Aves (birds)
Category archives for Aves (birds)
Notes from the North Woods
Posted by Greg Laden on June 12, 2009 Someone asked me at dinner “What time did you get up” and as I was trying to remember what time I woke up this morning, and kinda wondering why she was asking me that, my wife answered for me: “Noon.” So I’m thinking “Why does Amanda think I woke up at noon. As a matter…
SpecMapular I And the Bird Web Carnival!
Posted by Greg Laden on June 12, 2009 A spectacular edition of the birdy blog carnival, I and the Bird (# 102) is up at The Birder’s Lounge. The carnival provides a map showing the approximate location of each bird discussed. For the record, the following is a somewhat more accurate location for the birds in my post. The X is where the…
The falcon eats tonight …
Posted by Greg Laden on May 30, 2009 My car was parked a block away owing to the plethora of construction equipment and dumpsters around the house. On my way over, I was looking at the storm clouds coming in and wondering what kind of weather we would have tonight, when I noticed the crows going nuts across the street. It sounded to…
Galapagos Diary
Posted by Greg Laden on May 11, 2009 Galapagos Diary: A Complete Guide to the Archipelgo’s Birdlife … Continuing in our look at bird books to consider, I wanted to bring in the Galapagos Diary. I cannot tell you which is the best book for birding in the Galapagos, because, sadly, I’ve never done that myself. But my daughter, Julia, has, and she…
What makes for a good bird?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 7, 2009 As I write this, I am preparing for a trip up north. As we drive north we will follow the ecotone between the prairies and the deciduous woodlands, then track the ecotone between the prairies and the coniferous woodlands. Then we will make a turn and drive into the coniferous zone, cross the Mississippi, and…
Bird and Mammal Field Guides for Africa
Posted by Greg Laden on April 29, 2009 As long as we are on the subject (this week) of field guides, I thought I’d go ahead and suggest what guides you might take if you happen to be planning a trip to Central, East or southern Africa1 But since we are doing Africa, we need to do mammals as well as birds. But…
Birding Binoculars
Posted by Greg Laden on April 28, 2009 I am not an expert on binoculars, but that is not going to stop me from giving you some excellent advice. Wildlife watching requires binoculars, and although I’m focusing on birding here, everything we’re talking about applies generally. So this advice may be useful for your Safari to Africa where birds will be only one…
The basic North American bird book
Posted by Greg Laden on April 27, 2009 You’ll notice that I’m reviewing bird books. (Don’t worry, not all will be US based.) Please feel free to chime in with your suggestions and comments. The ultimate bird book for North America has always been two books: both Peterson’s field guides, one for the East, one for the West. Now, the new Peterson Field…
The Young Birder’s Guide: A Bird Book for the Middle Schooler
Posted by Greg Laden on April 27, 2009 This is a repost of an earlier review. Bill Thompson’s Young Birder’s Guide The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides) is a book that I highly recommend for kids around seven to 14 years of age. (The publishers suggest a narrower age range but I respectfully disagree.) This is…
A good day for birds.
Posted by Greg Laden on April 25, 2009 This was not an intensive bird watching day. This was a day driving to the cabin, sitting in the cabin writing, looking out the window, driving to run an errand, going to town for dinner, sitting in the cabin looking out the window some more, etc. But the birds insisted on performing. So I thought…
A New Field Guide to the Birds from The Smithsonian
Posted by Greg Laden on April 25, 2009 OK, not so new, but still relevant. The following is a repost of a review of this book. New Smithsonian Field Guide Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Ted Floyd is a newcomer to the bird field guide scene. This guide offers a new combination of features that may make it…
Where have all the ducklings gone??
Posted by Greg Laden on April 18, 2009 Or, more exactly, where are they all going to go during the next two or three months? I’m sitting here between a large frozen lake and a small “pond” (connected to the lake with a channel) that has patches of open water on it. (The melting on the pond is probably because the bioactivity at…
Crazy Cuckoos Invade Europe
Posted by Greg Laden on March 31, 2009 Scientists have reported a strange twist in the tale of Europe’s harbinger of spring the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus. In a dramatic discovery, returning cuckoos have been heard and filmed calling with a highly distinctive variation of the normal call. The new call is best described as “Ooo-Cuck, Ooo-Cuck”. Bird Life International
Finches Determine Sex of Offspring
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2009 As you know if you read my blog, Trivers Willard is an important theoretical construct which has been tested numerous times. TW works in some species, not in others, and overall, that should be predictable (accroding to TW). It turns out that finches control the sex of their offspring, and do so in a way…
For the Birds
Posted by Greg Laden on March 21, 2009 You’ve heard about the dismal report of the state of birds in the US. Here is a detailed account of the USFW et al report. And here are a few different items regarding migratory birds and what you can do about them. Citizen Science Is for the Birds Open Data: Help Migratory Bird Observations Fly…
Condor Shot, Wounded, In Treatment
Posted by Greg Laden on March 16, 2009 A California Condor was apparently ill (with suspected lead poisoning) so it was brought in for treatment. It was then discovered that it had been shot some time earlier . Unable to eat on its own, the condor was under intensive care at the Los Angeles Zoo and its prognosis was guarded, said Susie Kasielke,…
The Upper Mississippi in Spring
Posted by Greg Laden on March 14, 2009 This is the river just above the dam (you can click this picture for a whopping big version): And these birds seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop:
Songbirds Fly 3 Times Faster than Expected
Posted by Greg Laden on February 15, 2009 This is interesting, from a National Geographic press release: TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2009 – A York University researcher has tracked the migration of songbirds by outfitting them with tiny geolocator backpacks – a world first – revealing that scientists have underestimated their flight performance dramatically. “Never before has anyone been able to track songbirds for…
Bird News
Posted by Greg Laden on January 2, 2009 Scientists monitoring at Mount Moreland – South Africa’s largest Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica roost – have captured their first overseas ringed bird from a festively snowy location. The young Barn Swallow had flown all the way from Finland – a total of 11,000 km! “This is an amazing Christmas gift”, said Hilary Vickers of the…
Natron’s flamingos star in Disney film
Posted by Greg Laden on December 21, 2008 Read the background on this video at BirdLife.
Mice Doing Albatross In
Posted by Greg Laden on December 17, 2008 Predatory rodents are eating the chicks of the Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena to the extent that they have had the worst breeding season recorded so far. The mice are also affecting Gough Island’s other Critically Endangered endemic species, Gough Bunting Rowettia goughensis. A recent survey of the bunting’s population revealed that the population…
Slender-billed curlew. Extinct?
Posted by Greg Laden on December 5, 2008 The RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and other partners have launched a last push to find one of the world’s rarest birds. They have issued a call to search for and find any remaining populations of Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris. This announcement was made at the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to…
Bad year for UK seabirds
Posted by Greg Laden on December 2, 2008 Analysis of this year’s seabird breeding data on RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) coastal reserves shows that Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea and Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus – more commonly known as Arctic Skua – have had a terrible season, with virtually no chicks reared to fledging in the far north of…
Ghost Bird: The Ivory Billed Woodpecker
Posted by Greg Laden on December 1, 2008 Cool. Is it or isn’t it? Hey … the UPS guy… he saw it! Learn more here.
Snow, Loons, Eagles, Otters bloody with fish
Posted by Greg Laden on October 26, 2008 The lake is icy-green and in the distance almost blends into the sky through a fast moving fog bank. The bald eagles (a pair and one offspring) are up to something in the back, one of them making swings over the bay and then back into the yard where they are vocalizing quite a bit.…
The Bahamas Yield Amazing Fossil Finds
Posted by Greg Laden on October 19, 2008 Plant and animal fossils recently discovered from an island in the Bahamas tell a story of habitat change and human involvement in local extinction. These finds are reported in a paper by Steadman et al. in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Most people with an interest in natural history know about one…
Aerosteon riocoloradensis: A Very Cool Dinosaur from Argentina
Posted by Greg Laden on September 29, 2008 Fossils of a newly discovered species of dinosaur — a 10-meter-long, elephant-weight predator — were discovered in 1996 along the banks of Argentina’s Rio Colorado, and are now being reported after a long period of careful study. This dinosaur dates to about 85 million years (which falls within the Cretaceous period). Perhaps the most interesting…
Einstein the Parrot: Talking and squawking
Posted by Greg Laden on September 4, 2008 The Magpie in the Mirror
Posted by Greg Laden on August 20, 2008 A typical adult human recognizes that the image one sees in a mirror is oneself. We do not know how much training a mirror-naive adult requires to do this, but we think very little. When a typical adult macaque (a species of monkey) looks in the mirror, it sees another monkey. Typical adult male macaques…
18,000 seabirds killed annually in South African trawl fishery
Posted by Greg Laden on August 18, 2008 The Shy Albatross A study of trawl fishing in South Africa suggests that around 18,000 seabirds may be killed annually in this fishery, highlighting trawl fisheries as a major threat to seabirds, especially several species of albatross already facing a risk of extinction.
, which is now available for the 
