tags: Mallard duckling, Anas platyrhynchos, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mallard duckling, Anas platyrhynchos, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2008 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2008:04:22 07:35:53
Exposure Time: 1/319
F-Number: 11.00
ISO: 320
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Any doubt that this is a duck? Happily, most downy waterfowl are encountered in the presence of their more easily…
ornithology
grrlscientist | November 10, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
This Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus,
is from the photographer's ancestral village of Rintoul,
near Kinross, which is north of the Firth of Forth,
about 20 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Image: Dave Rintoul, August 2008.
Birds in Science
At 14 years old, Spencer Hardy has solved an avian mystery and discovered significant evidence for the only bird other than a penguin to incubate its eggs on glacial ice. Hardy's geoscientist father, Douglas, was stationed in southeastern Peru at the Quelccaya Ice Cap in the…
grrlscientist | November 10, 2008tags: Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, photographed at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 March 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This photo should fill you with a flush of accomplishment: rather than running to the field…
grrlscientist | November 9, 2008tags: Superb Starling, Lamprotornis superbus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Superb Starling, Lamprotornis superbus (sometimes known as the "Spreo" starling because its scientific name was Spreo superbus once), endemic to thornbush and acacia country in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and East Africa. Photographed at London Zoo's African Bird Safari. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 September 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Based on the fact that this bird is endemic to many parts…
grrlscientist | November 8, 2008tags: Eurasian Wigeon, Anas penelope, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Eurasian Wigeon, Anas penelope (also known simply as the Wigeon in Europe), photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2004 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2004:12:11 10:29:27
Exposure Time: 1/319
F-Number: 11.00
ISO: 320
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Starting at the rear of this handsome duck, we find a long, pointed tail and white-edged…
grrlscientist | November 7, 2008tags: Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, photographed at Sabine Woods and Sabine Pass area, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Like many North American birders, I grew up where "the oriole problem" was a trivial…
grrlscientist | November 6, 2008tags: Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, photographed at Quintana Sanctuaries, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A blue bird. With a short tail. A moderately short wing. And a thickish bill. Not much else…
grrlscientist | November 5, 2008tags: Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus -- a hatching-year bird of unknown sex -- photographed in central New York. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
NOTE: Rick says this is a favorite image because it shows the wing formula so well, so in this case, we are going to ask you to age and sex this bird as well as identify it.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide,…
grrlscientist | November 4, 2008tags: Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, photographed at the east end of Galveston Island, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/125s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Hard to image anything plainer. But that very plainness -- plus the odd hint…
grrlscientist | November 3, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
European Bee-eater pair, Merops apiaster.
She's still hungry, but not yet willing to mate. So the male bee-eater takes wing
to find more food. When he returns, "the female nearly always accepts the
offering, quickly eating," reports British ornithologist C. Hilary Fry. If his
courtship is successful, he'll continue to bring her prey through the
egg-laying period. Both parents deliver meals to their chicks.
Image: Jözsef L. Szentpéteri/National Geographic online [larger view].
Birds in Science
Raising young can be…
grrlscientist | November 3, 2008tags: Hawaiian Goose, Nene, Branta sandvicensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Nene (Hawaiian goose), Branta sandvicensis, photographed in the United States. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: John del Rio, 2008 [].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Not much mystery to the identification of this mystery bird: anyone who recognized in this bird's large body, sturdy feet, long neck, and conical bill the classic marks of a goose will also, more…
tetrapodzoology | November 2, 2008
Thanks to Tet Zoo, I sometimes receive books to review, and earlier on in the year I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Lewis Smith's Why the Lion Grew Its Mane (Papadakis, 2008). Smith is a science reporter at The Times and in this book, billed as presenting 'a miscellany of recent scientific discoveries from astronomy to zoology', he takes us on a tour of some of the newest, neatest science. Despite its title, Why the Lion Grew Its Mane isn't just about animals, but also includes sections on cutting-edge technology, astronomy, genetics and psychology. I don't know enough about any…
grrlscientist | November 2, 2008tags: Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni, photographed in Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, AZ. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
There's no question that this is a small bird, is there? If we start at the back, we find a shortish, narrow tail stuck on to a comically pudgy body; the shape and the extensive yellow-green…
grrlscientist | November 1, 2008tags: Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, photographed at Shoveler Pond, Anahuac Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 February 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
[Along] With House Sparrow, this is the favorite species of every…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2008tags: Western Screech-Owl, Megascops kennicottii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
Peek-a-boo! [Mystery bird] Western Screech-Owl, Megascops kennicottii, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:06:11 13:51:11
Exposure Time: 1/40
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 500
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
We're going to cheat in a minor way, and take full advantage of our knowledge that this bird was…
grrlscientist | October 30, 2008tags: Pacific Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva, American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pacific Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva (left), and American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica (right), photographed on Fir Island, Skagit County, Washington State [I will identify these birds for you tomorrow].
Image: Marv Breece, 6 October 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/640s f/7.1 at 300.0mm iso800.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:…
grrlscientist | October 29, 2008tags: Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:05:07 07:33:04
Exposure Time: 1/200
F-Number: 14.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
There are birds that are instantly recognizable once we "know" them, but those same species can be puzzling when encountered for…
grrlscientist | October 28, 2008tags: blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus, extrapair fertilization, genetic benefit hypothesis, genetic similarity, plumage color, birdsong, ornithology, behavioral ecology
Blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus.
Image: Paul Hillion, 26 April 2008.
Even though most bird species form social bonds with their mates, they are not always faithful partners to each other. It's easy to figure out why male birds engage in extrapair copulations: this increases the total number of their offspring -- and this increases their reproductive fitness. But since female birds are physically capable of producing only…
grrlscientist | October 28, 2008tags: Northern Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula, photographed in the Meadows Campground near Hart's Pass of the Okanogan National Forest, located above the Methow Valley of Eastern Washington [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 October 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Even with owls it pays to start at the rear of the bird. Many owls are stocky and stumpy,…
grrlscientist | October 27, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
A pair of European Bee-eaters, Merops apiaster.
Before a bee-eater shares his catch with his mate,
he woos her by conspicuously preparing his offering --
tossing around a may bug before knocking it out.
Image: Jözsef L. Szentpéteri/National Geographic online [larger view].
People Hurting Birds
One of Australia's rarest and fastest birds, the swift parrot, seems to be plummeting in number, and logging has been blamed. Sightings of the flashy red and green parrot have declined sharply in its winter home of flowering…