birds
grrlscientist | May 2, 2010tags: Lake Victoria Weaver, Victoria Masked-Weaver, Entebbe Weaver, Gambian Black-headed Weaver, Yellow-backed Weaver, Yellow-collared Weaver, Black-headed Weaver, Ploceus melanocephalus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-headed Weaver, also known by numerous other common names, including the Yellow-collared (or Yellow-backed) Weaver, Gambian Black-headed Weaver, Victoria Masked-weaver, Lake Victoria Weaver, or the Entebbe Weaver, Ploceus melanocephalus, photographed Ndutu Safari Lodge, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen,…
laelaps | May 2, 2010A keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus), photographed at the Central Park, Zoo.
grrlscientist | May 1, 2010tags: Black-fronted Bush-Shrike, Black-fronted Bushshrike, Chlorophoneus nigrifrons, Telophorus nigrifrons, Laniarius nigrifrons, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-fronted Bush-Shrike, Chlorophoneus (Laniarius) (Telophorus) nigrifrons, photographed in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 12 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens, ISO 800, F/5.6, 1/200 sec.
This is a challenging bird to identify, so I am asking you to instead try to identify the taxonomic family.
Please name at…
grrlscientist | April 30, 2010tags: Rod-breasted Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, photographed in a Houston backyard in Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 21 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Based on this bird's beak shape, what sort of diet would you expect it to have?
This bird primarily eats seeds, as indicated by the heavy beak and the angulated commissure (that…
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010tags: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, photographed at Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 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 | April 28, 2010tags: Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, photographed sitting on top of a blooming Saguaro cactus on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 8 May 2008 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you.
Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
clock | April 27, 2010This week, Dr.Bird answers questions about birds - the raptors, especially those living inside of big cities. Listen to the podcast and join the discussion in the forums:
Listen to an interview about city-dwelling raptors. Download MP3
David Bird is a wildlife biologist at McGill University in Montreal. He directs the university's Avian Science and Conservation Center.
Bird is editor of the the new book Birds of Canada. He also wrote The Bird Almanac: A Guide to Essential Facts and Figures of the World's Birds.
On our radio program, we aired a story about how raptors -- birds of prey -- are…
grrlscientist | April 26, 2010tags: Sedge Wren, Short-billed Marsh Wren, Cistothorus platensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Sedge Wren, formerly known as the Short-billed Marsh Wren, Cistothorus platensis, photographed at Attwater Prairie Chicken Refuge, Eagle Lake, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 November 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
If you can ID this species, can you also tell me what its former common name was and how it came by its new common name?
Please name at…
grrlscientist | April 25, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books.
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…
grrlscientist | April 25, 2010tags: Black-faced Lourie, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Corythaixoides personatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-faced Lourie, also known as the Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Corythaixoides personatus, photographed lying motionless in the afternoon sun in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 17 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 200-400 VR lens at 240 mm, ISO 500, f/8 1/1250 sec.
As an added bonus, can you tell me what this bird is doing and why?
Please name at least one field mark that supports…
grrlscientist | April 24, 2010tags: African Wattled Lapwing, Senegal Wattled Plover, Vanellus senegallus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Wattled Lapwing, also known as the Senegal Wattled Plover, Vanellus senegallus, photographed at the Kilombero River, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 9 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens. ISO 320, 1/1000 sec, f/7.1 Exposure compensation at 0.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 23, 2010tags: Great Horned Owl, Tiger Owl, Bubo virginianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great Horned Owl, also known as the Tiger Owl, Bubo virginianus, photographed on the roadside in the Edinburg, Texas in The Lower Rio Grande Valley. 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. I encourage you to purchase photographs from this photographer. [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
One of my goals for the…
grrlscientist | April 22, 2010tags: Tawny Fish-Owl, Bubo flavipes, Ketupa flavipes, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tawny Fish-Owl, Bubo (Ketupa) flavipes, photographed at Corbett Tiger Reserve (also known as the Jim Corbett National Park), northeast of Delhi in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains of India. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: John Kneeshaw [larger view].
Canon EOS 40D with 300mmAF lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 21, 2010tags: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, sometimes known as the Red-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, photographed in Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Beginning birders: can you name the species?Intermediate birders: can you…
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Eyjafjallajökull, volcanic particulate material, ash clouds, airborne-particle deposition, respiratory physiology, respiratory toxicology, medicine, veterinary medicine, birds, avian health, bioassay, anatomy, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club
Figure 1: The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, photographed by a farmer in Iceland. This eruption sent massive billowing clouds of volcanic ash several miles into the atmosphere.
Image: Ãlafur Eggertsson (Newscom/Zuma) [larger view]
April is the peak month of spring migration for millions of birds, so the ongoing…
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, photographed in Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s 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 | April 19, 2010tags: White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys photographed at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 25 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
This sweet little bird was my "dissertation species" .. can you name it? There are several subspecies as well, each with slightly different habits and ranges .. maybe you can name…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books.
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…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, photographed in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 22 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 x 1.4, ISO 1000, 1/4000, f/9 Exp comp -1.3
As an added bonus, can you tell me about this bird's feeding habits, just from looking at it?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Immature King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, photographed in unknown sub-Antarctic island location. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: creative commons.
NOTE: PLEASE name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
NOTE: Opus the Penguin, a fictional character in the comic strips Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, is a king penguin and the most famous character of the comic strips.
Review all mystery birds to date.