birds
grrlscientist | April 12, 2008tags: King Eider, Somateria spectabilis, birds, Image of the Day
Fifth in a series of duck images by this photographer.
Male King Eider, Somateria spectabilis.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 11, 2008tags: Northern Pintail, Anas acuta, birds, Image of the Day
Fourth in a series of images by this photographer.
Male Northern Pintail, Anas acuta.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
revere | April 11, 2008I have professional colleagues who are dedicated birders but it has never interested me, and their interests are mainly independent of their lives as epidemiologists, toxicologists or whatever else they do at work. But the biosphere is truly interconnected in strange ways and sometimes what seems an unrelated realm intrudes itself front and center in a different context. Bird migration is a good example. How is bird flu spread? Is it human enabled movements of infected poultry or the rare bird trade? Or is it the "natural" movements of wild, migratory birds, the natural reservoir for the…
grrlscientist | April 10, 2008tags: Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, birds, Image of the Day
Third in a series of images by this photographer.
"Abstract"
Male Wood Duck, Aix sponsa.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 9, 2008tags: Harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus, Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis, birds, Image of the Day
Second in a series by this photographer.
Male Harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus (left)
and male Long-tailed duck (formerly: Oldsquaw), Clangula hyemalis (foreground).
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 8, 2008tags: Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola, birds, Image of the Day
The first in a series by this photographer.
Male Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola.
Image: John del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 7, 2008tags: Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, Manhattan, Kansas, birds, Image of the Day
Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo,
seen at Fancy Creek and Randolph - North end of Tuttle Creek Reservoir in Kansas.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [larger view].
omnibrain | April 7, 2008 This is clearly false advertising. I don't see any pinging going on. This seems more like Pigeons playing pong.
BF Skinner trains two pigeons to perform a chain of behaviors for the classroom demonstration. As a result, pigeons engage in a competition, the so-called "pigeon Ping Pong". Narrated by B.F. Skinner.
-source-
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…
omnibrain | April 7, 2008 I'm going to be teaching Psych 100 next year and 200 or so lucky kids are going to luck out with me as an instructor. I'm just going to read them previously written blog posts all semester. Maybe I'll read out of a really crappy intro psych text book to them as well. Ok.. just kidding. I really want to make this upcoming year as entertaining as possible for them. There are so many great psychology experiments and stories about classic personalities to share. I think I need a little help with it from you guys though. If you have any suggestions about stories, experiments, or videos you…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by Ian Paulsen, which lists bird and natural history books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
New and Recent Titles:
Angehr, George R., Dodge Engleman, and Lorna Engleman. A Bird-Finding Guide to Panama. 2008. Cornell University Press. Paperback: 391 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S. [Amazon: $19.77]. SUMMARY: An up-to-date birding guide to Panama.
Gellhorn, Joyce. White-tailed…
grrlscientist | April 4, 2008tags: birds, American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the last image in a series of five.
American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes;
I know I've sent you a goldfinch before. But they are one of my favorite birds.
My father loved goldfinches. He called them wild canaries. He told me that as a child during the Great Depression he and his friends would try to catch them (uniformly unsuccessfully)…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2008tags: birds, Eastern wood-peewee, Contopus virens, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the fourth image in a series of five.
Eastern Wood-Pewee, Contopus virens.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes;
This peewee hung around our group on a camping trip in Northern Minnesota. I love it when the subjects of my photos come to me instead of having to trek over hill and dale.
revere | April 3, 2008The index case was a 5 year old Miniature Schnauzer with 5 days of nasal discharge and sneezing. The dog recovered but the next case, a 3 year old Cocker Spaniel wasn't so lucky, nor were the 2 Korean hunting dogs (Jindos) or a 3 year old Yorkshire terrier. Then 13 dogs in a shelter started to show signs of nasal discharge, cough and high fever. Antibody studies showed that they had all been suffering from influenza infection, subtype H3N2. These cases happened in the spring and summer of 2007 (NB: this is not flu season). H3N2 is the most common subtype involved in human seasonal influenza.…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: birds, American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the third image in a series of five.
American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes;
Ah the pelican, whose beak can hold more than its bellican. A few years ago, there was a major dispersal of pelicans from their largest nesting area in North America, the Chase Lake NWF. It caused some concern at the time because a lot of…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: European starling flock, birds, behavior, streaming video
This streaming video shows what happens when a large flock of starlings decides to roost in a small red cedar tree -- it bends over and then, when they fly away, it snaps back. [1:40]
grrlscientist | April 1, 2008tags: flying penguins, humor, satire, streaming video
Wow, hot off the presses: A flock of flying penguins has just been discovered! This video documents this amazing feat. [1:31]
grrlscientist | April 1, 2008tags: birds, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Dendroica pensylvanica, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the second image in a series of five.
Chestnut-sided warbler, Dendroica pensylvanica.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes;
Warblers are hard to to photograph, especially after trees have leafed. I consider myself lucky to catch this fellow swathed in a halo of oak American elm leaves.
grrlscientist | March 31, 2008tags: birds, Western kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the first image in a series of five.
Western kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes:
I love these birds because when I was growing up a flock of grackles started nesting in the shelterbelt around the house and chased away many of the robins and other perching birds. That limited my window birding opportunities until a pair of highly aggressive…
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…