ornithology
grrlscientist | March 18, 2008tags: birds,Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata, ornithology, Image of the Day
Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata,
in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the Southern Yucatan
in the state of Campeche. They are endemic to the region
and are known locally as both Pavo Ocelado or Guajalote Ocelato.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
Kevin writes:
The Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata, is one of only two species of wild turkey. The Ocellated Turkey is near-endemic to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The species' range also extends a bit into Guatemala and Belize, but all total encompasses…
grrlscientist | March 17, 2008tags: birds,Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, ornithology, Image of the Day
Immature Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, in the Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 17, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, in Central Park.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger size].
Birds in Science
In all three groups of birds with vocal learning abilities -- songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds -- the brain structures for singing and learning to sing are embedded in areas controlling movement, researchers have discovered. The team also found that areas in charge of movement share many functional similarities with the brain areas for singing. This suggests that the brain…
grrlscientist | March 16, 2008tags: birds,Roadside Hawk, Buteo magnirostris griseocauda, ornithology, Image of the Day
Roadside Hawk, Buteo magnirostris griseocauda,
in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the southern Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 15, 2008tags: John James Audubon, Bird Art, ornithology, birds, avian, New York Historical Society, endangered species
Carolina Parakeet (Carolina Parrot), Conuropsis carolinensis,
by John James Audubon (American, born Santo Domingo [now Haiti], 1785-1851).
Havell plate no. 26.
Watercolor, graphite, pastel, gouache, and black ink with scratching out and selective glazing on paper, laid on thin board.
The Carolina parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis, now extinct,
was the only native species of parrot in the United States. The last
known wild Carolina parakeet was killed in Florida in 1904 [larger size…
grrlscientist | March 15, 2008tags: birds,Ruddy Turnstones, Arenaria interpres, ornithology, Image of the Day
Ruddy Turnstones, Arenaria interpres, in the Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 14, 2008tags: birds, parrots, White-fronted Parrots, Spectacled Amazons, Amazona albifrons nana, ornithology, Image of the Day
White-fronted Parrots, Amazona albifrons nana,
otherwise known as Spectacled Amazons. This picture
was taken near the Maya village of El Senor in the south central Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 13, 2008tags: birds, Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregata magnificens, ornithology, Image of the Day
Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregata magnificens,
taken on the east coast of the Yucatan in Quintana Roo.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 12, 2008tags: North Island brown kiwi, Apteryx australis mantelli, endangered species, conservation, birds, National Zoo
The National Zoo welcomed a new North Island brown kiwi chick, Apteryx australis mantelli, on March 7, 2008.
The chick, whose sex has yet to be determined by DNA testing, is the third chick to ever hatch at the National Zoo. The first hatching occurred in 1975 and was the first to occur outside of New Zealand. Kiwis are endangered and are extremely rare to see in captivity -- only four zoos outside of New Zealand have successfully bred kiwis, and only three US zoos exhibit them,…
grrlscientist | March 11, 2008tags: birds, Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, ornithology, Image of the Day
Soaring Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, in the Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
tetrapodzoology | March 11, 2008
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll be saying it again: one of the best ways to invigorate your enthusiasm about a subject is to attend a conference on it, and to spend at least a couple of days talking with other people about that subject. I've (more or less) just returned from the third Big Cats in Britain conference, held at Tropiquaria at Watchet, north Somerset. What an amazing venue: picture, if you can, a 1930s BBC radio station [adjacent image shows the stonework above the main entrance] surrounded by gigantic towering antennae, the heat radiating from one of the antennae being…
grrlscientist | March 10, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Populations of the Southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius,
around Mission Beach in North Queensland, Australia, are still suffering
from the effects of Cyclone Larry two years ago.
Image: iStockphoto.
Birds in Science
In humans, as in all mammals, sleep consists of two phases: deep, dreamless slow-wave-sleep (SWS) alternates with dream phases, called Rapid Eye Movement (REM)-sleep. In newly published study, sleep researchers found that pigeons can engage in "power sleep" just as mammals can to make up for lost sleep…
grrlscientist | March 10, 2008tags: courting black scoters, seaducks, Melanitta nigra, streaming video
A bird pal of mine, Al Wagar, who lives in the Seattle area, took this video of calling and courting black scoters, Melanitta nigra, that were on the coast near Edmonds, Washington. Black scoters are a large species of sea duck that dive for their dinner, eating mainly mollusks. They breed on ponds in northern boreal forests and spend the rest of their lives on oceans and salt water bays. Black scoter numbers show a long-term decline, possibly due to loss of boreal forest and coastal oil spills [0:43].
One of the cuter…
grrlscientist | March 9, 2008tags: birds, Wilson's snipe, Gallinago delicata, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". He referred to these as "some friends to help you tend your wing".
Wilson's snipe, Gallinago delicata. It is a little unusual to see a shorebird off the the ground, but this fellow decided he needed a higher perch to take in some of the scenery.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 8, 2008tags: birds, Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". He referred to these as "some friends to help you tend your wing".
Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 7, 2008tags: birds, Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". He referred to these as "some friends to help you tend your wing".
Red-tail hawk, Buteo jamaicensis.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 7, 2008tags: Finding Your Wings, bird watching, birding, outdoors, Burton Guttman, book review
As a long-time professor of biology, Burton Guttman has learned two major concepts from his students about learning: first, people learn best by actively participating in the learning process and second; people often try to learn at the wrong time. To address these two challenges, Guttman used his teaching experiences to design a workbook that teaches beginners how to watch birds in the field -- the first such book that I've ever seen published on this topic (I've since learned that there are two other…
grrlscientist | March 6, 2008tags: birds, least sandpiper, Calidris minutilla, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". He referred to these as "some friends to help you tend your wing".
Some road construction created some temporary mudflats where many shorebirds found excellent feeding, including this least sandpiper, Calidris minutilla. I like this picture because of the texture the rippling water adds.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
tetrapodzoology | March 6, 2008
Congratulations are in order: well done Dave Hughes, David Marjanović and Allen Hazen in particular. No, the creature shown yesterday is not a squabrat from The Dark Crystal (if there is such a thing), Romer's hellasaur, an old picture of a colugo, a proto-bat, proto-pterosaur, arboreal theropod, antiquated archaeopterygid, tree shrew, climbing duck-possum, arboreal gorgonopsian, proto-ropen, or one of Dougal Dixon's arbrosaurs: it is, instead, the hypothetical stem-haematotherm depicted in Philippe Janvier's 1984 article on the Haematothermia concept. It made an appearance both within the…
grrlscientist | March 5, 2008tags: birds, Great Egret, Ardea alba, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". He referred to these as "some friends to help you tend your wing".
Some road construction created some temporary mudflats where many shorebirds found excellent feeding, including this great egret, Ardea alba.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].