ornithology
grrlscientist | July 21, 2009tags: Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, photographed at Anahuac Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 May 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso40.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 20, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Birdwatchers in southeastern Australia have been thrilled to see the arrival of about a third of the total national population of the highly endangered Swift Parrot, Lathamus discolor, on the Far South Coast.
Image: Max Sutcliffe, Narooma News [larger view].
Birds in Science
Bird deaths around the Baltic Sea and possibly elsewhere in the world may be caused by a shortage of the vitamin thiamine, researchers say. Wild birds of varied species along the Baltic coasts have been dying of hard-to-explain paralysis since…
grrlscientist | July 20, 2009tags: Spot-Bellied Eagle-Owl, Forest Eagle-Owl, Malay Eagle-Owl, Bubo nipalensis, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Spot-Bellied Eagle-Owl, also known as the Forest Eagle-Owl or the Malay Eagle-Owl, Bubo nipalensis. This interesting bird, which is a pet, is endemic to Southeast Asia. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: "juannasue."
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 20, 2009tags: Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus, photographed at roughly 9am in the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Bardiac, 7 June 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 19, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres, photographed at Galveston, East Beach, 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 1/640s 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 | July 18, 2009tags: Swee Waxbill, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Estrilda melanotis, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-bellied Waxbill, also known as the Swee Waxbill, Estrilda melanotis, photographed on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 17, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, photographed at the Katy Prairie, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 March 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.
tetrapodzoology | July 17, 2009
A little while ago, news of a new paper by Devon Quick and John Ruben, both of Oregon State University, appeared on the newswires. It got its fair share of publicity.
Entitled 'Cardio-pulmonary anatomy in theropod dinosaurs: implications from extant archosaurs', the paper (Quick & Ruben 2009) purports to show that modern birds are fundamentally different from non-avian dinosaurs in terms of abdominal soft-tissue morphology, ergo birds cannot be modified dinosaurs. In slightly more detail, the paper asserts that a specialised 'femoral-thigh complex', combined with a synsacrum and…
grrlscientist | July 16, 2009tags: Western Screech-owl, Megascops kennicottii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Western Screech-owl, Megascops kennicottii, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Richard Ditch, 11 June 2005.
Date Time Original: 2005:06:11 13:52:01
Exposure Time: 1/60
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 500
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 15, 2009tags: Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, photographed on the Fort Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 4 January 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
As an added bonus, can you tell me if this bird is a juvenile or adult, male or female?
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grrlscientist | July 14, 2009tags: Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fledgling Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio, photographed in a backyard birdbath in Manhattan, Kansas (Riley County). [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dave Rintoul, 1 July 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 13, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Plump and hoping to get plumper, a red knot takes a break from eating horseshoe crab eggs at Mispillion Harbor.
Image: Louisa Jonas/WYPR [larger view].
Birds in Science
Catching adult eagles for research purposes is no easy task, but a Purdue University researcher has found a way around the problem, and, in the process, gathered even more information about the birds without ever laying a hand on one. "Many birds are small, easy to catch and abundant," said Andrew DeWoody, associate professor of forestry and natural…
grrlscientist | July 13, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird, I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius.
Image: Dan Tallman.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
ID Keys: Wine-red breast, slate blue head and rump, slate grey back.
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grrlscientist | July 12, 2009tags: Alpine Chat, Hill Chat, Moorland Chat, Cercomela sordida, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Alpine Chat (also known as the Hill Chat or Moorland Chat), Cercomela sordida, photographed at 14000 feet elevation on Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 22 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, Nikon 70-200 lens at 200. ISO 400, 1/250, f/3.5.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | July 11, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum, photographed at Paul Rushing Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
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 10, 2009tags: Grey-Backed Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix verticalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Grey-Backed Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix verticalis, 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.
The photographer, Dr. Dennis Paulson, Director Emeritus of the Slater Museum of Natural History, writes;
Sparrow-larks are bona fide larks, but their bills are modified for seed-eating, so they are very sparrow-like. They are…
grrlscientist | July 9, 2009tags: House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 7 August 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:07:08 08:30:57
Exposure Time: 1/249
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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tetrapodzoology | July 8, 2009Back in April 2008 (my god - where does the time go?) I wrote a brief article about the Animal Life and The Private Lives of Animals books, published by Casa Editrice AMZ. These first came out during the late 1960s and were written in Italian; they were then translated into English during the 70s. As I said last year, the art in these books is generally pretty fantastic and a joy to look it. However, the artists were, evidently, sometimes asked to paint things that they'd never seen (example: the sexual dimorphism present in Sable antelopes Hippotragus niger).
What also makes the books…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2009tags: Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 30 April 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 | July 7, 2009tags: Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Merops oreobates, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Merops oreobates, photographed at Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 8 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm VR lens at 400. ISO 320, 1/400, f/5.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.