1. Let's start with news of a study finding birdwatching can reshape the brain (but only if you are an expert): The skills you develop from being a birdwatcher are perfectly suited to boosting your brain, according to Canadian scientists from Baycrest Hospital in Toronto. Their new study reveals that having a keen eye, being able to pay attention for long time periods and having a strong memory are all associated with more years behind the binoculars. And, crucially, honing these skills could literally reorganize the structure of your brain and improve cognition. (via BBC Science Focus)

2. The Musician Wren and the mystery of vanishing birds: The lilting song of the musician wren once commonly heralded sunrise in the central Amazon jungle. But last October it was a rare wonder when the flute-like melody cut through the dawn gloom. “Did you hear that?” whispered Stefano Avilla, an ornithologist and Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) Ph.D. student. “Good ear,” said Jared Wolfe, a Michigan Technological University wildlife ecologist. “This bird is in rapid decline. You don’t hear it very often.” The wren’s appearance was a welcome moment of musical delight in an otherwise grim time. Near the Brazilian city of Manaus and in other tropical forests across the Americas, birds are vanishing from surprising places—expanses of forest untouched by fires, chainsaws, or bulldozers. Many of the species are ones that spend their entire lives in a single patch of trees. This isn’t a case of migratory birds vulnerable to habitat loss as they hopscotch across continents. (via Science)

* For those interested, more on the Musician Wren: Musician Wren - Cyphorhinus arada - via Birds of the World)

By Hap Ellis, American White Pelican - Pelico Preserve, Bradenton, FL.

3. Not sure you would have guessed this - but then "radar flips the question": Migratory birds depend on cities for rest and refueling more than previously thought – presenting risks for the birds and opportunities for conservation,new research from Colorado State University shows. Metropolitan areas – those with 50,000 or more residents – account for nearly half of stopover locations for migrating birds, according to research published in the journal Nature Cities. That means cities play a far greater role in bird migration than scientists once thought. The finding is significant because migratory birds face steep population declines, and migration is one of the most dangerous periods of their lives. (via Colorado State University)

4. The "language of the forest" paired with cutting-edge AI in Hawaii: High in the misty forests of Mauna Loa, a high-tech acoustic network is recording the intricate calls of some of the world’s most endangered species — Hawaiʻi native forest birds. For 21 years, UH Hilo Biology professor Patrick “Pat” Hart, PhD, has dedicated his career to studying these rare and complex vocalizations. For the first time, technological advances in software and hardware have enabled him to capture and quickly process these unique soundscapes in an effort to protect a vanishing species. (via University of Hawaii Hilo)

5. Living the high sugar life (and check out the beautiful New Holland Honeyeater pic): To eat a sugar-filled diet, birds had to evolve some sweet genetic tricks. Birds that feed on nectar and fruits have important variants in genes that control metabolism, fat processing and even blood pressure. Findings published February 26 in Science show how different lineages of birds converged on similar genetic workarounds to let them live the high sugar life. Several groups of birds have evolved to eat these sickeningly sweet diets, including parrots, hummingbirds, honeyeaters and sunbirds. “If [humans] are eating a lot of sugar, then a lot of bad things are happening to us: metabolic syndrome, obesity, type 2 diabetes,” says Ekaterina Osipova, a genomicist at Harvard University. “At the same time, there are birds that naturally solve this problem. They’re feeding on a lot of sugar, but nothing bad happens to them.” (via Science News)

6. Concerning - no safe place to molt for these penguins?: Scientists have discovered that an annual event when Emperor penguins completely shed and regrow their feathers is putting the birds in peril as Antarctica is transformed by a warming world. Each year the birds must stay on platforms of floating ice for long enough to replace weather-beaten feathers with new, waterproof coats. But in 2022-24 Antarctic sea ice shrank significantly, largely down to climate change, depriving the birds of safe places to moult. Now scientists who track the animals using satellite pictures can no longer find most of the birds. They fear that thousands of penguins may have frozen in Antarctica’s icy waters. (via BBC)

By Hap Ellis, Tricolored Heron - Pelico Preserve, Bradenton, FL.

7. Beachgoers, boaters and dog walkers get ready! That time of the year is right around the corner: The beach bird nesting season has begun along Florida’s coasts. Spring and summer mark critical times of year for five vulnerable species, which must avoid human disturbance, storms, and predators to raise their babies successfully. Sea and shorebirds lay their eggs right on the sand. They are scared of people and dogs and will take flight whenever boaters, beachgoers, or dogs approach too closely. Repeated human disturbance often causes adult birds to abandon the nesting area, sometimes even leaving eggs and chicks behind. To limit the amount of human disturbance to nesting birds, Audubon staff close off important nesting areas to people while the state-Threatened birds, such as Least Terns, American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, Wilson’s Plovers, and Snowy Plovers, raise their families. (via Auduon)

8. Not many things can unite veterinary medicine and aerospace engineering: An unassuming metal barn erected recently at the southern edge of the University of California, Davis campus houses some advanced video technology for a uniquely UC Davis project. Leveraging UC Davis’ historic strengths in veterinary medicine and engineering, the Center for Animal Flight and Innovation is the only facility of its kind in the United States and one of very few in the world capable of capturing images of birds in flight in exquisite detail. It will use state-of-the-art technology to get new insights into how birds — specifically, hawks and other raptors — maneuver in the air. Some raptors are among the fastest birds in flight; many have a great ability to maneuver in tight spaces or around obstacles to track and seize prey. Understanding how the birds perform these feats could lead to improvements in uncrewed aerial vehicles, also known as UAVs or drones, as well as in understanding how to treat and rehabilitate injured birds. (via UC Davis)

9. A bird friendly redesign for this Dallas convention center: Environmental advocates in Dallas are celebrating a successful campaign to make the new convention center safer for migratory birds. Millions of birds nationwide are killed each year from colliding into buildings as they make their seasonal migration, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Several thousand of those deaths happen in North Texas, which is a major route on the birds’ migration path. This week the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, which is currently undergoing a $3.7 billion renovation, unveiled its plans to save bird lives through its new design. The convention center’s website reads. “The design prioritizes environmental stewardship by using bird-friendly glass with subtle visible patterns that birds can see, reducing collisions while preserving natural light and transparency for the community.” (via KERA News)

By Hap Ellis, Osprey - Longboat Key, FL.

10. Seabirds and bomb cyclones: There was the hype. There was the footage of swirling, blowing snow, of waves piling up and spilling across oceanside streets. Brave weather people, geared up and giddy with anticipation, ignored their own advice and reported from the frontlines of Winter Storm Hernando, aka, the “bomb cyclone.” Whether or not it was the bomb, or instead, more or less bombed, may have depended upon where you live. For seabirds wintering off Maine’s coast, the terms used to describe the storm meant nothing; they just had to endure it. Wind speeds were reported to have reached 75 mph, and the marine forecast mentioned 15–18-foot seas. What do birds out on the open ocean experience when it’s like this? (via Nature Resources Council of Maine)

11. Elevation matters says this study: Every year, billions of birds undertake extraordinary migrations, crossing vast deserts and open seas with no place to stop, feed, or rest. A new international study published in iScience by a consortium of researchers from Tour du Valat, CEFE/CNRS, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle and Swiss Ornithological Institute reveals that small migratory birds adjust how high they fly over these ecological barriers, and that their strategies depend on wing morphology and plumage color. Using miniature multi-sensor tracking devices, researchers tracked 17 species of small migratory birds as they crossed two major barriers on their journey between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa: the Sahara Desert and large marine areas such as the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay. The results show striking differences in flight behavior. (via Tour Du Valat)

12. Maybe not a good idea - well known birder Kenn Kaufman on befriending crows: Scroll long enough in the bird-related corners of social media, and eventually, you’re bound to stumble on a corvid. Crows, jays, ravens, and magpies are simply too fascinating for humans to ignore. Their intelligence, complex bonds, and almost humanlike humor have captivated us for centuries. With that in mind, whether for internet points or out of the kindness of their hearts, humans often try to bond with wild crows. Depending on how they go about it, such “friendships” aren’t good for the birds. Here’s what birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman have to say about training or befriending crows… and how to appreciate the birds safely. (via Birds and Blooms)

(Photos From Friends) By Cindy Rand, Common Raven - Invermere, BC, Canada.

13. These farmers turn to a different kind of falcon: Canadian-made drones masquerading as peregrine falcons are being used to watch over Australian fruit and almond orchards. The drones come in fixed-wing and flapping wing models that rely on bio-mimicry technology to keep smaller birds away from the fruit and nut trees. That means they look and behave as a predator would, to scare off species such as corellas or cockatoos. With most of Victoria recording minimal rainfall over the past year, birds have been looking to agricultural crops for food. AERIUM Analytics president Jordan Cicoria said field-testing of the drone in Victoria and South Australia showed that the machines can cope with the Australian heat. (via ABC News)

14. A BNI book reference for the readers lucky enough to bird Oregon's Crater Lake National Park: Crater Lake National Park’s high-elevation, from 6,000 to more than 8,000 feet, creates difficult conditions for birds, bringing extreme cold, late springs and limited food sources. Stewart Janes, author of “Birds of Crater Lake National Park: A Natural History and Guide,” said it can be a hostile environment for avian life. Janes’ book is the first field guide dedicated to Crater Lake’s birds in nearly 50 years and offers a detailed look at species adapted to the park’s demanding ecosystem. Several species have evolved distinct survival tactics. The Clark’s nutcracker caches seeds in as many as 10,000 locations, allowing the bird to retrieve food during long winters. (via Jefferson Public Radio)

15. And finally, 16,596 KBAs! What is a KBA you ask? Well, just the "the most significant places for biodiversity on the planet": A new paper coauthored by staff members from American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and published in Biological Reviews reveals that the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) network has grown to be the most comprehensive global map of critical biodiversity sites since the framework was formalized in 2016. There are currently 16,596 KBAs covering more than 13.7 million square miles (22.1 million square kilometers). KBAs represent the most significant places for biodiversity on the planet, which collectively support more than 18,000 species. (via ABC Birds)

Bird Videos of the Week

Video by Kah-Wai Lin, “The Secretes of Atlantic Puffins”.

Cornell Live Bird Cam - Northern Royal Albatross (named WYL).

Cornell Live Bird Cam - White-necked Jacobins.