birds

A very rare sighting in the thumb region of Michigan this winter: an orange snowy owl. But how did it get that way?

A conversation about how bird flu spreads and the animals could be impacted.

Preliminary test results of dead wild birds found across lower Michigan in January and early February indicate that bird flu is likely present. The samples have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory for confirmation, but the Michigan Department of Natural Resources suggests Michiganders take precautionary measures.

Today, Michigan Public's Kate Wells tells us what to know about bird flu.

Today, how bird flu is decimating flocks and egg production. Then, education developments to keep an eye out for this year. Later, how Black Detroiters were the forerunners of the modern lottery system.

On today's show, translating campaign rhetoric into real talk about trade and tariffs. Then, thoughts on crows. And, a life and death situation out on the ice of the Great Lakes.

Because the virus is so lethal in birds, and has to be contained quickly, entire flocks have to be euthanized essentially overnight. It’s still not clear how the virus spread among so many turkey farms in Ottawa County so quickly, but state officials say they think it's contained.

Today, retiring Congressman Dan Kildee reflects on his years in Washington. We’ll also talk about what may lie ahead for the new Congress. Then, where to go in Michigan for prime winter duck-watching. Later, a departing Michigan Supreme Court justice on state court matters. Plus, we catch up with Michigan research on how cannabis affects people suffering from PTSD.

It started in the Eisenhower era: Every year, Wisdom, a Layan albatross, has returned to her nesting grounds on the Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

A new study in the journal Global Change Biology studied a pessimistic policy outlook and an optimistic policy outlook to project how climate change would affect birds in the neotropics, stretching from central Mexico to the southern tip of South America.