Now on ScienceBlogs: Oh, no! School wi-fi is making our kids sick! (2012 edition)
Written by an evolutionary biologist/ornithologist who writes about E3 -- Evolution, Ecology and Ethology -- and the subtle relationships between these phenomena, especially in birds.
GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist and ornithologist who loves to write about "E3": evolution, ethology and ecology and the subtle relationships between these fields, especially in birds.
GrrlScientist's new blog can be accessed through any one of these five domain names: GrrlScientist.net, grrlscientist.org, grrlscientist.info, grrlscientist.com, or grrlscientist.us (keep in mind that, in the future, these domains may point to different places). GrrlScientist's current blog home is at her NATURE Network blog, Maniraptora.
Online interviews with GrrlScientist: Kolibri Expeditions, ScienceOnline09, Nature Blog Network and ScienceBlogs. More biographical information about GrrlScientist.
Follow GrrlScientist:
GrrlScientist's banner was designed by graphic artist, Jeff Hebert, whose other work can be viewed at his site, Hero Machine.
|
|
« London Update: Where I Stayed | Main | West 42nd Street/Times Square Subway Art 2 [Detail 4] »
Topic Categories: Image of the Day
Posted on: September 7, 2008 2:59 PM, by "GrrlScientist"
tags: Broad-winged hawk, Buteo platypterus, identify this bird, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Broad-winged hawk, Buteo platypterus, photographed at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/800s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Life Science
Education & CareersTim Lambert 02.01.2012
ERV 11.26.2011
Jason Rosenhouse 02.12.2012
Orac 12.12.2011
PZ Myers 02.02.2012
Comments
That's Fred, I'd recognize him anywhere, I've talked to him many times.
Posted by: John | September 7, 2008 3:40 PM
Big. Nasty. Lots of sharp things. Not a duck. Do I win a prize? ;-)
Posted by: blf | September 7, 2008 3:54 PM
could it be a broad-winged hawk?
Posted by: Eugenie | September 7, 2008 4:06 PM
It's either B. eatamousadae or B. takanoccassionalbunii.
Posted by: HP | September 7, 2008 4:08 PM
Broad-winged was my first guess, what with fall migration starting up. I know they're starting to turn up at the Corpus Christi Hawkwatch.
Posted by: Selasphorus | September 7, 2008 4:19 PM
I'm thinking broad-winged, too, without taking a look at one of my books. I'm glad to see that others thought the same thing. Maybe I'm not completely off-base. :D
ALSO, LOL about "Fred."
Posted by: Wendy | September 7, 2008 7:29 PM
Not too good on American buzzards but I'll say its a Broad winged hawk too.
Why is it us Europeans use buzzard for buteo, and hawk for accipiter? And Americans just lump them all together as hawk?
Just curious.
Posted by: aedis | September 7, 2008 7:40 PM
It is a very rare Studebaker Hawk.
Posted by: Zen Bonobo | September 7, 2008 8:23 PM
...Shithawks Ricky, Shithawks.
Posted by: adrook | September 7, 2008 8:36 PM
coopers hawk
Posted by: cello spak | September 7, 2008 8:38 PM
I think it's a Broad-winged hawk, Buteo platypterus, at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, Texas.
Posted by: sweet | September 7, 2008 8:50 PM
American birders call accipiter hawks for accipiters...
Buteos are called hawks.
Buzzard is a casual name (not used by birders) for New World vultures, especially Turkey Vulture.
I think...
Posted by: Knut | September 7, 2008 11:57 PM
It's definitely Fred. I've seen him many times.
Posted by: Charles Carlson | September 8, 2008 12:31 AM
Buzzard is used for New World vultures, but it's definitely incorrect, since Buteos are more correctly termed buzzards. I believe the usage came from the early settlers, naming the new-to-them birds often based on what they reminded them of. Which is what gave us the American Robin, not really that similar to the European Robin aside from having red on its chest. The soaring Turkey Vultures were likely identified from their far-off silhouettes (in a time when high-tech optics were absent) and the most similar bird remembered from the Old World was used to name them. It's not an accepted name the way that "American Robin" is.
Posted by: Selasphorus | September 8, 2008 3:49 PM
"Buzzard" may not be the correct term, but there's a dozen or more buzzards who have taken a shine to the airspace above the suburban office building where I work. I think they use the thermals rising off the parking lot to rest their wings. (At any rate, they're not feeding here.)
There's something darkly sardonic about working in an office where there are constantly vultures circling overhead. It's like living in an editorial cartoon about the economy. At the same time, they're wonderful birds and a delight to watch whenever I take a break. On a hot, sunny day, they'll come in low (maybe 10 meters?) over the lot, and cast these huge thunderbird-like shadows on the asphalt. Magnificent.
As long as they don't poop on my car.
Posted by: HP | September 8, 2008 4:35 PM