Birds in the News
grrlscientist | March 30, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
American Avocet chick, Recurvirostra americana.
Image: Richard Ditch, 2007 [larger view].
Birds in Science and Technology
Researchers have discovered the first direct evidence that exposure to stress in young birds affects the way they react to stress when adult. Exposure to stressful events soon after birth has significant effects on a range of physiological and behavioral responses later in life. Previous work in mammals has been unable to work out whether this is due to raised stress hormone levels produced by…
grrlscientist | March 23, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Recent surveys in Myanmar and Vietnam are adding to our knowledge of the non-breeding distribution of Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Eurynorhynchus pygmeus.
Image: Zheng Jianping/RareBirdsYearbook.
Birds in Science and Technology
According to the most comprehensive report ever published in the USA, nearly one third of America's 800 native bird species are endangered, threatened, or in significant decline, thanks to habitat loss, pollution, climate change, competition from invasive species and other threats. The shocking…
grrlscientist | March 16, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Wren (known as the "Winter Wren" in the United States), Troglodytes troglodytes, photographed near the Bridge of Orchy, Scotland.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008. [larger view].
Birds in Science and Technology
What happens when the demand for suitable nesting sites exceeds the availability? The law of demand and supply also applies in nature, and the consequences of enhanced competition for limited nesting sites can have far-reaching effects. Which individuals will prevail? And what happens to the unsuccessful…
grrlscientist | March 9, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Chatham Island (Mollymawk) Albatross, Thalassarche cauta eremita.
With 18 out of 22 albatross species threatened with extinction,
the FAO should be congratulated on establishing a gold standard
for reducing seabird bycatch -- a major conservation step forward.
Image: Alan Tate [larger view].
Birds in Science
Some of the world's leading paleontologists are attempting to recreate a dinosaur -- or something a lot like a dinosaur -- by starting with a chicken embryo and working backward to engineer a "chickenosaurus" or…
grrlscientist | March 2, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis,
photographed at Meadows Campground, Hart's Pass,
in the Okanagan of Washington State.
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 October 2008.
Birds in Science
The unusually intact fossilized skull of a giant, bony-toothed seabird that lived up to 10 million years ago was found on Peru's arid southern coast, researchers said. The fossil is the best-preserved cranium ever found of a pelagornithid, a family of large seabirds believed to have gone extinct some 3 million years ago, said…
grrlscientist | February 23, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus, in Chaco Canyon.
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
Birds in Science
Scientists fitted tags to wood thrushes and purple martins in the north-east of the US before the birds began their journey to central and South America. Data recovered from the devices showed that the birds took much longer to complete the autumnal migration than the return journey north in the spring. "Never before has anyone been able to track songbirds for their entire migratory trip," explained co-…
grrlscientist | February 9, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Black-throated Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata, in Chaco Canyon.
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
Birds in Science
This is a link to a fascinating slide show that documents 9 links in the dinosaur-to-bird transition -- plenty of strong evidence that birds evolved from dinosaurs! GrrlScientist comment: "link" number four is very dubious, though, and I am surprised they even used it in their story.
People Hurting Birds
Both engines of the US Airways flight that crash-landed in the Hudson River last month…
grrlscientist | February 2, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Nonggang Babbler, Stachyris nonggangensis, a newly discovered bird species, is found only in southwestern Guangxi province, part of the south-east Chinese Mountains Endemic Bird Area.
Image: James Eaton; Birdtour Asia.
Birds in Science
For many decades, the white-eyes (Family: Zosteropidae) were known as the "Great Speciators" in honor of their apparent ability to rapidly give rise to new species while other birds in the same areas showed little or no diversification. But the Great Speciator hypothesis could only…
grrlscientist | January 26, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Yellow-eyed Junco, Junco phaeonotus, Cave Creek Canyon AZ
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
People Hurting Birds
The Greater Sage-Grouse, a species whose population has declined 93% from historic numbers and that is on the U.S. WatchList of birds of highest conservation concern, is facing a severe decline in the amount of suitable breeding habitat due to energy development. Oil and gas drilling in the region have been booming, driving the birds out of many breeding areas, or leks. In addition, wind farm…
grrlscientist | January 5, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Rainbow Lory, Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus. This subspecies of rainbow lory is also found in Australia, along the east coast.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
Birds in Science
One of the most contentious issues among scientists who study the evolution of birds is identifying precisely when the modern birds (Neornithes) first appeared. This is due to conflicts between the fossil record and molecular dating methodologies. For example, fossils support a Tertiary radiation whereas molecular dating methodologies…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Sun Conure chick, Aratinga solstitialis.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
Christmas Bird Count News
The Annual Christmas Bird Counts are rapidly approaching, so I am publishing links to all of the counts here; who to contact, and where and when they are being held, so if you have a link to a Christmas Bird Count for your state, please let me know so I can include it in the list:
Alabama (Thanks, Chazz Hesselein)
Arizona (Thanks, Sheri Williamson)
California (Thanks, Joseph Morlan)
Idaho (Thanks, Denise Hughes)…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Female Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, sitting on her nest.
Notice her long tongue sticking out of her mouth and the uncommonly bright colors on her gorget.
This bird nested on Bainbridge Island in Washington state earlier this year.
Image: Eva Gerdts, May 2008. [larger view].
Christmas Bird Count News
The Annual Christmas Bird Counts are rapidly approaching, so I am publishing links to all of the counts here; who to contact, and where and when they are being held, so if you have a link to a Christmas Bird Count…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus at Bolivar Flats, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 July 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/2000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Christmas Bird Count News
The Annual Christmas Bird Counts are rapidly approaching, so I am publishing links to all of the counts here; who to contact, and where and when they are being held, so if you have a link to a Christmas Bird Count for your state, please let me know so I can include it in the list:
Alabama (Thanks…
grrlscientist | November 17, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Sanderlings, Calidris alba, at Bolivar Flats, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 24 June 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400 .
Birds in Science
Birdsong is the primary model system that helps scientists understand how the brain produces complex sequences of learned behavior, such as playing the piano. In songbirds, there are many interconnected brain regions that play specific and important role in the production of song. It was hypothesized…
grrlscientist | November 10, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
This Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus,
is from the photographer's ancestral village of Rintoul,
near Kinross, which is north of the Firth of Forth,
about 20 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Image: Dave Rintoul, August 2008.
Birds in Science
At 14 years old, Spencer Hardy has solved an avian mystery and discovered significant evidence for the only bird other than a penguin to incubate its eggs on glacial ice. Hardy's geoscientist father, Douglas, was stationed in southeastern Peru at the Quelccaya Ice Cap in the…
grrlscientist | November 3, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
European Bee-eater pair, Merops apiaster.
She's still hungry, but not yet willing to mate. So the male bee-eater takes wing
to find more food. When he returns, "the female nearly always accepts the
offering, quickly eating," reports British ornithologist C. Hilary Fry. If his
courtship is successful, he'll continue to bring her prey through the
egg-laying period. Both parents deliver meals to their chicks.
Image: Jözsef L. Szentpéteri/National Geographic online [larger view].
Birds in Science
Raising young can be…
grrlscientist | October 27, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
A pair of European Bee-eaters, Merops apiaster.
Before a bee-eater shares his catch with his mate,
he woos her by conspicuously preparing his offering --
tossing around a may bug before knocking it out.
Image: Jözsef L. Szentpéteri/National Geographic online [larger view].
People Hurting Birds
One of Australia's rarest and fastest birds, the swift parrot, seems to be plummeting in number, and logging has been blamed. Sightings of the flashy red and green parrot have declined sharply in its winter home of flowering…
grrlscientist | October 20, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
These Northern fulmar chicks, Fulmarus glacialis, are from the northern end of the Isle of Lewis (aka the Butt of Lewis) in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
Image: Dave Rintoul, August 2008 [larger view].
Birds in Science
U.S. and Costa Rican scientists say their research suggests parrots -- with more than 90 species facing extinction -- might be more adaptable than thought. Donald Brightsmith, a Texas A&M University bird specialist, and Greg Matuzak from Amigos de las Aves USA, studied six parrot communities in…
grrlscientist | October 6, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Red-crowned Amazon parrot, Amazona viridigenalis, at Elizabeth Street Parrotry, Brownsville, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Birds in Science
Scientists have found a new huge and well-preserved fossil of a goose and duck relative that swam around what is now England 50 million years ago flashing sharp, toothy smiles. The skull, discovered on the Isle of Sheppey off the southeast coast of England in the…
grrlscientist | September 22, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
The cassowary, Casuarius casuarius,
is a large, flightless bird that is native to Australia and New Guinea.
Image: Orphaned [larger view].
Canaries in Our Coal Mine
Common birds are in decline across the world, providing evidence of a rapid deterioration in the global environment that is affecting all life on earth -- including human life. All the world's governments have committed themselves to slowing or halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. But reluctance to commit what are often trivial sums in terms of…