behavior
grrlscientist | December 25, 2007tags: kissing under the mistletoe, holidaze, humor, streaming video
I love christmas, so Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy your holidays as much as is portrayed in this video! [0:29]
grrlscientist | December 20, 2007tags: Deroptyus accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, pets, birds, avian, parrots
I hope to post an update about my parrots every Friday, complete with pictures.
Orpheus, a very young male red fan (hawk-headed) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus,
who lives with me (December 2007).
GrrlScientist, 2007 [larger view].
Orpheus has been busy this past week, destroying or trying to destroy nearly every material object that I own and behaving in an aggressive manner towards me, so -- sadly -- I clipped his primaries to prevent him from flying freely around my apartment. It made me…
grrlscientist | December 19, 2007tags: slow motion, streaming video
I've linked to streaming videos of moonwalking male manakin (birds) before, but it is so amazing that I had to share two more links with you (the first one of these videos of the moonwalking manakins is the extended version, and both are new links to this site). Includes music by Michael Jackson [3:28 & 1:50]
Yet another video of these birds that you will enjoy [1:50];
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: Encephalon, blog carnivals
The 38th edition of Encephalon is now ready for you to read, so stampede on over there for some brainy goodness!
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, Parus caeruleus, sexual selection, mate choice, ornithology, female coloration, reproduction, maternal quality, evolution, birds, ornithology
In many bird species, the females are brightly colored, just as the males are, but the evolutionary reasons for brightly colored females is unclear. According to one hypothesis, because males and females share the same genome, their traits are similar. However, according to another hypothesis, there may also be selective pressures on females, just as there are on males, to develop brightly…
grrlscientist | December 11, 2007tags: holidays, social relationships, gift-giving, psychology, behavioral evolution, evolution
Since the holidays are upon us once more, I thought you would be interested to read about the psychology of gift-giving. In short, even though giving someone a gift is simple enough, the psychology behind this act is much more complex than most people realize.
A large number of scientists, ranging from psychologists to economists, have studied the purpose and ramifications of gift giving in humans and have learned a surprising number of things about it. Even though many people claim they are…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, evolutionary behavior, sociobiology, ornithology, birds, avian, evolution, William Dilger, Agapornis roseicollis, Agapornis fischeri, lovebirds
Peach-faced lovebirds, Agapornis roseicollis (left)
and Fischer's lovebirds, Agapornis fischeri (right),
can interbreed to produce sterile offspring.
Images: LoveBirds New Zealand.
Is behavior genetically "programmed" or is it the result of learning? Or is it instead a little bit of both? This is the old "nature versus nurture" argument that has occupied behavioral and evolutionary scientists, psychologists and even…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2007tags: trick goldfish, trained goldfish, performing goldfish, streaming video
Amazing trained goldfish -- or were they really trained to swim in formation like this? My guess is the guys fed metal filings to the fish and they have magnets under the table that drag the helpless fish around .. what do you think? [0:56]
On the other hand, perhaps training goldfish should be my new career since science hasn't worked for me thus far?
grrlscientist | December 5, 2007tags: Eclectus roratus solomonensis, parrots, pets, birds, avian, behavior
Sophie, a female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis,
who looks just like my own Elektra.
Image: Courtesy of Denise and Dave Bell/Eclectus House.
I am playing host to a surprise house guest (human), so my birds have been exhibiting all sorts of unusual behaviors these past couple days. Elektra, who is a four-year-old female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, is characteristically reserved and even a bit stoic (dare I say "unflappable"?), so I thought she was…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2007tags: humor, chatty cats, chatty cats translated, streaming video
What do cats talk about when humans aren't around? This amusing video of two chatty cats includes a translation (below the fold) [0:55];
All those sweet meows are translated in this version [0:55];
laelaps | December 4, 2007
A Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). Via Wikipedia.
In 1921, people who had milk delivered to their door in Swaythling, England had a mystery on their hands; someone was drinking all the cream out of their milk bottles. Local youths and other potential culprits were named, but the phenomenon began to spread across the country, no one being quite sure who was behind the theft of the high-butterfat layer. Eventually, however, the freeloaders were identified; Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) were opening the tops of the bottles and skimming off the best part of the un-homogenized milk. Various…
grrlscientist | December 3, 2007tags: encephalon, blog carnivals
The 37th edition of Encephalon is now available for your reading pleasure. The editor included a submission from me, so of course, I am happy!
grrlscientist | November 30, 2007tags: parrots, behavior
My hawk-headed parrot is teething. Or, because she's a parrot and thus, has no teeth, she is "beaking". Except she typically proceeds quickly from "beaking" (testing substances with her beak) to puncturing or otherwise destroying various objects -- "chomping", if you will. So, for your amusement, I have compiled a list of objects that she has "beaked" and "chomped" so far;
Beaked;
DVDs
CDs
the blanket on my futon
my futon mattress
my fingers
several books (I rescued them before she made "v" shaped punctures in their covers and pages)
the refrigerator
my…
grrlscientist | November 29, 2007tags: squirrel, behavior, mission impossible, streaming video
I thought I had linked to this video a few months ago, but apparently it disappeared during one of the typical burps that my wifi connection experiences (well, I deserve it since I am piggybacking on someone else's connection, unless I have dragged myself in to the library). Anyway, this video is truly amazing, showing what a squirrel will do to get a nut. It also has a short video clip of another squirrel that has figured out how to steal candy bars from an outdoor candy machine [1:52].
grrlscientist | November 27, 2007tags: crow, kitten, unlikely friends, streaming video
This is a story that I've linked to before, but the video is new since then; it tells the story of a wild crow that befriended a motherless kitten, fed and protected it and now that the kitten (now more a cat than a kitten) has found a home with humans, the crow still is fast friends. [7:29]
laelaps | November 24, 2007Yesterday I noted how many of the Hominidae pass the "mirror test"; orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans all are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. Gorillas, however, fail the test. Why should this be? The following video might give us a clue;
The juvenile in the baboon is scared as soon as it sees itself in the mirror, and this makes sense because direct eye contact is considered aggressive in baboons, just as it is in gorillas. The key to passing the mirror test is the ability to look at the image in the mirror long enough to match up the movements and realize that the…
grrlscientist | November 20, 2007tags: mouse party, drugs, drug mechanisms, illegal drugs, video game, educational tool
Now that the school year has started again, I think it is worthwhile to repeat an earlier blog entry where I linked to a really interesting interactive game, called Mouse Party. This interactive game is a great educational tool, teaching you how various legal and illegal drugs work in the brain.
Have you ever wondered how various drugs work in the brain to produce the symptoms they do? Well, this wonderful interactive website, Mouse Party, shows you the molecular details of how heroin, exstacy, alcohol,…
grrlscientist | November 20, 2007tags: cats, jenna, swimming cat, streaming video
This streaming video shows a half-grown cat, named Jenna, playing with water -- in a bathtub! [1:44]
grrlscientist | November 19, 2007tags: cats, kizzy, cat does dog tricks, streaming video
This is a video showing the amazing Kizzy, an eight-year-old bengal cat that does tricks as well as any dog does [2:03]
grrlscientist | November 13, 2007tags: madagascar, leapin' lemurs, streaming video
This streaming video from the BBC show, Weird Nature: Marvelous Motion compares the movement of Sifaka lemurs to ballet, but it's also reminiscent of a martial arts movie. Remarkably, these animals can jump as far as 30 feet from tree to tree! And they make it look so effortless [1:49]