birds
grrlscientist | January 25, 2010tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird #1] Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, photographed at the Hermann Park Conservancy, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 18 November 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
[NOTE: all IDs were made by the photographer; I don't agree with them, but I am reporting them. Of course, the links to the original images are broken now]
Mystery bird #2…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2010tags: Hadada Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash, Hagedashia hagedash, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hadada Ibis, Bostrychia (Hagedashia) hagedash, photographed at Arusha National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen [larger view].
Nikon D2X and Nikon 200-400 VR lens at 240 mm. ISO 200 f/9 1/125.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 23, 2010tags: White-eared Barbet, Stactolaema leucotis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-eared Barbet, Stactolaema leucotis, photographed at Amani Preserve, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 6 September 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm lens, at 400. ISO 200, 1/250, f/6.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | January 23, 2010A mother mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and her ducklings, photographed in Cape May, New Jersey.
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010tags: evolution, evolutionary biology, evolutionary ecology, plumage color,carotenoid-based colour, carotenoids, lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, sperm motility, sperm quality, sperm velocity, birds, ornithology, Great Tit, Parus major, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
Great Tit, Parus major.
Image: Luc Viatour, Creative Commons/Wikipedia [larger view]
In some species of birds, males are more brightly colored than females. This phenomenon is due to female choice: females choose to mate with males that have the brightest plumage colors and most elaborate…
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010tags: Araripe Manakin, Antilophia bokermanni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Araripe Manakin, Antilophia bokermanni, photographed at Chapada do Araripe, south Ceará, Brazil. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Ciro Albano.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Learn more about this endangered South American bird.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | January 21, 2010A group of sanderlings flees from an incoming wave, photographed in Spring Lake, New Jersey.
grrlscientist | January 21, 2010tags: Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Neotropical Cormorant, also known as the Olivaceous Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, photographed on the San Bernard Wildlife Refuge, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 20, 2010tags: Leucistic Vermilion Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Leucistic Vermilion Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus, photographed on the Sweetwater Wetlands Park, Tucson, Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Lois Manowitz, 30 December 2009 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase images from this photographer. For more details, view her flickr photostream (linked) or ask me for her email address.
This bird should be very challenging to identify. However, for those of you who have seen this individual, please…
grrlscientist | January 19, 2010tags: Vermilion Flycatcher, Galapagos Flycatcher, Darwin's Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Male Vermilion Flycatcher, this striking species' large range (southwestern USA through Argentina) means that it is known by a variety of common names, such as the Galapagos Flycatcher or Darwin's Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus, photographed on the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Anahuac, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera…
grrlscientist | January 18, 2010tags: Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta, photographed on the Katy Prairie, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/800s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The identification of silent…
grrlscientist | January 17, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | January 17, 2010tags: Eurasian Tawny-Eagle, Asian Tawny-Eagle, African Tawny-Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Aquila rapax, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tawny Eagle, also known by a number of common names that reflect its wide-ranging status; Asian Tawny-Eagle, Eurasian Tawny-Eagle and African Tawny-Eagle, Aquila rapax, photographed at Nakuru National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 29 July 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm lens at 400. ISO 200, 1/350, f/6.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.…
grrlscientist | January 16, 2010tags: Two-banded Courser, Smutsornis (Cursorius) africanus gracilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Two-banded Courser, Smutsornis (Cursorius) africanus gracilis, photographed at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 30 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm lens at 400. ISO 200, 1/250, f/8.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, life history, migration, long-distance migration,birds,ornithology,researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
White-rumped sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis, chicks on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada.
Image: Laura McKinnon [larger view]
I recently told you about research that used new microtechnology to document the incredible journey of Arctic Terns, a small bird species that annually migrates from its wintering area in Antarctica to its breeding colonies in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America…
laelaps | January 15, 2010A turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) landing to scavenge a deer carcass. Photographed in suburban New Jersey.
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: Delicate Owl, White Owl, Barn Owl, Tyto alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Barn Owl, occasionally known as the Delicate Owl, or more commonly as the White Owl, Tyto alba, photographed on the roadside in the Rio Grande Valley, the southernmost tip of Texas. This valley occurs at the boundary between the United States and Mexico. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: ©JRCompton.com/birds: JR Compton, 2008 [larger view]. [Added 19 April 2010: Link to photoseries of this bird]
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at…
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Riparian Rashomon, Agami Heron, Agamia agami, Brilliant Forest Frog, Lithobates warszewitschii, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is a fascinating stop-motion video of the creation of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting, Riparian Rashomon. This is a diptych (two-panel) piece, vertically oriented. The upper panel is painted first, then the lower one, and finally the two are brought together as intended. Each panel depicts a different viewpoint of the same event: a Brilliant Forest Frog evading an Agami Heron in a…
edyong | January 14, 2010
I've just flown from London to North Carolina, a trip of around 6,200km. As flights go, it's a pathetic one, a mere jaunt in the park compared to the epic voyage of the Arctic tern. Every year, this greatest of animal travellers makes a 70,000 km round-trip, in a relentless, globe-trotting pursuit of daylight. In summer, it spends its time in the sun-soaked Arctic and in winter, it heads for the equally bright climes of Antarctica. In its 30 years of life, this champion aeronaut flies more than 2.4 million kilometres - the equivalent of three return journeys to the Moon.
The Arctic tern'…