Yesterday, scientists in Australia were able to extract DNA from the egg shells of extinct birds. This is a big step for scientists who want to map out the genome of birds that have gone extinct due to human causes. However, they are not doing to resurrect the birds as that may not even be possible.

DNA was extracted from the moa, elephant bird, an Australian owl, and a New Zealand duck species. The team was unable to retrieve DNA from very old specimens (older than 50,000), such as the Genyornis.

The moa was a flightless bird that lived in New Zealand and was hunted to extinction by the Maori in the late 18th century. The elephant bird is similar to the moa and was hunted to extinction by Europeans settling in Madagascar by the year 1700. Both of the bird species were very large (3 meters or more).

The DNA was retrieved by turning the shell into powder and then extracting the DNA sequence. They were able to extract only 250 base pairs, which is less than one percent of the entire sequence. Even though they only extracted a tiny amount, the point is really to show that the process can be done. However, they will try to get more DNA out as that is their next move.

In the past, DNA was only retrieved from bones because eggs were overlooked. Now, scientists have found that DNA can be taken from egg shells. This is a new step in learning about species from our past.

Retrieving DNA from egg shells is really a great way to learn more about extinct bird species and maybe the scientists can extract more so we can possible recreate that species. Though, that might be a little too much to ask for.

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I have to start off by saying that I deeply despise the political arena due to the incessant lying and threatening. I also despise it for their complete lack of scientific knowledge, but love of discussing it. Politicians are not scientists and they hardly ever listen or care to listen to what real scientists say. Anyway, the greater sage grouse, which lives in the plains of the West, is not being listed as an endangered species even though its numbers are very low. At least for now its not receiving protection.

However, this decision basically reverses a decision made by the We-Don’t-Really-Care-About-Nature Administration (aka. Bush Administration) in 2004 saying that the sage grouse does not need protection and that it’s numbers are fine. Well, information came out later about that decision saying that there was some tampering of the data. The reports said that the bird and especially its habitat were in danger and needed listing, but it came out that Julie MacDonald of the Interior Department intimidated scientists to overrule their data. This is how awesome and nature-caring our government is.

There is an issue with protecting the bird though and that issue (like always) is something to do with money and economics. Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary, wanted to find middle ground between protecting the species and its land and keeping the land open to landowners and industries. The Fish and Wildlife Service also said that the bird should be added to the list, but that other species might benefit more from the endangered species protection.

The greater sage grouse is now put as a candidate species for the list. It may possibly become listed as endangered or threatened at a later date.

The sage grouse has lost habitat in very similar ways to many other bird species. Development of residences and energy have created a much smaller habitat for the sage grouse, which is a ground bird. One-hundred years ago there were approximately 16 million sage grouse, but now there’s about 200,000 – 500,000.

Many people argue against putting the sage grouse on the endangered species list because it would prevent ranchers from using the land and energy development and exploration of the land. Representative Rob Bishop states that the government places more emphasis on environmental concerns than it does on job creation. He believes that putting the sage grouse on the list would be a direct attack on everybody who uses the land.

Overall, this just seems like a huge mess and the sage grouse, who really can’t speak for itself, will once again lose to the greed of this nation. I understand that people need jobs (I actually need a job soon), but I also understand that we can’t just overlook the species that are in trouble. We created their situation and we shouldn’t continue to exploit their land. There is a solution somewhere and it needs to come before more of the sage grouse’ land is disrupted.

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The kakapo is a large, nocturnal, flightless parrot that lives in New Zealand. This yellow-green parrot is highly endangered as there are only 124 of them left in the world. Before people moved to the island, the kakapo was just fine roaming the wilderness without the ability to fly. They had no natural land predators, therefore they were never in any danger. Well, when people brought those land animals (cats, rats, stoats), the parrot could not defend itself and the population took a nose dive.

There is a recovery program for this species, which is great. The program is a partnership between the New Zealand Department of Conservation, Forest and Bird, and Rio Tinto Alcan NZ/New Zealand Aluminum Smelters. This group received great news last year when a higher number of chicks survived than previous years. These new chicks brought the species number to over 100, which hasn’t been seen in decades. The group works very closely with the birds and a lot of them have names. They think that their oldest one, Richard Henry, is probably at least 60 years old.

The high number of chicks that survived were captive bred in a highly successful program. Nearly all of the chicks survived and successfully released in the wild. The chicks are captive bred to increase chances of surviving and also due to the lack of food in the wild.

Another interesting trait about the parrots is their subsonic mating call, which is a boom like sound that can travel miles. Also, the parrot is the only flightless bird that has a lekking type mating system. This is where the males compete for females, but only one or a few of the males get to mate with all the females.

The remaining wild kakapos live on two islands off of New Zealand. Sanctuaries have been set up for their protection. Rat and other mammal predators have been removed from one of the islands, but still continues to be a problem.

Here’s a video of the kakapo that’s pretty funny because it tries to mate with the photographer!

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I’ve just finished reading the book A Shadow and a Song: The Race to Save an Endangered Species by Mark Jerome Walters. Here’s the Amazon link.

Was that race won? No, it wasn’t. This book chronicled the extinction of the dusky seaside sparrow. That species had such a tiny range, which meant it was extremely specialized. It’s story starts with the building of the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida. However, that wasn’t what started their decline – it was Mosquito Control. Mosquito Control built dikes, which turned the water fresh. Ducks then moved in and ducks brought money, so there was no real incentive to take the dikes out. The Merritt Island population dwindled. Then a large population was found up near the St. John’s River, but a highway was put in shortly after. It seems that this small, highly specialized bird could never catch a break. Backbreeding with another close species was forbidden by the Fish and Wildlife Service and by the time it was out of their hands the four remaining male sparrows were too old to produce viable offspring. The species went extinct in the mid-eighties.

That’s a short summary of what happened, but the book is not something to miss. I thought it was very well written and told a great story of how the newly enacted Endangered Species Act failed this bird. People just viewed it as some unassuming, non-important sparrow – just something to look passed. That was the non-caring attitude, which forced this bird to fade away. If you have a chance one day – you should read this book. It’s not a scientific book, but it is a good, tragic story.

Bald Eagle

Most everybody knows the story of the bald eagle, but here it is again for good measure. The species numbers dropped from about 500,000 to about 50 pairs. This is due to the extensive spraying of DDT (a pesticide) in the 1950s, which made the eggshells thinner. DDT was banned in 1972 and the bald eagle started to recover. In 2007, it was removed from the Endangered Species List.

Black-footed Ferret

This species eats the black-tailed prairie dog and actually lives among colonies of the prairie dog. Ranchers have been known to kill of entire colonies of the prairie dog, which leads to a decline in the ferrets. However, the ferret was listed as endangered in 1981 and has now begun to recover. There’s still not that many in the wild, only about 750, but they are stable.

Brown Pelican

I’ve previously written about the removal of the brown pelican from the Endangered Species List, but they do have an incredible success story. They were first hunted for their feathers and then received another blow in the mid-20th century from the use of DDT. They have recovered greatly after being listed and the banning of DDT. They are now quite common along the coast.

California Condor

In 1987, this huge bird was nearly extinct in the wild. Biologists had brought the last few into captivity to try and figure out how to save the species. After getting them to breed in captivity, the condors were released back into the wild starting in 1991. The condor numbers declined due to DDT use, lead poisoning from bullets, and the persecution from ranchers. The condor breeding program is considered the most expensive, but it has been successful with the first wild condor hatched in 2006. By 2009, about 172 are in the wild.

Gray Wolf

Last year, the wolf was delisted after in had recovered from its near hunting to extinction. In 2000, a court ruled that they could return to Yellowstone and by 2009 a few states allowed hunting of the wolves. Conservationists aren’t happy about the hunting and the judge has stated that the delisting may have been premature.

Grizzlies of Yellowstone

Since the 1980s, grizzly bear numbers have nearly tripled in Yellowstone as they have returned to their natural habitat. The bear was delisted in 2007. It has not been all happy, though. The National Wildlife Federation deemed the grizzly recovery as a major success, but not all agree. They were sued by the NRDC and won. In late 2009, the grizzly returned to the list due to the decline in whitebark pine, of which the grizzlies eat the nuts.

Oysters of Chesapeake Bay

In the west, oysters have declined, but in the Chesapeake they have rebounded due to the use of artificial reefs. The oysters originally declined due to overharvesting, but they have been returning through the great use of the artificial reefs.

Panamanian Amphibians

The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project was founded by biologists who were greatly concerned over the decline of amphibian species in Central America. When a certain fungus, the chytrid fungus Bd, enters an area it kills off about 50% of amphibian species in five months! Therefore, biologists have capture many species to take to captivity in case that species goes extinct in the wild.

Western Lowland Gorillas

In the Republic of Congo, a whole new group of gorillas was discovered in 2008. This new population nearly doubles the already known population numbers. There are about 175,000 to 225,000 gorillas in the wild.

Whale Recoveries

Blue whale numbers, have declined about 99% from their historic numbers due to commercial whaling. After the banning of whaling, the blue whales started to recover. About 1700 can now be found in the Pacific. Northern humpbacks also declined to a record low number, but now are recovering. Since commercial whaling is now gone whales such as the gray whale, fin whale, and bowhead whale are now recovering.

Picture credit to Flickr user gek-ko.

Credit to Flickr user purrboycasey.

In 2007, the large-billed reed warbler was named the world’s least known bird. Recently, researchers discovered breeding pairs in Afghanistan. This is considered the only known range for this unknown warbler. The researchers found the birds in a place called Wakhan Corridor, which is in northeast Afghanistan and has been little affected by war. The researchers were apart of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Sweden’s Gothenburg University.

A variety of techniques were used to identify the birds, such as field observations, DNA examples, and specimens. About 20 birds were even caught and released.

This bird is not a recently discovered species as it was first noted in 1867. However, it would seem that the bird was all but lost except for its second discover in Thailand in 2006. Hardly anything is known about this species, which makes this new discover of breeding grounds so important.

Luckily, the bird was found in a location that has not felt the effects of war and could still hold biological secrets. The Wakhan Corridor houses snow leopards and wild Marco Polo sheep, along with the rare warbler.

Well, Happy New Year to all my readers! It’s been a while since my last post, but the holidays are quite busy and I was not able to. I’m starting up again, but I still might not be around a computer everyday for a few weeks. I will try to post as much as I can, though.

The Heard Museum is really an amazing place to bird. They have everything from grasslands to wetlands and its not out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve been to the sanctuary twice now and have seen a great many species on both occasions. The museum is located in McKinney, Texas and for those not familiar with the area – it’s about 45 minutes north of Dallas.

Last week was the Christmas Bird Count, which I participated in. We saw about fifty species or so, but I was not able to stay all day. There’s also monthly bird walks, local bird banding, and migratory bird banding. The Heard is also considered an important birding area according to the Audubon Society.

If you’re in the area of Dallas or McKinney or Plano or even Allen – then you should definitely take a few hours and visit the Heard. They have a beautiful piece of land and its not something to miss!

Click here to visit the birding part of their website. It also includes a checklist of the species that are seen at the sanctuary.

Credit to Flickr user johndykstraphotography.

Obviously birds want their offspring to survive. They aren’t going to favor sick or small offspring instead of healthy ones. Parasites do pose a threat to young birds. If the parent birds can detect parasites in their young, they may cut those young out. This will save their energy and food resources for the unaffected young and for future breeding possibilities.

A recent study shows that parents will even cut their losses before the eggs even hatch.

The study focused on spotless starling nests. These nests are often infested with bloodsucking flies. The feces from the flies will stain the eggs. The more brown spot staining, the greater the chance for the babies to be infected with the flies.

The study of the starlings showed that human-cleaned eggs received more care from the males, but not females. The other eggs that were not cleaned received less care overall from both parents. It is thought that the males gave more attention than the females to the cleaned because they can have more broods during the breeding season, whereas females do not. The females want to have the best, most promising young because they do not breed as often.

This really makes sense because parents want to have the best for their young.

Picture credit to Armando Caldas on Flickr.