Episode 3: Avian espionage and tracking spring migration from your doorstep

 Welcome to Episode 3 of the Bird Brief. This is Stephanie Jenkins Aslett, avian ecologist and former intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense giving you the rundown on the most recent happenings in birds, both in popular news and published research throughout the world. Today’s episode will range from a bird suspected of espionage, bird flu in Antarctica, wind turbine innovation, and how you can use weather data to track this year’s spring bird migration from your doorstep… in your slippers. You will be up to date in just five minutes. Let’s get started.

See below for links to all the articles we talked about on the show:

News: 

 https://www.wsj.com/world/india-accused-chinese-spy-racing-pigeon-08516191 

.https://www.yahoo.com/tech/company-makes-incredible-bladeless-wind-103000921.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/27/bird-flu-antarctica-first-cases/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/01/15/bird-calls-pay-phone-maryland/

Research Articles:

Beaman Julian E., White Craig R., Clairbaux Manon, Perret Samuel, Fort Jérôme and Grémillet David 2024 Cold adaptation does not handicap warm tolerance in the most abundant Arctic seabird Proc. R. Soc. B.2912023188720231887 http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.1887 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2023.1887 

Correction to fact in podcast: The Arctic is warming around 3 times faster than the rest of the globe, not just compared to temperate regions as stated in the podcast.  AMAP. Arctic climate change update 2021: key trends and impacts. Summary for policy-makers. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), Oslo, Norway (2021). 

BirdCast Info:

https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/migration-dashboard/ 

https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/local-migration-alerts/ 

Music and Bird Sound:

Dovekie (Alle alle); Recorded by Nina Karnovsky/Macaulay Library; Jul 2008; ML137297. Dovekie 03 Calls SJ, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis); Recorded by Dave Herr/Macaulay Library; May 1990; ML47538. Red-tailed Hawk 02 Calls US-WA , Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris); Recorded by Martha Fischer/Macaulay Library; Jul 2007; ML134110. Horned Lark 02 Song CA-NL, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Rock Pigeon (Columba livia); Recorded by Paul Marvin/Macaulay Library; Dec 2016; ML44449551. Rock Pigeon 01 Song US-CA

Swainson's Thrush (Russet-backed) (Catharus ustulatus [ustulatus Group]); Recorded by Paul Fenwick/Macaulay Library; May 2020; ML229755881. Swainson's Thrush 07 Flight calls (Russet-backed) US-CA, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Evening Grosbeak (type 1) (Coccothraustes vespertinus (type 1)); Recorded by Bob McGuire/Macaulay Library; A

This is Stephanie Jenkins Aslett, thanks for listening. If a particular story piqued your interest, be sure to check out the show notes for more details. If you have a story that you would like to spread the awareness of, I would love to highlight it in my podcast. Just let me know in the comments or send a note to thebirdbrief@gmail.com. Please tune in next time for The Bird Brief - your rundown, or should I say featherdown, of the birds we love.