parrots
grrlscientist | October 24, 2008tags: parrots, endangered species, conservation, birds, ornithology, Indonesia
Masakambing (Abbott's) yellow-crested cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea abbotti at Sukun tree.
Image: Indonesian Parrot Project, summer 2008 [larger view].
I had the most fascinating telephone discussion with Bonnie Zimmermann, Vice President of the Indonesian Parrot Project, about the recent reported rediscovery of several individuals of the rarest cockatoo in the world. This species, known as the Masakambing (Abbott's) yellow-crested cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea abbotti, is a subspecies of Yellow (Sulfur)-crested…
grrlscientist | October 23, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
Okay, if you are like me, you were not able to see the Nature program, Parrots in the Land of Oz, which aired on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October. So I have dug up a few videos that give you a glimpse of what you did not see. This is a second video includes lots of footage of huge squadrons of flying budgerigars, and several species of stunningly colored rosellas and lories (which I've bred in captivity) [9:24]
grrlscientist | October 22, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
Okay, if you are like me, you were not able to see the Nature program, Parrots in the Land of Oz, which aired on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October. So I have dug up a few videos that give you a glimpse of what you did not see. This video includes a close look at fig parrots and eclectus parrots (both of which were included in my research), along with several species of cockatoos -- black white and pink species [9:40]
grrlscientist | October 21, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
Did you know that budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus -- erroneously known as "parakeets" in the United States -- can see UV light? Did you know that female budgerigars rely on the UV reflectance to judge the quality of potential mates? This is a fascinating little trailer about wild budgerigars from the Nature program Parrots in the Land of Oz, which airs on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October [1:43]
grrlscientist | October 20, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
Did you know that several species of cockatoos are black instead of white in color? Did you know that the Black Palm Cockatoos, Probosciger aterrimus, use tools -- tree limbs that they use to beat on their chosen nest cavity -- to attract a mate? Below the fold is a clip of the courtship of a pair of Black Palm Cockatoos from the Nature program Parrots in the Land of Oz, which airs on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October [1:56]
grrlscientist | October 19, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
There are rare days when I wish I had a TV, but today is certainly one of those days. This is a trailer from the Nature program Parrots in the Land of Oz, which airs on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October -- that's TONIGHT! I guarantee you will enjoy this program [0:31]
grrlscientist | October 10, 2008tags: parrot, Lories, Lorikeet, Loriinae, Loriidae, Rimatara Lorikeet, Kuhl's Lory, Vini kuhlii, conservation, ornithology, South Pacific Islands
Endangered Rimatara Island (Kuhl's) lory, Vini kuhlii,
peer down upon their fledgling chick
in a nest hollow of an albizia tree, Falcataria moluccana,
on the island of Atiu, in the Cook Islands.
Image: Gerald McCormack [larger view].
Those of you who have been following the story of the endangered Kura, or Rimatara Lory, Vini kuhlii, will be very excited to know that these rare birds are producing babies! Last year, 27 Rimatara lories, or Kura,…
grrlscientist | September 23, 2008tags: Politics, Ralph Nader, Cardozo, humor, funny, streaming video
This is a silly video by Ralph Nader, who feels left out of the political process since the electorate finally sees him for what he is. So Ralph talks about dressing up as a panda with Cardozo the Amazon parrot, who lives with former Salt Lake City Mayor, Rocky Anderson, in a lame attempt to recapture his old glory days of spoiling elections and making life worse for the electorate [2:45]
Cardozo, here you are from the free flying Amazon jungle to a cage in Utah -- albeit an open door cage with a fine master. Do not feel sad…
grrlscientist | September 9, 2008tags: Irene Pepperberg, cognition, learning, parrots, birds, Alex Foundation
Cognitive scientist, Irene Pepperberg and her parrots, Griffin, Arthur (Wart) and Alex.
Image: Mike Lovett, Brandeis University.
I just wanted to let you know that Irene Pepperberg has several speaking engagements to promote her new book, Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence -- and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process (scheduled release date: 28 October 2008). As you might remember, six months ago, I was given the opportunity to review an advance reading copy of…
grrlscientist | September 5, 2008tags: Blue-crowned Lorikeet, Vini australis, parrots, birds, images
The Blue-crowned Lorikeet, Vini australis, is a parrot found throughout the Samoa and Tonga islands and Lau archipelago. This individual was photographed in the Blackburn Pavilion, a large indoor tropical aviary at the London Zoo in England.
Image: GrrlScientist 3 September 2008 [larger view].
I wanted to share this image of an adult blue-crowned lory that I photographed at the London Zoo a couple days ago. More zoo bird images are coming as soon as I have a stable wifi connection.
grrlscientist | September 2, 2008tags: London Zoo, Black-cheeked lovebirds, Agapornis nigrigenis, ornithology, birds, parrots, avian
Black-cheeked lovebirds, Agapornis nigrigenis, a native of the African nation of Zambia. Image taken at the London Zoo.
Image: GrrlScientist 2 September 2008 [larger view].
Yesterday, I went to the London Zoo with one of my blog colleagues and reader, Bob O'Hara. Despite the fact that I dragged him through all the aviaries on the grounds, and spent the entire day snapping pictures of birds, he still speaks to me (I did bring him to a pub afterwards, so perhaps he forgot his resenment?).…
grrlscientist | August 26, 2008tags: Green parakeet, Aratinga holochlora, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Green parakeet (conure), Aratinga holochlora, at Elizabeth Street Parrotry, Brownsville, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 March 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | August 25, 2008tags: Green parakeet, Aratinga holochlora, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Green parakeet (conure), Aratinga holochlora, at Elizabeth Street Parrotry, Brownsville, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | August 24, 2008tags: Green parakeet, Aratinga holochlora, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Green parakeet (conure), Aratinga holochlora, at Elizabeth Street Parrotry, Brownsville, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | August 23, 2008tags: Green parakeet, Aratinga holochlora, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Green parakeet (conure), Aratinga holochlora, at Elizabeth Street Parrotry, Brownsville, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | August 22, 2008tags: Red-Crowned Amazon Parrot, Amazona viridigenalis, birds, nature, Image of the Day
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.
grrlscientist | August 21, 2008tags: Red-Crowned Amazon Parrot, Amazona viridigenalis, birds, nature, Image of the Day
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.
grrlscientist | August 4, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, Macaw Wasting Disease, myenteric ganglioneuritis, proventricular dilatation disease, Bornaviridae, avian bornavirus, negative strand RNA viruses, pan-viral microarray, ViroChip
One pair of the Little Blue (Spix's) Macaw, Cyanopsitta spixii.
This species is extinct in the wild and its captive population consists of roughly 70 to 100 individuals.
Image: Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo (São Paulo Zoo), Brasil.
For more than 30 years, a mysterious disease, known as proventricular dilatation disease (PDD), has sent chills of terror down the spines of…
grrlscientist | August 1, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, evolution, speciation, ring species, phylogeography, landscape genetics, crimson rosella, Platycercus elegans, parrots, birds, Australia
Crimson Rosella, Platycercus elegans.
Image: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
One of the challenges facing those who believe that evolution cannot create new species is explaining the problem of "ring species." Ring species are a group of geographically connected populations that can interbreed with nearby populations, but cannot breed with those populations that exist at each end of the cline (figure A). These populations…
grrlscientist | July 27, 2008tags: conservation, captive breeding, Houston Zoo, St. Vincent Parrot, St. Vincent Amazon, Guilding's Amazon parrot, Amazona guildingii, ornithology
Adult St. Vincent Amazon parrot, Amazona guildingii.
Image: Orphaned [larger view].
The Houston Zoo in Houston, Texas, successfully hatched another endangered St. Vincent Amazon parrot, Amazona guildingii, on 28 May 2008. The young parrot was the third of this species to hatch at the Houston Zoo, which is the only zoo in the United States to successfully breed this species in captivity. The chick was named Vincent after the father of the…