I'm finally getting caught up on some reading and came across this article in the Defenders of Wildlife wildlife. I'm very proud of supporting Defenders because I think they do great work and they have a really good magazine too. Surprisingly, they are overlooked in discussions of Arctic species threatened by global warming. Very depressing sometimes though. The summer issue had a good article about walruses. MORE

An ad from Defenders of Wildlife. Yet another reason to make sure this moron never gets to be one 72 year old heartbeat away from the Presidency. MORE

Here is a good commercial by Ashley Judd for Defenders of Wildlife on aerial wolf killing in Alaska. MORE

360 miles of National Park land at the border! My first ‘protest’ memory involved putting pencil to notebook paper and writing the President about the harmful effects of DDT. The Weekly Reader had shocked everyone in class with news of Bald Eagles dying – and humans were to blame! Eleven million gallons of oil suffocated 1,300 miles of shoreline in my beloved Alaska. Images of wildlife coated in toxic goo haunted me; particularly the birds. MORE

Here is a video from Defenders of Wildlife that shows the method (it's under 3 minutes). Here is more video from Current on the subject (this one is a full 10 minutes), but explains how this is mainly for the benefit of trophy hunters, not subsistence hunters that Palin claims it is for. I understand there may be some instances where predator control is necessary. I'm not an absolutist on this point. Doing it from low flying aircraft, however, is just barbaric. MORE

The following is not necessarily representative of ALL of Critter News. Why has John McCain chosen Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as a running mate? For me, I've been deluged for months by Defenders of Wildlife material about Alaska's heartless treatment of wolves. If McCain gets elected, then I can see the future of the Endangered Species Act, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Agriculture, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, etc. MORE

If you have ever visited an area where cattail and/or bulrush thrive, you will undoubtedly have heard the call of the Marsh Wren ( Cistothorus palustris ) in the winter and spring. The male of the species will rattle off up to 200 songs, his repertoire size varying geographically, with the western males having considerably larger repertoires than eastern males 1. According to Birds of North America Online , there may be several reasons. MORE

I’m sure most of you know that the Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species because of the use of organochlorine pesticides, especially DDT, during the 1950′s, 60′s, and 70′s. under the 1969 Endangered Species Conservation Act and later transferred to the 1973 Endangered Species Act; then protected with other birds of prey under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act through agreement with Mexico, but not Canada, in 1972 1. MORE

Let's hope we see more of this from environmental groups. Nice and effective. MORE

The video above showing the pair bonding and precopulatory behavior of the Northern Shoveler ( Anas clypeata ) was shot from the photography bind at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge , one of the refuges of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Northern California. One of the coolest things about Northern Shovelers are their feeding habits. Not to be outdone by the drake, here is a close up of the female Northern Shoveler in all her radiance. MORE

The Southern Environmental Law Center and Defenders of Wildlife filed suit challenging the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) complicity in the Gulf oil disaster and continued lax oversight of oil drilling operations, including its failure to require a thorough examination of spill risks from exploratory drilling operations like the Deepwater. Tags: oil drilling minerals management service 2010 oil spill wildlife Gulf of Mexico MORE

Birders have been apprehensively watching developments regarding the construction of a border wall through the renowned birding location of Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Santa Ana NWR, which consists of approximately 2,100 acres along the Rio Grande, is considered one of the crown jewels of the refuge system. After all, there are many examples of litigation impacting proposed development on federal lands. Defenders of Wildlife v. MORE

When I was just a wee’ lad, in my formative birding years, I was introduced to the plight of the Western Snowy Plover. You see, up to this point, let’s say 1972, perhaps 1973, I had never really been exposed to a “Threatened, or Endangered” species of any kind. Then, in one of my freshmen science classes, there was a discussion about extinct species, which then lead to the topic of threatened, or endangered species, and what we could do to help out. MORE