birds
grrlscientist | November 19, 2007tags: Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, birds, Image of the Day
Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, in flight.
Image: Justawriter [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | November 19, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Black-necked weaver, Ploceus nigricollis.
Image: Basia Kruszewska, author of India Ink. [Wallpaper size]
Birds in Research
A native Hawaiian bird has surprised researchers with its ability to survive malaria, apparently thanks to a number of resistant populations that have spread throughout the Hawaiian forest. The discovery hints that genes for natural resistance to the avian disease may lurk inside the genomes of many of Hawaii's endangered birds. Two years ago, researchers reported that one species, the amakihi,…
grrlscientist | November 18, 2007tags: house sparrow, Passer domesticus, birds, Image of the Day
House sparrow, Passer domesticus, which I usually refer to as an English Sparrow, in honor of where it originally came from. This is a young male that lives in Central Park, NYC.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger view].
More below the fold;
The photographer writes: I enjoyed the series of sparrow photos very much but I did not recall seeing the House Sparrow, [which is] often taken for granted. These birds intrigue me for a number of reasons not the least of which is the history of how they came to be here.…
grrlscientist | November 17, 2007tags: white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, birds, Image of the Day
White-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, in the central valley of California.
Image: Madhu [larger view].
grrlscientist | November 16, 2007tags: song sparrow, Melospiza melodia, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. The song sparrow is one of the species that I studied for my dissertation work, although most of my dissertation focused on the white-crowned sparrow. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Song sparrow, Melospiza melodia.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 15, 2007tags: swamp sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Swamp sparrow, Melospiza georgiana.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 14, 2007tags: Lincoln's sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Lincoln's sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 13, 2007tags: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows along with this non-sparrow, that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 12, 2007tags: song sparrow, Melospiza melodia, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. The song sparrow is one of the species that I studied for my dissertation work, although most of my dissertation focused on the white-crowned sparrow. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Song sparrow, Melospiza melodia.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 12, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Song sparrow, Melospiza melodia.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
Birds in Science
Dinosaurs like Velociraptors had one of the most efficient respiratory systems of all animals, similar to that of modern diving birds like penguins, fossil evidence shows. The bipedal meat-eaters, the therapods, had air sacs ventilated by tiny bones that moved the ribcage up and down. "Finding these structures in modern birds and their extinct dinosaur ancestors suggests that these running dinosaurs had an efficient respiratory…
grrlscientist | November 11, 2007tags: Lincoln's sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Lincoln's sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 10, 2007tags: swamp sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Swamp sparrow, Melospiza georgiana.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 9, 2007tags: book review, birds, birding, bird watching, ornithology, conservation
When I was leading bird watching excursions on the west coast and we were looking at a species that was declining in the wild or was endangered, I made a point to mention this fact to my students. It was important, I thought, to impress upon them that the birds around them might not always be there to enjoy, that these birds were in need of protection.
"How do you know they're declining in the wild?" my students would invariably ask.
I learned such things after years of reading about birds, and by discussing…
grrlscientist | November 9, 2007tags: song sparrow, Melospiza melodia, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. The song sparrow is one of the species that I studied for my dissertation work, although most of my dissertation focused on the white-crowned sparrow. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Song sparrow, Melospiza melodia.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
grrlscientist | November 8, 2007tags: savannah sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Savannah sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | November 7, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, birds, migration, cryptochrome, blue light, garden warbler, Sylvia borin, magnetic compass, avian cryptochrome 1a, ornithology
Garden Warbler, Sylvia borin (Boddaert, 1783)
Blakeney Point, 16th September 2006.
Image: Matthew Rodgers [larger image].
Every year, millions of birds migrate to their breeding grounds and then back to their wintering grounds again. These birds' journies cover anywhere between several hundred to many thousands of miles, even when the skies are cloudy or dark. How do birds unerringly find their way to their destinations? Thanks to…
grrlscientist | November 7, 2007tags: Lincoln's sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear daily at 3 pm from 6 November through 16 November.
Lincoln's sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
sheril | November 7, 2007You may have noticed Science Blogs runs a regular Ask A Science Blogger question referenced on Frontpage where different Sciblings provide interesting perspectives.
Well twice now, Sparticus Maximus the Great has taken over The Intersection with his own expert bird brain opinion. He weighed in on the passing of his hero Alex the Grey and hijacked the blog another morning to express concern over Socks and India - the notorious felines of the White House.
Readers have reacted by requesting regular commentary and lately he's even getting email - As if the little parrot didn't already have…
grrlscientist | November 6, 2007tags: American tree sparrow, Spizella arborea, birds, Image of the Day
A friend who is a professor of Biology at KSU sent me a bunch of lovely images of sparrows that he took recently while birding. These images are scheduled to appear at 3 pm beginning today, 6 November through the 16th of November.
American tree sparrow, Spizella arborea.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU.
grrlscientist | November 5, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Lesser flamingo, Phoenicopterus minor, in flight.
Lake Natron in Tanzania, Africa, is the only site in East Africa where Lesser Flamingos reliably breed.
Image: James Warwick[wallpaper size].
Birds in Science
The changing of the seasons finds millions of birds migrating over thousands of kilometres. How they find their way is a question that has perplexed biologists for decades. It is known that birds have built-in compasses attuned to the Earth's magnetic field. But how those compasses work and what they are made of…