birds
revere | March 31, 2008Trust is not transitive, as someone recently pointed out, when reporting on the airline pilot who carried a gun into the cockpit and then accidentally or negligently discharged it and blew a hole in the plane. We had every reason to trust the pilot to be able to fly a 747, but not necessarily to handle a firearm properly. Trust isn't transitive.
There is no doubt that Yi Guan, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, is an expert on H5N1 virus, its genetic lineages and surveillance for the virus in wild birds. He has reportedly screened, via cloacal swabs and fecal specimens, more than…
grrlscientist | March 30, 2008tags: Sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis, birds, Platte River, image of the day
Dave, Elizabeth and I were in Nebraska yesterday, watching migrating Sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis, over the Platte River in the evening. This is one of the images that Dave took of the sunset that we saw while we were there. (I also have a bunch of images of the Platte River and its Sandhill cranes to share with you).
Migrating Sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis,
over the Platte River, Nebraska.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | March 30, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by Ian Paulsen, which lists bird and natural history books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
FEATURED TITLE:
Holtz Jr., Thomas R., and Luis V. Rey. Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages. 2007. Random House Books for Young Readers. Hardbound: 428 pages. Price: $34.99 U.S. [Amazon: $23.09]. SUMMARY: Although this book is…
grrlscientist | March 28, 2008tags: LBJ Journal, avian life: literary arts, nature, poetry, birds, birding
I have no connection whatsoever to this new journal, but my friend, professor of poetry at KSU, Elizabeth Dodd, told me about it last night, and I am very very excited about it.
There is a new biannual journal that is dedicated to birds and creative writing, The LBJ: Avian Life, Literary Arts. Those of you who are birders will recognize the title of this new journal, LBJ, as the birders' acronym for "little brown job" -- a name applied to that group of small brown birds that move quickly and are difficult to…
revere | March 28, 2008Hard on the heels of my semi-facetious prediction that bird flu would return to Germany because Germany had declared itself bird flu free, the Swiss announced an infected wild duck on the shores of Lake Sempach. Since this duck didn't have a passport on him I am sure he never strayed over the nearby border with Germany. We don't know what kind of duck this was [see update, below], a question that is of surprising interest in light of a new paper.
Bird flu is avian influenza, i.e., an infection of birds by the influenza virus. The role of wild migratory birds versus human caused movement of…
edyong | March 27, 2008My first ever feature article has just been published in this week's issue of New Scientist. It's about the ways in which songbirds are coping with the noisy din of cities. Low-frequency urban noises mask the calls that they use to attract mates, defend territories and compete with rivals. The race to adapt to this new soundscape has already seen some losers being forced out and some winners developing some intriguing strategies to cope with the clamour.
Robins have started to sing at night when it's quieter, while nightingales just belt out their tunes more loudly (breaking noise safety…
laelaps | March 25, 2008The study of the evolution of avian dinosaurs is one of the most active and exciting areas of paleontology (if not science in general) today, and I've been fortunate enough to see a revolution in this field during my own lifetime. When I was first learning about dinosaurs as a child, a few documentaries and books mentioned that dinosaurs and birds were probably related to each other, the overall tone being very cautious, but now there is little doubt that ornithology is really "extant dinosaur biology." Still, some old hypotheses die hard, and even though I greatly appreciate the beauty and…
grrlscientist | March 24, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Wilson's snipe, Gallinago delicata. It is a little unusual to see a shorebird off the the ground, but this fellow decided he needed a higher perch to take in some of the scenery.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
Birds in Research
The songs that each spring announce when birds are ready to compete for homes and sex have been traced to changes in the brain, according to a study that can shed new light on winter depression in people. While some birds, such as robins, sing throughout the winter, other species of bird…
grrlscientist | March 23, 2008tags: birds, Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, ornithology, Image of the Day
Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, in Central Park,
with blood on its talons.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger view].
Bob Levy writes;
I have two comments and images to add to my story of March 10, 2008 entitled "A Bulging Photo Opportunity" about a female juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. The first concerns a sassy if imprudent Gray Squirrel. Over a period of several minutes the furry creature deliberately came with a couple of yards of the hawk. I cannot know its motivation but to this observer it…
grrlscientist | March 23, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by Ian Paulsen, which lists bird and natural history books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
FEATURED TITLE:
Lamb, Andy and Bernard P. Hanby. Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds, and Selected Fishes. 2005. Harbour Publishing. Hardbound: 398 pages. Price: $69.95 US [Amazon: $44.07]. SUMMARY: A comprehensive…
grrlscientist | March 22, 2008tags: birds, Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, ornithology, Image of the Day
Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, in Central Park,
being taunted by an Eastern grey squirrel.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger size].
Bob Levy writes;
I have two comments and images to add to my story of March 10, 2008 entitled "A Bulging Photo Opportunity" about a female juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. The first concerns a sassy if imprudent Gray Squirrel. Over a period of several minutes the furry creature deliberately came with a couple of yards of the hawk. I cannot know its motivation but to…
grrlscientist | March 20, 2008tags: birds,Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata, ornithology, Image of the Day
Male Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata,
in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the Southern Yucatan
in the state of Campeche. They are endemic to the region
and are known locally as both Pavo Ocelado or Guajalote Ocelato.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 19, 2008tags: birds,Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata, ornithology, Image of the Day
Female Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata,
in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the Southern Yucatan
in the state of Campeche. They are endemic to the region
and are known locally as both Pavo Ocelado or Guajalote Ocelato.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 18, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, birds, aves, ornithology, Zosterops somadikartai, Togian white-eye, Indonesia, Sulawesi
An undated artist's rendering of Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye.
This small greenish bird that has been playing hide-and-seek with ornithologists on a remote Indonesian island since 1996, but was declared a newly discovered species on March 14, 2008 and promptly recommended for endangered lists.
Image: Agus Prijono.
Sharp-eyed scientists have discovered a new species of bird on a remote Indonesian archipelago in the Southern Pacific Ocean. A formal description…
grrlscientist | March 17, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, in Central Park.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger size].
Birds in Science
In all three groups of birds with vocal learning abilities -- songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds -- the brain structures for singing and learning to sing are embedded in areas controlling movement, researchers have discovered. The team also found that areas in charge of movement share many functional similarities with the brain areas for singing. This suggests that the brain…
grrlscientist | March 16, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by Ian Paulsen, which lists bird and natural history books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
FEATURED TITLE:
Fries, Waldemar H. The Double Elephant Folio: The Story of Audubon's Birds of America. 2006 (1973). Zenaida Publishing, Inc. Hardbound: 523 pages. Price: $84.95 US. SUMMARY: First published in 1973, this book is often called, "the Bible of Audubon scholars." This…
clock | March 15, 2008Carel Brest van Kempen, the artist who painted my blog's banner, shows how it is done, in a time-lapse painting clip:
grrlscientist | March 15, 2008tags: John James Audubon, Bird Art, ornithology, birds, avian, New York Historical Society, endangered species
Carolina Parakeet (Carolina Parrot), Conuropsis carolinensis,
by John James Audubon (American, born Santo Domingo [now Haiti], 1785-1851).
Havell plate no. 26.
Watercolor, graphite, pastel, gouache, and black ink with scratching out and selective glazing on paper, laid on thin board.
The Carolina parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis, now extinct,
was the only native species of parrot in the United States. The last
known wild Carolina parakeet was killed in Florida in 1904 [larger size…
omnibrain | March 14, 2008Here's a pretty cool African Grey doing crazy sound effects.
Another video after the fold.
Here's one of the most pointless - poorly drawn - boring you tube videos I've ever seen! I love it!
It's a girl drawing a neuron and all its parts :)
retrospectacle | March 13, 2008
Pepper has brought to my attention a noteworthy event. This is the first LOLAfricanGrey I've seen on the front page of ICanHasCheezburger!