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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield
@melanienewfield.bsky.social
2.8K followers 3.6K following 760 posts
Science and environment writer and communicator. Loves to talk about risk. Obsessed with plants and hopes to one day see every species of eucalypt. I make the science behind important issues accessible here: https://theturnstone.substack.com
theturnstone.substack.com
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 1d
The first sound you are likely to hear in New Zealand are the birds introduced from England, such as sparrows and blackbirds. But we are slowly getting our unique birds back into our cities.
melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 1d
They do! I love the way they sit with their tails upright and raise their white head feathers when they get cross
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 2d
So worth it
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 2d
The hihi were spectacular there
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 2d
I’m so keen to get there. I’m hoping this summer I might get the chance
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 2d
It’s wonderful what has been achieved
melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 2d
Absolutely! It gives me hope that our birdsong is starting to return
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 2d
On my recent visit to #TiritiriMatangi island I took this video in the forest. The birdsong here is extraordinary. I’ve never heard anything like it.
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 2d
If you need something uplifting, it’s hard to go past the story of the hihi, and how a group of high school students and their inspirational teacher helped bring it back from the brink of extinction.

open.substack.com/pub/theturns...
A new sunrise
Tiritiri Matangi has given us hope for the survival of the hihi, but these birds are still in serious trouble (11 minute read)
open.substack.com
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 8d
Exactly. While superficially it’s a soybean problem, it’s actually a “too much meat and dairy” problem
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 8d
Such a frustrating and misleading headline. Do better @theguardian.com
enviroem.bsky.social
Emily Cassidy @enviroem.bsky.social · 9d
Soybeans are overwhelming used for feed. 80% of protein produced on Brazil's croplands is used to feed animals iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1....
The recent tariff issue is a prime example of how the world's taste for meat (not soy) is shaping distant landscapes. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
How the world’s taste for soya is eating Brazil’s Amazon
Cultivation of the crop has made a few wealthy but at a huge cost to untouched forest as it spreads across vast areas of former wilderness
www.theguardian.com
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 11d
Just a quick reminder that polls close tomorrow in the year's most anticipated election: #Birdoftheyear2025 #BOTY2025
Make sure you get your votes in, and if you aren't sure who to vote for, here are nine worthy but sometimes overlooked candidates. theturnstone.substack.com/p/time-to-vote
Time to vote!
The year's most contentious election - that's right, it's Bird of the Year 2025 (5 minute read)
theturnstone.substack.com
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 15d
Sad to say, you're probably right in your prediction.
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 16d
A bit late but here’s a tūturuatu for you #sciart
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 17d
Reddit has a photo of the physical paper with this exact image www.reddit.com/r/chicago/co...
In the Sun-Times today
www.reddit.com
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 17d
Looks to be Sun Times Chicago, although possibly print edition. Here's similar chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Protesters arrested at Broadview anti-ICE demonstration have been released
Ten people arrested during a clash Friday with federal immigration agents have been freed, a spokesperson for the National Lawyers Guild said. But there was no word on whether any of them had been cha...
chicago.suntimes.com
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 17d
It’s done with felt-tipped pens. They are easy to work when I’m sitting on the couch after a long work day
melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 18d
Thanks. Just such an adorable bird
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 18d
Another under appreciated candidate for #birdoftheyear2025, the teeny-tiniest tītīpounamu. #sciart Weighs less than a large garden snail.
A felt pen drawing of a bird with green and black wings with flashes of yellow and a white chest. Wings extend longer than the tail
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 19d
Here it is, my guide to why you should vote for some of Aotearoa’s under-appreciated birds. open.substack.com/pub/theturns...
Time to vote!
The year's most contentious election - that's right, it's Bird of the Year 2025 (5 minute read)
open.substack.com
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 19d
Today's satire is tomorrow's GOP policy
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 19d
Fearless reporting from America's finest news source.
bencollins.bsky.social
Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 19d
I am biased but I don’t think there is a better website on the internet today than TheOnion.com.
Nation Grateful to GOP for Protecting It From TV Report: You to Be Fired for Reading This Headline About Charlie Kirk Trump Spends Entire UK Trip Trying to Figure Out Where He Knows Prince Andrew From Charlie Kirk, Not In His Own Words: We Honor The Right-Wing Activist By Making Up Quotes That Sound Much Better, Given The Moment
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 19d
Here you are!
A felt pen drawing of a cream and brown bird, with a yellow head and blue around the eyes, in flight. Caption, take the high dive
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melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 19d
Not this year, sorry, although they are lovely birds.
melanienewfield.bsky.social
Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 19d
apologies, forgot alt-text - a felt pen drawing of a brown and white seabird, with webbed feet, sitting. Caption "join the high fliers"
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