birds
grrlscientist | January 13, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and ending today.
Fledgling Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Little Hernshead in the nest bush.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | January 12, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Fledgling Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Little Hernshead following Lady Hernshead into the nest bush.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | January 11, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Fledgling Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Little Hernshead closes in on a roosting spot.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | January 10, 2008tags: I and the Bird, blog carnivals
The 66th edition of I and the Bird blog carnival is now available for you to enjoy. This issue takes the form of a play written by Oscar Wildlife.
grrlscientist | January 10, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Fledgling Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Little Hernshead prepares to cross the water to earn a big bug dinner.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: Deroptyus accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, pets, birds, avian, parrots, behavior
Orpheus, a very young male red fan (hawk-headed) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus,
who lives with me (December 2007).
GrrlScientist, 2007 [larger view].
My birds and I have been watching David Attenborough's Attenborough in Paradise on DVD (review coming soon) on my computer. In this situation, Elektra, my female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, perches on my left shoulder, thereby preserving her top-dog status in my little flock of parrots, while Orpheus, the very young male hawk-…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Female Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Here, Lady Hernshead holds a bug in her beak. Ok, you can't really see it but its there.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: music, songs about birds
Some birder pals of mine are discussing an interesting topic that I thought you would also enjoy; can you name any songs (or other musical pieces) that are about birds? If so, do you have any favorites?
Here's my contribution to the conversation; John Denver's The Eagle and the Hawk, which I think captures the feeling one gets when experiencing an eagle or hawk in flight. This piece reminds me of birding on the prairies of central Washington state where I had the opportunity to experience soaring and courting golden eagles, prairie falcons and sometimes, a very…
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, nest in Central Park, NYC.
The Nest Bush. Way out on the left side you should, could, might find a tiny brown area. That is Lady Hernshead on her nest. No, really. [You'…
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: Adélie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae , ornithology, birds, avian, leucism
A unique leucistic Adélie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae,
photographed by the Mawson Hut Foundation team in Antarctica.
Image: Brett Jarrett (Mawsons Hut Foundation) [larger]
An individual Adélie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, that lacks most of its normal pigment was recently photographed by Australian biologists near Granholm Hut in Antarctica. Penguins and other birds that lack pigmentation are referred to as "leucistic" by ornithologists. According to the Australian biologists, these abnormal white birds…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Male Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Lord Hernshead peers down from his favored lookout post.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | January 7, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Clark's Grebe, Aechmorphus clarkii, in the foreground with a Western Grebe, Aechmorphus occidentalis, behind. Both were photographed on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (north end of the Great Salt Lake) in the spring of 2005. Similar birds, but the field marks are straw-yellow bill (Clark's) cf. greenish-yellow bill (Western); white feathering around the eye (Clark's) cf black (Western), and whiter flanks on the Clark's Grebe. This pair of birds was hanging out together, and that was not unusual, making one wonder…
grrlscientist | January 6, 2008tags: red-winged_blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning today and running through the 13th of January.
Female Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Lady Hernshead in all her regal glory. Well, except for that one unruly feather.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | January 5, 2008tags: gull, birds, National Geographic, Image of the Day
Seagulls.
Image: Bartosz Nikiciuk 2007 (photo appears here with permission by National Geographic). [larger view].
grrlscientist | January 4, 2008tags: gull, birds, Oregon coast, National Geographic, Image of the Day
Gull on Oregon Coast.
Seagull at Bandon, Oregon.
Image: Alex Morley 2007 (photo appears here with permission by National Geographic). [larger view].
laelaps | January 2, 2008
The family of birds known as the Paradisaeidae contain 13 genera of brilliantly colored birds, but the genus Paradisaea is perhaps the most famous of all. This genus contains the Greater Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea apoda), the species name being attributable to the practice of cutting off the feet of the birds before shipping them back to naturalists in Europe. This lack of feet gave Linnaeus the impression that these birds never touched the ground and actually had no feet whatever, although this idea was later discarded when more complete specimens were observed. Similarly patterned but…
grrlscientist | December 31, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Gull with Reflection.
California Gull, Larus californicus, with reflection -- Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island Causeway, April 2005.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [really large view]
People Hurting Birds
The bald eagle injured when it flew into a utility line in Plumsted last week has died. Don Bonica of Toms River Avian Care in New Jersey had taken the bird in with hopes of rehabilitating it, but the attempt was unsuccessful, he said. "When I went out to take care of it this morning, it was dead," Bonica said. The bird…
revere | December 31, 2007Everyone seems to have an opinion about whether bird flu will be the next terrible global pandemic. In current parlance "bird flu" means human infection with the highly pathogenic avian influenza/A subtype H5N1. There is no doubt that this is the 800 pound gorilla in the global health room at the moment, but not because it is more likely to become a pandemic (NB: pandemic by definition is a globally dispersed sudden increase in infection among humans; the same situation for animals is called a panzootic, and it is plausible to say we have an H5N1 panzootic for birds now). On the basis of…
grrlscientist | December 27, 2007tags: I and the Bird, blog carnivals
The 65th edition of the birding blog carnival, I and the Bird, is now available for you to enjoy. There's lots of birding tips there, as well as some Christmas Bird Count news, too.
grrlscientist | December 25, 2007
Orpheus, a male Hawk-headed (red fan) parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus,
Christmas day 2007.
This is the best picture I've taken of him so far, but unfortunately,
I didn't notice that he had a bit of dried food stuck to the side of
his beak until after I took the picture. Of course, after removing it,
(wouldn't you know it) I was unable to get another suitable image!
Image: GrrlScientist, December 2007.