BIRD OF THE WEEK — BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER — PLANET EARTH BIRD WORLD group

ALL PLANET EARTH groups supports:

Sierra Club* United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) * American Bird Conservancy

PLANET EARTH BIRD WORLD has over 1,600 members and over 128,000 photos and videos.

BIRD OF THE WEEK

Black-backed Woodpecker

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Picoides arcticus
POPULATION: 1.8 million
TREND: Increasing
HABITAT: Resident in highland and boreal forests.

A burned-over forest may look lifeless and dreary to the human eye, but to the Black-backed Woodpecker, it’s a veritable welcome mat. This glossy-backed bird blends in beautifully with the charred trees it prefers; in fact, it’s far less likely to be seen away from a burned area than in one. This species is one of the first to recolonize a forest after a major fire, along with other species such as the White-headed and Hairy Woodpeckers.

The Black-backed Woodpecker’s seemingly odd choice of habitat makes a lot of sense when you think about the bird’s diet. A post-fire forest of charred conifers attracts wood-boring beetles and their larvae, as well as other insects, providing a ready woodpecker buffet. These dead trees (also known as snags) are also perfect places to excavate cavities for nesting and roosting.

Top Contributors

DansPhotoArtHawkeye2011DiegojacklittlebiddleS C photos

NEW ZEALAND — TASMAN SEA – ECOSYSTEMS — ANDREAS KAY PHOTOGRAPHY — PLANET EARTH MACRO WORLD group

All PLANET EARTH groups supports:

Sierra Club* United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) * American Bird Conservancy

PLANET EARTH MACRO WORLD has over 1,600 members and over 97,000 photos and videos.

Right now, the New Zealand bottom trawling fleet is setting out for yet another season of destruction. Each year, out of sight, the NZ fishing fleet go on the hunt for orange roughy using one of the most destructive forms of fishing ever devised. They have to be stopped, and one of the first things we need to do is make people aware of what’s really going on out there.

New Zealand trawl fleet to continue destruction of deep-sea ecosystems 
in South Pacific on the high seas.

New Zealand and Australia to adopt a deeply flawed regulation that will allow continued degradation and destruction of biologically rich and diverse ecosystems in the deep-sea from the Louisville Ridge in the western central South Pacific all the way across to the Tasman Sea.

We’ve stopped environmental crimes in the past and held companies to account. Together in our thousands, we’re forcing change and seeing results.

More and more people are saying ‘no’ to trashing the oceans, forests and climate – and standing up to protect our air, land and water from pollution.

Top Contributors

John Horstman (itchydogimages, SINOBUG)deta kEcuador Megadiversoorb1806Hugo von Schreck

SIERRA CLUB — PROTECTING FLORIDA’S RIVER OF GRASS — PLANET EARTH IN SEPIA group

All PLANET EARTH groups supports:

Sierra Club* United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) * American Bird Conservancy

PLANET EARTH IN SEPIA has over 400 members and over 5,000 photos. 

South Florida’s Biscayne aquifer is the primary source of drinking water for more than six million Sunshine State residents. Due to its surface proximity, the aquifer interacts with rainwater and other bodies of water, making it vulnerable to surface contaminants. So it would be really sensible to drill for oil in the Everglades, a recharge zone for the aquifer, right? Wrong!!

That’s the argument that local activists and elected officials have been making since July 2015, when Kanter Real Estate LLC applied for a permit for exploratory drilling on some of the 20,000 acres it owns in the Everglades. It’s located in a Water Conservation Area being restored under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, passed by the US Congress in 2000 and still in effect.

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John KocijanskiWITHIN the FRAME Photography(5 Million views thathe Gallopping Geezer ‘5.0’ million + views….Hugh Spicer / UIsdean SpicerMcQuaide Photography

GREENPEACE — NEW ZEALAND — BAN BOTTOM TRAWLING ON SEAMOUNTS — MICROBIOLOGY — PLANET EARTH MACRO WORLD group

All PLANET EARTH groups supports:

Sierra Club* United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) * American Bird Conservancy

PLANET EARTH MACRO WORLD has over 1,600 members and over 97,000 photos and videos. 

 

BAN BOTTOM TRAWLING

BAN BOTTOM TRAWLING ON SEAMOUNTS

Our oceans are being plundered for profit by the fishing industry.

We’re calling for the Government to ban bottom trawling on seamounts – underwater mountains that are renowned hotspots for biodiversity.

These are the ‘kauri forests of our ocean’ and it’s up to us to protect them, both at home and way out to sea.

BAN BOTTOM TRAWLING ON SEAMOUNTS

Ministers Nash and Sage: I demand that the NZ Govt bans bottom trawling on seamounts and similar deep sea features, and stop issuing permits for bottom trawling in international waters.

Click on link below:

SEAMOUNTS

Top Contributors

John Horstman (itchydogimages, SINOBUG)deta kEcuador Megadiversoorb1806Hugo von Schreck

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BIRD OF THE WEEK — JUAN FERNANDEZ FIRECROWN — PLANET EARTH BIRD WORLD group

All PLANET EARTH groups supports:

Sierra Club* United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) * American Bird Conservancy

PLANET EARTH BIRD WORLD has over 1,600 members and over 128,000 photos and videos.

BIRD OF THE WEEK

Juan Fernández Firecrown

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Sephanoides fernandensis
POPULATION: 490-2,000
IUCN STATUS: Critically Endangered
TREND: Decreasing
HABITAT: Native scrub, forest, and gardens.

The beautiful Juan Fernández Firecrown is surely one of the world’s most isolated hummingbird species. Unlike mainland birds such as the Chilean Woodstar, this hummingbird is found on just one far-flung Pacific island in Chile’s remote Juan Fernández Archipelago, more than 370 miles west of the South American mainland. That island, Isla Robinson Crusoe, has been designated an Alliance for Zero Extinction site because it contains this species’ entire global population.

The female Juan Fernández Firecrown may not be quite as flashy as the male, but she is still a brilliant dark green above and white below, spangled with iridescent green spots, and topped with an iridescent blue-green crown. (See photo below.) In contrast, the male is a uniform rufous-orange, with a fiery reddish-yellow crown.

Top Contributors

DansPhotoArtHawkeye2011DiegojacklittlebiddleS C photos