Now on ScienceBlogs: Oxytocin: Starting with the basics
"The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." -- Eden Phillpotts.
GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in OpenLab2009.
Online interviews with GrrlScientist: Kolibri Expeditions, ScienceOnline09, Nature Blog Network and ScienceBlogs.
GrrlScientist's banner was designed by graphic artist, Jeff Hebert, whose other work can be viewed here.
Nominate your science, nature or medical writing to Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the Public) blog carnival using the widget above.
|
|
« TEDTalks: Nina Jablonski Breaks the Illusion of Skin Color | Main | Tvärminne Wildflowers with Beetle »
Topic Categories: Birding • Education • Mystery Birds • Ornithology • Photography • Teaching
Posted on: July 17, 2009 9:59 AM, by "GrrlScientist"
tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, photographed at the Katy Prairie, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Find more posts in: 
Life Science
Education
Share this: Facebook Twitter Stumbleupon Reddit Email + More
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/106746
Highly Allochthonous 11.05.2009
Eruptions 11.05.2009
Not Exactly Rocket Science 11.05.2009
Corpus Callosum 11.05.2009
Starts With a Bang 11.04.2009
Comments
Ooh, one of my most favorite birds... Red-Bellied Woodpecker. Scarlet nape and crown, black-and-white barred back. Looks like a female, with the incomplete scarpet on the forehead. The "red belly" is sometimes only a wash of orange and is often not visible in the field. We have 2 (perhaps 3) families of red-bellies -- adults with fledglings -- visiting our suet and seed feeders every day lately. They are bold and beautiful and we enjoy them all year 'round. (Connecticut, USA) Thank you for this lovely photo.
Posted by: Sarah | July 17, 2009 12:54 PM
SCARLET, not scarpet! Well, "scarpet" actually sounds rather cool.
Posted by: Sarah | July 17, 2009 12:59 PM
I agree with Sarah on the ID, but I think that's a male. Females don't have red on the top of their heads at all-just on the back.
Posted by: Kyllikki | July 17, 2009 1:13 PM
I think it's a male red-bellied woodpecker, because of the scarlet on the head extending down the nape almost to the bird's back.
Posted by: ground petrel | July 17, 2009 3:25 PM
Yup, definitely a make Red-bellied. Here's a decent example of the female (halfway down the post), with the red only extending up to the back or middle of the head.
A very nice shot of the RBWO, by the way!
Posted by: Kyle | July 17, 2009 4:00 PM
Beautiful woodpecker, the Red-bellied is! Starlings drive them out of a cavity in my neighbor's yard every spring, but they seem to find a place to nest, since they come to my birdfeeder and eat suet. Visit my CREATE A WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY YARD site at http://wildlifefriendlylawn.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Robert | July 21, 2009 7:27 PM