ornithology
grrlscientist | August 7, 2009tags: White-fronted Plover, Charadrius marginatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-fronted Plover, Charadrius marginatus, photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 6, 2009tags: Northern Rough-Winged Swallow, Stelgidopteryx serripennis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Rough-Winged Swallow, Stelgidopteryx serripennis, photographed at the Katy Prairie, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 April 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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 5, 2009tags: Red-and-Yellow Barbet, Trachyphonus erythrocephalus, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red-and-Yellow Barbet, Trachyphonus erythrocephalus, photographed in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 29 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, Nikon 200-400 VR lens at 400 mm. ISO 200, 1/200, f/7.1.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 4, 2009tags: Superb Starling, Lamprotornis superbus, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Superb Starling, sometimes known in American aviculture as the Spreo Starling in honor of its previous genus name, Lamprotornis (Spreo) superbus, photographed in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, Africa. This species is the most common bird in its taxonomic family that the photographer encountered in Tanzania and Kenya. These birds were literally trash birds, he writes, hanging around trash cans, picnic tables etc. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen,…
grrlscientist | August 3, 2009tags: Mocking Cliff-Chat, Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mocking Cliff-Chat, Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris, photographed near Lake Manyara, a shallow alkaline lake in Tanzania, Africa. Lake Manyara was described as the "loveliest [lake] ... in Africa," in Ernest Hemingway's 1953 nonfiction book, Green Hills of Africa. it is also the home of a diverse set of landscapes and wildlife. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 9 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X camera, Lens was the Nikon 200-400 VR…
grrlscientist | August 2, 2009tags: American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, photographed in Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 29 March 2009 [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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 1, 2009tags: Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, photographed at Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 2009 [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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 31, 2009tags: Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla, photographed at Paul Rushing Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 March 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 | July 30, 2009tags: Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, photographed on High Island, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/400s 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 | July 29, 2009tags: Harlequin Ducks, Histrionicus histrionicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Harlequin Ducks, Histrionicus histrionicus (mostly males, but there is a female in the foreground), photographed at low tide at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 8 June 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Are all the birds in this image the same species?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 28, 2009tags: Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus, photographed on Katy Prairie, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/400s 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 | July 27, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
A once-in-a-lifetime photograph of a Common (Eurasian) Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis.
Image: orphaned [larger view].
Birds in Science
For centuries, scientists have puzzled over why the toucan's bill is so remarkably large -- but now one team thinks it might have an answer. The researchers say that the toucan uses its enormous beak to stay cool. They used infrared cameras to show the bird dumping heat from its body into its bill, helping it to regulate its body temperature. The toucan has the largest bill of any bird,…
grrlscientist | July 27, 2009tags: Fischer's Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix leucopareia, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fischer's Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix leucopareia, photographed sitting on donkey dung in Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 3 September 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X 200-400 VR lens at 400. ISO 200 1/500, f/9.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 26, 2009tags: Cape Sparrow, Passer melanurus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Cape Sparrow, Passer melanurus, photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 25, 2009tags: Black-Bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Black-Bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, photographed at Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 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.
grrlscientist | July 24, 2009tags: Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus, photographed at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 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 | July 23, 2009Yesterday I did a day of work in London. Because everything finished far earlier than I was anticipating, I had time to kill so, accompanied by trusty sidekick John Conway, what else could I do but spend a few hours at ZSL's London Zoo (ZSL = Zoological Society of London)? We had a great time and saw some neat creatures: here are a few of the highlights. We start with one of the most awesome creatures on the planet...
Yes, the incredible Komodo dragon Varanus komodoensis. To be honest I'd forgotten that they have them there: I think there are also dragons at Chester Zoo, Colchester Zoo and (…
grrlscientist | July 23, 2009tags: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] 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 1/320s 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 | July 22, 2009tags: Ruff, Philomachus pugnax, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruff, Philomachus pugnax photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds as of this date.
tetrapodzoology | July 21, 2009
I was sure I'd written about the wonderful subject of duck sex on Tet Zoo before. However, having searched the archives I can't find much, which seems odd. Male ducks have large - often very, very large - penises. The text-book example is the Argentine lake duck Oxyura vittata, originally reported to have a 20-cm-long penis (McCracken 2000) (this in a bird about 40 cm long in total), but later shown to sometimes have a penis that hangs for a length of 32.5 cm but stretches to 42.5 cm when fully unwound (McCracken et al. 2001). The Argentine lake duck is a stifftail, a group of ducks that…