How long did Tyrannosaurus rex typically live? Until recently, research had pegged their life span at 28-30 years but a new study finds that T-rex did not reach full size until age 40, ten years after it should have died. The previous life span is open to debate.
Dinosaur bones have concentric growth rings (cortical growth marks, CGM) like the rings found in tree trunks. To count the bone rings (CGM), the team obtained slices of leg bones from 17 specimens and ground them so thin that light could shine through them. Illustration below: Pink and blue arrowheads point to growth rings below. Notice that the bone slice is shaped like a ring. Dinosaur bones are hollow, just like bird bones!
Earlier bone studies had ignored or not even seen the tightly packed rings so they estimated the life span at 28-30 years. This study counted everything. That’s how they reached 40.
After the snow melts their cryptic plumage and mostly nocturnal lifestyle make them nearly impossible to see in their preferred habitat of second growth forest and shrubby fields. We wouldn’t know they are here except for their vocal and (dimly) visible courtship display.
On dry spring nights, American woodcocks gather in open areas at the edge of the woods to perform their mating ritual. The males perform a “sky dance” to attract the females while the ladies watch and choose. Depending on the size of the clearing, there may be more than one male woodcock displaying on the “dance floor.” Males are polygamous (more than one mate) so bigger would be better at their dispersed lek.
American woodcock at dusk in North Park, 4 Mar 2024 (photo by Steve Gosser)
In the hour after sunset and the hour before dawn, the male walks and pauses in a clearing calling “peent, peent, peent.” At some mysterious cue he stops “peenting” and flings himself into the sky, spiraling up hundreds of feet before circling back down to land where he started. His wings make a twittering sound on the way up, they chirp on the way down (audio below). And then he does it again.
These outings will be cancelled if it rains. Check Three Rivers Birding Club website and social media for updates.
One More Fun Fact:According to All About Birds: “Some males display at several singing grounds and mate with multiple females. The female often visits four or more singing grounds before nesting, and she may keep up these visits even while she cares for her young. The male gives no parental care, and continues to display long after most females have laid eggs.”
Short-eared owl in flight, 2018 (photo by Steve Gosser)
2 March 2026
Short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) come to southwestern Pennsylvania for the winter to hunt voles, mice and other small mammals at recovered strip mines and tall grass fields. Several owls will hunt particularly “vole-y” fields together, coming out at dusk or even during the day.
This winter they’ve been reliably seen at the Volant Strips in Lawrence County and near Worthington in Armstrong County where Dave Brooke photographed this one on 25 February.
Short-eared owl, Armstrong County, 25 Feb 2026 (photo by Dave Brooke)
Where are their “ears?” Short-eared owl ear tufts are so small you might not see them but you can recognize the bird by its large head and flight behavior. With long wings relative to their bodies (top photo), their flight is moth-like as they course over the fields looking for prey.
Did you know they have a worldwide distribution? Short-eared owls occur on every continent except Australia and Antarctica and live on remote islands including Hawaii, Galapagos and Azores. They can fly long distances over open ocean and sometimes land on ships hundreds of miles from shore(!).
Short-eared owl, Armstrong County, 25 Feb 2026 (photo by Dave Brooke)
Their bark is very harsh when upset. This next recording has two owls chasing away a Northern Harrier and then a Rough Legged Hawk.
Short-eared owls nest on ground in tall grass, tundra or marshes but you won’t find them easily in PA. They are such a rare breeding species here that eBird does not show their breeding locations on the PA map. Thus we are unlikely to see their courtship display in which the males circle up, hoot, dive and wing-clap.
Snow goose and domestic chickens: direct transmission of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (photos from Wikimedia)
1 March 2026
Right now there’s a perfect storm of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with “all hands on deck” to stop it. Since 28 January 7.5 million birds have died in Pennsylvania.
USDA’s 30-day bird flu map shows that PA is the only state in serious trouble.
Pennsylvania is the fourth largest egg-producing state (after Iowa, Ohio and Indiana).
Lancaster County (LanCo) is the top egg-producing county in PA and one of the largest poultry and egg producers in the world.
To achieve this volume the county has quite a few large industrial chicken farms. Some of these house more than a million birds making LanCo the most densely poultry-populated county in the U.S.
Domestic chickens are highly susceptible to bird flu and this strain is especially deadly. It is called “highly pathogenic” or “high path.” (HPAI)
This is the first virus that can jump directly from wild birds to poultry.
HPAI has been in the U.S. since 2022 so why did it affect so many chickens this February?
The theory is that this winter was so cold and the lakes and rivers so frozen that overwintering snow geese went to whatever open water they could find. Some snow geese found water near poultry farms in Lancaster County (perhaps the Susquehanna River). The flu probably jumped from infected snow geese to domestic chickens (illustration at top).
Dr. Hamberg from the PA Dept of Agriculture explains the challenges on a visit to Lancaster County this week.
These top 5 HPIA outbreaks in Pennsylvania, 28 Jan through 28 Feb 2026, culled 6.7 million birds. They were all commercial egg-laying operations in Lancaster County. {Data is from USDA on 1 March 2026}
Tulip leaves growing in Oakland, 25 Feb 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
28 February 2026
Yesterday in Schenley Park it was very sunny but without a spot of green. However, I found tulip sprouts in a garden (above).
Bright sunshine in Schenley Park, though not warm and not green, 27 Feb 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
It was so sunny that the rocks on the gravel trail made interesting shadows.
Bright sunshine created interesting shadows, 27 Feb 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
The early birds are already singing. Yesterday I saw and heard northern cardinals and song sparrows in Schenley Park. Here are examples of the songs you will hear this week:
Bonus! Did you hear the red-winged blackbird on the song sparrow recording? I’ve only seen a handful of red-winged blackbirds this month but more are coming. Meanwhile, common grackles are back.
This video was captured on a trail cam by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, a Univ of Minnesota research project that studies wolves in and around Voyageurs National Park. The park is in “The Arrowhead” of Minnesota on the U.S.-Canadian border in a huge wild area that includes Voyageurs, Superior National Forest, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in the U.S., and Quetico Provincial Park in Canada.
There are many familiar animals in the video but you might not recognize the animal standing on its hind legs at the beginning. It’s a fisher (Pekania pennanti), an omnivorous member of the weasel family that is only the size of a large house cat. To put its size into perspective, here’s a porcupine and a fisher near each other.
Peregrine in flight at Tarentum Bridge, 25 Feb 2026 (photo by Dave Brooke)
25 February 2026
Peregrine season has begun in southwestern Pennsylvania! Pairs are claiming nest sites and courting frequently just before egg-laying begins. Observers have seen peregrines at 11 of our 12 sites this month and there are bonus sites where no one has nested yet! Check out the regional map and the peregrine news below.
Peregrine breeding sites in Southwestern PA, May 2025 (annotated by Kate St. John) [Dark blue=bridge, Red=building, Pale blue=no success in 2025]
Map legend: Dark blue=bridge sites, Red=building sites, Pale blue=no success in 2025
Sites marked yellow produced fledglings last year.
Westinghouse Bridge (successful in 2025) has not had any observers yet.
Ecco and Carla are on the Cathedral of Learning falconcam every day for short-to-long bowing sessions. As I walked past the building yesterday I saw one of them zooming just over the treetops toward Carnegie Library. The starlings froze in position and then evacuated when the peregrine was gone!
Watch the pair “live” on the National Aviary falconcam. Here they are courting just after dawn on 19 February.
In 2024 Carla laid her first egg on 14 March, in 2025 it was on 16 March. When will she lay her first egg this year?
East Liberty Presbyterian Church steeple:
Peregrine zooming past the steeple in February 2024 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
The East Liberty peregrines are easy to see in the sky near the church and sometimes perched on the building. Adam Knoerzer has been treated to some pretty exciting stuff this week.
Adult female peregrine just snatched a pigeon right outside my office window over Evaline Street. Wow, is that crazy to see eye-level.
On 1 February Jeff Cieslak found two peregrines at the West End Bridge. The male is banded.
Eckert Street / Brunot Island/ McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River:
On 1 February during his Ohio River tour Jeff Cieslak found a pair of peregrines hanging out near the river at Westhall Street. Where will they nest? Will anyone be able to find it?
Sewickley Bridge, Ohio River:
Peregrine at Sewickley Bridge, 23 Feb 2026 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
All reports have been of a solo peregrine near or on the railroad bridge. On 16 February Jason Short reported 1 peregrine and 1 raven so I think the annual peregrine-raven competition for the bridge has begun. In some years the ravens win the railroad bridge and the peregrines have to nest on the Rt51 Monaca-East Rochester bridge.
62nd Street / Highland Park / Aspinwall Bridges, Allegheny River:
Andy Georgeson saw 1 peregrine at the Highland Park Bridge on 1 February
Gulls all of a sudden got riled up and then I saw a Peregrine swoop in. It started chasing and diving after the gulls, it just missed one gull in particular before flying off
Peregrine at Tarentum Bridge, 25 Feb 2026 (photo by Dave Brooke)
Photos and news from Dave Brooke:
I was starting to worry about these falcons because I wasn’t seeing them. This afternoon [25 Feb 2026] I got the full menu. She was in the nest box calling ee-chup while looking up. He finally came down and followed her into the nest box. Then she flew to the upriver nav light beam which means that she wanted to copulate, although I usually see her do it on the downriver [light]. I missed seeing the actual act but he followed her there and moments later, flew around in some big circles before returning to the nest box pier.
By my count this will be year 9 for her and she has fledged 27 young.
Peregrine flew over the area chasing some gulls at 1655. It then flew downstream and landed in a tree near the bridge. I was able to hike down the trail a few hundred yards and spot it sitting in a tree.
Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek, Monongahela Watershed:
No reports yet this year.
Rt. 40 Bridge, West Brownsville, Washington-Fayette Counties, Monongahela River:
On 16 February David Argent reported:
Two Peregrine Falcons. I believe these were first observed in 2024 by Fred Kachmarik. I spotted one perched high atop the bridge pylon. The other periodically flew by, screeching. I could not get a picture
The first half of March is prime time to get out and look for peregrines in southwestern Pennsylvania. Right now they are most noticeable, but as soon as they lay eggs and start incubation they’ll “disappear.”
Check out these sites soon and tell me what you see. Need directions? Leave a comment.
Glen Hazel (Hays) bald eagle nest 1st egg 24 Feb 2026 (screenshot from PixCams)
25 February 2026
Yesterday PixCams announced, “The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! Mom at the Glen Hazel (Hays) bald eagles nest laid her first egg of the season around 2:58 PM this afternoon!”
Watch for one or two more eggs in the days ahead and stay tuned for the first pip on this egg about 35 days from now. For more information bald eagles see: Haliaeetus leucocephalus.
What to do with three feet of snow? That’s the big question in Rhode Island this morning as they cope with yesterday’s record-breaking Nor’easter that dumped as much as 37.9 inches (almost 1 meter) of snow on our country’s smallest state.
The top ten snowfall locations in the storm’s path as of 9:00pm last night give the prize to Providence, Rhode Island airport (T.F. Green Airport).
You can see snow hammering Rhode Island in this radar loop.
Here's a loop of the 2026 Historic Major Blizzard. This Blizzard smashed the Rhode Island Statewide snow total record set nearly 50 years ago. This Blizzard dropped over 36 Inches of snow in an area in Rhode Island… pic.twitter.com/jKESQzq4Cb
The radar also shows that the wind was terrific all along the coast. Today there are widespread power outages including 156,000 without power on Cape Cod, 37,000-to-130,000 in New Jersey, 21,100 in Rhode Island.
It’s going to be a challenging couple of weeks for the hardest hit areas.
Starlings (European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris) are the invasive species Americans love to hate. They’ve only been on this continent for 136 years, having been successfully introduced in 1890 & 1891 in Central Park, New York. DNA studies indicate that every starling in the U.S. is descended from the Central Park group.
Have our starlings physically changed since they got here? Have they evolved differently from their native relatives in Eurasia?
In 2023 a team led by Julia M. Zichello(*) set out to answer that question. They measured 1,217 starlings including their beaks, wings and tarsi (plural of tarsus) using historical museum skins and modern birds from the U.S. and Eurasia, especially starlings in the UK.
Their study found that U.S. starlings have indeed changed from their Eurasian relatives:
Beak length in the native range has remained unchanged during the past 206 years, but we find beak length in North American birds is now 8% longer than birds from the native range. … Additionally, body size in North American starlings is smaller than those from the native range.
Graphs from the study show the differences in orange (U.S. starlings) and blue (native-range starlings).
U.S. birds have longer beaks (top graph and histogram).
Both native and U.S. birds have become smaller over time (bottom graphs) but the U.S. birds are overall smaller.
Figure 2 abbreviated description: (a) graph and (b) histogram: Whole beak length (mm) over time, Native range 1816–2022 (blue); introduced: U.S. range 1890–2020 (orange). (c) graph and (d) histogram: Whole tarsus length (mm) over time, Native range 1816–2022 (blue); introduced U.S. range 1890–2020 (orange). From Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion, Julia M. Zichello et al, Nature.com.
Why did U.S. starlings make these changes?
Smaller size: A lot of reasons
The study says, “Smaller birds in North America, versus larger birds in the parent population, occurred rapidly on arrival and this trend has persisted today,” perhaps because (a) U.S. birds experience warmer summer temperatures than the native range (warmth makes organisms trend smaller), (b) starlings experienced “genetic drift” upon arrival, and/or (c) the founder population of birds (the 1890-91 group) may have randomly consisted of smaller bodied birds.
Longer beaks: Livestock grain vs. natural food
Longer beaks were the big revelation in this study and they conclude that it has to do with diet. U.S. starlings eat a lot of grain at cattle feedlots in winter (longer beaks are an advantage). Eurasian starlings don’t.
The most dramatic difference between starling diet in the U.S. and their native range is the intensity of their foraging at dairies and feedlots in the U.S., where they consume substantial amounts of food intended for livestock.
Since 1960, corn production in the U.S. has increased exponentially, which has also enabled a concurrent expansion of the cattle industry. By the 1960’s feedlot operators in several states were reporting major starling disturbance. In our data, 1960 is when we observe a marked increase in proximal starling beak length in the U.S. beyond what is observed in the native range at any time.
Starling flocks on U.S. dairies can exceed 10,000 birds and cause an estimated $800 million dollars of annual lost revenue across the country. … We estimate that starlings may consume [136 million lbs] of livestock feed per year in the United States. An individual bird can eat up to 2.2 lbs (1 kg) of feed per month, and 1,000 birds can consume 630 lbs (286 kg) every hour spent foraging at feedlots.
Traveling the PA Turnpike in fall and winter my husband and I often remarked on the “starling barn,” a dairy farm near Plainfield with a HUGE flock of starlings that always caught our eye as we passed. This winter the starlings were not noticeable, perhaps because USDA “helped” the farmers with their starling problem. Listen to The Controversy Over Controlled Poisoning Of Starlings from WBUR in January 2017. It’s an interview with Bob Mulvihill of the National Aviary.
