Wild & Wondrous - Favorite World Press

The FWP weekly digest of wondrous wildlife happenings
and other interesting items from the natural world

Creatures to meet | Things to learn
Things to do

Lisa S. French

2-minute read

Can you hear me now?

The lilting birdsong that adds beauty to the soundscape of our planet plays an essential role in avian social interaction, mate attraction, and territory protection. But for feathered songsters nesting in urban areas, maintaining bird-to-bird communications above the din of a bustling city is no small tweet. Urban dwellers of all kinds are regularly exposed to the stress of noise levels above 85 decibels (equivalent to a perpetually running food blender) compared to the 30-40 decibels of a wilderness area. So how do city birds make themselves heard over the honking? They’ve learned to pump up the volume.

According to researchers at Ohio State and the University of California at Davis, birds adapting to survive in cities may adjust the volume, pitch, or timing of their chirps, whistles, and warbles to break through the background noise. Sparrows, northern cardinals, American robins, and red-winged blackbirds are some of the species that can modify their songs to improve vocal transmission.

Because belting out birdsong takes more energy, larger birds have a greater capacity to sing over street racket. Some of the clever critters have also adjusted the timing of their dawn chorus so that it starts ahead of rush hour. Not only do early birds catch the worm, but they also know to trill before traffic starts.

With bird populations down by 2.9 billion across North America since 1970, understanding how and if our avian friends can adapt to environmental change and continued habitat loss is critical to their conservation. Perhaps the meaning of those early morning urban tweet storms roughly translated is “C’mon, people, work with us. We’re trying to sing out here!” If you’d like to find out how to keep the birdsong going, the Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have lots of innovative ways to help.

ICYMI Nature News

Even More Bird Beauty
The winning photos of the Bird Photographers of the Year for 2022 have been announced, and they are stunning. Have a look! And if you’ve been following along with the Audubon Birdsong Project, Volume IV is now available for your listening pleasure.

Endangered Migration
Like other winged species, monarch butterflies are struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world. The WWF has released a magical new short film on the threats to monarch migration. You can watch here.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Land shark.
According to researchers at the University of Florida, a small species of carpet shark found in the South Pacific is adapting to warming seas by learning to fin-walk on land. Time to break out the shin guards.

Shake, Shake, Rattle, and Glow
Meet the Elvis worms. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have discovered four new species of deep-sea worms whose shimmery scales rival the King’s sequined jumpsuits. Iridescent worms? We’re all shook up!

FWP Carbon Capture Report
As scientists continue to discover more ways that trees and forests add to our happiness, we’re glad to have the opportunity to contribute to those positive vibes thanks to our planting pals at Tree-Nation. Since April 2022, the trees we’ve planted across eleven projects bring our carbon capture to 1,562 tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to 3,878,347 miles driven by a gasoline-powered passenger vehicle, 190,061,769 smartphones charged, or 1,728,720 pounds of coal burned.

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Lisa S. French September 10, 2022

You Say Goodbye. We Say Hello.

Hello, hello!

As you wave goodbye to summer,
Frankie and Peaches are here
to say hi, hi, hi, hello, friends!
Wishing you a super happy
back-to-school season.
We hope you have
an exciting year of learning
all sorts of cool stuff.
See you in class,
brainiacs!

…

Lisa S. French September 5, 2022

Gladness Breathes from the Blossoming Ground

Lyrical words to decorate your headspace from William Cullen Bryant.

The Gladness of Nature

“Is this a time to be cloudy and sad,
When our mother Nature laughs around;
When even the deep blue heavens look glad,
And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground?”

“There are notes of joy from the hang-bird and wren,
And the gossip of swallows through all the sky;
The ground-squirrel gaily chirps by his den,
And the wilding bee hums merrily by.”

“The clouds are at play in the azure space
And their shadows at play on the bright-green vale,
And here they stretch to the frolic chase,
And there they roll on the easy gale.”

“There’s a dance of leaves in that aspen bower,
There’s a titter of winds in that beechen tree,
There’s a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower,
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea.”

“And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles
On the dewy earth that smiles in his ray,
On the leaping waters and gay young isles;
Ay, look, and he’ll smile thy gloom away.”

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Lisa S. French August 22, 2022

Time for Tree-mendous Thanks

Whoa—the year is flying by at warp speed. Before more time slips away, we want to take a pause for appreciation and communicate our heartfelt thanks to our readers for hanging with us.

We are so grateful to you for visiting our corner of the internet and helping us to turn hope into action for a better world.

We thank you. Frankie and Peaches thank you. And all of the people and creatures that benefit from the trees that we plant with your support thank you.

The fact is, you’re tree-mendous!

Wishing you awesome August adventures. Wherever you take yourself, may the breeze be with you.

xo Favorite World Press

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Lisa S. French August 16, 2022

What’s Good For Lemurs is Good for the Planet

2-minute read

One of our favorite things to do here at FWP is to help restore forests that cool the planet, support the lives and livelihoods of people, and provide food and habitat for endangered wildlife. Through our partnership with Tree-Nation, every month, we have new opportunities to contribute to planting projects that minimize biodiversity loss and protect and restore some of the most threatened wild places on Earth—known in science speak as biodiversity hotspots. There are currently 36 recognized hotspots, home to 2 billion people and teeming with plants, animals and other living organisms that support the functioning of ecosystems that we all depend upon for survival.

About 8,716 miles from where we sit in NYC, give or take a few blocks, is the island country of Madagascar, one of the most biodiverse of all hotspots and a critical priority for nature conservation. Approximately 92% of Madagascar’s mammals, 89% of its plant life, and 95% of reptiles don’t exist anywhere else in the natural world.

In addition to some extraordinary creatures you may have never heard of, like tomato frogs, aye-ayes, and fossas, one of the island’s most familiar and iconic animals is the lemur. Of 101 lemur species, 96% are currently at risk of extinction. Not only do lemurs depend on forests, but forests also benefit from lemurs’ seed dispersal that helps to maintain habitats that other rare species rely on for food, cover, and toing and froing. Like other keystone species globally, including bees, sea otters, and manatees, lemurs are the canaries in the coal mine, their presence or absence is a sign of the health of their native ecosystem.

With only 10% of their natural habitat remaining due to deforestation, overharvesting, and climate change impacts, even the most dedicated lemurs would have a hard time dispersing enough seeds to keep rapidly dwindling forests intact. To give the pop-eyed primates a helping hand, we’re contributing to Madagascar’s reforestation with the Eden Projects. Since 2019, Eden has successfully planted over 10 million mangrove and flowering trees with Tree-Nation in northwest Madagascar, benefiting both people and wildlife.

Although you may be surprised to learn that what’s good for lemurs is good for the planet, to quote Madagascar’s native peoples, “the forest has been present since the dawn of time and always will be, because if it disappears, life will also disappear.” We couldn’t agree more. That’s why we pitch in with planet cooling, habitat restoring, and community-supporting tree planting projects in biodiversity hotspots around the globe. Here’s the July update:

FWP Monthly Carbon Capture Report
Our total YTD carbon capture across six projects is 1,332 tons. That’s equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions avoided by 57,936 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled, 50,729 lamps switched to LEDs, or 1,480,884 pounds of coal burned.

Rolling on… doesn’t it seem like it’s about time for a playlist? We think so. Happy high summer!

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Lisa S. French August 9, 2022

Healing the Planet: The People Have the Power

1.5-minute read

We hope that you’re thoroughly enjoying the summer roaming season. Being out in the world again and appreciating the astounding beauty of nature serves as a soul-soothing reminder of how critical a hospitable planet is to our well-being. Thanks to a unanimous vote by the United Nations General Assembly as of July 28, your access to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment is no longer just a wishlist item but has now been declared a universal human right.

Did you know that you can play a vital role in maintaining the natural world you love by collaborating with scientists to help address some of our biggest Earthly challenges, like climate change and biodiversity loss?

Now, you may say to yourself, “Self, I am just one person. I can’t make a difference. How can I help with such momentous problems?” Well, you can rev up your big brain and provide your unique and invaluable insights to scientists working to protect and preserve our environment—that’s how. By joining the ranks of millions of citizen scientists around the world, you can participate in advancing the knowledge needed to help maintain the well-being of people, wildlife, and the planet. Does that sound like a plan? Read on…

Every day, new citizen science programs are launched in every corner of the globe, offering opportunities to observe and track species or environmental events that remain invisible to remote monitoring. In many cases, there is no formal training required for participation. All that’s needed is your perceptive peepers and unbridled enthusiasm, and passion for nature. The projects span a vast range of issues, using web platforms and mobile apps to record data.

There’s still a lot of summer left and a lot of options to explore to make an important contribution to healing the Earth. By helping scientists make better and more comprehensive analyses of the state of our home planet, you’ll also improve environmental decision-making that affects the health of local and global communities. Every solution to even seemingly insurmountable problems starts with someone saying, “What is happening here? We should fix this.” So how can we help fix the urgent, closely linked problems of climate change and biodiversity loss? By supporting scientists and working together with people from different backgrounds and abilities to advance the knowledge needed to create a sustainable future for everyone.

Are you in? Great! We’ve pulled together some resources to get you started on your citizen science journey. Pick a project and share what you see:

Scistarter: Find a project by topic or keyword.
Citisci: Create projects, build datasheets, and track your results.
iNaturalist: Explore and share your observations from the natural world.
iSpot: Identify wildlife and share nature with a global community.
GLOBE: Join a global learning and research community to benefit the environment.
Earthwatch: Help tackle urgent environmental challenges through research.
Zooniverse: Contribute to people-powered research.
eMammal: Track wildlife in 110 wildlife projects in 22 countries.
Forestwatcher: Keep tabs on the trees.
Edge of Existence: Help protect some of the most unique and endangered species on the planet.

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Lisa S. French August 1, 2022

And That’s Why We Hug Trees

2-minute read

As the world turns, if you find yourself in need of a mood boost this summer, we’ve got just the thing—make friends with a local forest. According to public health researchers at the University of Parma, inhaling a forest atmosphere swirling with naturally occurring, mood-elevating aerosols can influence the release of dopamine and GABA, the feel-good neurotransmitters that improve cognitive function, increase feelings of well-being and relaxation, and improve quality of sleep.

Any type of forest in particular? Cone-producing pine, fir, and cypress trees release the highest concentration of beneficial aerosols limonene and pinene, so forests where conifers are king are your best bet to brighten your spirits. Hitting the trail two hours after dawn through to early afternoon is the optimum time for a one-hour forest wander when well-being-enhancing phytochemicals are at peak release.

In addition to tree aerosol inhalation being good for your headspace, regular visits to a forest can improve your overall health. On average, we spend about 90% of our daily lives indoors, under artificial light, which keeps our minds and bodies in a constant state of low-level stress. Exposure to the green scenery, fresh air, clean water, and soothing sounds and scents of nature reduces excess cortisol and adrenaline, stress hormones that can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.

The International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine recommends forest therapy as an effective, evidence-based, low-cost public health treatment for stress-related symptoms—not to mention doomscrolling induced brain wobble. So, if you’re looking for a free and easy way to crush the cortisol, head out to a forest near you—the conifers are calling.

Lovely, trusty trees—releasing healing aerosols and absorbing greenhouse gas—providing nature-based solutions to everyday stress and climate change. So worth hugging.

ICYMI Nature News

No Bowling for Pandas
Scientists have concluded that pandas developed a long, large thumb-like digit for gripping bamboo six million years ago. Modern-day pandas forfeited the big thumb for a shorter, flatter, hooked digit that enables them to grip tasty greens while also better distributing their weight when roaming. No bowling—or texting—for today’s pandas, but they’re still masters at manipulating bamboo.

Every Frog’s Dream Pad
A newly identified water lily species discovered by researchers in Bolivia has broken the world’s record for leaf size—10.5 feet across. Holy leaping lily pads, that’s one mighty leaf!

Chomping Down on Climate Change
Bison reintroduced to the Oklahoma prairie are taking a bite out of climate change and helping to protect native plants and wildlife through selective grazing. This is how they do it. Chomp on, big fellas.

Wake Riding Whales
For the first time, humpback whales have been recorded wake-riding behind a ship. Scientists believe that the migrating marine mammals hitched a ride to conserve energy. Because, why swim when you can ride—clever cetaceans.

Audubon Bird Beauty Twofer
The Birdsong Project Volume II is now live, featuring works from Elvis Costello, Yo-Yo-Ma, and The Flaming Lips, among beautiful others. Listen here. And Audubon has announced the tremendously talented winners of the 2022 Audubon Summer Photography award, which happens to include a snap of our friendly local snowy owl perching in Central Park. See here.

FWP Monthly Carbon Capture Report
We’re happy to report that the trees we planted in June across five projects through Tree-Nation bring our 2nd quarter carbon capture total to slightly over one kiloton (1,007 tons). That’s equivalent to 11,330 gallons of gasoline utilized, 1,114,006 pounds of coal burnt, or 2,331 barrels of oil consumed.

That’s all for now. It’s going to be too darn hot out there next week, stay safe, good people.

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Lisa S. French July 17, 2022

Eyes Wide Open

From The Sense of Wonder
& Silent Spring

“Those who contemplate
the beauty of the earth
find reserves of strength
that will endure
as long as life lasts.”

“The more clearly we can focus
our attention on the wonders
and realities of the universe
about us,
the less taste we shall have
for destruction.”

Rachel Carson

…

Lisa S. French July 2, 2022

Wild flowers meadow with sky in background

Poetry Pause

Answer July

Answer July—
Where is the Bee—
Where is the Blush—
Where is the Hay?

Ah, said July—
Where is the Seed—
Where is the Bud—
Where is the May—
Answer Thee—Me—

Nay—said the May—
Show me the Snow—
Show me the Bells—
Show me the Jay!

Quibbled the Jay—
Where be the Maize—
Where be the Haze—
Where be the Bur?
Here—said the Year—

Emily Dickinson

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Lisa S. French July 2, 2022

Cloud Break

To make myself understood
and to diminish the distance between us,
I called out: “I am an evening cloud too.”
They stopped still,
evidently taking a good look at me.
Then they stretched towards me
their fine transparent, rosy wings.
That is how evening clouds greet each other.
They had recognized me.

Rainer Maria Rilke

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Lisa S. French June 26, 2022