ornithology
grrlscientist | March 3, 2008tags: birds, Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, ornithology, Image of the Day
Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, in Central Park.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger size].
The photographer, Bob Levy, writes; On Friday February 22, arguably the most wintry of days so far this season, as six inches of snow covered Central Park and more was falling I heard a male Northern Cardinal sing. That was the first cardinal song I detected this year and I took it as a musical sign that Spring is near. Since then I have heard other males sing and just yesterday I saw…
tetrapodzoology | March 2, 2008
I spent much of my Saturday doing an interesting thing. Together with another 30 or so people, I went along to my local nature reserve (Chessel Bay Nature Reserve, Southampton) and took part in an effort to clear the shore of its tons upon tons of human crap. Unsatisfied with our constant use of resources, our epic, manic pollution, and our rampant annihilation of other species, we aim to cover as much of the planet's surface as possible in our waste: we are literally doing our very best to swamp natural environments with the discarded shit that we can't be bothered to deal with properly.…
grrlscientist | February 27, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, endocrine disruptors, environmental pollutants, DDT metabolites, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, birdsong, physiology, behavior
European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris.
Image: Gerd Rossen [larger view].
An elegant but disturbing paper was just published that documents that biologically relevant concentrations of endocrine disrupting pollutants are affecting the quality and quantity of song produced by male songbirds, which in turn, influences female mate choice. According to the research team, not only do these pollutants influence behavior, but they also affect…
grrlscientist | February 25, 2008tags: birds, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, Image of the Day
New wintering sites for
critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpipers, Eurynorhynchus pygmeus,
have been discovered in Myanmar.
(another picture of this species).
Image: Peter Ericsson. [larger view].
grrlscientist | February 25, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
King penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, swim off the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean near Antarctica. Scientists estimate that a rise in ocean surface temperature of less than half a degree over the next 20 years would lead to a population collapse.
Image: Yvon Le Maho, French National Center for Scientific Research.
Birds in Science
Primitive feathers that represent a key missing link in their evolution have been found, fossilized in 100-million-year-old amber from France. As long as scientists have studied birds…
grrlscientist | February 21, 2008
The Oblivious Birder.
Jeff created this photo for use in a recent keynote address given at the Spacecoast Bird & Wildlife Fest. Clearly this was tongue in cheek as the birder is completely unaware of the oncoming traffic. However, when he gave the example all admitted that they had seen someone on past field trips where folks had to be asked to get out of the road to allow traffic to pass! He also used this photo as a segue into his look at "birder fashion"!
Image: Jeff Bouton [larger size].
Below the fold is the latest installment of the blog carnival, I and the Bird. I have arranged…
grrlscientist | February 21, 2008tags: birds, ornithology, flamingos, courtship dance, streaming video
This video documents the highly synchronized mating dance of wild flamingos, just one of many surprising animals hidden among the Andes in South America. This footage is from the NATURE premiere of "Andes: The Dragon's Back." It is narrated by F. Murray Abraham. [1:42]
grrlscientist | February 18, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
New wintering sites for critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpipers, Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, have been discovered in Myanmar.
Image: Peter Ericsson.
Birds in Science
There is a lot of controversy among scientists regarding when modern birds first appeared. The current fossil record suggests that modern birds appeared approximately 60-65 million years ago when the other lineages of dinosaurs (along with at least half of all terrestrial animals) were extinguished by a bolide impact. However, it is possible that…
grrlscientist | February 16, 2008tags: birds, ornithology, Image of the Day
This photo was taken in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Have you any idea what it is? The photographer thought it was an owl, but a friend of the photographer thinks it may be a young red-shouldered hawk -- but in Colorado? [larger view].
My guess is below the fold;
I guess this is a partial leucistic red-tailed hawk, but it's really hard to tell!
grrlscientist | February 15, 2008tags: birds, sacred ibis, Threskiornis aethiopicus, ornithology, Image of the Day
This thermal image of sacred ibis, Threskiornis aethiopicus.
shows that these birds are well insulated, with only their eyes and one leg losing heat.
Staff at London Zoo say this unique insight shows how animals regulate their body temperatures, and could be used to diagnose illness.
Image: Steve Lowe [larger view].
grrlscientist | February 15, 2008tags: endangered species, red knot, Caladris canutus rufus, Delaware Bay, horseshoe crab, streaming video
This a streaming video about the shorebirds, the Red Knot, that migrate through Delaware Bay from South America. Red Knots stay in the bay for 10 days or so and feed on horseshoe crab eggs to fatten up for their long journey to their Arctic nesting grounds. In this streaming video, scientist trap and tag migratory shore birds to gather information about them. [7:04]
grrlscientist | February 13, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, evolution, bird-dinosaur split, dinosaurs, birds, rocks-versus-clocks, fossil record, molecular clocks
The first feathered dinosaur fossil found in China -- Sinosauropteryx.
The feathers can be seen in the dark line running along the specimen's back.
Image: Mick Ellison, AMNH [larger view]
There is a lot of controversy among scientists regarding when modern birds first appeared. The current fossil record suggests that modern birds appeared approximately 60-65 million years ago when the other lineages of dinosaurs (along with at least half of all terrestrial…
grrlscientist | February 12, 2008tags: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Living Bird magazine
The quarterly magazine, Living Bird, that is published by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, is now available online for free. It includes stories (some are "web only"), streaming video and lots of wonderful images for you to enjoy.
grrlscientist | February 12, 2008tags: birds, Greater Sage-Grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, ornithology, Image of the Day
Okay, I have to brag a little bit. I have been invited to Manhattan, Kansas, to go birding with Dave Rintoul and his ornithology students for one week at the end of March. I am almost beside myself with excitement right now as I look through Dave's many bird images -- which remind me of my own years of springtime birding on the west coast of this country. How I miss those days, and those birds!
This is the seventh and last (for a little while) image in this series of Dave's beautiful pictures. Dave and…
grrlscientist | February 11, 2008tags: birds, Canvasback, Aythya valisineria, ornithology, Image of the Day
Okay, I have to brag a little bit. I have been invited to Manhattan, Kansas, to go birding with Dave Rintoul and his ornithology students for one week at the end of March. I am almost beside myself with excitement right now as I look through Dave's many bird images -- which remind me of my own years of springtime birding on the west coast of this country. How I miss those days, and those birds!
This is the sixth image in this series of Dave's beautiful pictures. The elegant Canvasback are one of my most favorite ducks…
grrlscientist | February 11, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
The White-crested Elaenia, Elaenia albiceps, on Texas' South Padre Island.
Image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer, Erik Breden, who retains the copyright to the image [larger view and More pictures of this bird]. [call notes of this bird, linked from Martin Reid, who recorded it onsite (mp3)].
The really hot bird news in the United States is the presence of a White-crested Elaenia on Texas' South Padre Island. This is the first time this species has been seen in North America, so there are…
grrlscientist | February 10, 2008tags: birds, yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, ornithology, Image of the Day
Okay, I have to brag a little bit. I have been invited to Manhattan, Kansas, to go birding with Dave Rintoul and his ornithology students for one week at the end of March. I am almost beside myself with excitement right now as I look through Dave's many bird images -- which remind me of my own years of springtime birding on the west coast of this country. How I miss those days, and those birds!
This is the fifth image in this series of Dave's beautiful pictures. Like with all my "life list birds…
grrlscientist | February 9, 2008tags: birds, Long-earned Owl, Asio otus, ornithology, Image of the Day
Okay, I have to brag a little bit. I have been invited to Manhattan, Kansas, to go birding with Dave Rintoul and his ornithology students for one week at the end of March. I am almost beside myself with excitement right now as I look through Dave's many bird images -- which remind me of my own years of springtime birding on the west coast of this country. How I miss those days, and those birds!
This is the fourth image in this series of Dave's beautiful pictures. The strange long-eared owls are one of my most favorite owl…
grrlscientist | February 8, 2008tags: birds, Cinnamon Teal, Anas cyanoptera, ornithology, Image of the Day
Okay, I have to brag a little bit. I have been invited to Manhattan, Kansas, to go birding with Dave Rintoul and his ornithology students for one week at the end of March. I am almost beside myself with excitement right now as I look through Dave's many bird images -- which remind me of my own years of springtime birding on the west coast of this country. How I miss those days, and those birds!
This is the third image in this series of Dave's beautiful pictures.
Male cinnamon teal, Anas cyanoptera, in breeding…
grrlscientist | February 7, 2008tags: birds, Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, ornithology, Image of the Day
Okay, I have to brag a little bit. I have been invited to Manhattan, Kansas, to go birding with Dave Rintoul and his ornithology students for one week at the end of March. I am almost beside myself with excitement right now as I look through Dave's many bird images -- which remind me of my own years of springtime birding on the west coast of this country. How I miss those days, and those birds!
This is the second image in this series.
Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus,
Bear River Migratory Bird…