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Birds, Conservation, Daily Bread, Good Ideas, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.23.25: Mark Your Calendars for Fat Bird Week (Yes, Wisconsin Has a Fat Bird Week)

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will see scattered afternoon showers with a high of 70. Sunrise is 6:00 and sunset is 7:46, for 13 hours, 47 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 23.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1985, Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.

Something happy today, as though a palate cleanser in difficult times. Wisconsin’s Second Fat Bird Week is approaching. The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin will hold Fat Bird Week from May 2nd to May 9th:

Let’s celebrate our chunky native birds and learn how to help them! Every day from May 2nd to May 9th you’ll get the chance to vote for your favorite bulbous bird.

How does voting work?

Our 8 chubby contestants compete in a single elimination, bracket-style tournament.

The first round of voting will open at 9am CST on Friday, May 2nd and voting will remain open for 48 hours. The second round of voting will open at 9am CST on Sunday, May 4th and remain open for 24 hours. The following rounds will open at 9am CST and last 24 hours until the final round on Friday, May 9th. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 12th.

Receive daily reminders to vote by signing up for the Bird News You Can Use email list. You’ll also be the first to find out who won Fat Bird Week!

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In the world of birds, a fat bird is a healthy bird. Fat acts as a great lightweight source of energy for these important pollinators. Many of our favorite native Wisconsin species are also migratory birds and can pack on 50-100% of their body weight to store up enough energy for their long journey. For our non-migratory chonkers, they are able to fluff out their feathers during the winter months to stay warm.

Fat, healthy birds benefit our environment in a variety of ways. As key pollinators, birds disperse seeds, pollinate plants, and help manage pests in farmlands and forests. Birds also have significant mental health benefits for humans and support Wisconsin’s $2.6 billion wildlife watching economy. Known as “canaries in the coal mine,” birds can alert both people and wildlife to unhealthy conditions, too. What are the four biggest ways you can help?

See the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin website for more information about their good work.

Here’s the 2024 winner:

Heavy dust storm sweeps across state in northern Mexico:

A massive dust storm rolled through northern Mexico on Saturday, leading to health concerns and road closings. The storm hit Chihuahua, a state in northern Mexico largely covered by desert, across from New Mexico and Texas. At least a dozen municipalities were affected, but no casualties were reported.

America, Cats, Conservation, Nature

Friday Catblogging: The Return of Ocelots?

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Embed from Getty Images Christine Dell’Amore writes Ocelots once roamed the U.S. Can we bring them back? (‘Ocelots are a quintessentially American cat—yet a single tropical storm could wipe them off the U.S. map. Will a pioneering new partnership make a difference?’): Only a few centuries years ago, the northern ocelot was a quintessential American…

Cats, Conservation, Nature

Friday Catblogging: Lion Relocation

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John Adams on Twitter How the world’s largest lion relocation was pulled off https://t.co/5KvE5wiUMz via @NatGeo Paul Steyn reports How the world’s largest lion relocation was pulled off: When he [Jorge Thozo, chief of the Thozo community] was a child, numerous prides of lions roamed the game-rich wetlands of the Zambezi Delta. But their numbers…

Animals, Cats, Conservation, Nature

Friday Catblogging: Can Humans and Lions Get Along?

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“Lions are really causing us havoc,” laments an African pastoralist in Nani Walker and Alan Toth’s short documentary, Living with Lions. The film chronicles the conflict between lions and humans in Laikipia County, Kenya, where drought and urbanization have pushed people and wildlife into closer contact. Conservationists attempt to mitigate the encounters, which often begin…

Animals, Conservation, Environment, Nature

Film: The Rhino Guardians

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The Rhino Guardians from Dan Sadgrove on Vimeo. Dan Sadgrove describes his recent film on an anti-poaching group: In 2016 I travelled to South Africa to visit The Black Mambas – the worlds first all female anti-poaching unit operating in the Balule Game Reserve in South Africa. Coming from disadvantaged communities and breaking strong patriarchal…

Business, Conservation, Environment, Good Ideas

Making Wood Without Trees

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Ecovative Design has made a mission of replacing synthetic plastic polymers with natural mushroom based polymers. After disrupting the packaging industry with a line of fully biodegradable mushroom packaging, they are now setting their sights on replacing manufactured wood products. (Video by Brandon Lisy, Justin Beach) (Music by Andy Clausen) Via Bloomberg Business.

Conservation, Newspapers

Wasted Paper

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Week after week, people who don’t ask for rolled-up newspapers find those dead-tree publications on their porches. Wasted paper, each week, of each month, of each season, of each year.  The distribution comes close to lawful littering. Publishers should be required to obtain consent before dumping these papers on homeowners’ lawns. That prior consent would be burdensome for publishers,…