birds
grrlscientist | July 27, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
A once-in-a-lifetime photograph of a Common (Eurasian) Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis.
Image: orphaned [larger view].
Birds in Science
For centuries, scientists have puzzled over why the toucan's bill is so remarkably large -- but now one team thinks it might have an answer. The researchers say that the toucan uses its enormous beak to stay cool. They used infrared cameras to show the bird dumping heat from its body into its bill, helping it to regulate its body temperature. The toucan has the largest bill of any bird,…
grrlscientist | July 27, 2009tags: Fischer's Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix leucopareia, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fischer's Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix leucopareia, photographed sitting on donkey dung in Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 3 September 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X 200-400 VR lens at 400. ISO 200 1/500, f/9.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
edyong | July 27, 2009Cities are noisy places. If you ever get annoyed by the constant din of traffic, machinery and increasingly belligerent inhabitants, think about what songbirds must think. Many birds rely on songs to demarcate their territories and make their advances known to mates. They listen out not just for the sounds of seduction or rivalry, but for approaching predators and alarm calls that signify danger. Hearing these vital notes may be the different between life and death.
Last year, I wrote a feature for New Scientist about the effect that urban noise has on songbirds. Those that can't make…
grrlscientist | July 26, 2009tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | July 26, 2009tags: Cape Sparrow, Passer melanurus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Cape Sparrow, Passer melanurus, photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 25, 2009tags: Black-Bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Black-Bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, photographed at Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 2009 [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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 24, 2009tags: Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus, photographed at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 2009 [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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | July 24, 2009
A double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), photographed in Westchester County, NY.
edyong | July 23, 2009Relative to its body size, the huge beak of the toco toucan is the largest of any bird. It allows the toucan to eat both fruit and small animals, and display to both mates and rivals. Darwin himself speculated that it acts as a billboard, shaped by sexual selection to display bright colours that could be attractive to potential mates. But the toucan's bill has another function that has only been discovered. Like the ears of an elephant, the toucan's bill is a radiator.
It certainly has all the characteristics of a biological radiator. It's big and has a surface area that's 25-40 times…
grrlscientist | July 23, 2009tags: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, photographed at High Island, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 2009 [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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 22, 2009tags: Ruff, Philomachus pugnax, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruff, Philomachus pugnax photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds as of this date.
grrlscientist | July 21, 2009tags: Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, photographed at Anahuac Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 May 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso40.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 20, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Birdwatchers in southeastern Australia have been thrilled to see the arrival of about a third of the total national population of the highly endangered Swift Parrot, Lathamus discolor, on the Far South Coast.
Image: Max Sutcliffe, Narooma News [larger view].
Birds in Science
Bird deaths around the Baltic Sea and possibly elsewhere in the world may be caused by a shortage of the vitamin thiamine, researchers say. Wild birds of varied species along the Baltic coasts have been dying of hard-to-explain paralysis since…
grrlscientist | July 20, 2009tags: Spot-Bellied Eagle-Owl, Forest Eagle-Owl, Malay Eagle-Owl, Bubo nipalensis, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Spot-Bellied Eagle-Owl, also known as the Forest Eagle-Owl or the Malay Eagle-Owl, Bubo nipalensis. This interesting bird, which is a pet, is endemic to Southeast Asia. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: "juannasue."
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 20, 2009tags: Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus, photographed at roughly 9am in the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Bardiac, 7 June 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 19, 2009tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | July 19, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres, photographed at Galveston, East Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | July 19, 2009
A harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), with a common goldeneye in the background, photographed at the Central Park Zoo.