Bird News 10/810

Cockatoos

Urgent action needs to be taken to address problem cockatoos keeping hospital patients awake and annoying people at Atherton. Flocks of sulphur-crested cockatoos, numbering in the thousands, have been causing havoc along Cook St. Tablelands Regional Council has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency to use a scare gun to disperse the birds, but Cr Len Curtis said the process had to move faster. *Cairns Post

Banded Plovers

There are fears a critical breeding ground for a vulnerable bird species found only in Australia could be threatened if open-slather mining is allowed on Lake Torrens. In the past 70 years there have been only 10 recorded breeding events of the wading bird the banded stilt - the latest two months ago when an estimated 150,000 birds descended on the lake in SA's Far North. But there are now concerns that this already threatened bird could have its important habitat put at risk if plans to plunder minerals from the lake's bed get into full gear.

The State Government last month approved a mining exploration licence for Straits Resources and Argonaut Resources to drill on the lake bed for minerals including copper and gold. Australasian Waders Studies Group spokesman Clive Minton said mining on the lake bed would be "criminal" as the banded stilt only breeds in salt lakes which have been inundated with fresh water causing dormant brine shrimp eggs to hatch, providing a feeding bonanza for the young. The Aboriginal Kokatha Mula Nations Land Council chairman Andrew Starkey said his people had a number of sites registered in the area that would be threatened by the mining. "Our concern is the precedent this will set for the rest of the lakes," he said. * Adelaide Now


Bird Diets

Some birds radically change their diets just before their winter migrations, gorging themselves on antioxidant-rich berries to prepare for their long journeys, researchers have found. "[The] results support the hypothesis that some migratory birds may actively select deeply-pigmented fruits as a signal for meals that are rich in antioxidants," researcher Navindra Seeram of the University of Rhode Island said. "These disease-fighting antioxidants may help the birds combat stress and inflammation that they experience during long flights." "It has been known for some time, this phenomenon of birds switching to fruits in the fall," said study co-author Scott McWilliams, a bird researcher. The phenomenon is particularly striking because sparrows, thrushes, warblers and other birds with beaks highly specialized for eating insects suddenly begin using them to pick berries instead. A single bird can consume up to three times its weight in berries per day -- the equivalent of a human being consuming more than 300 pounds-worth of food. *NaturalNews Read more http://www.naturalnews.com/029391_birds_superfoods.html