Critter News

JANUARY 18, 2011

Two bills introduced in the Nebraska Legislature are drawing fire from the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. nebraska horses horse slaughterFrom the Lexington Clipper-Herald. click here for the full article. Newcomer to the Legislature Sen. Tyson Larson introduced LB 305 on Wednesday, which would create a state meat inspection program, which would in turn allow horse meat to be transported across state lines.

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Nebraska Legislation Horses Legislature 109

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2011

The massive flocks of Sandhill Cranes that stop over in Nebraska on their way north are becoming a bigger and bigger tourist attraction. In those situations, Nebraska State Patrol Capt. Tourists are so attracted to the cranes that the roads can actually become dangerous : The biggest worry for area residents and police are bird watchers who may pay too much attention to birds and not enough to driving safely.

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Nebraska 2011 Birds 52

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2019

Dozens of WPAs are located in the Rainwater Basin , a region south of the Platte River in south-central Nebraska, at the narrowest point of the Central Flyway. Located near Holdrege, Nebraska, it is known for spring migration and occasional Whooping Cranes. Because of the agricultural value of land in the Great Plains, many WPAs (and areas protected by the state of Nebraska) are islands of wetland habitat surrounded by oceans of cropland.

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2019 Dissection Geese Nebraska 53

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2019

Dozens of WPAs are located in the Rainwater Basin , a region south of the Platte River in south-central Nebraska, at the narrowest point of the Central Flyway. Located near Holdrege, Nebraska, it is known for spring migration and occasional Whooping Cranes. Because of the agricultural value of land in the Great Plains, many WPAs (and areas protected by the state of Nebraska) are islands of wetland habitat surrounded by oceans of cropland.

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2019 Dissection Geese Ducks 43

Critter News

APRIL 24, 2012

Nationally, California ranks behind Texas, Kansas and Nebraska in total cattle numbers. Potentially bad news for California Agriculture. Read the full story here at the LA Times. The reemergence of mad cow disease, discovered in a California dairy cow, could have major implications for the state’s meat industry, even though officials have said that the human food supply is unaffected. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy hasn’t been found in U.S.

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Cows California 2012 Kansas 116

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2016

To be fair, he was slightly better positioned to do so, being a professor of biological sciences with the University of Nebraska. The rest of the cranes of the world receive only brief species accounts — while I would have loved to see more on all these birds, a single volume could hardly have contained them all and perhaps it is better for them to be more extensively treated by authors who know and love their worlds as Johnsgard knows and loves Nebraska.

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North America 2016 Nebraska America 60

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2012

It gives those Sandhill Cranes in Nebraska a run for their money. Have you ever gone to look for a American Crow roost in the United States? In winter, crows gather by the thousands for form large roosts and sleep in the winter time. Some will travel as far as 20 miles during the day to forage, but return in late afternoon. It seems that more and more, American Crows are choosing to roost in urban areas.

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Minneapolis 2012 Nebraska Eating Eggs 67

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2017

The resulting properties—WPAs—are small ponds, wetlands, and associated grasslands, primarily in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana, but also in Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Iowa. The Rainwater Basin is located south of the Platte River in south-central Nebraska, at the narrowest point of the Central Flyway, making it one of the most significant waterfowl stopover areas in North America. Mallards at Rainwater WMD in Nebraska (USFWS). Jason A.

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Factory 2017 America Ducks 49

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

There are owls in New York City. Big owls: Barred Owls on Riverside Drive and down the path from Harlem Meer, a Great Horned Owl in Central Park’s Ramble.

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2020 California Condor Massachusetts Fox 82

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

My profile page identifies the states that I have not eBirded, including Nebraska, North Dakota, Michigan, Mississippi, and Vermont. According to eBird , I have been an eBirder since December 23, 2009, so today is my 10th eBird anniversary.

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2019 Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Vermont 70

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

The petition relied on a genetic and ecological analysis by Dr. Robert Zink, a biologist at the University of Nebraska (the “ Zink study ”). The coastal subspecies of California Gnatcatcher ( Polioptila californica californica ) can be found in sage scrub that was once abundant from Ventura County to northern Baja California. But its U.S.

2019 70

2019 California District of Columbia Los Angeles 70

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2019

The Rainwater Basin in Nebraska is one of the most significant waterfowl stopover areas on the continent. Every few years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) attempts to calculate the economic contribution of National Wildlife Refuge visitation to local communities. The most recent effort was released in June 2019.

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2019 Wildlife Maryland San Francisco 87

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2015

But apparently Fred was not alone because over the last three years quite a few people from Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska have chimed in to say that they too, grew up stamping robins and some mentioned passing it on to their children and grandchildren. Now that winter’s fury is melting beneath more moderate temperatures here in the northeastern United States my thoughts have turned to spring.

2015 81

2015 Iowa Nebraska Indiana 81

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2018

On eBird profile pages, size matters: tiny Delaware is barely noticeable whereas Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri are conspicuous. According to eBird , I have been entering checklists since December 23, 2009, and I find it an incredibly useful way to maintain my lists, plan birding travel, and keep up on my favorite hotspots. eBird automatically organizes my observations by country, state, and county, and keeps running totals for my life and year lists.

2018 46

2018 Puerto Rico District of Columbia Michigan 46

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2013

This week, a new study was published about Sparrows in Nebraska, that in some ways resembles the study by Bumpus and may well be a better example of Natural Selection in birds. The new study is about Cliff Swallows ( Petrochelidon pyrrhonota ) in southwestern Nebraska. In 1898, Hermon Bumpus published a paper about change in the morphology in a population of House Sparrows that he proposed was an example of Darwinian Natural Selection in action.

2013 79

2013 Nebraska Cape Verde Killing 79

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Couple that with the fact that Greater Prairie Chickens are either holding on or in decline in all states except Nebraska and the national picture becomes clear. Timothy Barksdale is a birder/biologist turned filmmaker , passionately pursuing birds with a television camera for the last 24 years. His work is the foundation of the Macaulay Library video collection. Tim’s involvement with birds began very early and has led him to his passion for conservation through television. “No

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Chickens 2015 Illinois Nebraska 82

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2020

A bird of prey showed up in the tiny park across the boulevard from me yesterday, setting himself down on a park bench and ignoring a crowd of socially-distanced smart phone wielding photographers. He became the social media hit of the day: “A Peregrine Falcon in Forest Hills!”

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North America 2020 America Hawaii 83

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

Some states have no species at all, not even a pigeon, crow, or sparrow: Hawaii , Utah , Nebraska , Oklahoma , Minnesota , Iowa , Wisconsin , Kentucky , West Virginia , Mississippi , Alabama , Connecticut , and Rhode Island. Since 2016, writers at 10,000 Birds have been contributing checklists to a joint eBird account called the “10,000 Birds Collaborative.” Every month, Redgannet summarizes the checklists, providing an updated life list, year list, and country list.

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2018 Rhode Island Puerto Rico Minnesota 44

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2015

Tyson looked forlorn and Samantha had moved to her Grandparents house in Nebraska, at least for now. Timothy Barksdale is a birder/biologist turned filmmaker , passionately pursuing birds with a television camera for the last 24 years. His work is the foundation of the Macaulay Library video collection. Tim’s involvement with birds began very early and has led him to his passion for conservation through television. “No

2015 84

2015 South Dakota Nebraska Missouri 84

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2018

Funk WPA in Nebraska is one of the larger WPAs (nearly 1,200 acres) and it is an eBird hotspot. I am something of an aficionado of National Wildlife Refuges. On this site, I have attempted to list the top 25 NWRs for birding , explained how to learn more about a particular NWR , and generally extolled the importance of the system to birds and birders. I am also a dutiful eBirder. But I somehow missed the introduction of some cool new features specifically for eBirding NWRs.

2018 43

2018 Wildlife Nebraska Minnesota 43

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

If you’ve ever visited a crane blind in Nebraska in spring, you’re familiar with the jockeying for position in a dark blind, the heavy rules about not talking, not walking too loud, no flash photography. I am a migration junky. I love it. No matter how many times I see certain species, I’m happy to see them again when the seasons shift. I also love large congregations of birds.

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Israel 2012 Hoarding Nebraska 73

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2011

15,000 people flock to the Rowe Sanctuary in Kearney, Nebraska, each spring, from every state and 46 different countries. As part of my effort to keep concerned wildlife enthusiasts informed about the proposal to hunt Eastern Flyway sandhill cranes, it is my duty to tell you that there’s another vote coming up. This time, it’s the full commission– nine members of the Kentucky Dept.

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Kentucky Hunting 2011 Tennessee 82

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

According to the study’s lead author, Mark Vrtiska of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, “You may think the fall in hunters would be good news for ducks, but ironically it is leading to less money for the conservation of their habitat. The number of people who hunt waterfowl in the US has declined since the mid 1990s. This has resulted in a reduction of the number of duck stamps sold.

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Ducks 2013 Hunters Nebraska 81

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2012

Government to set up several forts, including Fort Mitchell in western Nebraska. Nick Lund , formerly at birdDC and then the Birdist , should be no stranger to readers of 10,000 Birds. He’s previously shared his surprisingly strong feelings about the bird logos of NFL and MLB teams.

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2012 Vermont Nebraska Mississippi 66

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Of the Central Flyway states, Nebraska alone holds out in protecting the cranes, having proven by its longstanding Festival of the Cranes in Kearney that a crane is worth infinitely more alive and purring in the sky with its family than thudding, broken and bleeding, into a cornfield. Nebraska sees the migration of more than 500,000 staging sandhill cranes in the spring, does not permit hunting, and reaps the benefit of more than $10 million dollars a year in tourism dollars.

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2011 Campaign Hunters Kentucky 83

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

Hint for your letter: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has just returned from Nebraska’s Lillian Annette Rowe Sanctuary in Kearney, where he fell silent, entranced by the spectacle of tens of thousands of sandhill cranes rising from the braided shallows of the Platte. photo by Cyndi Routledge He called the Platte wetlands restoration project “a crown jewel for Nebraska.”

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2011 Hunting Raised Kentucky 78

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2018

There are a number of trips on my bucket list, but here are three: Platte River, Nebraska. In a recent post, Corey listed five things to do when it is too cold to go birding and one of those things is planning birding travel. Here in Portland, Oregon, it is more frequently too rainy rather than too cold to go birding, at least comfortably. Regardless, planning trips is one way to do something birding-related without getting cold or wet.

2018 40

2018 San Francisco Portland Puerto Rico 40

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

These Blasts From The Past Finally a Feeder Watcher Recent Forest Park Birding Unpacking My 2009 Year List New Year, New Bird Exodus: The Migration of Saw-whet Owls in North America About the Author Rick Rick Wright studied French, German, philosophy, and biology at the University of Nebraska.

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2011 Tucson Nebraska Deer 50

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

About the Author Rick Rick Wright studied French, German, philosophy, and biology at the University of Nebraska. home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds , Terminology / Cow Birds Cow Birds By Rick • March 22, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share So what do Buffleheads and Bitterns and Hornbills have in common? They’re all named for livestock.

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Cows 2011 Cattle 2008 54

Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 29, 2006

However, 12 states, namely, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming and Wisconsin [Imagine, The Dairy State doesn't protect a woman's right to nurse!],

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2006 District of Columbia Meat Wisconsin 40

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2017

Please consider sending a public comment opposing the Keystone Pipeline to the Nebraska Public Service Commission, no later than 5pm Friday Central time via the Sierra Club. Not only is the Trump administration going about removing our hard fought environmental protections, they are destroying our reputation around the globe.

2017 44

2017 North Korea Nebraska Mountain Lions 44