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    Grandmother Is Stranded When Her Parrot ‘Plucky’ Can’t Board Flight

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    Plucky, an African gray parrot, accompanied its owner on a Frontier Airlines flight to Puerto Rico in January. But a gate agent would not let it on board the return flight.Maria Fraterrigo, a grandmother from the Bronx, was booked in seat 4A on a flight from San Juan to Kennedy International Airport on Saturday night. But when she got to the gate for her return flight to New York, she said, an agent for Frontier Airlines stopped her.Her companion, an African gray parrot named Plucky, which Ms. Fraterrigo has claimed as an emotional support animal and can say the names of her grandchildren, was on a no-fly list.Despite being allowed to bring Plucky on her outbound Frontier flight without incident in January, she said, the agent told her that parrots were among several types of birds and other animals prohibited by the airline. She said that rule essentially left her stranded.“This guy from the counter yells at me and tells me, ‘You’re not going to make this flight,’ ” Ms. Fraterrigo, 81, recalled in a phone interview on Wednesday. “ ‘Give it to somebody. Get rid of it.’ I said, ‘No way, I’m not going to get rid of my baby.’”For four days, her travel plans were stuck in limbo, until Frontier appeared to have relented, ticketing her on another flight scheduled for Wednesday night. Plucky was expected to be in tow when Ms. Fraterrigo, completing her first trip since losing her husband in 2019, finally got to board.Her situation illustrated the tension between airlines and passengers over what kinds of animals are permitted on commercial flights, which at times might have gotten confused with a petting zoo until the federal government tightened rules for service animals on them. Miniature horses, pigs and other unusual pets found their way onto planes, but an emotional support peacock did not.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Murphy, Eagle Who Became a Foster Dad, Found Dead After Storm

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      The beloved bald eagle was found dead in his enclosure at the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri after severe weather pounded the region on March 14, sanctuary officials said.Murphy, the beloved bald eagle who became a real foster father in 2023 after weeks spent incubating a rock, was found dead in his enclosure at a bird sanctuary in Missouri this month after a fierce storm pummeled the region on March 14, his keepers said last week.In a statement posted to social media, officials at the World Bird Sanctuary, a reserve in Valley Park, Mo., about 22 miles southwest of St. Louis, said that a full necropsy showed that Murphy, 33, had sustained “some form of trauma to his head.” The sanctuary said that it was unclear if the bird had been “spooked by something and hit his head while jumping off a perch or if wind and precipitation played a part in the injury.”Murphy had experienced “countless storms” over the years without issue, the sanctuary said. The sanctuary said that all of its birds had access to shelters to protect themselves from severe weather, and that the storm on March 14, which killed 12 people in Missouri, had not required any bird evacuations since no tornadoes approached the facility.“While we do everything that we can to keep our birds safe,” the statement added, “accidents outside of our control can happen.”Roger Holloway, the sanctuary’s executive director, said in an interview on Sunday that although strong winds and some hail had struck the sanctuary, neither Murphy’s enclosure nor the other eagles inside it appeared to have been affected. One possibility is that Murphy had been knocked on the head by a hailstone, Mr. Holloway said.Murphy, who could not fly, had lived at the sanctuary since the 1990s. He gained international fame about two years ago after his keepers — noticing his tenacity and dedication to a small, meteorite-shaped rock upon which he brooded — entrusted him with a real charge: A tiny eaglet that had fallen from a tree in a storm and was in dire need of a parent. He was the only bald eagle that has ever been a foster parent at the sanctuary.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      FedEx Plane Lands With Engine on Fire at Newark Airport After Bird Strike

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      The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said that the plane landed on Saturday morning and that there were no reported injuries.A FedEx cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport with one of its engines on fire after it struck a bird while leaving the airport, officials said.The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said there were no reported injuries. There were three people aboard the plane, the authority said.In a statement, FedEx said the plane was flying from Newark to Indianapolis when the bird strike occurred. “Our crew declared an emergency and returned safely to Newark,” it said, adding that the plane was being evaluated. The company did not respond to a question about what cargo, if any, was on board.The Federal Aviation Administration said the bird strike damaged one of the Boeing 767’s engines. The agency said the plane, FedEx Flight 3609, was disabled on a runway. The Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting unit, the Port Authority Police and Port Authority Operations responded to the emergency landing.The episode happened at around 8 a.m., and operations resumed at the airport a short time later.A fire can be seen on the underside of the plane in footage shared on social media. A video of the plane while it was airborne shows a flash of what appears to be fire and then a puff of smoke.The episode follows a string of aviation disasters, including the midair collision of an Army helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.It is not uncommon for planes to strike wildlife such as birds, and most episodes do not result in deaths or serious injuries.There were 19,603 wildlife strikes reported in the United States in 2023, or an average of about 54 strikes each day, according to a Federal Aviation Administration report published in June. Of those strikes, 3.6 percent caused damage. More

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      Birds of Paradise Glow on Their Mating Parade

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      Elaborate poses, tufts of feathers, flamboyant shuffles along an immaculate forest floor — male birds-of-paradise have many ways to woo a potential mate.But now, by examining prepared specimens at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, scientists have discovered what could be yet another tool in the kit of the tropical birds — a visual effect known as photoluminescence.Sometimes called biofluorescence in living things, this phenomenon occurs when an object absorbs high-energy wavelengths of light and re-emits them as lower energy wavelengths.Biofluorescence has already been found in various species of fishes, amphibians and even mammals, from bats to wombats.Interestingly, birds remain woefully understudied when it comes to the optical extras. Until now, no one had looked for the glowing property in birds-of-paradise, which are native to Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea and are famous for their elaborate mating displays.In a study published on Tuesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers examined prepared specimens housed at the American Museum of Natural History and found evidence of biofluorescence in 37 of 45 birds-of-paradise species.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Bird Flu Suspected in Deaths of Ducks and Wild Birds at N.Y.C. Zoos

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      Three ducks died of the disease at the Queens Zoo, while three more ducks and nine wild birds that died at the Bronx Zoo were being tested for the virus, according to the parks’ operator.Three ducks at the Queens Zoo died because of bird flu, and as many as 12 more birds at the Bronx Zoo that died after possible exposure were being tested for the virus, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the nonprofit that operates the parks.The deaths and possible exposures at the Queens Zoo and the Bronx Zoo, one of the largest and most well-known zoos in the United States, come as an outbreak of bird flu has spread across the country, sickening chickens and dairy cattle and driving up the price of eggs.On Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered all live bird markets in New York City and a few surrounding counties to close temporarily in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. “Safeguarding public health is all about being proactive,” she said in a statement.The order, from the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets, requires live bird markets that have not detected any bird flu cases to sell their inventories and disinfect their operations. Markets with detected cases must follow guidelines for quarantine and depopulation, the order said.The virus, called H5N1, has infected roughly 156 million commercial, backyard and wild birds across the country since January 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the illness poses minimal risks to the general public’s health, and that it does not yet have the ability to spread readily among people.The Wildlife Conservation Society, which also operates the Central Park Zoo, the Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium on Coney Island, said that, as a precaution, the organization had recently moved vulnerable bird species to separate, protected areas inside its parks. It has also limited the exposure of other animals in its care to wild birds and especially to waterfowl, which are known to be carriers of the virus.“We have assessed and reviewed our protocols regarding risk to our birds from avian influenza,” the nonprofit said in a statement. “Our veterinarians and curators continue to closely monitor the situation in the region and are collaborating with city, state and federal agencies.”The Bronx and Queens Zoos remained open on Saturday, the organization said, noting the low risk of visitors coming into contact with zoo birds or contracting the virus.On Saturday afternoon at the Queens Zoo, Marck Vasquez and Jennifer Espinoza said they were sad to find that the swans, one of their favorite attractions, were not in their usual pond surrounded by wild birds, but instead alone in a separate enclosure.“It feels empty,” said Mr. Vasquez, 21.Nearby, another visitor, Chawsu, 36, who is originally from Myanmar, strolled by a pond where scores of wild mallards swam. Ms. Chawsu said she was sad the flu was sickening birds but that she was otherwise unconcerned.“I’m coming from a country where every year we have bird flu,” Ms. Chawsu said. “It’s not a worry to me.”Ellen Yan More

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      Pollution May Affect the Color of City Birds, Research Shows

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      Recent studies show that certain feather pigments can help neutralize toxic pollution. It means darker, duller birds could have a survival advantage.Some popular city dwellers appear to be losing their colorful allure, and not just the dirty birds.According to a study published this summer in the journal Landscape and Planning that looked at 547 bird species in China, birds that live in cities are duller and darker on average than their rural counterparts. A similar conclusion emerged from an analysis of 59 studies published in March in Biological Reviews: Urban feathers are not as bright, with yellow, orange and red feathers affected most.Often, city birds are covered in grime. But even if you could give them all a good bird bath, chances are their brightness still wouldn’t match that of their country cousins. That’s because of the way pollution, and heavy metals in particular, can interact with melanin, a pigment that makes feathers black, brown and gray.Studies show that melanin can bind to heavy metals like lead. That means toxic chemicals may be more likely to be stored in plumage in darker and duller birds. And that, in turn, can confer a survival advantage.“The more melanin you accumulate, the better able you are to sequester these harmful compounds in feathers,” said Kevin McGraw, a biologist at Michigan State University who studies the colors of animals to understand the costs, benefits and evolution of visual signals.Urban pollution affects avian colors in other ways, too. Research shows that compared with rural plants, city trees store fewer natural pigments called carotenoids, and pollution is the likely reason. Carotenoids are produced by plants, algae and fungi. They’re what makes red peppers red and carrots orange.When leaves are low on these pigments, the effects go up the food chain: Leaf-munching caterpillars become deficient in carotenoids, and so do caterpillar-munching birds.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Mr. Greedy, an African Penguin With 230 Descendants, Dies at 33

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      An African penguin who left many offspring in his long life, he belonged to the largest colony of the aquatic bird species in North America, according to the zoo.The popular African penguin known as Mr. Greedy, a fixture of the Maryland Zoo who had sired many offspring and left “an astounding 230 descendants” over five generations, has died after an age-related decline in his health, the zoo said in a statement.He was 33 — yes, in human years. (The zoo said it had no accurate way to determine the equivalent in penguin years.) He was the oldest penguin in his colony, which the zoo said is the largest in North America.When he was not busy reproducing or bringing joy to zoo visitors, Mr. Greedy swam hard, took care of his mate — nicknamed Ms. Greedy — and was constantly looking for things to steal.His mischievous ability to steal nesting materials and food from others had earned him the affectionate nickname by which he was known, Jen Kottyan, the bird curator at the zoo, said in a phone interview on Saturday.Mr. Greedy, born in 1991, had a more official, though less personable name: African penguin No. 821. The cause of death was euthanasia on Aug. 27, the zoo said.In his long life, Mr. Greedy “made a tremendous contribution to his endangered species,” said the statement from the Maryland Zoo, which is in Baltimore.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Angry Birds Take on Drones at New York City Beach

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      American Oystercatchers are attacking drones that have been deployed to scan for sharks and swimmers in distress.One is a distinctive shorebird, slightly smaller than an average sea gull, with a bright orange bill that pries open clams, oysters and other shellfish. The other is a remote-controlled gadget with rotating blades.In the skies above Rockaway Beach in Queens, bird and drone are not, it seems, coexisting in harmony.Just as New Yorkers flock to the beach to escape the sweltering summer heat, American Oystercatchers have taken to attacking a fleet of drones deployed by city officials to scan for sharks and swimmers in distress.The aerial conflict between animal and machine is raising concerns about the safety of the shorebirds, as they aggressively pursue the buzzing drones in defense of their nests, city officials and bird experts said.“They fly toward the drone, they’ll vocalize, and they might even try to swoop at it,” said Katrina Toal, deputy director of the wildlife unit at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. “The danger is to the birds, of course. They could strike the drone, injuring themselves.”The display of a shark-monitoring drone controller provides an aerial view of Jones Beach.Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      SpaceX’s Assault on a Fragile Habitat: Four Takeaways From Our Investigation

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      The development of Elon Musk’s facility in South Texas did not play out as local officials were originally told it would.When Elon Musk first eyed South Texas for a new base of space operations, he promised that SpaceX would have a small, eco-friendly footprint and that the surrounding area would be “left untouched.”A decade later, the reality is far different. An investigation by The New York Times shows how SpaceX’s ferocious growth in the area has dramatically changed the fragile landscape and has threatened the habitat that the U.S. government is charged with protecting there.More repercussions are likely coming, in South Texas and in other places where SpaceX is expanding. Mr. Musk has said he hopes to one day launch his Starships — the largest rocket ever manufactured — a thousand times a year.Executives from SpaceX declined repeated requests to comment. But Gary Henry, who until this year served as a SpaceX adviser on Pentagon launch programs, said the company was aware of concerns about SpaceX’s environmental impact and was committed to addressing them.Here are four takeaways from our investigation:Musk used preserved lands as a buffer for SpaceX operationsRocket launch sites in the U.S., such as Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and Kennedy Space Center in Florida, typically are enormous, secure facilities with tens of thousands of acres within their confines.Mr. Musk didn’t intend to buy up anything like that amount of land when he was looking at the area near Brownsville, Texas. Instead, he wanted to buy a tiny piece of property in the middle of public lands — what the team involved referred to as a “doughnut hole.” He figured the surrounding state parks and federal wildlife preserves would serve as natural buffers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More