How hard can it be to lose a flamingo? Well, the above species, James’s Flamingo, went missing for fully half the twentieth century, before an expedition rediscovered them in the volcanic lakes of Bolivia’s Altiplano, 14,000 feet above sea level. These days, two Cornell graduate students, Marita Davison and Jennifer Moslemi, focus their research on understanding these and two other flamingo species and how they shape the lakes’ fragile ecosystems. In the summer issue of Living Bird, you can follow them to the high lakes without risking hypoxia. The issue is now free to read online.
We published the summer issue while there was nothing but bad news coming from the Gulf of Mexico. Cornell Lab director John Fitzpatrick urges us all to reconsider our collective energy choices, and we look to the Exxon Valdez oil spill to learn about the persistence of oil effects. (Members, look for a feature in the Autumn issue that takes a look forward at the future of the Gulf’s birds.)
Other articles strike out beyond the Gulf and away from the oil. Cliff Beitel takes us to tropical Midway Atoll, where Black-footed and Laysan albatrosses nest in the middle of military history. Gary Kramer zips up his parka to visit the Falkland Islands, finding four species of penguin plus steamerducks, Dolphin Gulls, and the island’s infamous “Johnny Rooks,” or Striated Caracaras. David Wilcove takes us to that largest island of all, Australia, in search of the unusual—and taxonomically unique—Plains-wanderer.
Lab members should be receiving their Autumn 2010 copies of Living Bird any day now. I’ve said it before, but I’ll just mention again for new readers how important—and easy—it is to join the Lab (video). We’re a nonprofit organization that gets very little funding from Cornell University. Memberships are a major part of the funding that we depend upon to keep going. Thanks to everyone who supports us.
(Image: James’s Flamingos by Marita Davison/Jennifer Moslemi)
