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For the past several winters, conservationist Cary Hamel has held his breath, hoping an endangered species of butterfly will emerge from cocoons in the summer. When the Poweshiek skipperling butterfly (Oarisma poweshiek) emerged again this year near Vita, Hamel was relieved, despite estimates that say there are fewer than 100 left in Canada. The small winged creature is orange and black, but not patterned in the eye-catching way of other butterflies.

Individually, insects are not incredibly interesting, unless you get down on the ground or view them under a microscope to look at their complexity. But they are the invisible force working throughout the world to keep it running. There are 1.4 billion insects for each one of us. Insects are “the lever pullers of the world,” says David MacNeal, author of Bugged. They do everything from feeding us to cleaning up waste to generating $57 billion for the U.S. economy alone. Almonds in California or watermelons in Florida wouldn’t be available if it were not for bees.

The delectable hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) seems to be fast dwindling from the markets in the coastal districts of Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur, putting a strain on the people of Odisha. Following a low catch, the cost of hilsa too has gone up significantly. These days the cost of hilsa ranges from Rs 700 to Rs 800/kg and even the small-sized fish are being sold for not less than Rs 500/kg. "The irony is that the hilsa has now turned into a luxury item, beyond the reach of the common man due to its exorbitantly high price," said Swadhin Dash, a bank employee from Kendrapada.

The population of spring-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) has ebbed to the point where fish advocates, Native Americans and environmentalists are warning near-term extinction is a real possibility. Last week, divers conducted the annual fish population survey on an 80-mile stretch of the Salmon River that winds its way near the California-Oregon border, and found the number of spring-run Chinook salmon was just 110. That figure represents the second lowest number in the 20 years of data collection.

Japan’s saury catches are expected to hit a record low from this month to December as the population of the fish shrinks, the Fisheries Agency said Friday. The distribution of saury (Cololabis adocetus) is expected to be reduced further this year after a third consecutive year of poor catches, which means prices for fresh saury are likely to rise, pundits said. The agency confirmed a decline in saury resources in a survey of coastal areas and the high seas from June to July.

Where have all the turkeys gone? That’s the question more and more hunters in Wilson County and some other areas around the state are asking, and so far they aren’t getting any answers. Roy Denney, whose Gladeville farm in years past had been a turkey haven, experienced a dismal spring season. Even more disconcerting in terms of the future is the fact that Denney has seen no newly-hatched turkeys this year. “I haven’t seen a single poult for the first time in five or six years,” Denney says. “And I’m seeing maybe one-fourth of the hens and gobblers I used to see.

Yellowhammers (Emberiza citrinella) are resident all year round, except in north and northwest parts of Scotland (Highlands of Scotland and certain lowland areas i.e. Inner Hebrides and Orkneys), where they are summer visitors only. They are a part of the Buntings family, which are characterised to a degree by their finch-like appearance; yet for a slightly different bill structure and flatter heads, they are different. They are also renowned for their lengthy bodies and tails, which give them a memorable aspect.

The loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) lives primarily in the Southeastern portion of the United States, but has been known to nest as far north as southern New Jersey and in the Ontario province of Canada, where they are endangered. Loggerhead shrikes are often found in open pastures or grasslands with elevated perches and nesting sites, especially areas that have barbed-wire fencing. The shrike is nicknamed the “butcherbird” for its habit of impaling prey on thorny shrubs and barbed wire.

The population of blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii) - the seabirds with characteristically colorful feet - has been declining in the Galápagos islands. The birds' numbers have dropped more than 50 percent in less than 20 years, according to a study published Monday (April 21) in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology. The researchers speculated that a lack of sardines, a source of food for the boobies, might be to blame for the decline. The researchers first noticed the decrease in the booby population in 1997.

A new study, carried out by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), estimates that there are just 1,114 Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) left in Scotland, making it one of the country’s rarest birds. Capercaillie – the world’s biggest grouse species – is Red Listed as a Bird of Conservation Concern and is at real risk of extirpation in Britain, according the RSPB. It is found in mature pine woodlands in parts of the Highlands, Moray, Aberdeenshire and Perthshire, with Strathspey holding around 83 per cent of the remaining population.