birds
grrlscientist | July 13, 2008tags: Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Black-necked Stilt chick, Himantopus mexicanus, at Bolivar Peninsula, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 24 May 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200 1/1000s f/1.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | July 12, 2008tags: Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Killdeer chick, Charadrius vociferus, at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 June 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/2000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | July 11, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, birdsong, personality traits, mate choice, sexual selection, risk taking, European collared flycatcher, Ficedula albicollis, László Zsolt Garamszegi
Male European collared flycatcher, Ficedula albicollis, singing.
Image: Beijershamn Ãland, 23 May 2004 [link].
Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel 1/1000s f/8.0 at 400.0mm iso400.
Most people don't believe that animals possess distinct personalities, although they readily recognize and can describe individual personalities among their family, friends and neighbors and are aware of the importance of individual…
grrlscientist | July 11, 2008tags: Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus, stretching, at Bolivar Flats, Texas. This bird is in breeding plumage.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 July 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | July 10, 2008tags: Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Compare this species to the two previous images of the day. The long-billed curlew is a larger relative of the whimbrel.
Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus at Bolivar Flats, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 July 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | July 10, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, melanosomes, plumage color, feather color, fossil preservation, birds, dinosaur, Jakob Vinther
Male Red-bellied woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus.
Image: Ken Thomas (Wikipedia) [larger view].
When looking at paintings and reconstructions of fossil birds and dinosaurs, people often ask "how do you know what color they were?" Well, we didn't. However, a new paper was just published in Biology Letters that explores the possibility of deciphering the actual color of fossilized plumage and makes a startling discovery: scientists can identify at least some of the…
grrlscientist | July 9, 2008tags: Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus at Bolivar Flats, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 July 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | July 8, 2008tags: Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
I love shorebirds, and I miss seeing them every year. Besides being beautiful to look at and fascinating to watch, shorebirds remind me of my travels to Japan, where I saw 17 new species of birds (all shorebirds, and all in breeding plumage) in ONE DAY! Needless to say, I nearly died from joy on that particular day. When I lived in Seattle, I also spent a tremendous amount of time birding at a variety of shorelines from British Columbia all the way down through California, and I also regularly visited several migrating long-…
grrlscientist | July 7, 2008tags: Eastern Kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Eyes on the Prize.
Eastern Kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus, eyes a butterfly.
Image: Dave Rintoul, July 2008 [larger view].
laelaps | July 7, 2008For H.A. Reid, the secretary of the State Academy of Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa, evolution and Creation fit perfectly together. Writing in the Kansas City Review of Science and Industry in 1881, Reid echoed the sentiments of Thomas Jefferson that it was impossible to look at the natural world and not see evidence for some kind of Creator;
The very nature and constitution of the human mind is such, that no man can talk or even think about his own existence and that of the visible world of objects around him, without assuming, even though he may deny it in words, the idea and the fact of a…
grrlscientist | July 7, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Canyon Towhee, Pipilo fuscus, in Chaco Canyon.
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
News of Birds in Science
According to an article that was just published in the journal BioScience, penguin populations are declining sharply due to the combined effects of overfishing and pollution from offshore oil operations and shipping. Dee Boersma, professor of biology and the Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science at the University of Washington in Seattle, reports that Patagonian (magellanic) penguins,…
laelaps | July 3, 2008Note: Many thanks to Lars Dietz (see comments) who has done so much to correct some errors of attribution I made in this piece. He truly went above and beyond to dig up the truth behind John Hill's book and I am certainly thankful that he has done so.
In 1751 John Hill, upset the Royal Society of London rejected his application for membership, published a scathing critique of credulous papers printed by that body. One such review focused on a paper printed about an old, but common, legend that the Brent-Goose (probably Branta bernicla) was born not of eggs but of seashells dropped like fruit…
grrlscientist | July 1, 2008tags: Green-naped Rainbow lory, Trichoglossus haematodus haematodus, birds, Image of the Day
Last in a series of ten images of lories by this photographer.
A playful group of green-naped subspecies of the Rainbow lory, Trichoglossus haematodus haematodus. There are 15 subspecies of rainbow lories occurring throughout the islands of the south Pacific Ocean. This subspecies is primarily found along the east coast of Australia.
Image: John Del Rio [larger view].
laelaps | July 1, 2008It seems that today is going to be a big day for science bloggers. Although updates were scheduled to go up yesterday, both Carl Zimmer and Phil Plait have delayed their announcements until sometime today. I've got a big announcement, too, something that I am definitely excited about.
My abstract on T.H. Huxley's thoughts about dinosaurs & birds has been accepted for the Dinosaurs: A Historical Perspective volume.
I truly am honored to be allowed to contribute to the book, and have to thank Mike Taylor for his advice and encouragement. I've got a lot of work to do this month but I am…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: Blue Mountain Rainbow Lory, Swainson's Rainbow Lory, Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus, birds, Image of the Day
Eighth in a series of lory images by this photographer.
Rainbow Lory, Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus. This subspecies of rainbow lory is also found in Australia, along the east coast.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, with insect egg or pupa in its beak.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger view].
News of Birds in Science
A fascinating paper was just published by some of my colleagues in the top-tier journal, Science, that analyzes the largest collection of DNA data ever assembled for birds. This analysis effectively redraws avian phylogeny, or family tree, thus shaking up our current understanding of the early, or "deep", evolutionary relationships of birds. For example, one of the most…
grrlscientist | June 29, 2008tags: Moluccan Lory, Red Lory, Eos bornea, birds, Image of the Day
Seventh in a series of images of lories by this photographer.
Red Lory, also known as the Moluccan Lory, Eos bornea.
There are two subspecies on several closely clustered islands in Indonesia's Moluccas.
Image: John Del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 29, 2008tags: Return To Warden's Grove, ornithology, birds, field research, biology dissertation, Christopher Norment, book review
Throughout my life, certain people have had the audacity to lecture me about how a scientific education and a scientific life forever destroys a person's ability to appreciate nature. I always tell them how science enhances my appreciation and .. dare I say it? .. my love of the natural world, but I sometimes think no one hears me. But thanks to the wonderful book, Return To Warden's Grove: Science, Desire, and the Lives of Sparrows by Chris Norment (Iowa City: University…
grrlscientist | June 28, 2008tags: yellow-backed Chattering lory, yellow-backed scarlet lory, Lorius garrulus flavopalliatus, birds, Image of the Day
This image depicts another of the parrot species that I bred and raised when I lived in Seattle, and that I researched before my NYC postdoctoral fellowship ended. How I miss my lories!
Sixth in a series of images of lories by this photographer.
Yellow-backed subspecies of the Chattering Lory, Lorius garrulus flavopalliatus. This subspecies, distinguished from the nominate race by the yellow patch on its back, is found on the Indonesian island of Maluku. It is…
laelaps | June 28, 2008
A laughing gull (Larus atricilla). Photographed on May 17, 2008 at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware.