ornithology
grrlscientist | September 9, 2009tags: Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, photographed at Brazoria Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 July 2009 [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 | September 8, 2009tags: Speckled Pigeon, Columba guinea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Speckled Pigeon, Columba guinea, photographed drinking at the Lake Manyara Serena Lodge swimming pool, in Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 8 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, Nikon 200-400 VR lens at 400. ISO 800. F/4.5 1/160.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009tags: nature, birds, gannet, Morus serrator, technology, BBC, streaming video
Steve Leonard and a group of conservationists attach tiny gadgets to the feathers of a Gannet, Morus serrator, to learn how they eat and fly out in the deep oceans. Great short video from BBC wildlife show Animal Camera.
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia, photographed at Brazoria Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 July 2009 [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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | September 6, 2009tags: Double-barred Finch, Owl Finch, Bicheno, Taeniopygia bichenovii, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Double-barred (Owl) Finch, Taeniopygia bichenovii, also known as the Bicheno, photographed at Grafton, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, 15 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm f/4 1/2000 sec, f/4, iso 200.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The photographer writes;
Double-barred Finches, aka Owl Finches or Bichenos, are frequently observed in small…
grrlscientist | September 5, 2009tags: Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus, photographed at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 July 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.
grrlscientist | September 4, 2009tags: parrots, Kakapo, Strigops habroptilus, BBC Two, Last Chance to See, endangered species, BBC Two, Mark Carwardine, Stephen Fry, streaming video
Following in the footsteps of Douglas Adams, Stephen Fry joins Mark Carwardine to travel to some of the most remote places on earth in search of endangered animals. In this clip, Stephen Fry jokes about some of the names given to birds in New Zealand.
You might also be searching for this video: Shagged by a Rare Parrot.
I am very jealous of all you peeps who live in the UK: BBC Two is starting this series, Last Chance to See tomorrow! Alas, I…
grrlscientist | September 4, 2009tags: Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, photographed at Bolivar Flats, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 July 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s 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 | September 3, 2009tags: Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, with baby aboard, photographed on Lake Constance, Kontanz, Germany. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Byrnes, 14 June 2009 [larger view].
Several people have sent me photographs of birds recently, including one person who sent a penguin mystery bird! The penguin image has mysteriously disappeared, so please do re-send that image. This mystery bird (which is on my life list, thanks to the many pairs I saw in Finland) is the…
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009tags: travel, nature, Antarctica, king penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, David Attenborough, streaming video
This video presents a Nature program that documents the huge colonies of Antarctica's King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus. It's amazing to see a giant creche comprised of 50,000 King Penguin chicks, and to watch the courtship behaviors among these birds. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough.
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009tags: Cut-throat Finch, Ribbon Finch, Amadina fasciata, Kenya Canary, Yellow-crowned Canary, Serinus flavivertex, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Yellow-crowned (Kenya) Canary, Serinus flavivertex (left), Cut-throat (Ribbon) Finch, Amadina fasciata (right), photographed in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 7 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm VR lens at 310 mm. ISO 400 f/5 1/500 sec.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds…
tetrapodzoology | September 2, 2009So I recently recycled the Madagascar pochard article from Tet Zoo ver 1, first published in 2006. As you might have realised if you read the 2006 article (and if your memory is exceptionally good), I made one major change for the 2009 re-posting: I chopped out the bit about the Pink-headed duck. Why? Because this species is interesting enough to deserve a bit of attention all its own. Here we go...
Once upon a time the remarkable Pink-headed duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea* - in my opinion easily one of the weirdest ducks of them all - was abundant throughout the floodplains and swamps of…
grrlscientist | September 1, 2009tags: Green Winged Pytilia, Melba Finch, Melba Waxbill, Pytilia melba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Green Winged Pytilia, also known as the Melba Finch or Melba Waxbill, Pytilia melba, photographed in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 31 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, Nikon 200-400 VR lens at 400 mm. ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/180 sec.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 31, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvicensis, photographed at the Bolivar Ferry, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 4 August 2009 [larger view].
Birds and Technology
Rather than searching for weird weather or enemy missiles, some satellites are helping researchers to track -- and predict -- the spread of deadly diseases. With the pandemic spread of H1N1 swine flu and the continued advance of the H5N1 avian flu, scientists are anxious to better predict the spread of infectious diseases and are looking for new tools wherever they…
grrlscientist | August 31, 2009tags: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, photographed at High Island, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 2009 [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 | August 30, 2009tags: Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Nycticorax violaceus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Nycticorax violaceus, photographed at Bolivar Flats, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 24 July 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
tetrapodzoology | August 30, 2009The recent article about Meller's duck Anas melleri inspired me to recycle my ver 1 article about another of Madagascar's endemic ducks, the Madagascar pochard Aythya innotata [male shown below]. Meller's duck is endangered, with a global population of between 3000 and 5000, but the Madagascar pochard is in an even worse position: in fact, it was regarded as extinct until 2006, when a small group of less than 20 was discovered (read on).
In fact, just last month a joint group representing the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, The Peregrine Fund, and…
grrlscientist | August 29, 2009tags: Common Bulbul, Pycnonotus barbatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Bulbul, also known as the Pepperbird among other names, Pycnonotus barbatus, photographed in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 7 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 VR lens at 400 mm. ISO 400. 1/250 f/5.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 28, 2009tags: Ross's Goose, Chen rossii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ross's Goose, Chen rossii, photographed at Tom Bass Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
[Mystery bird] Ross's Goose, Chen rossii, photographed at Tom Bass Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 August 2009 [larger view…
grrlscientist | August 27, 2009tags: Grey Crowned-crane, Balearica regulorum, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Grey Crowned-crane, Balearica regulorum, photographed in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 4 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm VR lens at 280 mm. ISO 100 f/4 1/500.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.