Black Footed Albatross

Wandering albatrosses have altered their foraging due to changes in wind fields in the southern hemisphere during the last decades. Since winds have increased in intensity and moved to the south, the flight speed of albatrosses increased and they spend less time foraging. As a consequence, breeding success has improved and birds have gained 1 kilogram. These are the results of the study of an international research team published in the latest issue of the Science journal. However, these...Read Full Story

. Waved Albatross (Diomedea irrorata), in flight, Española, Galapagos Islands: photo by putneymark, 17 August 2007 Magnificent in dreamedair, ungainly on hard groundstranded, the great sea bird thatonce rolled with the clouds and thought the eye ofthe storm a place for rejoicingnow falls from the skywobbling on wet wingswith a belly full of plastic Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbena), Tristan da Cunha: photo by michael clarke stuff, 23 February 2009 Wandering Albatross (Diomedea...Read Full Story

Some cool Short headed or Short images: SXM Image by matt.hintsa A Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-200 zooms over St. Maarten’s Maho Beach on short final for Princess Juliana International Airport’s runway 09 on Friday, March 21st, 2008. [1440x900 pixels] Black-footed Albatross chick and Short-tailed Albatross Chick Image by USFWS Pacific Black-footed albatross chick and short-tailed albatross chick next to short-tailed albatross decoy on Eastern Island. Photo credit: Pete Leary/U.S. Fish...Read Full Story

WASHINGTON — Animal keepers at the National Zoo’s conservation center in Virginia sent 26 black-footed ferrets to “boot camp” Wednesday to prepare the critters for life in the wild as part of an ongoing effort that has fueled the recovery of a species once declared extinct.. Animal keepers at the National Zoo’s conservation center in Virginia sent 26 black-footed ferrets to “boot camp” Wednesday to prepare the critters for life in the wild as part of an ongoing effort that has fueled the...Read Full Story

Prairie dogs and bison share the plains of South Dakota. Prairie dogs are in trouble. Reduced to just a fraction of their former range, prairie dogs have fewer places to scamper free where they can till the soil and provide sustenance and shelter for other important prairie species. As a result, black-footed ferrets, badgers, foxes and eagles all suffer. But Defenders has made tremendous strides in recent years to preserve remaining stretches of prime habitat and eliminate persistent threats...Read Full Story

. Waved Albatross (Diomedea irrorata), in flight, Española, Galapagos Islands: photo by putneymark, 17 August 2007 Magnificent in dreamedair, ungainly on hard groundstranded, the great sea bird thatonce rolled with the clouds and thought the eye ofthe storm a place for rejoicingnow falls from the skywobbling on wet wingswith a belly full of plastic Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbena), Tristan da Cunha: photo by michael clarke stuff, 23 February 2009 Wandering Albatross (Diomedea...Read Full Story

Posted by staff writer Lauren DiPerna A black-footed albatross arrived at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach Friday, contaminated and sick from an unknown substance. Fishermen in the Baja area had found the bird on their boat and noticed that it was not moving much. They called an animal rehabilitation center once they reached a port in San Diego, and the albatross was sent along to rescue workers at the Huntington Beach Center, because of their experience in cleaning...Read Full Story

Ranchers and environmentalists are at odds over a plan for managing black-tailed prairie dogs on the Thunder Basin National Grassland in northeast Wyoming.Environmentalists don't like how the plan would allow prairie dogs to be killed with poison in places where they're not wanted.Ranchers counter that poisoning must be an option to keep prairie dogs from spreading and damaging ranchland by eating away the grass that grows around their colonies."They're very damaging," said Rosanne Driskill...Read Full Story

Last week I witnessed an endangered species success story first hand.  I ventured out to the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in eastern Montana to see a few lucky black-footed ferret kits off to their new home.  With fewer than 1,000 in the wild, black-footed ferrets are one of the most endangered animals in North America. They feed on prairie dogs and live in prairie dog burrows, and the decline of prairie dogs has led to their precarious state. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe is helping...Read Full Story

By Hadley Leggett Wild prairie dogs may soon get a dose of something extra in their daily diet: an oral vaccine against the plague. The same “Black Death” that devastated Europe during the Middle Ages is still alive and well in wild rodents across the western United States. Although only a few Americans get plague each year, small outbreaks like the one reported Tuesday in Ziketan, China are not uncommon. The disease also regularly wipes out whole colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs...Read Full Story