News
- Stalled on the Bloomingdale Trail:: From Chicago Reader comes this article about the trials and problems creating a new open space in Chicago using an old rail line, similar to the High Line in New York. Once in motion, this could provide a great deal of habitat through the city.
- Finalists named for Vail Pass wildlife crossings:: This story from the Vail Daily offers another look at the finalists that were featured here, ARC Wildlife Crossing Finalists.
- New “bird cities” announced:: This article highlights the efforts of six communities in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin metro region, and others throughout the state, to be designated as “bird cities.” Structured in the model of Tree City, “communities must show how they improved bird habitat, manage woodlands, limit hazards to birds, and educate residents about birds and environmental health.”
- 60 Wild Coyotes Patrol Chicago (And Occasionally Stop At Convenience Stores):: A story from NPR features the efforts of Chicago to combat rodent populations in the city. It’s quite fascinating that although they live in very close proximity to humans, they are rarely seen. Dr. Stanley Gehrt, who is featured in the article is an expert at urban coyotes, I saw him speak on the subject once, a very interesting topic.
- Rapture For a Raptor in New Documentary:: A review from the San Rafael Patch about a new documentary about the famous Pale Male of New York City, The Legend of Pale Male.
- Small Wonders:: From the Native Backyard blog, this post tells about the excitement of having a hummingbird nest on an apartment patio.
- Database shows how bees see the world in UV:: From the BBC News is an story about an interesting new project aimed at creating a database with technical details on flowers in regards to UV and how bees will see the flowers.
- Leaked document shows EPA allowed bee-toxic pesticide despite own scientists’ red flags:: There are a number of articles about this online, this one is from Grist which gives a good background and details about this story.
- Birds and Glass: Interview with Dr. Dan Klem:: This interview comes from the Urban Birdscapes blog and is a fascinating look at the difficulty of getting a relatively easy solution to be used.
- Bird-friendly building encouraged:: An article from Trib Local about a resolution in Barrington to encourage bird friendly building design thanks to the research of Dr. Dan Klem (from link right above).
Resources
- Birds and Buildings Forum:: This is a useful website with many resources and links about birds and buildings including a great deal about window collisions.
- No Trees, No Future:: From the Trees and Design Action Group comes this report which features scientific studies about the benefits of trees. Among the benefits. “providing food and shelter for wildlife they help increase biodiversity.” It’s always nice to have scientific backing when making statements like this.
- Greenways:: This page comes courtesy of the Rhode Island Greenways Council and give a good rundown about Greenways, what they do and the various types.
- Green Roofs as a Habitat for Birds: A Review:: This paper from the Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances gives an excellent overview of the literature and studies about green roofs as bird habitat.
- Design of Management of Rafts (PDF):: A resource from the RSPB which gives great instruction to creating rafts for breeding water birds.
Design
- Dew Catchers will help to Green Buildings:: From Livingroofs.org comes an interesting look at the idea of dew catching, an invention that won Popular Science’s best invention of 2010. The post discusses how it’s not a new invention and how it can help in modern design of adding plants to roofs and walls.
- Restoring the Riparian Edge: Pier One Brooklyn Bridge Park:: This case study from Green Sky Designs features a park along the pier in Brooklyn.
- Build Yourself a Bug Hotel:: Another look at the recently popular insect hotels, this time from Sunset Magazine.
- Green Hairstreak Corridor:: This project by Nature in the City in San Francisco, hopes to connect the last two populations of this butterfly in the city with a corridor with the help of the community.
- Form Follows Feathers: Bird-Friendly Architecture:: From the Architectural Record, this story is a couple of years old, but features a couple of very fascinating architectural projects that were designed with birds in mind.
- Aqua Tower – the tower that Jeanne Gang built:: Another older article, this time from The Guardian, also about bird friendly architecture design aimed at preventing bird strikes. The designer achieved a visually stunning building design.
- Feral City:: From Animal Architecture is a look at a student project which asked the question “What if we introduced [or re-introduced] zoological/ entomological/ botanical specimens into our everyday lives?” The result is a series of intriguing ideas and designs.
