Birds like the Red Knot benefit from stewards on duty at protected bird areas. (Photo: Greg Breese for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Every year during the spring migration, the Red Knot travels a staggering 9,300 miles between its wintering grounds in the south to Delaware Bay and the Arctic. Though North America’s largest “peep” will usually spend the winter months along the coasts of southern Chile and Argentina, a small portion of Red Knots wait out the cold in Florida, where they must rest before the long journey north. In light of this shorebird’s declining numbers, one Florida professor studied whether symbolic fencing, signs, and designating beaches as “protected” helped birds like the Red Knot by deceasing human disturbance. Turns out Red Knots not only prefer protected beaches, but bird stewards—volunteers with a passion for our feathered friends—increase the effectiveness of these areas to the benefit of all birds.

Tower drilling into the Marcellus Shale in Lycoming County, PA (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Despite claims of polluted drinking water from fracking throughout the United States, a new study shows little or no evidence of groundwater contamination from the gas extraction method. The study, released Feb. 16 by the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, found that many concerns associated with hydraulic fracturing (such as groundwater contamination) are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations.

Valentine from 1940 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

From lovebirds to doves, our feathered friends are everywhere on Valentine’s Day. But associating birds with this romantic tradition began long before Hallmark: A few scholars suggest that its February date is associated with birds’ mating seasons and some cultures even used birds to predict their marital future. In this vain, Audubon explores the origins of birds and Valentine’s Day, offering our own bird-inspired love predictions as well.

A white-crowned sparrow. Older male white-crowned sparrows are less intimidated by young males. (Photo: Gary Kramer,U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Male white-crowned sparrows don’t care that youth is wasted on the young. In fact, the songbirds aren’t intimidated by territory-encroaching youngsters – mostly because females prefer more experienced mates.

From the common loon to the misunderstood blue jay, it’s no secret that Audubon and its readers welcome the sight of birds (whether they’re in our backyards or on textiles). But we can’t help but notice that our winged friends are popular with the non-birding crowd: Walk into any Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie and you’re sure to find a dozen products adorned with birds. With this trend in mind, Portlandia, a comedy on the Independent Film Channel, gave us “Put A Bird On It”, a hilarious sketch about Bryce Shivers and Lisa Eversman, who put birds on things to “make it pretty.”

Photo by Kevin Shank, Nature Friend

Albinos are hard to come by: Only one in 17,000 humans are believed to have albinism, and there are seven billion of us. Which is why getting pictures of an albino ruby-throated hummingbird – a tough bird to photograph as it is – can be difficult.

But Kevin Shank and his eldest four sons managed to do just that last August, capturing an array of beautiful pictures of the unique creature.

A Laysan Albatross flying in air. (Michael Lusk, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Whether he was searching for fame or just wanted to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood sign, a Laysan Albatross somehow made his way to sunny Los Angeles, CA. After his weekend trip (catching some rays, hopefully) with members of International Bird Rescue, the Albatross was brought a half mile by boat from the California shoreline and released back into its Pacific Ocean home.

Here at Audubon, we appreciate a good Internet sensation as much as anyone (if Honey Honey Badger Don’t Care, we certainly do). From snowboarding crows to cute kittens, animals consistently creep into our inboxes and on our Facebook feeds. When these images and videos are posted, blogged, and altered enough to be considered part of the web’s consciousness, they become memes. Animal memes can be silly, offensive, or even insightful – and these are some of the greatest, with explainations of their origins according to Know Your Meme.

California's Cleveland National Forest, at 460,000 acres, accounts for just 0.2 % of the National Forest System's 193-million acres that will be affected by new rules. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)

Today, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the department’s intent to issue new planning rules for the nation’s 193-million-acre National Forest System through the release of a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule.

In other news, the U.S. Interior Department proposed a plan as well – this time to save the earth’s creatures and ecosystems from the potentially devastating impacts of climate change. Last week, the department posted the first draft of their strategy, “National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Plan,” for public review and comment until March 5.

President rides a ferry from Dauphin Island, Ala., to Fort Morgan, Ala., past a natural gas rig in 2010. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Just days after the President tackled natural gas, oil, and the environment in his State of the Union address, the Obama administration today laid out his “Blueprint to Make The Most of America’s Energy Resources."

The President will travel west to promote the plan, starting the day at a UPS facility in Las Vegas, a White House press release states, to discuss the importance of America’s workforce in increasing the country’s homemade energy. The President will then travel to Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, to further discuss his administration’s plans to promote energy security.