ornithology
grrlscientist | June 7, 2009tags: Streaked-Back Oriole, Icterus pustulatus microstictus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Streaked-Back Oriole, Icterus pustulatus microstictus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 21 October 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:10:21 07:34:06
Exposure Time: 1/400
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 800
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 6, 2009tags: Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] female Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus, photographed on the Fort Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 26 November 2008 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 5, 2009tags: Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, photographed near Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 29 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/1500s 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 | June 4, 2009tags: Townsend's Solitaire, Myadestes townsendi, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Townsend's Solitaire, Myadestes townsendi, photographed in Clallam County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 23 May 2009 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/2000s f/7.1 at 300.0mm iso400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 3, 2009tags: Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvicensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvicensis, photographed at Corpus Christi, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Dan Logen, 2 May 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 2, 2009tags: Common Whitethroat, Sylvia communis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Whitethroat, Sylvia communis, photographed in Denmark. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Roger Tidman/ RSPB.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 1, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis.
Image: Gisela Delpho [larger view].
Birds in Science
Unpredictable weather seems to stimulate chatter among birds -- as well as humans -- according to researchers. A team of US scientists has found that Northern Mockingbirds living in variable climates sing more elaborate songs. Complex tunes, sung by males to impress females, are likely to signal the birds' intelligence. Carlos Botero, a researcher from the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in North Carolina, led the study. Dr…
grrlscientist | June 1, 2009tags: Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, 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 | May 31, 2009tags: Tennessee Warbler, Vermivora peregrina, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tennessee Warbler, Vermivora peregrina, photographed at Lake Thompson in Kingsbury County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 2 May 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | May 30, 2009tags: Tri-Colored Heron, Egretta tricolor, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Tri-Colored Heron, Egretta tricolor, photographed at Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/250s 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 | May 30, 2009The proofs for one of my books arrived the other day, so I have been busy busy busy. This (in part) explains the lack of action here on the blog, and the preponderance of recycled stuff. Sorry about that. In fact, sorry, here's another recycled article from Tet Zoo ver 1. Hopefully I'll have the time to produce some new content over the next week, but don't hold your breath. And sorry about all the dinosaur stuff: I know you much prefer it when I post on frogs, lizards, mice and passerines. Anyway...
As a kid I always got the impression from textbooks that the only tetrapods (and thus only…
grrlscientist | May 29, 2009tags: Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 30 January 2005.
Date Time Original: 2005:01:30 07:51:30
Exposure Time: 1/159
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | May 28, 2009tags: Thayer's Gull, Larus thayeri, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Thayer's Gull, Larus thayeri, photographed on the Pacific coastline of San Francisco, California. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 18 December 2008 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | May 27, 2009tags: Wilson's Snipe, Gallinago delicata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Wilson's Snipe, Gallinago delicata, photographed in San Bernard Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 March 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 | May 26, 2009tags: Greylag Goose, Anser anser, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Greylag Goose, Anser anser, photographed at an RSPB reserve in Strumpshaw, Norfolk, UK. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Brian McFarlane, 2009.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Here's a bit of a change of pace: The ID of this bird is easy, but can you tell me the proper term for what it is doing and explain why it is doing this?
This bird is whiffling; flipping upside down to dump airspeed so it can land [read more about it].
Review all mystery…
grrlscientist | May 25, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Who's shooting endangered condors?
The shooting of two rare California condors, like this one, set phones ringing at the offices of environmental groups.
Image: [larger view].
Birds in Science
Northern Mockingbirds tend to sing fancier tunes with changing climate, say researchers. The research team from the National Evolutionary Synthesis Centre (NESCent), the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and McGill University showed that species in more variable climes also sing complex tunes. "Survival and reproduction become more…
grrlscientist | May 25, 2009tags: Tufted Titmouse, Parus bicolor, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tufted Titmouse, Parus bicolor, photographed in Manhattan, Kansas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Dave Rintoul, 11 April 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
We find ourselves looking up at a gray bird. The tail is moderately long and somewhat disheveled; the body plumage is lax and fluffy. This one's a poser.
When we can…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2009tags: Inca Dove, Columbina inca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Inca Dove, Columbina inca, photographed in Paul Rushing Park, 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 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The gentle, big-eyed, small-headed look of this bird should send us in…
tetrapodzoology | May 23, 2009
Historically, an apparent absence of transitional forms has made it difficult to reconstruct the evolutionary affinities of the different modern avian 'orders'. As you'll know if you've been keeping up with the results of the various big molecular and morphological analyses - and who hasn't - the avian cladogram is gradually coming together, though areas of debate and disagreement remain. One of the most vexing areas has been the origin of the parrots, or psittaciforms. An idea frequently mooted in the ornithological literature is that parrots are close kin of pigeons and doves - the…
grrlscientist | May 23, 2009tags: Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 13 October 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:10:13 08:34:51
Exposure Time: 1/639
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Here's a tiny, acrobatic bird with a short, deeply notched tail. Even…