grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: Irene Pepperberg, Alex, African grey parrot, streaming video
Alex was a famous African grey parrot who could count to six, identify colors and even express frustration with repetitive scientific trials. He died about five weeks ago, after 30 years of helping researchers better understand the avian brain. This streaming video below the fold has a wonderful tribute to Alex and his many talents. [2:39]
grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: birds, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Image of the Day
This is a picture of my new roommate, a young hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus. This bird was captive born and raised. This picture was taken when the bird was only seven weeks old, and was growing her(his?) first feathers. (S)he is five months and four days old today.
Image: Andrea Wiebolt.
When you see this picture appear on my blog, I will be at JFK airport, picking up this bird from the airlines, and heading back home on the subway.
grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, streaming video
I just added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. Since I don't have a camera or video camera at my disposal (yet) I decided to share a video with you of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter, who was approximately five months old in this video. Scooter had just come to his new home four days prior to this video. [1:51]
I am bringing my own Hawk-headed parrot home on the subway from the airport this afternoon. This video appeared at the time when…
grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Falconer Geoff Clayton with eight-year-old golden eagle Shirko as they attend the Inter-Governmental Conference on Migratory Birds of Prey in Loch Lomond.
Image: PA [larger view]
Birds in Science
The ability to ramp up testosterone levels drives certain male sparrows to mate, but also makes them bad dads, a new study suggests. Researchers had thought that the total amount of testosterone might determine the mating habits and aggressive tendencies of male dark-eyed juncos, a type of sparrow. But the new study of juncos…
grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: football training camp, ballet, streaming video
This amusing like video was filmed and edited by a Kansas City Chiefs football fan who clearly has too much time on his hands. It has clips of training sessions set to ballet music .. interestingly, it gives us a glimpse into the amount of fitness work that training camp demands as the players prepare to beat the ever-loving crap out of each other in Monday night football games [1:39]
grrlscientist | October 28, 2007tags: flamingos, Ciconiiformes, Phoenicopterus ruber, birds, Image of the Day
Is this image photoshopped? (You can blow it up for a closer look, if you like). If it is photoshopped, someone sure did a good job.
Image: Robert B. Haas/National Geographic [wallpaper size]
grrlscientist | October 28, 2007tags: vocabulary, United Nations, free rice, online quiz
This linked online vocabulary game has an interesting premise; for every correct answer you provide, ten grains of rice will be donated to the United Nations to end world hunger. How many grains of rice did you donate?
grrlscientist | October 28, 2007tags: America's Got Talent, magician, Kevin James, streaming video
Master Magician Kevin James performing at the Las Vegas "callbacks" on America's Got Talent. I have no clue how he did that, do you? [1:20]
So how did he do that trick? was that guy a couple contortionists, or two dwarves?
grrlscientist | October 27, 2007Well, it's been fun so far! I've traveled 1500 miles so I can dig in the dirt here in Texas -- it's amazing what a NYCer will do to re-experience her country-living childhood, huh? The dirt here is very rich with clay and so, when it dries out and the sun shines on it, it becomes as hard as a rock. So I ended up beating the clay to death with a hoe.
I also saw a crested caracara (a new life list bird for me), numerous turkey vultures, some black vultures that seem to enjoy city living, marsh hawks (northern harriers), cooper's and sharp-shinned harks, and red-tailed hawks. I also saw lots of…
grrlscientist | October 27, 2007tags: moth, Ecpantheria scribonia, giant leopard moth, Image of the Day
During the process of splitting and transferring wood from the woodpile yesterday, we discovered a large (2.5" long) hairy caterpillar. I have enclosed two pictures of it [the second is below the fold]; it is the larval stage of the Giant Leopard Moth, Ecpantheria scribonia. The life cycle is described and the adult is pictured here.
Image: Dave Rintoul [wallpaper size]
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [wallpaper size]
grrlscientist | October 27, 2007tags: hacky sac, futbol, soccer, streaming video
Do you ever wonder why your phone call goes unanswered when you call a business during business hours? Well, this video shows you why. [0:48]
This guy has amazing skills, especially since he's using a balled up piece of paper, but he clearly has too much time on his hands. Er, cheeks. Or something.
grrlscientist | October 26, 2007tags: moth, Melanchroia chepise, white-tipped black geometrid, Image of the Day
This diurnal Melanchroia chepise posed prettily this morning (10/21/07) on the wall of my apartment breezeway in the Heights section of Houston, Texas.
Image: Biosparite [larger view]
grrlscientist | October 26, 2007tags: skinny pigs, guinea pigs, pets, Image of the Day
Image: The Sun. [nearly life-sized]
Bald guinea pigs were originally developed for scientific research purposes in the 1970s, by suddenly, these so called "skinny pigs" are all the rage among pet owners in the UK. Because they lack fur, these animals must have lotion applied to their skin, require a number 50 subscreen in the summer and a tiny guinea-pig sized sweater in the winter. Even though they are relatively thin, they requirre three times more food than regular furry guinea pigs because they burn the extra calories just to stay…
grrlscientist | October 26, 2007tags: vocabulary, online quiz
Your Vocabulary Score: A+
Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.
How's Your Vocabulary?
How about you? By the way, I actually have linked to an even better vocabulary game that will appear Sunday. The upcoming game will ask you to define vocabulary words and, if you get the word correct, you not only get a harder word to define, but the game will also donate ten grains of rice to the United Nations to help end world hunger. Weird, I know, but it's a fun game!
grrlscientist | October 26, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, streaming video
As some of you know, I will soon be adding a four-month-old young parrot to my household. For those of you who have not heard of a hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, or who are not familiar with them, here is a video of a five-month-old parrot of that species, named Cassius. In this video, the bird is being preened by its human companion and during that process, raises the feathers of its red fan [1:02]
grrlscientist | October 25, 2007
Can you find the bar-tailed godwits here among the avocet and marbled godwits?
Image: Mary Scott, Birding America.
Thanks to a reader who would rather remain anonymous, I am going to go to Texas tomorrow and will return to all of you on Tuesday. I have scheduled a few things to publish on this blog while I am gone so you don't feel abandoned, and I will be peeking in at night and perhaps publishing a few things for you to read or a few pictures for you to look at during those times.
I return from Texas on Sunday night, and will be writing a little bit for you on Monday, but since The Bird…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2007
Are we becoming a nation of pajama-wearing web-surfing loners?
(Orphaned image).
Zogby International and 463 Communications recently polled 9,743 Americans online regarding their attitude towards the internet.
They found that a significant minority of equal numbers of men and women would consider the internet to be a surrogate significant other: 31% of single political progressives and 18% of single political conservatives felt this way. Wow, amazing, huh? I didn't know that so many Americans found 3.5 inch floppies so attractive!
But weirdly, only 11% of Americans said they would implant…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2007
Hey, look at this. Does it look familiar to you? Well, considering that I think my blog doesn't get enough traffic, I was both pleased and surprised when I noticed that various stories on it occupied four of the five "most emailed" slots on scienceblogs last night. Not bad, eh?
grrlscientist | October 25, 2007tags: mystery butterfly, Image of the Day
Image: Karen Davis. [wallpaper size]
I am almost certain that I know what this species is, but because you enjoy naming species, I thought I'd let you have some fun with this lovely image. What species is this?
Location: College Park, Maryland, 16 October 2007
My guess is below the fold.
It is a crescent butterfly species, resembling either a pearl crescent, Phyciodes tharos, or a northern crescent, Phyciodes selenis, although I suspect it is a different, but close, species instead.
I also asked an entomologist about this species and he said that…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2007tags: oceans, marine reserves, fish, streaming video
This video explores how the establishment of marine reserves can save our oceans from overexploitation from overfishing and other damages. Narrated by Mariella Frostrup. [12:53]