The Bird Brief
A global rundown of newly published avian research and newsworthy bird stories in just 5 minutes.
The Bird Brief
S2 E7: A Bird Police Squads that Fights Drones, and the Oldest Living Bird!
Welcome back to the Bird Brief, this is Stephanie Jenkins Aslett, avian ecologist. We are starting 2025 off right with stories of a raptor police squad in India, the oldest living bird, and how the Bald Eagle just become the US national bird (what?!).
Before we get started, I wanted to give a shoutout to my preschool son for absolutely rocking the intro on this episode. Thanks man!
Stories:
https://indianexpress.com/article/long-reads/telangana-birds-hunt-rogue-drones-garuda-squad-9749501/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/us/74-years-old-wisdom-albatross-laid-egg-intl-hnk/index.html
Bird Sound:
*Black Kite. Marc Anderson, XC585971. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/585971.
*Bonelli's Eagle. Peter Boesman, XC781530. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/781530.
Layan albatross. Alán Palacios, XC730154. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/730154.
Bald eagle. Anthony Gliozzo, XC698517. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/698517.
*I do not know if the Garuda squad contains either Black Kites or Bonelli’s Eagles. Officials purposefully did not release the specific species within their squad. Although the Black Kite and Bonelli’s Eagle do occur in India, my use of their calls are simply for human interest in the story.
Music: The Weeknd from wish by Lundstroem is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/lundstroem/songs-i-regard-terrible/the-weeknd-from-wish/
Hearing Protection Tips:
Okay, as your birder friend, I want you to hear your birds today, but also in five years. Make sure you have the basics, get some inexpensive foam earplugs at your local drugstore and put them in your bag or car for those random times you are heading to a show and its going to be way too loud. Also grab some earmuffs and have them handy for when you use the blender or mow the lawn.
Here's a few that I like that are inexpensive and won't break the bank:
-Mack’s Ultra Soft Foam Earplugs, 7 Pair + Case – (NRR 33 dB Highest NRR). https://amzn.to/3Xn2xrN .
-3M PELTOR Ear Muffs, X1, (NRR 22) https://amzn.to/41aMcbU. Most comfortable muff in my opinion. Nicely slim for a muff while providing good ear protection. Fantastic to bring to fireworks shows and air shows, so you can take them off to chat with your friends. Bonus -- even comfortable and lightweight enough that your kid will wear them!
-3M PELTOR X3 Earmuffs, (NRR 25-28) https://amzn.to/40XXVZN. Great protection, but can get heavy.
*Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) is the number of decibels that the ear pro can reduce ambient noise levels – NRR 33 is the maximum. I’ve found that NRR 33 is pretty bulky/heavy in muffs so I opt for NRR 22 or NRR 25.
@THE.BIRD.BRIEF