closely related is T. rex to a chicken?" Read more: http://flyingdinosaurs.net/

Additional information:

• Are Birds Really Dinosaurs? Dinosaur-bird controversy explained (University of California, Berkeley) http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html
• Siberian Discovery Suggests Almost All Dinosaurs Were Feathered (National Geographic) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... s-science/

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  By Sam / Olai Ose / Skjaervoy from Zhangjiagang, China (Dinosaurs!)
  [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

[maertha]

Update on Sona, the eaglet who was pushed out of the nest by another eagle last year. She survived and is doing well. According to the article, her name means “lucky” in Gaelic. Read more https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... ppearance/

You can find the video footage of her adventure here, see July 10th: viewtopic.php?f=46&t=236&start=140

[maertha]

The new White-tailed Eagle season has started. Cam and info: http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/

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  Screenshot: maertha/Latvian Fund for Nature/www.dabasdati.lv http://www.ldf.ev

[maertha]

Bald Eagles come to the Big Apple

“For the first time, the once-endangered bird is nesting in New York City.” Source: Audubon.org. By Jesse Greenspan, 30 January 2015
Read more: http://www.audubon.org/news/bald-eagles-come-big-apple

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  Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service/Mike Lockhart, public domain

[maertha]

“Isn’t it time for a global celebration of science and humanity?

Together, we can create an officially recognized holiday that will inspire people throughout the world to reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity and hunger for truth as embodied in Charles Darwin.” International Darwin Day, 12 February. Read more: http://darwinday.org/about/

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  Portrait of Charles Darwin (late 1830s) by George Richmond and Darwin's finches or Galapagos finches, by John Gould (1804 - 1881), public domain

• Websites, books, videos, documentaries and dramas http://darwinday.org/educate/
• Darwin online. The world's largest and most widely used resource on Darwin http://darwin-online.org.uk/

[maertha]

Sea Eagles

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  By Richard Crossley (Richard Crossley)
  [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• White-tailed eagle (H. albicilla) http://www.arkive.org/white-tailed-eagl ... albicilla/
• Bald eagle (H. leucocephalus) http://www.arkive.org/bald-eagle/haliae ... ocephalus/
• White-bellied sea eagle (H. leucogaster) http://www.arkive.org/white-bellied-sea ... ucogaster/
• Steller's sea eagle (H. pelagicus) http://www.arkive.org/stellers-sea-eagl ... pelagicus/

[maertha]

• Sanford's sea eagle (H. sanfordi) http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/specie ... hp?id=3360
• African fish eagle (H. vocifer) http://www.arkive.org/african-fish-eagl ... s-vocifer/
• Madagascan fish eagle (H. vociferoides) http://www.arkive.org/madagascar-fish-e ... iferoides/
• Pallas's fish eagle(H. leucoryphus) http://www.arkive.org/pallass-fish-eagl ... ucoryphus/

[maertha]

St. Valentine´s Day? It´s all about birds …

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  Screenshot: maertha/Latvian Fund for Nature/www.dabasdati.lv http://www.ldf.ev

In the Valentine's Day classic “The Parliament of Fowls”, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, three male eagles try to become the mate of a female eagle. Read more: http://omacl.org/Parliament/
Audio: (“Read in modern English pronunciation, for maximum understanding, and with funny voices, because the characters are birds.”) https://archive.org/details/ParliamentFowls

[maertha]

On the function of fresh green nest material

Some hypotheses: Green plant material in avian nests, Dubiec, Anna; Góźdź, Iga; Mazgajski, Tomasz D., abstract here http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/s ... 2/art00006

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  maertha/Latvian Fund for Nature/www.dabasdati.lv http://www.ldf.ev

• The Use of Green Plant Material in Bird Nests to Avoid Ectoparasites, Peter H. Wimberger (PDF available via Google)
• Why Does a Hawk Build with Green Nesting Material? Abstract: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1656/045.020.0202
• Green plant material versus ectoparasites in nests of Bonelli’s eagle. D. Ontiveros, J. Caro & J. M. Pleguezuelos, Universidad de Granada (PDF available via Google)

[maertha]

Breeding and Reproduction of the White-tailed Eagle

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  Photo: maertha/Looduskalender WtE cam

• General information on the White-tailed Eagle in Europe/breeding and reproduction http://www.europeanraptors.org/raptors/ ... eagle.html
• Nest-site selection, breeding success and diet of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in the Danube Delta, Romania http://www.researchgate.net/publication ... ta_Romania
• WtE breeding behavior on the Island of Mull/UK http://www.white-tailed-sea-eagle.co.uk/breeding.html

[maertha]

Two nests destroyed in Northern Germany in January and February.

Photos
http://www.shz.de/lokales/schleswiger-n ... 42461.html
http://www.kn-online.de/Lokales/Ploen/P ... -zerstoert

Video
http://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig ... st100.html

[maertha]

White-tailed Eagle at the grey seal beach, Vilsandi National Park

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  Photos: maertha/Looduskalender grey seal cam