Noise pollution affects birds’ nesting habits

October 7th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The central government has directed Orissa to form a crisis group to monitor the pollution caused due to oil spilling off a sunken Mongolian ship near Paradip port, officials said Wednesday. Biswajit Mohanty, member of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), said that the government has directed the state to ensure that the pollution does not pose danger to the rare Olive Ridley turtles, whose nesting place is near the accident site.

September 23rd, 2009 LONDON - A new research by scientists has determined that blue whales have had to increase their 'singing' to cope with noise pollution from ships. Man-made noise such as ships' engines has caused hearing loss in whales.

September 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have suggested that migrating birds drop their body temperature at night during stopovers to save energy and build up their reserves faster. Scientists Michal Wojciechowski and Berry Pinshow carried out the research.

September 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Developing oil rigs in the Arctic is helping predators prey on nesting birds by providing them with subsidised housing. They nest and den around drilling infrastructure and supplement their diets with garbage and nesting birds, says a new study by Wildlife Conservation Society, US Fish and Wildlife Service.

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have attached the world's smallest satellite tags to the members of the rare and rapidly declining Kittlitz's Murrelet seabirds, in order to track them. Most of these birds are found in remote, glaciated regions of Alaska, but their wintering grounds have long been unknown.

August 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Some Aussie frogs often raise their pitch as they serenade their partners, in order to counter traffic sounds, according to a study. Kirsten Parris, an ecologist at the University of Melbourne, says that one species of frog in Melbourne is changing the pitch of its love song to be heard above the roar of the road.

July 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the strongest evidence yet that noise pollution negatively influences bird populations. The three-year study compared nesting birds inhabiting pinyon-juniper woodland sites surrounding natural gas extraction sites and their noise-producing compressors with birds nesting in adjacent, quieter woodland sites.

July 21st, 2009 LONDON - A probe for noise pollution was ordered into a Brit Primary school after locals complained about kids' laughter. Council inspectors heard of the complaints of an "unbearable" din at playtimes, and carried out tests to see whether it exceeded World Health Organisation limits.

July 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A study on zebra finches conducted by neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has shed some light on how practice improves performance. The researchers say that studying the chirps of zebra finches helped them determine that as these tiny songbirds fine-tune their songs, their brains initially store improvements in one brain pathway, before transferring this learned information to the motor pathway for long-term storage.

June 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A Chinese ventriloquist has developed the skill to imitate the sounds of 50 different birds. Xu Mingfu, 53, who first learned ventriloquism five years ago in Beijing, likes to imitate birds and he is even trying to follow their eating habits, reports China Daily.

June 18th, 2009 LONDON - The oldest nest used by falcons, dating back to even before the time of Jesus, has been discovered in Greenland. Gyrfalcons, the world's largest species of falcon, still continually use the nesting site on a precarious cliff edge.

June 9th, 2009 LUMBINI - Lord Buddha's birthplace is being polluted by noise and heavy industry, environmentalists have warned. According to the New York Daily News, at least eight cement factories are in operation on a main road linking Lumbini in Nepal with the nearest city of Bhairahawam.

May 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Mockingbirds may look alike to humans, but they can remember people who have threatened them and even start dive-bombing them if they've previously posed a threat to their nests, a study has found. According to University of Florida biologists, the white-and-grey songbirds spot their unwelcome guests, they screech, dive bomb and even sometimes graze the visitors' heads - while ignoring other passers-by or nearby strangers.

May 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An endangered bird found only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, has been provided an exclusive stretch of sand as a protected nesting area, where it can lay eggs. The bird in question is the maleo, a chicken-sized bird that lays its eggs in sand heated by either the sun or volcanism that occurs in its habitat on the island of Sulawesi.

March 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A worldwide online star-counting program, which is part of the International Year of Astronomy, has begun, calling on public in 110 partner countries to participate, in order to measure the light pollution.ccording to a report in National Geographic News, the two-week online campaign, known as 'Globe at Night', would run from March 16 to March 28. As part of the campaign, participating public would be expected to go outside at night and count the stars visible in and around the bright constellation Orion.