A small greenish bird that has been playing hide-and-seek with ornithologists on a remote Indonesian island since 1996 was declared a newly discovered species on Friday and promptly recommended for endangered lists.

The new species is called the Togian white-eye, or Zosterops somadikartai.

It was first spotted by Mochamad Indrawan of the University of Indonesia and his colleague Sunarto, who like many Indonesians uses one name. (more…)

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Climate change might be causing reef fish to get lost, unable to return to breeding grounds from the open ocean, which could have profound implications for the survival of reef ecosystems, Australian scientists say.

Climate change-induced environmental stress, including warmer and more acidic seawater, could be hindering the development of the ear bones in young reef fish, which rely on sound for navigation, the marine experts said on Friday.

The scientists from the James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science found that fish with asymmetrical ear bones struggle to return to their home reef. (more…)

Whether they hibernate, have thick fur coats or take shelter, animals are masters of surviving the cold weather. Here are a number of interesting animals and the fascinating things they do to survive harsh conditions.

1. Japan’s macaques monkeys keep warm by taking hot baths in volcanic springs.

2. Polar bears (or "solar bears") soak up the sun with their black skin, which is covered by a coat of  clear hair that conducts the sun’s heat. Not to mention they also have a handy 4 inches of fat to insulate them.

3. Animals will also flock to warmth created by humans, such as pigeons in Chicago that huddle around the Eternal Flame and manatees that seek out warm water discharge from power plants.

4. Aside from having blubber, penguins avoid losing energy and heat when they exhale by using special nasal passages to reclaim the warm air.

5. Some honey bees huddle together to make a winter cluster in order to keep warm.

6. Bees aren’t the only ones that huddle together, even bats and ladybugs will huddle for warmth in a safe place.

7. Various plants depend on snow to trap heat and insulate them from cold winds.

8. Seals have a special set of blood vessels that function to conserve heat.

9. Occasionally some fish will use a natural anti-freeze to keep from freezing in low temperatures.

10. When water is scarce, wild bactrian camels will eat snow.

source: blogs.nwf.org

Scientific name: Actitis macularia

Family: Scolopacidae, Sandpipers

Description: 7 1/2″ (19 cm). A starling-sized shorebird that bobs its tail almost constantly. Breeding adults are brown above, with bold white wing stripe, white below with bold black spots on breast and belly. Fall birds lack black spots below, have brownish smudge at sides of breast.

Habitat: Ponds, streams, and other waterways, both inland and along the shore.

Nesting: 4 buff eggs, spotted with brown, in a nest lined with grass or moss in a slight depression on the ground.

Voice: A clear peet-weet; also a soft trill.

Depleted by over-harvesting and pollution, the world’s major fishing grounds are now severely threatened by climate change as well, according to a UN report released Friday.

Warmer water and acidification caused by the seas’ absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide are disrupting fragile natural cycles and threaten a dramatic collapse of fish stocks, the report said.

‘What we do over the next decades has the potential to affect ocean chemistry for tens of thousands of years, and marine life for millions of years,’ said one of the authors, marine scientist Ken Caldeira of Stanford University.
(more…)

NEW DELHI — The Indian government plans to spend more than $13 million establishing a special ranger force to protect the country’s endangered tigers, following pressure from international conservationists to save the wild cats.

The funding proposed Friday by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram follows the announcement just weeks ago of a $153 million program to create new tiger reserves, underscoring renewed efforts by India’s government to protect the big cats.

New estimates suggest India’s wild tiger population has dropped from nearly 3,600 five years ago to about 1,411, the government-run Tiger Project said last month. (more…)