:: Declines in birds across the globe are providing evidence of a rapid deterioration in the global environment that is affecting all life on earth, but “Effective nature conservation is affordable and it works“, according to a report released last week by BirdLife International at its 2013 World Congress in Ottawa, hosted by BirdLife International, Bird Studies Canada, and Nature Canada.
:: Also at the BirdLife International World Congress, Canadian writer and birder Margaret Atwood announced the founding of Birds in Storytelling, a project where people take inspiration from bird to create stories and poems, with the help of Wattpad, an online library for computers, smart phones and tablets.
:: Between one-quarter and one-half of all birds are highly vulnerable to climate change, according to the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impact of global warming on life, as reported in New Scientist. The study, one of the biggest of its kind, assessing all of the world’s birds, amphibians and corals, draws on the work of more than 100 scientists over five years.
:: NPR goes inside the the Smithsonian’s Feather Forensics Lab with Carla Dove
:: Chimney Swifts have taken up residence in the Westminster Presbyterian Church
:: A story from BirdWatching Magazine about how climate change affects bird migration
:: Reporter Paul Nicholson with The London Free Press goes birding with Bird Studies Canada biologist (and my friend) Jody Allair
:: The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Scotland, along with the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) have backed a petition against the licensed control of Common Buzzards in Scotland.
:: A new study examines the activity patterns of four bird species that migrate to northern Alaska and finds complicated rhythms
Great posts in birding blogs this week:
:: From Shyloh at Beaking Off: Great Horned Owls and their nest
:: From Mia at On the Wing Photography: Western Burrowing Owls are declining throughout their range
:: From Drew at Nemesis Bird: a review of the new birding app, “Songbirds of North America”
:: From Laurence at Butler’s Birds: Bowman Beach: Willet Tern Out Ok
:: From Bird Boy: Perplexing Plumage
:: From Kim at Birds Calgary (note the new address): Sunday Showcase: Birds of Bragg Creek
:: From Sharon at Birdchick: The latest Birdchick podcast
Prairie Birder 
I’m quite worried about the decline in the wor;d’s bird population. I wish more people cared more about it!
“Between one-quarter and one-half of all birds are highly vulnerable to climate change, according to the most comprehensive assessment to date ..”
What?! This suggests that half to three quarters of all birds are not vulnerable to climate change. What birds are not vulnerable to changes in climate? All organisms are vulnerable to changes in climate, that’s why they evolve in the first place.
klem, I think they are making a distinction between “highly vulnerable” and “vulnerable”. At least that’s the way I understand that sentence.
Thanks!