bird
grrlscientist | March 16, 2008tags: birds,Roadside Hawk, Buteo magnirostris griseocauda, ornithology, Image of the Day
Roadside Hawk, Buteo magnirostris griseocauda,
in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the southern Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 15, 2008tags: birds,Ruddy Turnstones, Arenaria interpres, ornithology, Image of the Day
Ruddy Turnstones, Arenaria interpres, in the Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 14, 2008tags: birds, parrots, White-fronted Parrots, Spectacled Amazons, Amazona albifrons nana, ornithology, Image of the Day
White-fronted Parrots, Amazona albifrons nana,
otherwise known as Spectacled Amazons. This picture
was taken near the Maya village of El Senor in the south central Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 13, 2008tags: birds, Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregata magnificens, ornithology, Image of the Day
Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregata magnificens,
taken on the east coast of the Yucatan in Quintana Roo.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 11, 2008tags: birds, Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, ornithology, Image of the Day
Soaring Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, in the Yucatan.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
grrlscientist | February 16, 2008tags: birds, ornithology, Image of the Day
This photo was taken in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Have you any idea what it is? The photographer thought it was an owl, but a friend of the photographer thinks it may be a young red-shouldered hawk -- but in Colorado? [larger view].
My guess is below the fold;
I guess this is a partial leucistic red-tailed hawk, but it's really hard to tell!
zooillogix | November 29, 2007Researchers from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen in the UK are conducting a study on the relationship between bird songs and... uh... apparently any facet of the human experience. In what sounds to me like an interesting premise with impossibly broad scope, they will attempt to determine "how bird sounds evoke time, place and season and how people experience and draw upon bird sounds in science, art, music and their everyday lives" explained Dr. Whitehouse, lead project researcher. In case that wasn't enough, the good doctor has thrown technology into the mix. "…
laelaps | October 27, 2007I can't say that I'm a fan the music choice, but I have to admit, this bird can dance to the beat better than I can. This is Snowball, "a medium sulphur crested Eleanora cockatoo," who's apparently a big fan of the Backstreet Boys.
bleimanb | October 26, 2007Who would have thought that the wandering albatross flew around the earth randomly with absolutely no plan? Apparently the person who named it.
According to some fishermen, albatrosses look "wicked baked."
Scientists used to believe that albatrosses followed a strange mathematical formula when flying around the globe in search of food. Turns out they were wrong. New data suggests that albatrosses have no rhyme or...
reason to their movements, and indeed are flying long distances completely randomly.
According to this article in the New Zealand Herald, data gathered over ten years ago…
laelaps | October 16, 2007
Some of you may have noticed some changes to the front page of Sb and some new photos in the category sections, and I'm proud to say that one of my photos made the cut for this week under the Life Science section. Hence, I've decided to post the "full" version of the photo here. In case anyone's unfamiliar with the animal, it's an Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus, although not everyone could merely enjoy the aesthetics of the striking display of the male bird. Writing to Asa Gray, Charles Darwin once related;
...I remember well the time when the thought of the eye made me cold all over, but I…
bleimanb | September 28, 2007Birds have the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field, and now scientists believe that they may actually "see" it with their eyes. According to a study posted on PLoS, a molecule known to be in birds' eyes that is sensitive to magnetic fields is directly linked to a part of birds' brains where visual information is processed.
I see London. I see France...
As the study puts it, "In garden warblers, Sylvia borin, the cryptochrome-expressing retinal ganglion cells and a neuronal cluster located in posterolateral regions of both forebrain hemispheres ("Cluster N") show high, sensory-driven…
zooillogix | July 12, 2007And yet more troubling bird imagery from the same friends who brought us Deviled Ostrich Egg and Baby Cockatiel:
Bentley's Bio courtesy of friend Pat Deering from New Mexico
Bentley is a deformed duckling. His neck is bent down and around to his left side. If he is ,Aeufacing,Aeu forward, his head is looking at about 8 o,Aeoclock, behind him. It was easy for him to see where things are but hard to go ,Aeuforward,Aeu in order to get there because his feet go one way while he,Aeos looking another. He is able to get around and has no problem drinking and eating. He was doing fine until a near-…
zooillogix | July 9, 2007Scientists have long known that birds develop local dialects, but they didn't know that birds' languages can go out of style with the times. According to an article in England's Daily Mail, behavioral ecologist Elizabeth Derryberry tested songs of male whitecrowned sparrows from the 1970's against songs recorded this year. When Derryberry played the modern songs to a group of 10 female and 20 male sparrows, the female birds started courting behavior and the males became territorial. When she played the old-school recordings (which were of the same sound quality), however, the group of birds…
zooillogix | June 15, 2007Ever wonder where sea creatures have been or where they're headed? Thanks to marvelous modern technology and an ambitious team of prestigious scientific organizations, now you can watch in almost real-time! Since 2002, Tagging of Pacific Pelagic (TOPPS) research project has tagged over 2,000 animals with tiny microprocessors and sophisticated remote sensing systems to track exactly where, when and how deep they're traveling through the ocean.
Movements of twelve tagged salmon sharks over the last 60 days.
The results are fantastic maps showing up-to-the-minute movements of mako sharks…
zooillogix | June 6, 2007Army-ants storm through the jungles of Panama a million strong devouring any and every living creature in their path. Some clever birds have found a way to capitalize on the mayhem: Stay close to the ants and eat the leaping, running, and scampering insects that attempt to escape.
Who would want to escape from this love fest?
Antbirds and ovenbirds, the main ant-following species, have different strategies for using the ants to their advantages. Some birds only follow the ants within their own territories, but stop when they reach the borders. Others dabble in ant following, hitting them up…
zooillogix | June 5, 2007A species of endangered sea lion has suddenly acquired a taste for a rare penguin in New Zealand, causing heated debate amongst Kiwi conservationists and scientists. Sea lions breeding on the Otago Peninsula have taken to devouring yellow-eyed penguins. The good news is that male sea lions do not seem to have a pallet for the birds. The bad news is that female sea lions may eat up to thirty yellow-eyed penguins per year a piece.
Scientists from the New Zealand Department of Conservation are trying to set up a breeding ground for the sea lions on the Otago Peninsula. Succeeding means having…
zooillogix | June 4, 2007Rooks in Exeter, England have discovered a unique health benefit to cigarettes that may just be enough to save the embattled industry. Commuters observed the rooks at St. David's train station fumigating their feathers with cigarette smoke. Swooping down to snatch up lit cigarette butts, the rooks would eventually drop the butt and tent their wings over it. It is believed that the birds did this to coax mites and other parasites out of their feathers. Jeff Jones, a passenger waiting on the platform described the behavior (with a charming British accent we're sure), "They were generally…
zooillogix | May 23, 2007In another example of how much more progressive Europe is than the US, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire (i.e. Brittania) has entrusted the care of an orphaned flamingo chick to gay parents. Carlos and Fernando, the only gays in the sanctuary, have been egg-nappers in the past. On more than one occasion, the flamboyant pair have chased other nesting couples away to hatch the other birds' eggs as their own. Because bonding with the chick is vital, the zookeepers put the chick back into a fake egg, which they then placed in the partners' nest.He looks just like dad…
zooillogix | March 16, 2007In honor of St. Paddy's Day, a tribute to being green.
Northland Green Gecko, naultinus grayii
Green Lynx Spider, peucetia viridansGreen Hermit Hummingbird, phaethornis guy (we think)
Green Grasshopper, campylacantha olivacea
zooillogix | March 12, 2007A few days ago we brought you the astonishingly ugly baby cockatiel. On the other, tastier side of the spectrum, we have this hardboiled ostrich egg and a massive deviled ostrich egg. Again, brought to you by our friends in New Mexico.
photo courtesy of Pat Deering
photo courtesy of Tom Deering