Great BIG Nature Notes

4 months ago

The world’s largest hummingbird has been hiding in plain sight for centuries — and scientists are just now discovering how incredible they are! “There aren’t many animal migrations of large, charismatic species that are still totally unknown, but that was the case for southern giant hummingbirds,” said lead study author Jessie Williamson, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The research team spent nine months camping in rural parts of Chile and Peru, trying to capture and fit a microtracking device to 57 hummingbirds. What the data revealed was these hummingbirds can ascend from sea level to more than 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) in elevation, and are now believed to have the longest known hummingbird migration, spanning 5,200 miles (8,368 kilometers) from the Chilean coast up to the Andes in Peru and back. Amazing, and I am sure we will learn much more as the research continues.
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Great BIG Nature Notes

5 months ago

In Kahuzi-Biega National Park, conservation and colonialism are deeply intertwined, affecting the fate of the critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla. Learn more about growing community-based conservation efforts in the Congo at this #longread, 'Gorillas in Their Midst': bit.ly/3sCL4zn 📷 Marcus Westberg ... See MoreSee Less

Great BIG Nature Notes

5 months ago

95% of Fijian free-tailed bats live in a single cave on the island of Vanua Levu. And like many Pacific bat species, climate change and land-use shifts pose big risks to creatures so tied to one place—and to the villagers who act as their stewards, too: bit.ly/3UnbRuz ✍️: Monica Evans 📷: courtesy of Bat Conservation International ... See MoreSee Less