Credit: Andrew Evans

A rare photo of a fully black (melanistic) penguin showed up on National Geographic Traveler’s Intelligent Travel blog last week. Janelle Nanoson, who initially shared the image on the blog, called Dr. Allan Baker (ornithologist and professor of Environmental and Evolutionary Studies at the University of Toronto and head of the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum) to inquire about the intriguing photo, and even he was surprised by how rare this is! The photo was taken by Andrew Evans while visiting South Georgia Island in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

You can read more about this interesting photo and Dr. Baker’s thoughts on their blog:
Read More >

Apparently after they posted they received an email from Ted Cheeseman of Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris out of California who reported seeing a similar penguin during an excursion in 2006. He shared this in a follow-up post on the same blog:
Read More >

What do Bolivia and Afghanistan have in common?

Rather than asking you to make a list of the obvious options (like people, borders, a government), I’ll just tell you: both enjoyed positive steps this past week in the field of bird protection.

Birds in decline like these Red-fronted Macaws will be aided by the new protected areas in Bolivia
Credit: Hugo Arnal via ABC Birds

Last week the Bolivian government announced the protection of two new important bird habitats. Covering 500,000 acres, these newly protected areas are of special importance due to the fact that they lie in a unique type of terrain that has historically received little protection. Primarily consisting of dry scrub forest, this transition zone between the high, snow-capped Andes and the lowland moist forests is especially important for several endemic and threatened species, including the Red-fronted Macaw (pictured above), Cliff Parakeet, Bolivian Blackbird, and the Andean Condor. Agriculture and land cleared for cattle and goat grazing is becoming increasingly common in the region, and these new protected areas help maintain the region’s ecological balance.
Read more via the American Bird Conservancy >

In Afghanistan, the good news came not in the form of protected areas but in an interesting (re)discovery and subsequent classification.

Large-billed Reed Warbler
Credit: WCS Afghanistan

The Large-billed Reed Warbler was first discovered in India in 1867, but that was the last confirmed sighting until the bird popped up in Thailand in 2006 and was identified and released by ornithologist Philip Round. Once nicknamed the “world’s least known bird species” due to the infrequence of sightings and lack of research, Round’s rediscovery in Thailand was the only one until American bird expert Robert Timmins found and recorded one specimen in 2008 while cataloging birds in north eastern Afghanistan for the charity USAID.

The bird was spotted again in Afghanistan in June of 2009 when a team of workers from the Wildlife Conservation Society of Afghanistan revisited the site Timmins originally visited. This time, however, they not only spotted one but a whole group of the elusive species. It was concluded to be the first known breeding area for the Large-billed Reed Warbler.

Thankfully, under Afghani law any newly discovered species falls immediately under protected status until a larger and healthier population can be confirmed. Threats to this bird include habitat loss and degredation from wood collection and agriculture.

The Afghani government didn’t stop at just one bird, though. On Sunday the government announced 14 other species (including 6 other birds) would be joining the Large-billed Reed Warbler on Afghanistan’s Protected Species List, a move welcomed by nature and bird lovers around the world.

Read more via Environmental News Service (wire) >

The newly protected birds are:
Large-billed Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus orinus, Newly Discovered
White-Rumped Vulture, Gyps bengalensis, Critically Endangered
Sociable Lapwing, Vanellus gregarius, Critically Endangered
Eastern Imperial Eagle, Aquila heliaca, Endangered
Marbled Teal, Marmaronetta angustirostris, Endangered
Pallas’ Fish Eagle, Haliaeetus leucoryphus, Vulnerable
Dalmation Pelican, Pelecanus crispus, Vulnerable

The newly protected mammals are:
Indian Gazelle, Gazella bennettii, Critically Endangered
Goitered Gazelle, Gazella subgutturosa, Endangered
Bactrian Deer, Cervus elaphus bactrianus, Endangered
Eastern Barbastelle, Barbastella leucomelas (a bat), Vulnerable
Mehely’s Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus mehelyi, classed as Data Deficient
Stone marten, Martes foina, Data Deficient
Blanford’s fox, Vulpes cana, Data Deficient

The newly protect plant is:
East Himalayan fir, Abies spectabilis, Vulnerable

Winter Wren
Credit: Tom Vezo

(David posting again on behalf of Jeff) I was waiting for the bus today outside my neighborhood coffee shop in Seattle when something caught my eye. Typically arriving a few minutes early to ensure I don’t miss my bus, I usually scan the headlines on the front pages of USA Today and the Seattle Times (the two papers offered by the bus stop) to see if anything exciting is happening in the news. Most days it revolves around partisan bickering on healthcare, a suicide bomb in Afghanistan, or a local teacher accused of misconduct with students.

Today, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find an expansive photo of a gorgeous Winter Wren (which Jeff blogged about this fall) taking up much of the front page in the Seattle Times. Excited and intrigued, my eyes quickly jumped to the text to see what it was about.

I don’t know what was more refreshing: a break from the traditionally negative news cycle or the fact that a feature article about an amazing boreal breeder and its unique call would be shared with thousands of everyday folks around the area!

43% of Winter Wrens breed in the boreal forest
Credit: Matt Medler

The Winter Wren, as mentioned in the article, is small in size (weighing around 10 grams) but has an enormous voice. Ounce for ounce, a Winter Wren’s voice is 10 times as powerful as a rooster. In addition, it has a particularly complex song, capable of singing up to 30 notes in just one second (in the western populations).

Here’s a link to the full article – they also have a cool video slideshow of the Winter Wren as well:
Go to article >

Also, a previous BSI staff member, Matt Medler (now works at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology), was able to record a Winter Wren during an excursion into Ontario’s Boreal Forest this past summer. Here is a link to listen to his recording, as well as a couple links to his guest blog posts about his trip (he was generous enough to share his experiences with us on our blog over the summer…including great photos!):
Listen to his recording >
Matt’s first trip summary > Matt’s second trip summary >

While Winter Wrens typically live year-round in my neck of the woods (Western Washington), the majority of Winter Wrens found in the Eastern and Southern United States are actually migratory boreal breeders, wintering in the warmer US to avoid Canada’s chilly winters (and I can’t blame them). However, they must be somewhat comfortable with cold weather, as they’re some of the first to arrive in the boreal in the spring and some of the last to leave in the fall.

Here’s their range map, courtesy of Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website:

(This is David again posting on behalf of Jeff, who is out for a few weeks…)

You may have already seen this already, but there’s an awesome new bird networking site called We Love Birds, which was a joint collaboration between the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

If you haven’t checked it out yet I highly recommend it. You can create your own profile and share you birding images, videos, and even stories (they have a community blog for members to share their thoughts and experiences with birds). If you’re not the type to sign up for stuff online, you can still browse around and see with other birders around the continent are seeing and doing. Here’s the full URL:
http://www.welovebirds.org/

Jeff has signed up already and shared a few photos and video on the site. You can go here to see his profile and recent uploads:
http://www.welovebirds.org/profile/JeffWells

This is David, one of Jeff’s colleagues at the Boreal Songbird Initiative. Jeff is working limited hours this month, so I might be posting sporadically on his behalf – just introducing myself!

There were two important events we mentioned earlier that happened in Canada’s Boreal forest this past month. The first was a report released by us (BSI), the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and the David Suzuki Foundation that compiled all the plant species used by indigenous peoples in Canada’s Boreal forest. It showed that indigenous groups in the north still use many traditional plants in their daily life (food, medicine, equipment, housing, etc.) and that governments must do more to preserve these traditional ways of life and the plant species they rely on.

Report Page >

Nancy Turner, a member of the International Boreal Conservation Science Panel and resident ethnobotanical expert (study of the relationship between people and plants) did a radio interview for the show The Link on Radio Canada International to discuss the report.

Here’s her interview as an mp3 file. You can click it to play in your default player or right-click to save the file:
Interview >

The second big event coming out of the boreal was a wonderful bit of surprising news: the creation of a new national park in Labrador. Mealy Mountains National Park becomes the largest national park in Eastern Canada and is larger than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined. On that same day, the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced the creation of an adjacent provincial park that protects the Eagle River Watershed. These two parks combine to protect a stagerring 3.2 million acres of important wilderness. These parks are particularly important for preserving the eastern population of the Harlequin Duck, which breeds throughout the region during the summer.

Here’s a picture of the Harlequin Duck, a map of the two new parks, and a great article in the New York Times about the parks below that:

Harlequin Duck
Credit: Tom Vezo

Here’s a map of the new parks in Labrador – quite impressive!

Credit: Parks Canada

And the NYT article:

Canada to Protect Sprawling Boreal Area in Labrador
By Nathanial Gronewold
2/8/10

NEW YORK — Canada will establish North America’s newest national park in an isolated corner of Labrador, the government announced Friday.

At a press conference in the mining community of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Canada’s environment minister and top officials from the federal government and province of Newfoundland and Labrador announced the planned Mealy Mountains National Park.

The areas includes boreal forest, bogs and tundra and is home to a variety of wildlife, including black bear, moose, red fox and an endangered herd of caribou.

The park will be bigger than Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks combined, with about 3,800 square miles — 2.65 million acres — of land set aside.

“It is fitting that we are working to establish a national park reserve to protect this spectacular boreal landscape for all time, for all Canadians,” the Canadian environment minister, Jim Prentice, told reporters. Newfoundland and Labrador’s government also says it will establish a new provincial park adjacent to Mealy Mountains to protect an important waterway there.

Both governments also promised to consult closely with aboriginal communities as they move to establish the parks.

Green groups in Canada and the United States hailed the decision.

“This is an outstanding boreal landscape with a rich and diverse ecological and cultural history,” said Larry Innes, executive director of the Ottawa-based Canadian Boreal Initiative. “We are very pleased to recognize the achievement of the governments.”

Officials at the Pew Environment Group’s International Boreal Conservation Campaign said Canada’s new Mealy Mountains National Park will be roughly the size of New York’s Adirondacks and twice the size of the Everglades. Conserving the Mealy Mountains is important for preserving some of the world’s oldest slow-growing boreal forest, the group said.

“This is a great leap forward in efforts to complete the Canadian National Park system,” Pew’s Steve Kallick said in a release. “Prime Minister Harper’s leadership has been critical to the protection of Canada’s boreal forest — considered by scientists to be a top global conservation priority.”

Birding in Quebec
Credit: Garth Lenz

I thought I’d send a reminder to you all that the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count starts tomorrow (the 12th) and goes to the 15th. It’s a great opportunity for local birders to contribute their sightings to a larger database where researchers and experts can better understand bird behavior and organize patterns. This can lead to better overall knowledge about bird populations and even where important conservation areas might lie. Overall it’s a great way for individual birders to join a larger cause and contribute to better knowledge of birds and how we can protect them.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is put on by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada, with sponsorship from Wild Birds Unlimited. After uploading your sightings you can even stay on the site and see other counts pour in across the US and Canada. It’s a great experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone able to participate!

You can go to the GBBC website here:
www.birdsource.org/gbbc/
Here’s how to participate:
www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html

Here’s a map of all the count submissions from 2009 just to give you a sense of how truly large this count is!

Credit: Parks Canada

Today the government of Canada announced the creation of a vast new national park. Mealy Mountains National Park will be larger than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined, and will act as a vital refuge for increasingly threatened species like woodland caribou and the eastern population of the Harlequin Duck.

Credit: Tom Vezo

In addition, the park will recognize the cultural traditions of local indigenous peoples and allow them to continue traditional sustenance methods like hunting and fishing.

Adding to the excitement of today, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador jointly announced the creation of an adjacent provincial park to help maintain the ecological quality of the area.

So far it has received good pick-up in the media in Canada (and deservedly). Here’s an article from the Montreal Gazette:

Huge new national park announced for Labrador
By Randy Boswell
OTTAWA — Environmentalists are heaping praise on the Conservative government after its announcement Friday of the creation of a massive new national park in Labrador — a sprawling, 11,000-sq.-km protected area described as “bigger than the United States’ Yellowstone and Yosemite parks combined.”

Details about the new Mealy Mountains National Park, to be the single largest federal conservation zone in Eastern Canada, were unveiled by Environment Minister Jim Prentice during a press conference in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L. with Newfoundland and Labrador’s Environment Minister Charlene Johnson.

“As we enter into the International Year of Biodiversity, it is fitting that we are working to establish a national park reserve to protect this spectacular boreal landscape for all time, for all Canadians,” Prentice said.

“This part of Labrador is not only of ecological significance, it is also of great cultural importance and we are committed to moving forward in a way that recognizes and respects the traditional connections people have with the land.”

Johnson also announced plans by the province to create a waterway park along the adjacent Eagle River that will expand the total protected area to 13,000 square kilometres.

“Together, these parks in the Mealy Mountains, when established, will protect a stunning array of boreal ecosystems and wildlife, along with landscapes of great cultural significance,” said a Parks Canada statement.

Pew Environment Group, a U.S.-based conservation advocacy organization, hailed the new park as a “great leap forward” for Canada’s national park system, the protection of the continent’s boreal forest and the promotion of biodiversity.

“These new parks will draw tourists from around the world, conserve lands important to aboriginal Canadians and safeguard the habitat of the Mealy Mountains woodland caribou herd,” said Steve Kallick, the director of Pew’s international boreal conservation campaign. “The scale of this new protected area is remarkable.”

I recently did a radio interview with Robin Young on her daily show Here and Now, on Boston public radio WBUR 90.9 FM. I mostly discussed the global importance of boreal forests and peatlands and their ability to sequester and store massive ammounts of carbon, but also mentioned some birds have adapted well to peatlands, especially the Palm Warbler, which can be found migrating through and wintering in many US states in the East.

The interview runs about 5 minutes – click to listen or right-click to save file:
Interview (.mp3) >

Here and Now is a great show that discusses a wide variety of news issues. It’s played on a lot of stations throughout the US, click here to see a list of stations it runs on.

Today a report by the Boreal Songbird Initiative, the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and the David Suzuki Foundation was released about the increased need to recognize the traditional relationships between indigenous peoples of the boreal forest and the plants they’ve depended on for thousands of years. It’s easy to think about threatened wildlife or carbon storage when discussing the importance or values of the boreal forest, but the ethnobotanical value (meaning relationship between people and plants) is an often overlooked part of this equation.

Report Page >

Many of the original inhabitants of the boreal forest had meat-rich diets, and many still do today. But there are many nutrients that don’t come in the form of meat. Foods such as wild blueberries and wild rice provided and still provide key nutrition to indigenous communities in the north.

Cree Children Picking Wild Blueberries
Credit: Natasha Moine

In addition, the relationships between people and plants in the boreal doesn’t stop at food – many of the plant species used include uses for medicine, shelter, transportation, and art. In this sense the boreal forest can be seen as a grocery, pharmacy, supply store, and spiritual center for the traditional communities who have lived there for thousands of years.

Canada is unique in the sense that it’s a modernized western democracy yet still has thousands of indigenous people living in relatively intact and pristine forests. While modern tools and accessories like clothes, guns, and electricity have reached some of these communities, you will still find most using the same knowledge sets and understanding of plants they’ve been using for generations. This is something that should and must be valued when discussing land-use and conservation in the boreal forest.

Cree Men Carving Canoe Paddles
Credit: Natasha Moine

Here is the report page (includes link to full report) and press release – the report includes tables for all plants used in various ways as well as descriptions of the use:

Report Page >
Press Release >

Boreal Forest in Labrador Credit: Larry Innes I'm posting a wonderful letter to the editor in The Labradorian about the need to protect boreal forests in Labrador – this one by our Canadian colleague Larry Innes of the Canadian Boreal Initiative. There are a whole host of migratory birds that breed in Labrador's Boreal Forest in the summer, some of which might pass by your neighborhood depending on where you live. But as the op-ed mentions it's not only natural values that would be protected – cultural values for aboriginal communities like hunting and harvesting would also be preserved by upping levels of protection: Desperately Seeking Conservation Action in 2010 Labradorians won't look back on 2009 as a banner year for conservation. Instead of celebrating long-awaited announcements, we've been left with fearful speculation that promises to protect Labrador's natural and cultural heritage may never be realized. Although Phase 3 of the Trans-Labrador Highway is now complete and the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project continues to move ahead, the long-promised Mealy Mountains/Akamiuapishk National Park remains at a standstill. Read the full op-ed here >