birds
grrlscientist | October 27, 2008tags: Terry the talking raven, birds, behavior, pets, streaming video
This is Terry, a talking raven. His repertoire is not as varied as the Europeran Starlings I've been showing you, but he can mimic very well. [5:11]
grrlscientist | October 26, 2008tags: po'ouli, Melamprosops phaeosoma, endangered species, endangered species act, conservation, extinction, birds, island species, Hawai'i, book review
For scientists, naturalists and birders, islands are the most amazing places on earth because their evolutionary legacy has provided them with their own fascinating flora and fauna that are found nowhere else in the world. But because humans also like to live on islands, along with their pets and crop plants, islands are a conservation nightmare, and certainly, the Hawai'ian islands are no exception. In Alvin Powell's book, The Race to Save…
grrlscientist | October 26, 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 | October 26, 2008tags: American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:03:09 09:10:55
Exposure Time: 1/1250
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Since I know this bird is easy for you guys, I am going to ask you to tell me what you think the bird is doing, standing there like that with its wings standing straight up.
Rick Wright…
grrlscientist | October 26, 2008tags: Rooney the talking magpie, birds, behavior, pets, streaming video
This is Rooney, a talking magpie. He has a sweet little voice. NOTE: It is illegal to keep this species in captivity in the United States [1:33]
grrlscientist | October 25, 2008tags: Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:10:01 07:47:53
Exposure Time: 1/249
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Look carefully at this bird's right foot, and you'll see that the web actually includes all four…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2008tags: Weewoo The Talking Starling, Sturnis vulgaris, birds, behavior, pets, streaming video
Mozart had a pet starling whom he thought of as his musical companion. When his bird died, he had a funeral for him and invited his friends. This video should give you an appreciation for how talented these birds are as mimics [3:15]
laelaps | October 25, 2008
A white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), photographed at a friend's residence in New Jersey.
grrlscientist | October 24, 2008tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:12:10 08:20:56
Exposure Time: 1/400
F-Number: 7.10
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
What seems at first regard a completely straightforward identification leads us down a tangled path indeed. Nearly everyone will have…
grrlscientist | October 24, 2008tags: parrots, endangered species, conservation, birds, ornithology, Indonesia
Masakambing (Abbott's) yellow-crested cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea abbotti at Sukun tree.
Image: Indonesian Parrot Project, summer 2008 [larger view].
I had the most fascinating telephone discussion with Bonnie Zimmermann, Vice President of the Indonesian Parrot Project, about the recent reported rediscovery of several individuals of the rarest cockatoo in the world. This species, known as the Masakambing (Abbott's) yellow-crested cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea abbotti, is a subspecies of Yellow (Sulfur)-crested…
grrlscientist | October 23, 2008tags: Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:04:26 15:20:04
Exposure Time: 1/124
F-Number: 16.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Forget the bird -- what on earth is that plant? We're used to woodpeckers clambering about in good solid trees: Red-headeds…
grrlscientist | October 23, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
Okay, if you are like me, you were not able to see the Nature program, Parrots in the Land of Oz, which aired on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October. So I have dug up a few videos that give you a glimpse of what you did not see. This is a second video includes lots of footage of huge squadrons of flying budgerigars, and several species of stunningly colored rosellas and lories (which I've bred in captivity) [9:24]
awild | October 22, 2008
Take that, vertebrate scum!
Incidentally, my wife used to have one of these Nephila spiders nesting in the high ceiling of her living room when she was living in Queensland. I guess she used it to dissuade potential suitors, but somehow I made it through.
edyong | October 22, 2008
Humans are a funny lot. While we seem to be relentless voyeurs, we generally frown on eavesdropping as an invasion of privacy. But in the animal world, eavesdropping can be a matter of life or death. Animals rarely communicate in isolation. Often it pays for one species to monitor the dialogues of others, particularly when predator warnings are involved.
Small animals in particular do well to pay attention to the alarms of other species, as they are often preyed upon by the same larger hunters. Even very unrelated species can listen in and understand each other's signals. Vervet monkeys…
grrlscientist | October 22, 2008tags: Worm-eating Warbler, Helmitheros vermivorus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Worm-eating Warbler, Helmitheros vermivorus, 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:
Yes, there's a bird in there, and yes, it's identifiable. As a great American poet once observed, all too rarely do the birds we see in the open look / like their pictures in the birdy-books; the views…
grrlscientist | October 22, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
Okay, if you are like me, you were not able to see the Nature program, Parrots in the Land of Oz, which aired on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October. So I have dug up a few videos that give you a glimpse of what you did not see. This video includes a close look at fig parrots and eclectus parrots (both of which were included in my research), along with several species of cockatoos -- black white and pink species [9:40]
grrlscientist | October 21, 2008tags: book review, owls, woodpeckers, birds, photography, Paul Bannick, The Owl and the Woodpecker
Most Americans have not seen all of the 41 species of owls and woodpeckers that share the North American continent with us, but not only has Paul Bannick seen them all, but he has photographed them all, too. And when I say "photographed", I am not talking about those blurry snapshots that most of us snap, but instead, his images are big, sharp, clear and .. for want of a better phrase, absolutely stunning. Fortunately for us, Bannick's images and writings have been collected into a newly…
grrlscientist | October 21, 2008tags: Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, photographed in Arizona Fremont, California. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Collin M Jensen, 25 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:
A brown duck. The fact that the plumage comprises solid blocks of color rather than complex patterns makes this a diving duck, and the largely white sides and breast should…
grrlscientist | October 21, 2008tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video
Did you know that budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus -- erroneously known as "parakeets" in the United States -- can see UV light? Did you know that female budgerigars rely on the UV reflectance to judge the quality of potential mates? This is a fascinating little trailer about wild budgerigars from the Nature program Parrots in the Land of Oz, which airs on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October [1:43]
grrlscientist | October 20, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
These Northern fulmar chicks, Fulmarus glacialis, are from the northern end of the Isle of Lewis (aka the Butt of Lewis) in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
Image: Dave Rintoul, August 2008 [larger view].
Birds in Science
U.S. and Costa Rican scientists say their research suggests parrots -- with more than 90 species facing extinction -- might be more adaptable than thought. Donald Brightsmith, a Texas A&M University bird specialist, and Greg Matuzak from Amigos de las Aves USA, studied six parrot communities in…