ornithology
grrlscientist | May 17, 2008tags: online books, ornithology, birds, anatomyAvian Anatomy Handbook, Julian Baumel
I know several of my overseas readers have wanted a free PDF of Julian Baumel's celebrated Handbook of Avian Anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium, 2nd Edition, published in 1993 by the Nuttal Ornithological Club, but I have been unable to email it to you due to its large size (400 pages; 49MB). Thanks to the suggestion of one of my readers, I uploaded a copy of this PDF to RapidShare, which hosts large files of up to 100 MB. Now, you can download this PDF to your computer -- but the file must be downloaded at…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2008tags: How and Why Species Multiply, evolution, ecology, Darwin's finches, Rosemary Grant, Peter Grant, book review
Peter and Rosemary Grant have been studying the phenomenon of speciation in Darwin's finches for 35 years, using every technique available to them from molecular biology to population ecology. They have written several books about various aspects of their work and even were the focus of a Pulitzer-prize winning book. But there has not been a comprehensive yet scholarly book that has captured the essential highlights of their lifetime work, until now. How and Why Species Multiply…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Common Pochard, Aythya ferina (Hiroshima, Japan).
Image: Bardiac [larger].
Birds in Science News
Climate change threatens many animals -- but with any luck, some will handle weather shifts with as much aplomb as Parus major, a colorful songbird also known as the great tit. In a study published today in Science, ornithologists from the University of Oxford tracked the egg-laying times of great tits in Wytham, England. Since the mid-1970s, temperatures in Wytham have risen steadily, hastening the start of spring by two…
grrlscientist | May 5, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides.
This bird surprised birders in Washington state by visiting Bainbridge Island this past April.
Image: Eva Gerdts, April 2008 [larger view].
Birds in Science
A team of scientists believe they can provide the key to an enduring wildlife mystery: how do birds navigate? Two main theories joust to explain the seemingly miraculous avian compass. One, supported by research among homing pigeons four years ago, is that birds have tiny particles, called magnetite, in their upper…
grrlscientist | May 2, 2008tags: Rufous-crowned Roller, Coracias naevia, birds, Image of the Day
This is the last bird that I will be showing you by this photographer this week. More of John's images are waiting in the queue, and will appear next week.
Rufous-crowned Roller, Coracias naevia.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
tetrapodzoology | May 2, 2008
Yesterday, my colleague Anthony Butcher (who shares my office at UoP.. but, alas, works on Palaeozoic microfossils called chitinozoans) was driving out of our carpark when he realised that the grey object he had driven past on the pavement was a sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus, plucking the pigeon it had just killed. He reversed, held his phone out of the window, and took several photos. The hawk - less than a metre away - couldn't care less and carried on. The photos aren't brilliant, but for me they bring home the point that we are surrounded by extraordinary animals doing extraordinary things…
grrlscientist | April 30, 2008tags: Yellow-Throated Laughing Thrush, Garrulax galbanus, birds, Image of the Day
This is the third in a series of passerine images by this photographer.
Yellow-Throated Laughing Thrush, Garrulax galbanus.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 29, 2008tags: Melba Waxbill, Pytilia melba, birds, Image of the Day
This is the second image in a series of passerine images by this photographer.
Melba Finch, Pytilia melba, also known as the Melba Waxbill or the Green-winged Pytilia.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: Turquoise Tanager, Tangara mexicana, birds, Image of the Day
This is the first in a series of passerine images by this photographer.
Turquoise Tanager, Tangara mexicana.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
"Abstract"
Male Wood Duck, Aix sponsa.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
Birds in Science
It wasn't too long ago that paleontologists thought that fossilization was a process where all biological material was replaced with inert stone. However, in 2005, Mary Higby Schweitzer of North Carolina State University rocked the paleontological world when she recovered a still-elastic blood vessel from inside a fractured thigh bone fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex that lived 68 million years ago. Recent phylogenetic analyses of…
grrlscientist | April 21, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
People Hurting Birds
Jerrould Smith, a dumbass good ol' boy from Sarasota Florida, is charged with animal cruelty after deputies say he deliberately swerved off the road to run over a protected bird species. Smith admitted he hit a sandhill crane and told deputies it was a "spur of the moment" decision and knew the bird was a protected species. The bird died.
New research debunks the common belief that cats and raccoons are to blame…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2008tags: mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides, birds, Image of the Day
Female mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides.
This bird surprised birders in Washington state by visiting Bainbridge Island this past weekend.
Image: Eva Gerdts, April 2008. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 17, 2008tags: mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides, birds, Image of the Day
Male mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides.
This bird surprised birders in Washington state by visiting Bainbridge Island this past weekend.
Image: Eva Gerdts, April 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 15, 2008tags: Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus, birds, Image of the Day
Last in a series of duck images by this photographer. Stay tuned: there are plenty more images by John that will appear soon!
ABSTRACT: Male Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
tetrapodzoology | April 15, 2008If you've been with Tet Zoo since the beginning (early 2006), you will know that, again and again and again and again, we've been coming back to the fact that large eagles, like Golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos, can and do kill surprisingly large mammalian prey (weighing over 100 kg in cases). And note that can kill does not mean 'can carry'. While many of the instances that have been filmed or photographed feature trained eagles, we know that wild Golden eagles can and do do this.
Now watch this video...
It seems to be doing the rounds again (it's not new): I just saw it mentioned here (…
grrlscientist | April 14, 2008tags: Long-tailed Duck, Clangula hyemalis, birds, Image of the Day
Next-to-last in a series of duck images by this photographer. But there are plenty more images by John that will appear soon!
Long-tailed Duck (formerly: Oldsquaw), Clangula hyemalis.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 14, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
"Thy Fearful Symmetry"
Male greater Prairie-chicken, Tympanuchus cupido.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger view].
More of Dave's Greater Prairie-chicken images.
Birds in Science
Seven feathers that either belonged to a non-avian dinosaur or an early bird have been discovered encased in amber in a remarkably vivid state of preservation, according to a recent Proceedings of the Royal Society B study. The 100-million-year-old amber, excavated from a Charente-Maritime quarry in western France, was found near the…
grrlscientist | April 9, 2008tags: Harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus, Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis, birds, Image of the Day
Second in a series by this photographer.
Male Harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus (left)
and male Long-tailed duck (formerly: Oldsquaw), Clangula hyemalis (foreground).
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 7, 2008tags: Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, Manhattan, Kansas, birds, Image of the Day
Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo,
seen at Fancy Creek and Randolph - North end of Tuttle Creek Reservoir in Kansas.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 7, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Common merganser, Mergus merganser, and chicks.
Orphaned image [larger view].
People Hurting Birds
The number of migratory songbirds returning to North America has gone into sharp decline due to the unregulated use of highly toxic pesticides and other chemicals across Latin America. Ornithologists blame the demand for out-of-season fruit and vegetables and other crops in North America and Europe for the destruction of tens of millions of passerine birds. By some counts, half of the songbirds that warbled across…