Louise Blight
@louiseblight.bsky.social
Conservation scientist, ornithological researcher, writer, adjunct professor UVic
working on #EndangeredSpecies, #seabirds, and #urban birds incl. #windowcollisions and #gulls. These + bird pics + occasional political posts.
#conservationscience
working on #EndangeredSpecies, #seabirds, and #urban birds incl. #windowcollisions and #gulls. These + bird pics + occasional political posts.
#conservationscience
Pinned
Louise Blight
@louiseblight.bsky.social
· Dec 16
Why gulls don't deserve the hate
There’s a lot we get wrong about our least favorite seabirds
www.salon.com
"Gulls are intelligent, vital birds that deserve our protection, not scorn"
www.salon.com/2024/10/20/g...
www.salon.com/2024/10/20/g...
February 5, 2026 at 10:18 PM
New blog post I co-authored with Pete Davidson of @birdscanada.bsky.social (lead author) and Andy Horn - on recent status updates to Canadian #birds
www.birdscanada.org/recent-risk-...
#conservation #IUCNRedList
www.birdscanada.org/recent-risk-...
#conservation #IUCNRedList
Recent risk assessment updates for bird species in Canada
Five well-known birds to Canada, including the Snowy Owl and Bobolink, had their conservation status updated recently. These changes highlight population declines, habitat loss, and other threats, whi...
www.birdscanada.org
February 5, 2026 at 9:58 PM
New blog post I co-authored with Pete Davidson of @birdscanada.bsky.social (lead author) and Andy Horn - on recent status updates to Canadian #birds
www.birdscanada.org/recent-risk-...
#conservation #IUCNRedList
www.birdscanada.org/recent-risk-...
#conservation #IUCNRedList
A reminder of the coming spring. Chestnut-backed Chickadee in a previous year, making sure it's safe to exit the nestbox.
#BirdOfTheDay #BackyardBirds #Birds
#BirdOfTheDay #BackyardBirds #Birds
February 5, 2026 at 2:35 AM
A reminder of the coming spring. Chestnut-backed Chickadee in a previous year, making sure it's safe to exit the nestbox.
#BirdOfTheDay #BackyardBirds #Birds
#BirdOfTheDay #BackyardBirds #Birds
January 29, 2026 at 11:18 PM
In Aus last year, a colleague told me the Sydney Opera House's outdoor restaurant hires a dog to chase away marauding #gulls.
I went looking and sure enough, found this team (and some agile Silver Gulls hoping to dodge them).
#SuperSeabirdSunday #city #birds #BirdOfTheDay #UrbanBirds
I went looking and sure enough, found this team (and some agile Silver Gulls hoping to dodge them).
#SuperSeabirdSunday #city #birds #BirdOfTheDay #UrbanBirds
January 11, 2026 at 9:59 PM
In Aus last year, a colleague told me the Sydney Opera House's outdoor restaurant hires a dog to chase away marauding #gulls.
I went looking and sure enough, found this team (and some agile Silver Gulls hoping to dodge them).
#SuperSeabirdSunday #city #birds #BirdOfTheDay #UrbanBirds
I went looking and sure enough, found this team (and some agile Silver Gulls hoping to dodge them).
#SuperSeabirdSunday #city #birds #BirdOfTheDay #UrbanBirds
Adult Adélie Penguin, a quintessential #blackandwhite bird. Ross Island, Antarctica.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #B&W
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #B&W
January 6, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Adult Adélie Penguin, a quintessential #blackandwhite bird. Ross Island, Antarctica.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #B&W
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #B&W
Snowy Sheathbills (Chionis albus) against the sky at Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula.
#birds #aves #BirdOfTheDay
#birds #aves #BirdOfTheDay
January 5, 2026 at 12:18 AM
Snowy Sheathbills (Chionis albus) against the sky at Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula.
#birds #aves #BirdOfTheDay
#birds #aves #BirdOfTheDay
January 1, 2026 at 11:48 PM
Wandering (Snowy) Albatross (Diomedea exulans), South Georgia.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #albatross #wildlife
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #albatross #wildlife
December 29, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Wandering (Snowy) Albatross (Diomedea exulans), South Georgia.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #albatross #wildlife
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #albatross #wildlife
Just noticed this recent interview I did with CBC Calgary is now online. Also with Lisa Takats Priestley and Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#conservation #cosewic #owls #wildlife
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#conservation #cosewic #owls #wildlife
Snowy owls are back for the winter — and they're now considered a threatened species | CBC News
This year's snowy owl migration is marked by the bird's recent classification as a threatened species by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
www.cbc.ca
December 23, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Just noticed this recent interview I did with CBC Calgary is now online. Also with Lisa Takats Priestley and Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#conservation #cosewic #owls #wildlife
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#conservation #cosewic #owls #wildlife
Doing gull nest surveys a couple of years ago from a local lighthouse, and this notice was in their radio room.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay
#birds #BirdOfTheDay
December 19, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Doing gull nest surveys a couple of years ago from a local lighthouse, and this notice was in their radio room.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay
#birds #BirdOfTheDay
December 17, 2025 at 12:26 AM
December 15, 2025 at 3:28 AM
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has just updated the #conservation status of several Canadian #wildlife species. We assessed #AmericanBadger, #AtlanticSalmon, and more
#EndangeredSpecies #biodiversity #moths
cosewic.ca/index.php/en...
📷 K Emerson/USFWS | J Klymko
#EndangeredSpecies #biodiversity #moths
cosewic.ca/index.php/en...
📷 K Emerson/USFWS | J Klymko
December 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has just updated the #conservation status of several Canadian #wildlife species. We assessed #AmericanBadger, #AtlanticSalmon, and more
#EndangeredSpecies #biodiversity #moths
cosewic.ca/index.php/en...
📷 K Emerson/USFWS | J Klymko
#EndangeredSpecies #biodiversity #moths
cosewic.ca/index.php/en...
📷 K Emerson/USFWS | J Klymko
A Black-browed Albatross in the Falkland Islands, where most of the world population of this species breeds.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #WildlifeConservationDay #albatross
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #WildlifeConservationDay #albatross
December 5, 2025 at 4:13 AM
A Black-browed Albatross in the Falkland Islands, where most of the world population of this species breeds.
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #WildlifeConservationDay #albatross
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #WildlifeConservationDay #albatross
December 2, 2025 at 3:35 AM
November 25, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Really liked this piece for how well the writer captured the highs and lows of remote fieldwork: the difficulty and the challenges - and the magical moments (and data collection opportunities) that keep you going back.
theearthboundnomad.medium.com/field-notes-...
#ornithology
theearthboundnomad.medium.com/field-notes-...
#ornithology
Field Notes from the Land of the Midnight Sun
What the Arctic taught me about failure, purpose, and mosquito warfare.
theearthboundnomad.medium.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Really liked this piece for how well the writer captured the highs and lows of remote fieldwork: the difficulty and the challenges - and the magical moments (and data collection opportunities) that keep you going back.
theearthboundnomad.medium.com/field-notes-...
#ornithology
theearthboundnomad.medium.com/field-notes-...
#ornithology
New paper on severe impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza on southern elephant seals at #SouthGeorgia.
Apparent loss of 47% of the population of breeding females since 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#HPAI #wildlifedisease #conservationscience🌍
📷 S. elephant seal pup, South Georgia
Apparent loss of 47% of the population of breeding females since 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#HPAI #wildlifedisease #conservationscience🌍
📷 S. elephant seal pup, South Georgia
November 15, 2025 at 2:52 AM
New paper on severe impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza on southern elephant seals at #SouthGeorgia.
Apparent loss of 47% of the population of breeding females since 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#HPAI #wildlifedisease #conservationscience🌍
📷 S. elephant seal pup, South Georgia
Apparent loss of 47% of the population of breeding females since 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
#HPAI #wildlifedisease #conservationscience🌍
📷 S. elephant seal pup, South Georgia
November 7, 2025 at 3:46 AM
In Defence of Bird Conservation in a Broken World theornithologist.org/in-defence-o...
"Bird conservation is...the structural underpinning of planetary health....[but] We do not protect birds merely because they are useful, but because they belong – because they are co-inhabitants of this Earth."
"Bird conservation is...the structural underpinning of planetary health....[but] We do not protect birds merely because they are useful, but because they belong – because they are co-inhabitants of this Earth."
In Defence of Bird Conservation in a Broken World
In a world torn by wars and crises, bird conservation can seem irrelevant. Yet to protect life itself is not indulgence – it’s resistance.
theornithologist.org
November 7, 2025 at 3:38 AM
In Defence of Bird Conservation in a Broken World theornithologist.org/in-defence-o...
"Bird conservation is...the structural underpinning of planetary health....[but] We do not protect birds merely because they are useful, but because they belong – because they are co-inhabitants of this Earth."
"Bird conservation is...the structural underpinning of planetary health....[but] We do not protect birds merely because they are useful, but because they belong – because they are co-inhabitants of this Earth."
Reposted by Louise Blight
This study reveals less than 10% of 1,500 Canadian 🇨🇦 species have 30% of their range protected.
Meeting Canada's #30x30 target requires a strategic 16%-17% #protectedarea expansion 🌍
#BiodiversityLoss
www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10....
Meeting Canada's #30x30 target requires a strategic 16%-17% #protectedarea expansion 🌍
#BiodiversityLoss
www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10....
Priority areas to conserve biodiversity in Canada
Canada has committed to protecting 30% of its land by 2030, yet existing protected areas cover only 12.4% of Canadian lands, which is insufficient to protect terrestrial biodiversity. In this study, w...
www.facetsjournal.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:07 PM
This study reveals less than 10% of 1,500 Canadian 🇨🇦 species have 30% of their range protected.
Meeting Canada's #30x30 target requires a strategic 16%-17% #protectedarea expansion 🌍
#BiodiversityLoss
www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10....
Meeting Canada's #30x30 target requires a strategic 16%-17% #protectedarea expansion 🌍
#BiodiversityLoss
www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10....
November 5, 2025 at 3:23 AM
New in this week's issue of Science -
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#birds #cuckoos #broodparasitism
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#birds #cuckoos #broodparasitism
How common cuckoos adapt to multiple hosts
Genomic data reveal the complexity of egg mimicry evolution in cuckoos
www.science.org
November 1, 2025 at 12:53 AM
New in this week's issue of Science -
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#birds #cuckoos #broodparasitism
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#birds #cuckoos #broodparasitism
A beautiful #Kananaskis day, with some White-tailed Ptarmigan in the alpine. They're hard to spot against the snow but we eventually found some.
#birds #nature
#birds #nature
October 26, 2025 at 11:21 PM
A beautiful #Kananaskis day, with some White-tailed Ptarmigan in the alpine. They're hard to spot against the snow but we eventually found some.
#birds #nature
#birds #nature