Aves (birds)
Category archives for Aves (birds)
Dead Birds
Posted by Greg Laden on January 4, 2011 In the renowned yet obscure documentary, “Dead Birds,” watchful men in a traditional community in Highland Papua New Guinea use the sudden flight of birds as a clue to the possible encroachment of a hidden enemy bent on blood revenge. In mines, canaries signal air too poisoned to breath by dying faster than affected humans.…
Ducks blowing in the wind
Posted by Greg Laden on December 7, 2010 One day, about ten years ago, we were having a strong southerly fetch with small tornadoes popping out of the stormy front, so Julia and I were keeping an eye out the windows, watching wall clouds form and unform over our heads. Then, suddenly, there were these two ducks flying south, coming up over the…
One could say that bats evolved twice
Posted by Greg Laden on September 9, 2010 Much in the same way that “woodpeckers” have evolved several times (most are birds that look like each other, but then there is the aye-aye and Darwin’s finch), one can say that the nightjars are birds poking around in the insect-eating bat niche.
We Walk Among Ducks in Wolves Clothing. And Wolves.
Posted by Greg Laden on August 20, 2010 This is the most challenging time of year for duck watching. But it may be easier than one thinks to bump into a wolf in the forest.
Can you help identify this bird?
Posted by Greg Laden on August 19, 2010 This bird was spotted eating a small bird in the Hyde Park area of Chicago. What is it?
Parasite threatens many of Britain’s best-loved birds
Posted by Greg Laden on August 18, 2010 Emerging infectious diseases do not only affect humans. Wildlife is threatened as well, and an alarming report from Britain documents an avian tragedy of great proportions.
What bird field guides do you really need?
Posted by Greg Laden on July 23, 2010 There are several characteristics that make up a field guide. It should be “pocket size” (and birders have huge pockets, so this may not be as much of a restriction as it sounds). It should cover the geographical region in which you are watching the birds, although in some remote areas of the world you…
The Oystercatcher and the Clam
Posted by Greg Laden on July 10, 2010 One of those really cool and useful “evolution stories” gets verified and illuminated by actual research. And blogging!
The makings of a very large omelet .
Posted by Greg Laden on May 19, 2010 omelet
Bird Pwns Moth, Crowd Cheers!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on May 7, 2010 I have now been out for two drives in a row during which I did NOT see a bald eagle. Until now, almost every drive I’ve been on this year had yielded at least one. But, there is always something: last night a big red tail and the other day the usual egrets and an…
Outbreaks of H5N1 Bird Virus Infection in Wild Birds in time and space: Temperature matters (with cool video)
Posted by Greg Laden on April 18, 2010 It has long been thought that there are linkages between certain viruses and the weather. The flu season is winter (in whichever hemisphere it happens to be winter in) for reasons having to do with the seasons. One early theory posited that the practices of East Asian farmers, as they tended their animals, caused waterfowl…
Rachel Maddow Totally Loses It
Posted by Greg Laden on December 31, 2009 Rush Limbaugh Loses it all the time. Glen Beck loses it all the time. In the left, Kieth Olbermann loses it about one a week. Chris Matthews is constantly on the verge of losing it. That guy from Court TV lost it too often and he lost his show. Now, Rachel Maddow loses it. And,…
Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count
Posted by Greg Laden on December 2, 2009 The Bird Count is Coming Up!
Un-be-Flockin’-lievable (birds)
Posted by Greg Laden on November 15, 2009 These are starlings: Bonus Video:
First Video of Marvelous Spatuletail Hummingbird’s Amazing Courtship
Posted by Greg Laden on November 3, 2009 This is truly amazing. Of course, since this is the first such video, how do we know if this particular little guy is doing it right? First video of the Marvelous Spatuletail Hummingbird’s amazing courtship display by Greg R. Homel, Natural Elements Productions and distributed by American Bird Conservancy, http://www.abcbirds.org. This rare humminbird inhabits the…
Golden Eagle # 49 has Entered the Building
Posted by Greg Laden on October 26, 2009 You know the drill: Someone claims to see a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) but then some wise-ass bird expert has to tell them that “Immature bald eagles are often mistaken for golden eagles. You saw a bald eagle, not a golden eagle.” Reminds me of the bird expert lady in The Birds (which we watched…
Bird Life International’s Position on Climate Change
Posted by Greg Laden on September 28, 2009 The scientific evidence is overwhelming and unequivocal, climate change is a stark reality. It is largely caused by human activities and it presents very serious global risks for people and biodiversity around the world and it demands an urgent global response. Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, are releasing rapidly increasing levels of…
The Fiji Petrel went extinct 130 years ago. But then it got better.
Posted by Greg Laden on September 11, 2009 The last wild Fiji petral specimen collected, an albatross-like bird (as petrels tend to be) that spends much of its time over the open sea, was collected in 1855 fro Gau Island, Fiji. It didn’t really go extinct, because in 1984 one was caught on Gua, photographed, and set free. Subsequently, possible Fiji petrel sightings…
Silence of the Loons
Posted by Greg Laden on September 6, 2009 The loons have been strangely silent all weekend, and I have been singularly distracted from them, so it was not until this morning that I realized that the adults are gone.
Acting for the survival of the species (a falsehood)
Posted by Greg Laden on September 2, 2009 Today’s falsehood is the idea that individual animals act for the benefit of their own species.
How do you tell when a bird is really extinct?
Posted by Greg Laden on August 27, 2009 BirdLife International is launching a global bid to try to confirm the continued existence of 47 species of bird that have not been seen for up to 184 years. The list of potentially lost birds is a tantalising mix of species ranging from some inhabiting the least visited places on earth – such as remote…
Let The Eagle Soar
Posted by Greg Laden on August 26, 2009 Golden Eagle I hope I won’t disappoint you … this is not about John Ashcroft. It is about golden eagles (actually, maybe its about one golden eagle in particular).
When the eagles are disturbed …
Posted by Greg Laden on August 25, 2009 When it comes to observing nature, it pays to pay attention, and it pays to stay in one place for a while. Coming to “The Lake” many spring, summer, and fall weekends (and now and then in the winter) and paying attention to the wildlife and other aspects of the natural environment allows me to…
Change of plans. We’ll be at Crane Meadows Looking for Cranes
Posted by Greg Laden on August 22, 2009 I had responded to the general in query “Where are you going to look for birds this weekend” by simply noting that we’d be going to “The Lake” (Minnesotan for a particular lake, the exact lake determined by context). But on the way up Amanda had the idea of going into Crane Meadow National Wildlife…
The End of the Skeptical Loon
Posted by Greg Laden on August 9, 2009 Continued… For this final installation of How the Loon Terns, I’d like to very briefly address four different items of “common knowledge.” Loons are driven off lakes by boaters. Loons use nursery pools. Loon are “ancient birds” “Loons winter in Mexico (or wherever).”
The Lone Loon Fallacy
Posted by Greg Laden on August 3, 2009 And now, for another installment in our series: How The Loon Terns, an exercise in skeptical thinking using Loons as a waterbird touchstone. (In case you missed it, the previous installment was here.)
Lead Poisoning and Loons: A skeptical look
Posted by Greg Laden on August 2, 2009 This is the continuation of a discussion of loons, skeptically viewed. I am not skeptical about loons themselves. I know they exist. In fact, I just spent the last half hour watching Mom and Dad loon (whom I cannot tell apart, by the way) feeding Junior I and Junior II (whom I also cannot tell…
Thinking skeptically about loons
Posted by Greg Laden on August 1, 2009 I’ve been thinking about loons lately. This is not hard do do because every time I turn around there is a loon either watching me fish, yodeling off in the distance, flying overhead, or feeding its babies just off to my right as I sit here writing stuff. This year, the pair of loons that…
Snipers To Kill Penguin Killers in Oz
Posted by Greg Laden on July 16, 2009 Professional snipers have been brought in to guard a vulnerable colony of penguins in Australia. Potograph source
The Science of Birdwatching
Posted by Greg Laden on June 14, 2009 Birdwatching might be a casual activity, a hobby, an avocation, or even a profession (often, perhaps, an obsession) depending on the bird watcher, but there is always a science to it, in at least two ways. First, there is the science of how to do it. In this sense, the term “science” means something vernacular.…
, which is now available for the 
