Finally some good-ish news for the Gunnison Sage Grouse: The boomers of the Rocky Mountain states have finally been granted “threatened species” protection. Which means hopefully their plummeting numbers will stabilize and grow. Which also means that Carrie, who took the sausagefest (her words, not mine) picture of Greater Sage Grouse above, would have another chance to capture some hot bird-on-bird action.

The United Nations released its new list of protected species as well, adding the Great Bustard along with the Polar Bear and other species. (Better luck next time, African Lion.)

Also getting an early holiday gift, in the form of thousands of acres of protected Texas habitat: the Aplomado Falcon and Ocelot.

If you’ve ever pondered how long hummingbirds live, or how far they fly, have we got the story for you!

Blackbirds foraging in the dead of night? It’s one of the dubious advantages afforded by brightly lit cities.

Ornithologist and author Noah Strycker is preparing to embark on perhaps the biggest big year ever. (If I had a nickel for every bird he sees …)

Maybe those Kirtland’s Warblers are onto something: USA Today names Magee Marsh the best birding spot in the United States.

Get read for another round of mass bird flu hysteria, complete with conflicting opinions about the risk to humans.

Go home, Bohemian Waxwings in the Yukon, you’re drunk.

And last but not least, South Island Saddlebacks get a new lease on life, courtesy of New Zealand’s Adele Island. (Hat tip to Duncan for the lead.)

Written by Meredith Mann
The lowly Red-winged Blackbirds in suburban New York triggered Meredith Mann's interest in birds. Five years later, she's explored some of the the USA's coolest hotspots, from Plum Island in Massachusetts to the Magic Hedge in Chicago to the deserts of Fallon, Nevada. She recently migrated from the Windy City (where she proudly served as a Chicago Bird Collision Monitor, rescuing migrants from skyscrapers and sidewalks) to Philadelphia, where she plans to find new editing and writing gigs; keep up her cool-finds chronicle, Blog5B; and discover which cheesesteak really is the best. And she will accept any and all invitations to bird Cape May, NJ.