BirdNews
grrlscientist | October 15, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male SincoraÌ Antwren,
Formicivora grantsaui.
Potentially a new bird species that was recently discovered in Brazil.
Image: Sidnei Sampaio. [larger view].
Birds in Science
When male birds know they're about to get it on, that action is more likely to spawn a bigger brood of eggs compared to spontaneous copulation, a new study finds. Previous studies have shown that when two male birds mate with a female in a competition to pass on their genetic material, they end in a draw and both become fathers to an equal number…
grrlscientist | October 8, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Can anyone out there identify these mysterious birds? I have no information about the birds, such as location, but several experts are already proposing their guesses (one thinks it's a Chough, another one disagrees). Several ornithologists think these birds are captives rather than wild birds. [larger view].
Birds in Science
Urban birds are regular tough guys compared to their country cousins. The avian urbanites adapt to changing environments and noisy, crowded habitats, a new study shows. Birds that hang out on…
grrlscientist | October 1, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Back from the brink:
The endangered Rimatara lorikeet or Kuhl's lory, Vini kuhlii,
has been successfully reintroduced to Ätiu.
Image: Phil Bender.
Birds in Science
Migrating birds, it seems, can "see" the Earth's magnetic field which they use as a compass to guide them around the globe. Specialized neurons in the eye, sensitive to magnetic direction, have been shown for the first time to connect via a specific brain pathway to an area in the forebrain of birds responsible for vision, German researchers said on…
grrlscientist | September 10, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Clark's Grebe, Aechmorphus clarkii, in the foreground with a Western Grebe, Aechmorphus occidentalis, behind. Both were photographed on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (north end of the Great Salt Lake) in the spring of 2005. Similar birds, but the field marks are straw-yellow bill (Clark's) cf. greenish-yellow bill (Western); white feathering around the eye (Clark's) cf black (Western), and whiter flanks on the Clark's Grebe. This pair of birds was hanging out together, and that was not unusual, making one wonder…
grrlscientist | September 3, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Among the animals Darwin spotted on the Galapagos Islands were the blue-footed boobies, Sula nebouxii excisa. The males show off their blue feet to potential mates with high-stepping dances.
Image: Stephen C. Quinn, AMNH. [larger].
Birds in Science
A new study published in the leading ornithological journal Ibis has uncovered that for the vast majority of bird species, there are more males than females. The discovery suggests that populations of many of the world's threatened birds could therefore be overestimated,…