birds
grrlscientist | July 6, 2009tags: Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, photographed in Kingsbury County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 5 July 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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clock | July 5, 2009The island of Mainau has been designed, decades ago, as a gigantic garden, natural preserve, and a model of sustainability. Thus, animals roaming the island are exceptionally fearless of humans. For this picture, taken during lunch on the island, all I needed to do was extend my camera-hand, while sitting, until it was about two feet away from the bird:
All sorts of birds, from crows to peacocks roam freely among the throngs of tourists there.
grrlscientist | July 5, 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 5, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapilla, photographed near a small Olympic Peninsula lake in Shelton, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 February 2009.
As an added bonus, can you name the close relatives to today's mystery bird that are found in Finland?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The closest relatives to the pictured bird that live in Finland are [English name, Finnish name, Scientific name];
Willow…
laelaps | July 5, 2009
A common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
edyong | July 4, 2009Walks through a forest are often made all the more enjoyable by the chance to watch brightly coloured birds flit between the trees. But birds are not just mere inhabitants of forests - in some parts of the world, they are the key to the trees' survival.
The Serengeti is one such place. Since 1950, around 70-80% of riverside forests have disappeared from this area. Fires seem to be a particular problem, opening large gaps in the canopy that forests can't seem to recover from. To understand why Gregory Sharam from the University of British Columbia has been monitoring the density of the…
grrlscientist | July 4, 2009tags: European Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] European Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris, photographed on the University of Helsinki (Helsingin Yliopisto) campus in Kumpula, Helsinki, Finland. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view].
Canon Powershot SX100
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 3, 2009tags: Juvenile Gambel's White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelli, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Juvenile Gambel's White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelli, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 25 November 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:11:25 08:07:50
Exposure Time: 1/200
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 320
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 2, 2009tags: Pied Wagtail fledgling, Motacilla alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pied Wagtail fledgling, Motacilla alba, photographed at Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, UK. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Richard Carter, FCD, 13 June 2009 (he also writes here) [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel) at 1/400th second using a Canon EF 75-300mm zoom at the 300mm setting.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 1, 2009tags: White-rumped Sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] White-rumped Sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis, photographed at Galveston, East Beach, 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 1/800s 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 1, 2009
A great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), photographed at the Central Park Zoo. Many thanks to everyone for the corrections in the comments.
grrlscientist | June 30, 2009tags: Michael Jackson, Moonwalking Bird, birds, behavior, funny, streaming video
I am an ornithologist and aviculturist, which means that I research birds scientifically as well as breeding and raising them. So after the shock of Michael Jackson's sudden death wore off, I wanted to share a bird lover's farewell to Michael with you [1:15]
grrlscientist | June 30, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Wattled Starlings, Creatophora cinerea, perched on Plains (Grant's) Zebra, Equus quagga boehmi, Amboseli National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 3 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2H, 200-400 VR lens at 400, ISO 200, 1/320, f/8.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 29, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
The first Seychelles Paradise-flycatcher chicks, Terpsiphone corvina,
to fledge successfully outside La Digue Island, Seychelles for over 60 years
are flying on Denis Island.
Image: David Hosking [larger view].
Birds in Science
One of the fifteen Frisian 'transmitter godwits', which was still in Friesland on one week ago on Saturday, arrived in Senegal in West Africa on Tuesday morning. The bird, nicknamed Heidenskip, appears to have flown from Friesland via Spain and over the Sahara in one go. The distance, over…
grrlscientist | June 29, 2009tags: Pelagic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pelagic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus, photographed at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is taking nesting materials back to the rock, where many of these birds were busy nesting. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 8 June 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 28, 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 | June 28, 2009tags: Lesser Flamingo, Phoeniconaias minor, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Flamingo, Phoeniconaias minor, 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.
edyong | June 27, 2009
You don't have to be particularly intelligent to use tools - many animals do so, including some insects. But it takes a uniquely intelligent animal to be able to combine different tools to solve a problem. We can do it, the great apes can do it, and now the New Caledonian crow joins our exclusive club.
Animals can use tools using little more than pre-programmed behaviour patterns that require little intelligence. But combining tools, or using one tool on another (a metatool, if you will), is a different matter entirely - that takes reasoning. This type of intelligence has been the engine…
grrlscientist | June 27, 2009tags: Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, photographed in Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 March 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.
grrlscientist | June 26, 2009tags: House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 3 June 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:03:06 17:34:01
Exposure Time: 1/30
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 500
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.