These birds seem like they're starving, sluggish, and disoriented, which could be environmental in several ways.
An alarming “mass die-off” of wild birds in the southwestern U.S. has scientists worried—and perplexed. The cause is not at all clear, with some scientists theorizing that climate change factors are playing a part. Most of the birds are insect eaters, and they’ve been found emaciated and disoriented, suggesting a gap in the food supply. There’s also speculation that wildfires are affecting the lives of these birds.
CNN reports on the dark phenomenon and firsthand accounts of the sick and dying birds. The observations sound like what you’d expect from animals with a contagious, behavior-changing disease like rabies. “On the [White Sands] missile range golf course [in New Mexico], swallows, which are aerial insectivores that don't even walk, were sitting on the ground and letting people approach them,” CNN explains.
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That’s frightening to even imagine. Other birds were too slow to avoid oncoming cars. Local scientists estimate that hundreds of thousands of birds are affected already, and that number could potentially reach millions.
On Monday, ecologist Martha Desmond, a professor in New Mexico State University’s department of fish, wildlife, and conservation ecology, told CNN, “Climate charge is playing a role in this.” But Tuesday, Desmond told the NPR show Here and Now, “The scientist in me will say at this point we really don’t know.” She explained:
“This is migratory season, and birds move in pulses with large weather events, and we saw a large number of birds come south to this region at that time. It’s unusual, but we do see die-offs of birds in the spring and in the fall with weather events. Usually it’s a one-pulse event such as hail or a snowstorm.”
But in those (rare) die-offs, there are hundreds or maybe thousands of dead birds—not hundreds of thousands.
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So what could be happening? There are a number of potential factors that all make an intuitive sense. Migratory birds already walk a fine line as they decide when to migrate and what route to take. They sense weather patterns and seasonal changes and are drawn to fly south. That’s why fluke weather events can disrupt migration in multiple ways.
Think about how a plant might bloom during an early spring thaw and then be frozen when seasonal weather resumes. If it’s a vegetable plant or fruit tree, that first freeze might impact the entire year’s harvest. Now think about the Donner party (really), a group of settlers who had to make a decision about whether to push farther before they’d be snowed into a dangerous mountain pass. Between extreme weather and the subsequent reliance on an unseasonal or uncharacteristic food supply along the way, birds might be jammed between both examples.
A team at White Sands first noticed the die-off, and Desmond told CNN and WBUR that she first believed the incident was isolated there, not because of any factors at the infamous missile range itself, but just because of the usual scale of these bird death events.
From there, scientists began noticing other dead birds elsewhere in New Mexico and even states away. We likely won’t understand the full scope and range of causes for years.
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Celestron Nature DX 8x42 Binoculars
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Powerview 8 x 21
At under $20, these binoculars are an easy addition to any adventure kit. And with their small, foldable size and less than half-pound weight, they’re easy to throw into a purse, backpack, or your car’s cupholder. Coated optics help light enter the binos rather than reflect off the glass. The rubberized exterior makes the binoculars durable, and a simple string lanyard prevents you from testing how drop-proof they are. These simple binoculars aren’t waterproof and can’t be mounted to a tripod, but for the cost, they won’t leave you disappointed.
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Thankfully, an integrated mount lets you attach them to a tripod, which is the most effective way to use these binos anyway—because of their great magnification power, any shaking will send images all across the sky. The 42mm lens brings in a ton of light and has a coating that prevents reflection.
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Nikon Aculon A211 10 x 42
If you’re looking for a serious pair of binoculars that aren’t cheaply constructed and that provide decent-quality images, and you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars, these are a great option. Aspherical lenses use the glass shape to flatten out the image without distortion, and an anti-reflective lens coating helps let light in and keep colors bright. But while they are comfortable to hold, with a tough-feeling rubber exterior coating, these binoculars are not waterproof, so be careful on wet adventures.
Best Entry-Level
Aculon A211 10 x 42
If you’re looking for a serious pair of binoculars that aren’t cheaply constructed and that provide decent-quality images, and you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars, these are a great option. Aspherical lenses use the glass shape to flatten out the image without distortion, and an anti-reflective lens coating helps let light in and keep colors bright. But while they are comfortable to hold, with a tough-feeling rubber exterior coating, these binoculars are not waterproof, so be careful on wet adventures.
Best for Stargazing
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Rather than closing one eye to look at the stars through a telescope, get a full field of view with these absolutely massive binoculars, designed for the heavens. The Skymasters stand out from others in our field with their 40x magnification power, which is great for stars. Their ginormous size feels comfortable in your hands, and the large knobs are easy to manipulate, but at 8 pounds, they’ll eventually take a toll on your arms. Thankfully, an integrated mount lets you attach them to a tripod, which is the most effective way to use these binos anyway—because of their great magnification power, any shaking will send images all across the sky. The 70mm lens brings in a ton of light and has a coating that prevents reflection.
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SkyMaster 25 X 100 Astro Binoculars
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Best for Stargazing
SkyMaster 20 x 80
Rather than closing one eye to look at the stars through a telescope, get a full field of view with these absolutely massive binoculars, designed for the heavens. The Skymasters stand out from others in our field with their 20x magnification power, which is great for stars, but not great for anything closer, like a soccer game, especially since the nearest thing they’ll be able to focus on is 108 feet away! Their ginormous size feels comfortable in your hands, and the large knobs are easy to manipulate, but at 5 pounds, they’ll eventually take a toll on your arms. Thankfully, an integrated mount lets you attach them to a tripod, which is the most effective way to use these binos anyway—because of their great magnification power, any shaking will send images all across the sky. The 80mm lens brings in a ton of light and has a coating that prevents reflection.
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Monarch HG 8 x 42
The Nikon Monarchs stand out for their supreme image quality, which comes with a hefty price tag. To justify the cost, Nikon says that exceptional image quality is achieved by using Extra Low Dispersion lenses, which keep image color sharp, and its own Field Flattener Lens system, which counteracts the curvature and wide field of view to the very edge of the image. These are also great adventure binos, thanks to a tough and light magnesium casing, as well as scratch-resistant lenses and a water- and fog-proof finish.
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