Birds in the News
grrlscientist | April 7, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Common merganser, Mergus merganser, and chicks.
Orphaned image [larger view].
People Hurting Birds
The number of migratory songbirds returning to North America has gone into sharp decline due to the unregulated use of highly toxic pesticides and other chemicals across Latin America. Ornithologists blame the demand for out-of-season fruit and vegetables and other crops in North America and Europe for the destruction of tens of millions of passerine birds. By some counts, half of the songbirds that warbled across…
grrlscientist | March 31, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Female Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata,
in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the Southern Yucatan
in the state of Campeche. They are endemic to the region
and are known locally as both Pavo Ocelado or Guajalote Ocelato.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
Birds in Science
If you read nothing else in this issue of Birds in the News, then this is the story to read. A serious affliction has been observed in birds in the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state; Long-billed Syndrome…
grrlscientist | March 24, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Wilson's snipe, Gallinago delicata. It is a little unusual to see a shorebird off the the ground, but this fellow decided he needed a higher perch to take in some of the scenery.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
Birds in Research
The songs that each spring announce when birds are ready to compete for homes and sex have been traced to changes in the brain, according to a study that can shed new light on winter depression in people. While some birds, such as robins, sing throughout the winter, other species of bird…
grrlscientist | March 17, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, in Central Park.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger size].
Birds in Science
In all three groups of birds with vocal learning abilities -- songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds -- the brain structures for singing and learning to sing are embedded in areas controlling movement, researchers have discovered. The team also found that areas in charge of movement share many functional similarities with the brain areas for singing. This suggests that the brain…
grrlscientist | March 10, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Populations of the Southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius,
around Mission Beach in North Queensland, Australia, are still suffering
from the effects of Cyclone Larry two years ago.
Image: iStockphoto.
Birds in Science
In humans, as in all mammals, sleep consists of two phases: deep, dreamless slow-wave-sleep (SWS) alternates with dream phases, called Rapid Eye Movement (REM)-sleep. In newly published study, sleep researchers found that pigeons can engage in "power sleep" just as mammals can to make up for lost sleep…
grrlscientist | March 3, 2008Please accept my apologies, but I had to postpone this week's issue of Birds in the News because I broke my arm this past Friday. In fact, as you are reading this notice, I am in the hospital once again, this time meeting with an orthopedic surgeon. Regardless of what happens today, I am fairly certain that Birds in the News will be back next week, though, so please check back!
grrlscientist | February 25, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
King penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, swim off the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean near Antarctica. Scientists estimate that a rise in ocean surface temperature of less than half a degree over the next 20 years would lead to a population collapse.
Image: Yvon Le Maho, French National Center for Scientific Research.
Birds in Science
Primitive feathers that represent a key missing link in their evolution have been found, fossilized in 100-million-year-old amber from France. As long as scientists have studied birds…
grrlscientist | February 18, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
New wintering sites for critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpipers, Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, have been discovered in Myanmar.
Image: Peter Ericsson.
Birds in Science
There is a lot of controversy among scientists regarding when modern birds first appeared. The current fossil record suggests that modern birds appeared approximately 60-65 million years ago when the other lineages of dinosaurs (along with at least half of all terrestrial animals) were extinguished by a bolide impact. However, it is possible that…
grrlscientist | February 11, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
The White-crested Elaenia, Elaenia albiceps, on Texas' South Padre Island.
Image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer, Erik Breden, who retains the copyright to the image [larger view and More pictures of this bird]. [call notes of this bird, linked from Martin Reid, who recorded it onsite (mp3)].
The really hot bird news in the United States is the presence of a White-crested Elaenia on Texas' South Padre Island. This is the first time this species has been seen in North America, so there are…
grrlscientist | February 4, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, 2005.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger view].
Birds in Science
A species of hummingbird makes a chirping noise with its tail feathers, not its throat, a study using high-speed video has suggested. The exact source of the noise from male Anna's hummingbirds has been the subject of debate among researchers. The loud chirp sound is produced by male Anna's hummingbirds, Calypte anna, as the birds dive towards the ground at speeds that exceed 50mph (80km/h) during their displays for nearby…
grrlscientist | January 28, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
The Little Bustard, Tetrax tetrax, is one of the birds that occurs in the new Special Protection Areas (SPAs) approved by the Portuguese government.
Image: Gabriel Sierra. [larger view].
Birds in Science
Scientists believe they could be a step closer to solving the mystery of how the first birds took to the air. A study published in the journal Nature suggests that the key to understanding the evolution of bird flight is the angle at which a bird flaps its wings. Scientists investigating this area tend to fall into…
grrlscientist | January 21, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Sleeping Flamingoes.
Image: orphaned image [larger size].
People Hurting Birds
A new study, based on the use of "climate envelope modelling", predicts that without vigorous and immediate action against climate change, the potential future distribution of the average European bird species will shift by nearly 550 km to the northeast by the end of this century, will reduce their range size by a fifth and overlap their current range by only 40 per cent. Alarmingly, the atlas shows that three quarters of all Europe's…
grrlscientist | January 14, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Song sparrow, Melospiza melodia.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger size].
Birds in Science
I wrote about grandparenting behavior in the Seychelles warbler, Acrocephalus sechellensis, on my blog several months ago, so it is satisfying to see that the mainstream science media wrote about the same study last week.
People Hurting Birds
Analyses of satellite images have revealed for the first time the extent of deforestation occurring on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, indicating that many more bird species…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Clark's Grebe, Aechmorphus clarkii, in the foreground with a Western Grebe, Aechmorphus occidentalis, behind. Both were photographed on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (north end of the Great Salt Lake) in the spring of 2005. Similar birds, but the field marks are straw-yellow bill (Clark's) cf. greenish-yellow bill (Western); white feathering around the eye (Clark's) cf black (Western), and whiter flanks on the Clark's Grebe. This pair of birds was hanging out together, and that was not unusual, making one wonder…
grrlscientist | December 31, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Gull with Reflection.
California Gull, Larus californicus, with reflection -- Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island Causeway, April 2005.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [really large view]
People Hurting Birds
The bald eagle injured when it flew into a utility line in Plumsted last week has died. Don Bonica of Toms River Avian Care in New Jersey had taken the bird in with hopes of rehabilitating it, but the attempt was unsuccessful, he said. "When I went out to take care of it this morning, it was dead," Bonica said. The bird…
grrlscientist | December 24, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Broad-billed Hummingbird, Cynanthus latirostris, with a pollen cap.
Image: Greg Scott [wallpaper size].
Birds in Science
A new research paper shows that female blue tits use plumage color to clue in males of the species to their genetic quality: the brighter their blue cap coloring and their yellow collar coloring, the better mothers they make.
Some birds nesting in the central and eastern United States have moved their range over a hundred miles farther north in less than three decades. Scientists at…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Broad-billed Hummingbird, Cynanthus latirostris.
Image: Greg Scott [MUCH larger view].
Birds in Science
A new study by the University of Exeter, UK has revealed that stressed out birds are more likely to take risks than their relaxed counterparts. The research team selectively bred zebra finches to create "laid-back", "normal", and "stressed" groups of birds. These groups differ by their levels of stress hormone, which in birds is corticosterone. The research team observed the behavioral strategies of birds to…
grrlscientist | December 10, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Winter in NYC means the return of migratory White-throated Sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis (this bird is in its first winter plumage). There are thousands of these birds in Central Park and in the other parks here, subsisting on grass seeds along with crumbs and other foods that people give them.
Image: Kevin T. Karlson [larger view].
Birds in Science
Divers exploring a water-filled sinkhole in the Bahama Islands recently recovered one of the world's largest and most pristinely preserved collections of animal and…
grrlscientist | December 3, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
A brown pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, relaxes on a people-watching and photography trip at the Port Aransas Birding Center, Texas.
Image: Scott Lewis [MUCH larger view].
Birds in Science
A £200,000 study into what happens when people hear birdsong is taking off. Researchers at Aberdeen University in Great Britain will spend two years listening to birds to find out how their songs, calls and cries become a part of people's lives. "Listening to birds: an anthropological approach to bird sounds" has received…
grrlscientist | November 26, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, in flight.
Image: Justawriter [wallpaper size].
People Hurting Birds
An extremely rare lesser spotted eagle, shot earlier this year by dumbass human hunters on the island of Malta, has been saved from death but may never be able to return to the wild. The bird, nicknamed Sigmar after Germany's environmental minister, underwent three operations to repair damage it suffered after being shot, but it may not be enough for the bird to live in the wild again. The bird can feed itself and…