birds
grrlscientist | December 11, 2008tags: Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A pretty bird but not a hard one: the long tail, black upperparts, chestnut sides, and black-and-white head identify this bird readily enough as a drake Hooded Merganser. What this photo illustrates well,…
grrlscientist | December 11, 2008tags: budgerigar, pets, birds, documentary, streaming video
This is a video of a very strange budgerigar. Apparently the result of a mutation, the bird's plumage is extraordinarily downy and long, so much so that it is almost impossible to see the bird's face (downy feathers are due to a mutation that causes a condition known as "neotenty"; where an adult animal takes on juvenile characteristics) [0:53]
grrlscientist | December 10, 2008tags: Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus, photographed at Samish Flats, Skagit County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 22 January 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/1000s f/5.0 at 165.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This bird's slight mistrust of humans bearing lenses provides an excellent opportunity to practice our "bottoms first"…
grrlscientist | December 10, 2008tags: hummingbirds of venezuela, birds, documentary, streaming video
Tis video documents the spectacular colors and motion of the "flying jewels" of the tropics [2:21]
grrlscientist | December 9, 2008tags: evolution, biogeography, ornithology, birds, avian
Kolo Sunset.
Photo credit: Christopher E. Filardi, American Museum of Natural History
(Click on image for a larger picture).
Two of my ornithologist colleagues, Chris Filardi and Rob Moyle, published a paper in the top-tier research journal, Nature. This paper is especially exciting because it shows that oceanic islands are not necessarily the evolutionary "dead ends" that they have traditionally been portrayed to be. In fact, Chris and Rob's data show that a group of birds have actually accomplished what scientists had never…
grrlscientist | December 9, 2008tags: Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis, Photographed at Meadows Campground, Hart's Pass, in the Okanagan of Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 October 2008.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Undistinguished in shape -- sort of finch-like, sparrow-like, birdish -- but what colors this bird has! The combination of…
grrlscientist | December 9, 2008tags: hummingbirds of venezuela, birds, documentary, streaming video
This is a very nicely done video documenting some of the lovely hummingbirds of Venezuela -- can you name the species? [2:53]
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Female Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, sitting on her nest.
Notice her long tongue sticking out of her mouth and the uncommonly bright colors on her gorget.
This bird nested on Bainbridge Island in Washington state earlier this year.
Image: Eva Gerdts, May 2008. [larger view].
Christmas Bird Count News
The Annual Christmas Bird Counts are rapidly approaching, so I am publishing links to all of the counts here; who to contact, and where and when they are being held, so if you have a link to a Christmas Bird Count…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Now comes a tiny bird, barley bigger than the leaves of the desert hackberry it's perched among. The gray plumage, hint of a wingbar, and conspicuous but broken eyering are characteristic of two common…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: BirdNote, BirdNote calendar
Image: BirdNote calendar.
In these difficult economic times, it is unusual to get something for nothing. However, there is one thing that you can get for free: BirdNote. BirdNote is a 2-minute radio program that combines the rich sounds of birds into stories that illustrate the intriguing and sometimes truly amazing ways of birds. BirdNote premiered in February 2005 and runs seven days per week on a roughly a half dozen National Public Radio stations. For years, I have advertised BirdNote in Birds in the News because I strongly believe in their mission,…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
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 enjoyment. Below the fold is this week's issue of The Birdbooker Report which…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca (sooty form), photographed in the Naches Pass Area, King County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 9 August 2007 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/400s f/5.6 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Sometimes we take the coward's way out. Instead of rising to the challenge, we let a bird that is at first…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: birds, hatching chick, streaming video
This is a really interesting little video that features a chick hatching out of its egg. It also includes some really fun banjo playing as background music [1:17]
grrlscientist | December 6, 2008tags: safety tips, holidays, christmas, hanukkah, kwanzaa, new year's day, pets, birds, parrots
Elektra.
Female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, April 2008.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
This message was emailed to me, and I am posting it here as a public service. With the Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and the New Year's holidays upon us, we are all busy planning our family gatherings, gift giving and decorations. The season brings with it unique hazards that we all need to be mindful of so that we can ensure that our feathered family members are…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2008tags: Great tit, Parus major, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great tit, Parus major, photographed in Helsinki, Finland. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Chickadees all look alike: chubby, rather long-tailed little birds with fluffy plumage, big heads, and black-and-white faces. In North America, our chickadees are a colorless lot, only Chestnut-sided straying from…
clock | December 5, 2008And blogging about! Obligatory readings of the day:
The Evolution of Poisonous Birds:
This research elegantly demonstrates that the evolution of just one character -- in this case, toxicity -- can profoundly affect the evolution of a suite of other characters, ranging from body size and behavioral traits to ecological niche.
Allen's Rule, Phenotypic Plasticity, and The Nature of Evolution:
Within species ... across clines or subspecies ... this raises very significant (and addressable) questions regarding adaptation in the genetic vs. the ontogenetic realms. If Allen's rule is primarily an…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2008tags: birding, bird watching, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Vermilion Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Neatly hidden away in the mesquite leaves, this bird's tail isn't going to be of much use to us, beyond ruling out any species that is caudally either extravagantly short or long. Those leaves help us as much as they hinder…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: Female Mountain Bluebird, Sialia currucoides, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Mountain Bluebird, Sialia currucoides, photographed on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Eva Gerdts, April 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Most of us will have identified this bird at a glance -- the challenge is not in the identifying, but in the unraveling of the intellectual process that…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: talking parrots, amazon parrots, behavior, Tonight Show, Jay Leno, streaming video
This streaming video is a clip from the Tonight Show, hosted by Jay Leno. This show was guest hosted by several talking parrots, who actually stole the show, if you ask me [8:35].