Nature

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.

A walrus female and pup on an ice floe in the Chukchi Sea, June 2010. Photo: Sarah Sonsthagen/USGS
 
Oceanographers Sylvia Earl and Paul Dayton think it’s a bad idea, as do more than 500 other scientists and numerous environmental groups: energy development in the remote, often ice-choked waters off northern Alaska.
 
It’s a sentiment Audubon shares, and the organization has made it super easy for you to make your voice heard: Click here to tell the Interior Department the Arctic Ocean should be off-limits to drilling. Hurry—the deadline is 11 a.m. Eastern tomorrow, February 8.

Photo: Tim Ross

It was a season of surprises for Operation Migration, a group working to reestablish whooping cranes on the East coast. Yesterday this year’s class of birds have arrived at their final—if not originally intended—destination.

The eye of the Papuan forest dragon (Hypsilurus dilophus), a sit-and-wait predator, scans the forest for insects and small vertebrates. Photo: Piotr Naskrecki
 
The Papuan forest dragon pictured above is just one of the captivating creatures scientist and photographer Piotr Naskrecki has captured in his new book, Relics: Travels in Nature's Time Machine. Naskrecki traveled the globe in search of creatures and habitats that have persisted, nearly untouched, for hundreds of millions of years. The result is a book packed with stunning images and fascinating information.
 
Relics—and a print of your choice—could be yours. We've teamed up with the University of Chicago Press to give away 10 copies. Click here to enter the giveaway, see more images from the book, and learn more about it. All you have to do is leave a comment and be sure to include a viable email address (it won't show up on the page). Good luck!

A new month brings a fresh start for those who decided to join in on the Bird-a-Day Challenge. The official challenge, taking place on birdaday.net began on New Year's Day. Since then I have been trying to play along, just for fun, counting how many days in a row I can find a “new” bird. (New = recorded for the first time in this game.) So far, I’ve lasted five weeks. Making it this far has already been tough, and it’s only going to get harder.

Plenty of people are playing along, some from as far away as the UK. And a number of new people recently started counting from Feb 1.

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.

A total of 111 Common dolphins were stranded off Cape Cod in 2012. The International Fund for Animal Welfare lead the rescue effort. Photo: IFAW/M. Booth

This January, Cape Cod saw a flood of more than 100 stranded Common dolphins. Some came in waves, groups of 60 or more, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Others came alone.

Sadly, more than 50 died before IFAW, the lead rescue operation, could reach the marine mammals to get them back into water. But happily, IFAW reports it successfully released almost two-dozen dolphins and hasn’t seen any additional strandings since a week ago this past Monday. The organization will brief Congress about the issue this coming Friday, February 3.

Photo: Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service

Since 2000, the presence of invasive Burmese pythons has been documented as a growing danger in the Everglades. Yesterday, pythons became big news when the US Geological Survey released a report documenting just how much damage pythons may have caused.

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.

Image: Delancey Underground Project

From the time New York City’s High Line Park opened in June 2009, it’s caused a stir. In a city that can feel packed with people, any new nook for trees is a blessing. This park in particular was a reminder of how an aging urban space—in this case, former freight train tracks—could be reused and recycled into something new. Two new proposals for NYC could provide more inspiration.