New research reveals incredible hunting secrets of the Great Grey Owl

by Larry Powell

 The Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa). Photo by Drsarahgrace, public domain.

A new study in Manitoba shows how the “Great Gray Owl,” a common site, either soaring over the plains and perching and nesting in the forests of the eastern Canadian prairies, overcomes many obstacles to find its prey.

  The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) - Photo by Soebe, public domain

The bird is able to "punch" through as much as 50cm (20”) of hard, crusty snow - enough to hold a person’s weight - to catch a vole hiding beneath. (The vole is a small rodent which frequently serves as a meal for the winged predator.)

                       

But the snow presents the owl with other problems way before the “moment of capture,” too. Not only does it hide its prey from site, forcing the bird to rely on its hearing only, it deadens, or attenuates any sound the vole is making, and even "bends" or refracts it, creating an “acoustic mirage,” or false impression of its location. (See above.) The denser the snow, the more pronounced is both the attenuation and refraction. 

The owl soars towards its prey from its perch (above), then hovers as directly over it as it can until it reaches a “listening position” of least refraction and attenuation - defeating that "acoustic mirage" in the process. Then it plummets straight down on its target, forming a “plunge-hole” in the snow.

The owl is superbly adapted for this. While it has no ear tufts, it has the largest “facial disc” of any owl. That's where its ring of feathers filters and amplifies sound at its ears. (See above) This also allows it to pick up low-frequency sound, the kind that transmits best through snow. And its wing feathers are formed in such a way as to allow it to fly and hover more quietly than just about any bird, anywhere.

There are other features that make the “Great Gray” unique, too.

It is the largest owl in North America, with a wing span of well over a metre. It can be found across the province, year-round. And, since Manitobans “adopted” it in 1987, it’s been our official, provincial bird, too!

A three-member team, two from the US, along with James Duncan from “Discover Owls” in Balmoral, Manitoba, used loudspeakers and special cameras in their research.

The above images were extracted, with thanks, from the team's official study, just published in the proceedings of The Royal Society.

Scientists Find Oil Rig Noise Pollution Affects Birds

The Manitoban

The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)
A PinP photo

We need to rethink the way we regulate noise pollution from oil rigs as the noise from oil drilling can be harmful to prairie songbirds, including species that are at risk. These findings come from a new study authored by Nicola Koper and Patricia Rosa. Koper is a professor at the natural resources institute at the University of Manitoba and Rosa is an assistant professor at St. George’s University. They both study how human activity can interfere with songbird behaviour. Story here.

U.N. blueprint on climate emergencies reminds us of man's legacy of deadly pollution and destruction of wildlife.

EcoWatch

Ducks swim through an "algal soup" - a stream in Manitoba Canada probably 

over-fertilized by livestock and human waste. A PinP photo.

The head of the world body sounds the alarm on what he calls humanity's "senseless and suicidal war on nature." Details here.

Tough Times for Animal Travellers

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. (COSEWIC)

The Blackmouth (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) a type of Chinook. 

Image by Animal Diversity Web.

After maturing at sea, Chinook Salmon on Canada's West Coast swim back to their natal streams to spawn. Twenty-eight populations of Chinook Salmon live in Southern British Columbia, each with different habitats and survival strategies. Chinook Salmon face many threats in both fresh and saltwater, including climate change and detrimental effects from hatchery fish. At the current meeting, COSEWIC considered the 12 populations of Chinook Salmon most impacted by hatcheries: four were designated Endangered, three Threatened, and one Special Concern, while one was deemed Not at Risk. Three remote populations were determined to be Data Deficient, and will require additional research before being re-assessed. Details here.

Snarl for the camera! An international team of scientists and software developers use facial recognition technology to identify individual grizzlies in the wild.

 By Larry Powell

An adult female grizzly (Ursus arctos). "BearID," as the program is called, captures a bear’s face in a 

photo image, rotates, extracts and embeds it in order to classify the individual.  

Facial recognition techniques have long been used to identify primates, including humans. But, up 'til now, there's really been no effective way of identifying wild species like the grizzly (brown) bear who, unlike the zebra or giraffe, lacks unique and consistent body markings.

     

In co-operation with two US software developers, four scientists from the University of Victoria bought their idea to reality. They tested their system on grizzlies at two locations - Knight Inlet, BC, and Katmai National Park, Alaska. After taking thousands of pictures, they were able to positively identify 132 individuals with almost eighty-four percent accuracy. 

An adult female in another colour phase. All images by Melanie Clapham, U of Victoria, Canada. 

The technology enables wildlife monitoring on larger scales and in higher resolution than before. And it can be applied, not only to the grizzly, but to many other mammals, as well. This, in turn, could allow conservationists and lawmakers to tackle global challenges such as biodiversity and habitat loss.

Knight Inlet, one of the two locations for the research, is home to a First Nations Lodge where bear-watching forms part of the local eco-tourism industry. 

A band official there, Dallas Smith is impressed with the results. 

“This amazing technology will help us identify individual bears and better understand their movement and interactions throughout our territories, which will enable us to build better management plans around habitat protection. It will also help us manage and mitigate the impact of wildlife viewing, as well as positioning ourselves to more effectively and efficiently deal with bear-human conflicts that are becoming more and more prevalent.”

These new ways of using facial recognition technology, referred to as a "deep learning approach," were published recently in the journal, Ecology and Evolution.

Animal behaviour: Leading the young: older male elephants prove they are "up to the tusk!"

Journal: Scientific Reports

Male elephants socialising along the Boteti River. Credit: Connie Allen.

Older male elephants may have important roles to play as experienced leaders to younger males when navigating unknown or risky environments, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. 

In long-lived species, such as elephants and whales, older individuals often respond more appropriately to complex, changing environments, which may benefit younger group members. However, research in this area has tended to focus on females.

Connie Allen and colleagues investigated grouping behaviour and patterns of leadership in 1,264 male African savannah elephants travelling on elephant pathways to and from the Boteti River in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park (MPNP), Botswana. 

Male African elephants congregate along hotspots of social activity
on the Boteti River. Credit: Connie Allen.

The authors found that lone elephants accounted for 20.8% (263 elephants) of sightings on elephant pathways. Adolescent males travelled alone significantly less often than expected, unlike mature adult males who were more likely to travel alone than expected, which may suggest that lone travel is riskier for younger, newly independent and less experienced individuals. Older adults were significantly more likely to travel at the front of groups of males, suggesting that mature adult bulls act as repositories for ecological knowledge and that they may be important leaders during collective movement in all-male groups of African savannah elephants.

Old males being considered reproductively redundant is commonly used as an argument to support the legal trophy hunting of old males, according to the authors who suggest that such selective harvesting of older males could disrupt the wider bull society and the inter-generational flow of accumulated ecological knowledge.

New research suggests, zoos and aquariums in Canada do little to protect endangered creatures in the wild.

by Larry Powell

A Bengal, the commonest tiger species (but still endangered)
paces in its cage at Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park zoo. 
A PinP photo.

A study just published in the journal, Facets, begins positively enough. It acknowledges that members of Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA - the private, non-profit charity representing thirty such institutions), do try to be leaders in researching this field and, that they do take part in programs aimed at species survival by breeding animals in captivity, then re-introducing them into the wild.

And on its own website,  CAZA claims, "We are behind some of the most remarkable conservation success stories. This includes, bringing species such as the Black Footed Ferret and the Vancouver Island Marmot back from the brink of extinction,” for example. 

However, in some key areas, the researchers (a team of two biologists from Laurentian University in Sudbury) suggest, CAZA and its members are falling short. 

Zoos and aquariums could be "important resources in mitigating biodiversity loss. And the credibility of zoos as conservation organizations can only be enhanced by the production of peer-reviewed science in this field."

Yet, while CAZA members are turning out more such research (still significantly less than their US counterparts and most in "zoo-centric" journals), most are not on the topic of biodiversity conservation at all, but on veterinary science, instead. 

"Few studies have explored their contribution to biodiversity conservation efforts and research productivity in general." 

Increasing collaboration with academic institutions would be one way for CAZA to overcome that shortcoming. So, “It is puzzling that collaborations between these groups are rare. Academics can use the unique environment zoos and aquariums provide for studying species, whereas academic research based on field observations may increase the success of reintroduction efforts led by zoos and aquariums.”

This new research comes to light against the backdrop of extinctions hanging over tens of thousands of Earth's wild species, “ due to widespread degradation of global ecosystems caused by humans.”

RELATED:

Extinct-in-the-wild species’ last stand. Science Magazine.

 

The hand of man shows through once again in a major weather catastrophe.

 by Larry Powell

The Green Wattle Creek bushfire moves toward the Southern Highlands township of 

Yanderra, Australia as police evacuate. Dec. 2019.
Photo by Helitak 430.

A new study finds, manmade climate change did, indeed, worsen the bushfires which ravaged much of southeastern Australia late last year and early this year. An international team of seventeen scientists has just concluded, the probability of conditions developing like the ones which kindled the catastrophic blazes “has increased by at least 30% since 1900 as a result of anthropogenic climate change.” 

And that figure could be much higher considering that extreme heat, one of the main factors behind this increase, is underestimated in the models used. The heating of the planet, largely due to human extraction and burning of fossil fuels, has, for some time been shown to be the main factor behind the development of storms that are more intense and frequent than before.

Looking to the future, the study predicts, if the temperature rises 2 ºC over 1900 levels, the kind of fire risk which existed during the recent bushfires "will be at least four times more likely." 

Last year was both the hottest and driest in Australia since records began around 1900. Not only were the fires more frequent and intense, they started earlier than usual. They claimed the lives of more than a billion wild animals, thousands of livestock and 34 humans. Almost six thousand buildings were destroyed. And the smoke - which produced air quality hazards some 20 times beyond what were considered levels safe for humans - lingered for months over much of the country.

To quote from the report, "It is well-established that wildfire smoke exposure is associated with respiratory morbidity. Additionally, fine particulate matter in smoke may act as a triggering factor for acute coronary events (such as heart attack-related deaths) as found for previous fires in southeast Australia. Increased bushfire-related risks in a warming climate have significant implications for the health sector."

The research was done by the scientific group, “World Weather Attribution” (WWA). It's a relatively new, international effort to analyze and communicate the possible influences of climate change on extreme weather events.

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RELATED:

Bushfire crisis conditions eight times more likely under 2C warming, analysis shows 

Canada’s reindeer ‘at risk of extinction’

The Narwhal

As governments drag their feet on caribou habitat protections, the iconic species engraved on the Canadian quarter is winking out across the country. The year 2019 saw alarming declines and local extinctions of a species Indigenous peoples hold sacred. Story here.

"Santa's reindeer" flee a logging truck, somewhere in the boreal
forests of Canada. 

Please read my own, related story and watch my video, below...Larry Powell.

Even our national bird - the Canada jay - is not immune from the ravages of manmade climate change.

Save the Wilderness. A music video by Eric Bogle and Larry Powell.

Brazil’s Atlantic forest: putting the pieces back together

BirdLife

INTERNATIONAL

Surrounded by a sea of cattle ranches and sugarcane plantations, a few ‘islands’ of Atlantic Forest remain. By establishing a private reserve and working with local people to connect forest fragments, SAVE Brasil is showing that it is possible to turn the tide on extinction. Story here.

The more we carve up natural landscapes with roads and fields, the closer we’re pushing large predators like lions and wolves, toward extinction. by Larry Powell

While the consequences of habitat loss have been known for some time, new research just published, underlines just how grave the situation has become. 

While this latest research is German, animals like the grey wolf faces similar disruption in North America.

While this latest research is German, animals like the grey wolf
faces similar disruption in North America. 

It’s called “habitat fragmentation.” And, it’s been happening on such a large scale, it’s been hard to tell what aspects are the most destructive. That's because ecologists - at least 'til now - haven't been able to properly keep track of all wildlife within an entire eco-system when human developments confine them to smaller and more isolated patches of livable space. 

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The Trump Administration Has Thrown Out Protections for Migratory Birds

truthout

A great egret. One of the many birds that migrate between Canada and the U.S.
A PinP photo.

Under Republican and Democratic presidents from Nixon through Obama, killing migratory birds, even inadvertently, was a crime, with fines for violations ranging from $250 to $100 million. The power to prosecute created a deterrent that protected birds and enabled government to hold companies to account for environmental disasters. But in part due to President Donald Trump’s interior secretary nominee…more here.

RELATED: 

New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too. Is modern agriculture's hold on nature becoming a death grip?

The Insect Apocalypse Is Coming: Here are Five Lessons we Must Learn

truthout

A PinP photo.

In a new report, scientists warn of a precipitous drop in the world’s insect population. We need to pay close attention, as over time, this could be just as catastrophic to humans as it is to insects. Special attention must be paid to the principal drivers of this insect decline, because while climate change is adding to the problem, food production is a much larger contributor. Story here.

A Professor at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) is calling for the killing of Canada's entire population of wild pigs - by Larry Powell

Dr. Ryan Brook, Associate Professor in the College Agriculture
and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Ryan Brook says such a drastic and aggressive move would be justified because the animals can carry deadly disease such as African Swine Fever. ASF entered China, the world's largest hog producer, some time ago, forcing major culls of domestic animals there. It is feared the disease could spread to North America and that wild pigs could prove to be carriers and infect commercial swine herds in the US and Canada. It is believed such an eventuality would devastate the pork industry on this continent.

Dr. Brook suggests the wild animals could be captured in nets dropped from helicopters, then killed with bolt guns. He claims big ground traps and human ground crews could effectively catch and kill entire groups.

Wild pigs in winter. A Pexels photo.

He adds, while he respects sports hunters, their methods are not effective at controlling wild hog numbers. That's because they tend to fragment populations and make them harder than ever to capture. He says a plan to eradicate Canada's wild pig population is urgently needed and requires co-operation on a national and international scale.

Dr. Brook was speaking on the radio program "Farmscape," sponsored by the hog industry in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 

RELATED: In Hogs We Trust - Part 111 - From Malaysia to Manitoba - the magnitude of livestock diseases, worldwide.

Mexico’s monarch population booms

Science Magazine

IN SECTION: NEWS IN BRIEF

Edited by Jeffrey Brainard

Opens in modal lightbox

Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in

 Mexico.PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Viewable Image - mexicos monarch population booms

Image Caption

Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in Angangueo, Mexico. PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Every winter, monarch butterflies in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States flock to the pine and fir forests of central Mexico to hibernate, covering trees and turning hectares of forest orange and black. This year, the butterfly population overwintering in Mexico more than doubled, according to World Wildlife Fund Mexico, which helps lead the annual count. The butterflies covered 6.05 hectares of forest, up from 2.48 last year. It’s the largest wintering area since the winter of 2006–07. This famous group of migrating monarchs has been struggling in recent years, with an all-time low arriving in 2013–14, when they covered a mere 0.67 hectares. This year’s uptick reflects a boost from mild climatic conditions in the United States last year, which allowed more monarch larvae to survive and mature there and eventually make the 4000-kilometre journey to Mexico. Another possible cause: Increasing numbers of Americans have planted milkweed, monarch caterpillars’ food source, which has been threatened by the widespread use of herbicides in U.S. agriculture. Meanwhile, the population of monarch butterflies that lives west of the Rocky Mountains and overwinters on the California coast continues to decline, with an 86% drop reported this year.

Canadian scientists discover Neonics are being ingested by free-ranging animals

Science News.

A pair of wild turkeys in Manitoba. A PinP photo.

Researchers at the University of Guelph, Ontario have found residues of the insecticides in the livers of wild turkeys, providing evidence that this common agrochemical is being ingested by free-ranging animals. More here.

The terrifying phenomenon that is pushing species towards extinction

The Guardian

Scientists are alarmed by a rise in mass mortality events – when species die in their thousands. Is it all down to climate change? More here.

Europe's key animals 'making a comeback'

BBC News

Some of Europe's key animals have made a comeback over the past 50 years, a report suggests. More here.

Humans take up too much space -- and it's affecting how mammals move

ScienceDaily

Study found that human-modified landscapes shrink mammal movements by up to half. Story here.

Moose in Riding Mountain National Park, 
Manitoba, Canada. PinP photo.

Warming ocean water is turning 99 percent of these sea turtles female

ScienceNews

Rising temperatures are skewing population ratios toward extreme imbalance. Story here.

Photo by Karla