birds
grrlscientist | November 10, 2008tags: pets, cutest kitten in the world, streaming video
This video is a 5 minute amateur documentary about Hawai'i's endangered birds and the causes of their decline. The filmographer writes; "This was somewhat a difficult topic and we suffered from a lack of suitable footage of native birds as most endangered birds are not seen regularly as they used to be decades ago. Could have done better for sure, in fact if I had the chance I'd do it over for the sake of sharing the issues of the human impact on island birds." I think this is a great start for a conservation filmographer! [5:14]
grrlscientist | November 9, 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. Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by which lists…
grrlscientist | November 9, 2008tags: Superb Starling, Lamprotornis superbus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Superb Starling, Lamprotornis superbus (sometimes known as the "Spreo" starling because its scientific name was Spreo superbus once), endemic to thornbush and acacia country in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and East Africa. Photographed at London Zoo's African Bird Safari. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 September 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Based on the fact that this bird is endemic to many parts…
grrlscientist | November 8, 2008tags: Eurasian Wigeon, Anas penelope, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Eurasian Wigeon, Anas penelope (also known simply as the Wigeon in Europe), photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2004 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2004:12:11 10:29:27
Exposure Time: 1/319
F-Number: 11.00
ISO: 320
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Starting at the rear of this handsome duck, we find a long, pointed tail and white-edged…
grrlscientist | November 7, 2008tags: Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, photographed at Sabine Woods and Sabine Pass area, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Like many North American birders, I grew up where "the oriole problem" was a trivial…
grrlscientist | November 6, 2008tags: Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, photographed at Quintana Sanctuaries, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A blue bird. With a short tail. A moderately short wing. And a thickish bill. Not much else…
grrlscientist | November 5, 2008tags: Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus -- a hatching-year bird of unknown sex -- photographed in central New York. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
NOTE: Rick says this is a favorite image because it shows the wing formula so well, so in this case, we are going to ask you to age and sex this bird as well as identify it.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide,…
grrlscientist | November 4, 2008tags: Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, photographed at the east end of Galveston Island, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/125s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Hard to image anything plainer. But that very plainness -- plus the odd hint…
grrlscientist | November 3, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
European Bee-eater pair, Merops apiaster.
She's still hungry, but not yet willing to mate. So the male bee-eater takes wing
to find more food. When he returns, "the female nearly always accepts the
offering, quickly eating," reports British ornithologist C. Hilary Fry. If his
courtship is successful, he'll continue to bring her prey through the
egg-laying period. Both parents deliver meals to their chicks.
Image: Jözsef L. Szentpéteri/National Geographic online [larger view].
Birds in Science
Raising young can be…
grrlscientist | November 3, 2008tags: Hawaiian Goose, Nene, Branta sandvicensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Nene (Hawaiian goose), Branta sandvicensis, photographed in the United States. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: John del Rio, 2008 [].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Not much mystery to the identification of this mystery bird: anyone who recognized in this bird's large body, sturdy feet, long neck, and conical bill the classic marks of a goose will also, more…
grrlscientist | November 2, 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 wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that 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 published here for your enjoyment. Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird…
grrlscientist | November 2, 2008tags: Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni, photographed in Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, AZ. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
There's no question that this is a small bird, is there? If we start at the back, we find a shortish, narrow tail stuck on to a comically pudgy body; the shape and the extensive yellow-green…
grrlscientist | November 1, 2008tags: Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, photographed at Shoveler Pond, Anahuac Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 February 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
[Along] With House Sparrow, this is the favorite species of every…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2008tags: bird behavior, emotional lives of animals, ornithology, birds, avian, photoessay
The bird calls out after realising that his (her?) mate is dead
Image: Wilson Hsu, AbuNawaf.com [larger view].
There are many inexplicable and tragic events in nature, yet few are captured on film. Here is an interesting series of photographs depicting a pair of swallows, Hirundo rustica (known as the Barn Swallow in the United States). In this series of images, we watch the story that unfolds after one of the birds was fatally injured, yet the bird's mate remains nearby, delivering food or water and…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2008tags: Western Screech-Owl, Megascops kennicottii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
Peek-a-boo! [Mystery bird] Western Screech-Owl, Megascops kennicottii, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:06:11 13:51:11
Exposure Time: 1/40
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 500
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
We're going to cheat in a minor way, and take full advantage of our knowledge that this bird was…
grrlscientist | October 30, 2008tags: Pacific Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva, American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pacific Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva (left), and American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica (right), photographed on Fir Island, Skagit County, Washington State [I will identify these birds for you tomorrow].
Image: Marv Breece, 6 October 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/640s f/7.1 at 300.0mm iso800.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:…
grrlscientist | October 29, 2008tags: Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:05:07 07:33:04
Exposure Time: 1/200
F-Number: 14.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
There are birds that are instantly recognizable once we "know" them, but those same species can be puzzling when encountered for…
grrlscientist | October 28, 2008tags: Northern Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula, photographed in the Meadows Campground near Hart's Pass of the Okanogan National Forest, located above the Methow Valley of Eastern Washington [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 October 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Even with owls it pays to start at the rear of the bird. Many owls are stocky and stumpy,…
grrlscientist | October 27, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
A pair of European Bee-eaters, Merops apiaster.
Before a bee-eater shares his catch with his mate,
he woos her by conspicuously preparing his offering --
tossing around a may bug before knocking it out.
Image: Jözsef L. Szentpéteri/National Geographic online [larger view].
People Hurting Birds
One of Australia's rarest and fastest birds, the swift parrot, seems to be plummeting in number, and logging has been blamed. Sightings of the flashy red and green parrot have declined sharply in its winter home of flowering…
grrlscientist | October 27, 2008tags: Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, photographed in Manhattan, Kansas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Dave Rintoul, 25 October 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Take a good look at this bird: have you ever seen anything more beautiful? "Sparrows" are dismissed by too many birders as difficult and dull, when in fact they are neither.
Well,…