Weekly bird news roundup (June 3)

While covering the topic of bird feeders and birds, I read so much news each week on fascinating tidbits and articles on birds that we can’t cover in length every day. So, each week we’ll be bringing you a roundup of the most interesting, important and coolest news about birds appearing around the Internet. Here’s what happened this week.

Bald Eagles released back into the wild after unintentional poisoning

Seven Bald Eagles that were found near death about two months ago were safely let go in the wild. This news is amazing considering they were nearly dead at a landfill and people said there was no antidote for the poison they’d ingested. The Wasau Daily Herald wrote the following about it in their article about the release this week:

The eagles fought off the effects of the poison, and after a week of care and treatment, Gibson was finally confident that the birds would pull through. Their health continued to improve in the following weeks and they soon began flying again.

Vultures make a comeback in Cambodia

Aptly named “vulture restaurants” in which dead animals are laid out for vultures to peck at are part of the reason vultures are making a comeback in Cambodia where as little as 7 years ago numbers were at the alarmingly low level of 150. Our Amazing Planet added this about the comeback:

The finding establishes Cambodia as the only country with an increasing population of vultures in Asia. Specifically, the census indicates that the country’s population of white-rumped vultures is increasing, while the populations of red-headed and slender billed vultures are stable. All three of Cambodia’s vulture species are listed as “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Conservationists look to save the sandpiper before they become extinct

The critically endangered Spoon-Billed Sandpiper native to northeastern Russia is on the verge of extinction. A last ditch effort by conservationists will soon be underway and involves going out and collecting eggs to reestablish a captive breeding populations. Here’s some more from an article in The Daily Mail:

The wading birds are being hit by hunting in their wintering grounds in Burma, and by damage to habitats on their migration ‘flyway’ along the coasts of Korea, China and Japan, the conservationists warn.

While efforts are being made to tackle the threats to the species in the wild, it will not be possible to turn round the sandpiper’s fortunes quickly enough to save it from extinction without securing a captive breeding population, the conservation groups said.