This raw video from Queen Bess Island in Louisiana shows a pelican struggling to escape from thick oil in the water. The pelicans tries to stretch out its wings but is unable to fly. This pelican was lucky enough to get rescued. Take a look:
Reuters says bird washers are hard at work. There are at least 25 rescued pelicans in one pen.
Take a look at this video. It shows a bird - possibly a green heron - using bread to catch fish. Birds are clearly much smarter than previously thought.
Michelle Kaufmann, a green blogger, is offering a free Earth Day Activity Kit. The kit contains instructions for building a number of green craft projects. Information about the projects can be found on Michelle Kaufmann's blog (hat tip Crafters Craft).
One of the projects in Kaufmann's green activity kit is an ecobirdfeeder, which is a modern birdfeeder constructed of wooden chopsticks. You can follow the instructions for the building the ecobirdfeeder here.
"Growing up in Iowa, I developed a deep understanding of the relationship between humankind and the environment, an awareness I strive to incorporate into everything I do," said Michelle Kaufmann. "I love showing people how easy it can be to make healthy green choices that also create more beautiful living spaces. That's why I created this kit especially for Earth Day."
Earth Day is April 22nd. You can learn more about it here, here and here.
Feeding wild birds is a lot of fun but if you don't take the trouble to find the right seeds you could up harming the environment. The main reason for this according to KATU is that the wild bird seed may contain invasive weeds that are not native to the area.
Portland Audubon's Karen Munday told KATU that some seed is bad for birds because some feed mixes contain non-native weed seeds.
"The last thing we want for the health of our birds is to have non-native weed seeds and weeds be out there. The weeds non only hurt habitat bio-diversity but the wild birds can fly away and spread the seeds elsewhere."
Recently, Oregon State University researchers discovered up to 14 non-native weed seed species in bags of seed that were purchased from Corvallis-area stores.
The bags included Pigweed, Russian thistle, crabgrass and witchgrass weed seeds.
Each is an invasive weed that's banned by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
A video report says some of the bird seed also includes milo, which is a grain that the birds won't even eat.
An alternative to hunting and bagging birds is to count them. In 1900, bird lovers banded together and started an alternative to the hunt. It is called the Christmas Bird Count. Audubon Society bird clubs all over the country conduct counts around Christmas time. This video's entry on YouTube says that over 40,000 participants go afield for one day and list the number of individuals of each species they see.
Michelle Kaufmann, a green blogger, is offering a free Earth Day Activity Kit. The kit contains instructions for building a number of green craft projects. Information about the projects can be found on 