birds
grrlscientist | May 26, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Red-crested Turaco, Tauraco erythrolophus.
Image: John Del Rio [larger view].
Birds in Science
Surface tension can be a wonderful thing. It helps some insects walk on water. It allows the dappling of raindrops on the hood of a car. And, a new study in Science shows, it enables certain birds to eat. Like many birds, phalaropes, small shorebirds with long, thin beaks, feed by pecking, but phalaropes peck at water, capturing droplets, on the order of a tenth of an inch in diameter, which can contain tiny crustaceans or…
grrlscientist | May 26, 2008tags: parrots, politics, humor, behavior, streaming video
This streaming video is a CNN report about a parrot that .. er, parrots .. Barack Obama's slogan, "Yes we can". But it also includes some other parrots .. the one that says "Whateverrrr" is my favorite [2:31].
grrlscientist | May 25, 2008tags: northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
You do not have to be a photography expert to notice that the only thing in focus in this image is the green mesh in the foreground and even then you might have to enlarge it to see that it is so. To appreciate why I relish this photo a detailed explanation is necessary. Of course that might be said about many of my other images too but none more so than this one: at least so far.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
The photographer, Bob Levy, writes;
You will, I hope, recognize that there…
laelaps | May 25, 2008
A close-up of yesterday's "Photo of the Day." (Photographed May 17, 2008 at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware.)
grrlscientist | May 24, 2008tags: Sun Conure, Aratinga solstitialis, birds, Image of the Day
Last in a series of psittacine images by this photographer (I do have more psittacine images in the queue, but all of them are for lories .. Loriinae).
Sun Conure chick, Aratinga solstitialis.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
laelaps | May 24, 2008
A small group of sandpipers takes off to find a better spot to feed. (Photographed May 17, 2008 at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware.)
grrlscientist | May 23, 2008tags: budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus, birds, parrots, Image of the Day
Third in a series of psittacine images by this photographer.
Budgerigar (Budgie), Melopsittacus undulatus.
Image: John Del Rio [larger view].
This parrot's scientific name means "song parrot with wavy lines" and its aboriginal name was close to "budgerigar" meaning "good eating" -- they consumed these small parrots as snacks!
The bird in the above picture is a blue morph of this species. The wild-type coloring for Budgerigars is green. A blue bird results in those individuals that cannot manufacture yellow pigment…
grrlscientist | May 22, 2008tags: Red-Vented Cockatoo, Cacatua haematuropygia, birds, Image of the Day
Second in a series of psittacine images by this photographer.
The Critically Endangered Red-Vented Cockatoo, Cacatua haematuropygia.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | May 21, 2008tags: online books, ornithology, birds, anatomyAvian Anatomy books
I have been informed that the previous link for one of the avian anatomy books has been deactivated. I am not surprised by this since my source warned me that this would likely happen. But there is still demand for this book, so I have downloaded it, along with the other one, to RapidShare, where you can get your free copies. I have updated the link on the previous blog entry, too.
The first book, The Anatomical Atlas of Gallus by Mikio Yasuda is the English edition of the Japanese book published by the University of Tokyo in…
grrlscientist | May 21, 2008tags: White-bellied Caique, Pionites leucogaster, birds, Image of the Day
First in a series of psittacine images by this photographer.
White-bellied parrot (caique), Pionites leucogaster.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
retrospectacle | May 21, 2008
Hi folks. Before you all fall out of your chairs that I am, yes, in fact, blogging, just check out this gem of a story that lured me from the bowels of the UM medical complex. Apparently an African Grey parrot in Japan, a Mr. Yosuke Nakamura, recited his name and address to a vet after he was rescued from a rooftop. This turned out to be his actual address, and was promptly returned to his owners! I think this is a fantastic idea for any owner of a talking parrot, and I really commend the owners of Yosuke for caring enough to make sure the parrot had a surefire way to get home. I'm going to…
laelaps | May 21, 2008
I haven't looked at my Sibley's to figure out what species this is yet, so for now all I can say is that it is a plover (and therefore a member of the Charadriinae). Shows how much I know. Wendy kindly informed me that this is a sandpiper (Scolopacidae), not a plover, although I'll still have to look up which one it is. (Photographed May 17, 2008 at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware.)
grrlscientist | May 20, 2008tags: online books, ornithology, birds, anatomyAvian Anatomy books
A reader of mine sent me the links to two more avian anatomy books that are available for download from FlipDrive. How long these two downloads will last is anyone's guess, though. But I know that my overseas readers, particularly those two of you who are working on your dissertations, will be interested in these. Both books are important additions to your bookshelf, for different reasons. One book is in full color and both books are more up-to-date than the Baumel book I made available to you for download earlier (However,…
laelaps | May 20, 2008
A laughing gull (Larus atricilla) takes off. (Photographed May 17, 2008 at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware).
grrlscientist | May 19, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Yellow-Throated Laughing Thrush, Garrulax galbanus.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
Birds in Science News
A team of researchers recently described fossils from two Lower Eocene parrots that were discovered in Denmark. Analysis of the fossils reveals that one of the ancient parrots, named Mopsitta tanta, is the largest fossil parrot found so far and it has the most northerly distribution yet known. Further, it resembles modern parrots almost as closely as younger fossils found from the Miocene, making it the…
laelaps | May 18, 2008I just got back from my weekend trip to Delaware. Friday night was absolutely miserable (cold, wet, half-cooked hot dogs for dinner, etc.), but by Saturday morning the weather had greatly improved. Unfortunately, however, a big storm had thrown off the rhythms of the up the annual horseshoe crab spawning and the majority of the ones I saw were either dead or dying. Late Saturday night I stumbled across two "in the act" (the week before, apparently, there had been thousands along the beach), but otherwise I saw more sun-bleached carapaces than living animals. Still, it was a good trip and here…
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…
edyong | May 6, 2008Cuckoos are some of nature's most familiar conmen. Several species of this large family are murderous slackers, who shun their own parental responsibilities by deceiving other birds into caring for their chicks. In the process, they destroy the eggs of the unwitting adopted family to ensure that their own chick gets undivided attention. But this is not the only way that cuckoos fool other birds - they also mimic hawks.
The resemblance between cuckoos and hawks (particularly sparrowhawks) has been noted for millennia. Both birds have long bodies, wings and tails and their paler, striped…