ornithology

Another one from the annals of weird deaths. Believe it or don't, wading birds sometimes get their toes or bill-tips caught in bivalve shells, they remain trapped, and they then drown when the tide comes in. Here is rare photographic evidence of this behaviour... The bird is an adult American oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus [a live one is shown below, by Bear Golden Retriever, from wikipedia*], discovered on Cape Island, South Carolina, in June 1939. William Baldwin found and photographed the specimen, and later published it in The Auk (Baldwin 1946). The bird had obviously gotten its…
tags: White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi, photographed at Bodega Bay, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 May 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. The White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi, a large black duck of coastal waters which is the largest of all the scoters. This species breeds farther…
tags: Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, photographed in China Camp State Park, Point San Pedro Peninsula, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 May 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This bird has a very unusual behavior that is a response to the availability of its primary food supply. Can you tell…
tags: Black-throated Sparrow, Desert Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Black-throated Sparrow, also known (erroneously) as the Desert Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata, photographed in Falcon State Park, Falcon Heights, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 April 2008 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This species has one character that sets it apart from all others…
tags: Zitting Cisticola, Streaked Fantail Warbler, Cisticola juncidis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Zitting Cisticola, sometimes known as the Streaked Fantail Warbler,Cisticola juncidis, photographed at Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Dan Logen, 20 January 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens with 1.4 extender ISO 400, f/8, 1/1000 sec. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This African mystery bird has the largest range of any of its congeners and its range…
tags: Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus, Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus (background: Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus), photographed at the Ndutu Safari Lodge, near Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Dan Logen, 21 January 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D300, 600 mm lens with 1.4 extender ISO 800, f/5.6 1/400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Since this African mystery bird is easy to…
tags: Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, photographed in Wilsall, Montana. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Ron Shimek [larger view]. Olympus OM-10 in an Ikelite Housing, Kodachrome 64 film. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This stunning mystery bird is more than "eye candy"; there is something special about this bird's breeding habits that set it apart from all its congeners, can you tell me what that is? The Western Tanager breeds…
tags: What, If Anything, Is Big Bird?, taxonomy, taxonomy, evolution, Grandicrocavis, Big Bird, flightless birds, ratites, humor, comedy, science humor, dinosaur humor, Mike Dickison, PechaKucha, Christchurch, streaming video Years ago, when Zoologist Mike Dickison was in the early stages of his PhD, he gave a joke presentation at a graduate student conference on the taxonomy and evolution of a giant flightless bird. It was the sort of thing you'd see at any conference on avian evolution: a Latin name, reconstructed skeleton, possible place on the great evolutionary tree of birds. The tone…
tags: vultures, Gyps species, conservation biology, endangered species, veterinary medicine, toxicology, physiology, evolutionary biology, pharmaceutical chemistry, epidemiology, mathematical modeling, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club Only thirty years ago, tens of millions of White-rumped Vultures, Gyps bengalensis, were flying the skies of Asia. They are now classified as Critically Endangered. Image: Marek Jobda / rarebirdsyearbook.com [larger view] A zombie is another name for The Walking Dead -- those who are lifeless, apathetic, or totally lacking in…
tags: Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura, photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, Needville, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 November 2007 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This challenging-to-ID-from-this-image mystery bird has a special foraging ability that other members of this family lack. Can you tell me what that…
All too few people seem to realise that birds have hands*; it's just that these parts of the body are - normally - mostly obscured from view by the feathers. While the main role of the bird hand is to support remiges (the big wing feathers), less well known is that many birds possess claws, spurs, spikes and knobs on their hands and wrists that they use in offence or defence [avian hand skeletons below will be identified and discussed in part II]. * Two groups of birds atrophied and eventually lost their hands during evolution. Hesperornithines - a group of toothed, foot-propelled diving…
tags: birds, ornithology, Common Raven, Northern Raven, Corvus corax, animal behavior, animal culture, aggression, dominance hierarchy, social groups, social conflict, post-conflict behavior, consolation, empathy, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club Common Raven, Corvus corax, showing off at Bryce Canyon National Park, USA. Image: United States National Park Service (Public Domain) [larger view] Humans have long tried to distinguish themselves from other animals on the basis of characters that are perceived to be unique, such as tool design and use, planning for the…
tags: Cave Swallow, Petrochelidon fulva, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] A young-of-the-year Cave Swallow, Petrochelidon fulva, photographed at Chambers County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 June 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This mystery bird species is extremely local and seasonal in the southernmost portion of the USA, nesting in very limited numbers only in…
tags: Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Newly hatched Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, photographed at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Anahuac, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 June 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Newly-hatched baby birds of this mystery bird species have a remarkable ability, can you tell me what that is?…
tags: King Rail, Marsh Hen, Freshwater Marsh Hen, Rallus elegans, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] King Rail, also known as the Marsh Hen or the Freshwater Marsh Hen, Rallus elegans, photographed at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Anahuac, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 May 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Today's Mystery Bird seems a bit confused about its own identity,…
Good, non-technical books on anatomy are rare; good, non-technical books on avian anatomy are just about non-existent. Gary Kaiser's The Inner Bird: Anatomy and Evolution stands out as one of a kind - it is not brand-new (having been published in 2007), but still has yet to be widely recognised as the valuable piece of scholarship that it is. I will state here at the outset that I cannot recommend it highly enough. Containing a wealth of information that ranges from the Mesozoic ancestry of birds to neornithine phylogeny, flight dynamics, functional morphology and ecology, it should be…
tags: Green Wood-Hoopoe, Red-billed Wood Hoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Green Wood-Hoopoe, formerly known as the Red-billed Wood Hoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus, photographed in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Dan Logen, 18 January 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens with 1.4 extender ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/250 sec. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This mystery bird species has a remarkable breeding strategy, can you tell me what…
tags: Village Indigobird, Vidua chalybeata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Village Indigobird, Vidua chalybeata, photographed in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Dan Logen, 17 January 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens with 1.4 extender ISO 500, f/8, 1/1000 sec. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This Old World genus of birds is filled with species that have a very close relationship with another species of bird -- can you tell me the nature of that…
tags: Ancient Murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Ancient Murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus, photographed zigzagging rapidly roughly 15m below the waves off the south side of Alki Point, Seattle, Washington. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Ron Shimek [larger view]. Olympus OM-10 in an Ikelite Housing, Kodachrome 64 film. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This poorly-known mystery bird species has two remarkable behaviors that are thought to reduce predation at the nest -- what…
tags: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, photographed at Monterey Bay, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 May 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Can you tell me something remarkable about this mystery bird's beak/mouth? The pelican's gullet pouch really can "hold more than its belly can" (as claimed…