ornithology
grrlscientist | March 26, 2010tags: Sanderlings Schiermonnikoog, birds, birding, wildlife, humans, conservation, education, streaming video
This is a sweet little video about the Sanderlings that nested on the Niederlande beach of Schiermonnikoog. However, in just a few short years, they are rarely seen there. Why? This video provides some hypotheses.
There is a brief mention of a book (in Dutch) at the end. I've never seen it, don't own it and have absolutely no vested interest in it or anything involved with it.
grrlscientist | March 25, 2010tags: Paddyfield Pipit, Anthus rufulus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Paddyfield Pipit, Anthus rufulus, photographed on the Yamuna River, New Delhi, India. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Adrian White, November [larger view].
Nikon D40x with 70-300AF.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
HINT: I think you can narrow this bird down to one of two very similar species.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 24, 2010tags: Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis, Diomedea immutabilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria (Diomedea) immutabilis, photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Island, Hawai'i. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Fuhrman, March 2010 [larger view].
NOTE: Unless you are a beginning bird watcher, PLEASE wait 24 hours before identifying this bird. (Intermediate-expert birders are encouraged to use puns, anagrams, poetry references or citations, Monty Python quotes or anything else that tickles…
grrlscientist | March 23, 2010tags: Red-footed Booby, Sula sula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red-footed Booby, Sula sula, photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Island, Hawai'i. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Fuhrman, March 2010 [larger view].
NOTE: Unless you are a beginning bird watcher, PLEASE wait 24 hours before identifying this bird. (Intermediate-expert birders are encouraged to use puns, anagrams, poetry references or citations, Monty Python quotes or anything else that tickles your fancy to indicate you've identified this species during…
tetrapodzoology | March 23, 2010Ducks - like the Mallards Anas platyrhynchos shown here - lead fairly violent sex lives. As I said in a previous article...
[A]s you'll know if you've spent any time watching ducks, 'forced extra-pair copulations' are very common in ducks. The Mallard Anas platyrhynchos is the best (or should that be worst?) example of the lot: females are handled so roughly by males (sometimes by groups of as many as 12) that it's quite common for people to speak of witnessing 'duck rape', and forced copulation is a common strategy used by males of this species.
Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to be…
grrlscientist | March 22, 2010tags: Wideawake, Wideawake Tern, Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscata, Sterna fuscata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Sooty Tern, also known as the Wideawake Tern or simply as the Wideawake, Onychoprion (Sterna) fuscata, photographed out of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Paul Sweet, 4 August 2007 [larger view].
NOTE: Unless you are a beginning bird watcher, PLEASE wait 24 hours before identifying this bird. (Intermediate-expert birders are encouraged to use puns, anagrams, poetry references or citations, Monty Python…
tetrapodzoology | March 22, 2010A lot of zoos have very neat murals and other works of art. Over the weekend we visited Marwell here in Hampshire: it's our 'local' zoo and we go there a lot. I really like the 'march of the penguins' feature they have on the outside of the penguin pool. Here's Will, looking at each penguin species in turn...
While I've photographed this feature a few times before (I previously featured it here), this time round I did something new: I photographed each penguin figure individually. Here they are, squashed into a montage that destroys the sense of correct scaling present in the original.
Are…
grrlscientist | March 21, 2010tags: Chelicut Kingfisher, Striped Kingfisher, Halcyon chelicuti, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Striped Kingfisher, also sometimes known as the Chelicut Kingfisher, Halcyon chelicuti, photographed near the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 13 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, Exposure compensation 0..
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 20, 2010tags: Pink-breasted Lark, Mirafra poecilosterna, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pink-breasted Lark, Mirafra poecilosterna, photographed near the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 13 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, Exposure compensation 0..
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
HINT 1: this species is in the Alaudidae family and was first described by a German.
HINT 2: anagram of scientific name included in comment…
tetrapodzoology | March 19, 2010Captive pheasants Phasianus colchicus frequently practise cannibalism: this isn't necessarily as gruesome as it sounds, but mostly consists of repetitive pecking or picking that opens wounds or results in the removal of toes. In chicks, toe and beak picking are common, while vent, wing and head picking more frequently occurs in older birds. Open, bleeding wounds (when visible) cause the birds to attack again, and they will keep attacking until the victim is fatally injured or killed. All gamebirds practise this sort of behaviour in captivity, but pheasants are by far the worst.
'Outbreaks'…
grrlscientist | March 19, 2010tags: Great Thick-Knees, Greater Thick-Knees, Esacus recurvirostris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great Thick-Knees, also known as the Greater Thick-Knees, Esacus recurvirostris, photographed on the Kosi River, Ramnagar, North India. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Adrian White [larger view].
Nikon D40x with 70-300AF.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 18, 2010tags: blue shank, American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] American Avocet, also known as the blue shank, Recurvirostra americana, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Richard Ditch, 25 February 2010 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you.
Exposure Time: 1/400
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 17, 2010tags: Mediterranean Gull, Larus melanocephalus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mediterranean Gull, Larus melanocephalus, photographed flying over Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Adrian White [larger view].
Nikon D40x with 70-300AF.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 16, 2010tags: Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica, photographed at the Machias Seal Island, Maine. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Paul Sweet, 26 May 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
ddobbs | March 15, 2010
I've been following a new birding blog lately, "The Daily Wing," kept by Vermont bird guide, dragonfly follower, and writer Bryan Pfeiffer. It's a nice mix of
⢠birding how-to, with guidance both basic and intricate, such as his lovely entry on a bird-attraction technique he calls spishing (especially effective in winter):
The woods were otherwise silent. Vacant. But I suspected otherwise. So I stopped and spished.
"Spshsh-spshsh-spshsh-spshsh. Psssp-psssp-psssp-psssp-psssp. Spshsh-spshsh-spshsh-spshsh."
Two white-throated sparrows jumped into view from a tangle of catbrier. Then several…
grrlscientist | March 15, 2010tags: Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes, Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes (L), and Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla (R), photographed at the Lake Thompson in Kingsbury County, South Dakota. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 2 September 2007 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you.
Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification…
grrlscientist | March 14, 2010tags: Chestnut-bellied Kingfisher, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Halcyon leucocephala, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Grey-headed Kingfisher, also known as the Chestnut-bellied Kingfisher, Halcyon leucocephala, photographed near the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 13 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens, ISO 800, 1/1000 sec, f/7.1, Exposure compensation -.7.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 13, 2010tags: Pygmy Batis, Batis perkeo, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pygmy Batis, Batis perkeo, photographed near the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. The photographer writes: "I was incredibl[y] lucky to get such a good view of this little fast-moving guy. He actually responded to pishing, and sat there exposed for 10 seconds or so, allowing photographs in the late afternoon sun!" [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 13 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens, ISO 400, 1/250, f/6.3, Exposure Compensation 0.
Please name at…
grrlscientist | March 12, 2010tags: evolution, evolutionary biology, gynandromorph, bilateral gynandromorph bird, half-sider, mixed-sex chimaera, sex determination, molecular biology, genetics, developmental biology, endocrinology, birds, chicken, Gallus gallus, ornithology, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper, journal club
Half-sider.
Almost exactly one year ago, hundreds of American birders
were thrilled by sightings and photographs of this remarkable
Northern Cardinal, or Redbird, Cardinalis cardinalis,
photographed in Warrenton, VA.
Image: DW Maiden, 2 March 2009.
I'll never forget…
grrlscientist | March 12, 2010tags: African Grey Hornbill, Tockus nasutus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Grey Hornbill, Tockus nasutus, photographed catching a dragonfly at the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300s, 600 mm lens, ISO 640, 1/2500 sec, f/5 0 exposure compensation.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The photographer writes:
There seemed to be quite a lot of interest in the African Grey Hornbill's bill. Since it was partially obscured…