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But one of the most important aspects of these advances in new-age birding is the fact that they have grown hand-in-hand with the almost exponential growth in citizen science. Citizen science is a term used for the systematic collection and analysis of data and the dissemination of such data by researchers on a primarily voluntary basis.
Doug Futuyma believes in science and in the scientific basis of evolution. How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals about Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity by Douglas J. Futuyma is a synthesis of theory and research about evolution and birds. Why are all the real tanagers in tropical America?
But that changed last weekend at the Chicago Ornithological Society’s 10th biennial Birding America conference. Steve Kelling from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology gave the keynote talk, “The Birder Effect: Birding, Science, and Conservation.” Birding citizen science Conservation eBird' And at least on me, it worked.
How to choose bird feeders; how to make nutritious bird food; how to create a backyard environment that will attract birds; how to survey your feeder birds for citizen science projects; how to prevent squirrels from gobbling up all your black oil sunflower seed (sorry, none of that works). million people in the U.S. in 2011*) came about.
My feelings about shorebirds came back to me a few days later, as I observed a mixed group of peeps and Dowitchers at Mecox Inlet, eastern Long Island, not far from where Peter Matthiessen once observed the shorebirds of Sagaponack, the stars of the first pages of his classic The Shorebirds of North America (1967). Pete Dunne and Kevin T.
Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. And the term is ‘non-reversed size dimorphism.’).
And now we have the third iteration in Audubon’s guide book history: National Audubon Society Birds of North America. The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. I didn’t.). This is a fairly large book: 907 pages; 7.38 GUIDE COVERAGE.
The potpourri covers some interesting bird related science of the last few weeks, and the promise is this: I’ll get to that other stuff soon, I promise! If this was America, we might not be concerned because starlings are an invasive species, at least in North America. Since then the deaths haven’t stopped.
The Terra Project is an exciting collaboration between bird guide author Scott Whittle , wildlife tracker manufacturer CTT , and non-profit Conservation Science Global. Listen for and upload bird sounds to a central database for researchers and conservationists. Terra sounds like that dream device. ” Wow, right?
I want to alert you to a recent study (from April) that looks at the plight of bird populations under conditions of climate change in Europe and North America. The total overall impact on bird populations, related to climate change, is the same in North America (on the right) and Europe (on the left). Stephens, Philip, et al.
These bark-burrowing beetles, which apparently hitched a ride in cargo shipments from their native Asia, have been starving the ash trees of eastern and midwestern North America to death for a dozen years now. With all due respect to Maria von Trapp, combating the greatest infestation that U.S. Enter the woodpecker.
It is apparently uncommon across most of its wide range in the shrublands of South America, little noticed and little noted, and sources are pretty thin, as they are for many birds in places like South America. ” I can’t just put this into Wikipedia – it’s original research. One mystery was its movements.
” And then I found out that bird song doesn’t just belong to the males, that there are female birds who sing too, only not so much in North America, and my mind was blown.**. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science. I do wish there was more about research on female bird song. And, that’s it.
Flight Paths traces the history of migratory research in nine chapters, starting with the earliest attempts to track birds, bird banding/ringing (which she traces back to Audubon), and ending with ‘community science’ projects such as Breeding Bird Surveys and eBird. THIS IMAGE NOT IN THE BOOK. Schulman, 2023.
The first half describes the problem (why birds hit windows, the scale of the deaths, scientific research, what happens when birds strike windows) and the second half discusses what to do about it (community and worldwide education, window deterrent solutions, legal mandates and building codes, citizen science–what individuals can do).
Everybody knows sparrows, except for the fact that most people don’t know anything about sparrows.Kim Todd sets out to rectify this in a small, elegant book that covers both House Sparrows , the Passer tribe, and the other birds colloquially called sparrows throughout the world (albeit she concentrates most on North America and Britain.)
Guiding aside, Howell is a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences and the author of many books, including Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America (Princeton). Birds of Chile – A Photo Guide has 240 pages and more than 1,000 photos accompanied by a brief text to make bird ID easy.
Having warned to her theme she introduces her villain of the piece, the AMNH researcher Chris Filardi, who collected a kingfisher. Throughout his professional career, Chris has maintained a commitment to bridging his research interests with grassroots conservation. Science doesn’t work that way! Science Schmience.
There’s been some interesting bird research lately, having to do with the origin of birds ( new analysis of new and old fossils ) and the overarching taxonomy ( using DNA analysis ) but I’ve not had a chance to absorb this weighty new knowledge so I’ll probably write about it next month.
But the tenets of the North American Model were developed in the 19th century, when wildlife ethics and science were a mere glimmer of what we understand today. Now, in 21st century America, we’re entertaining new considerations, in keeping with our modern understanding of wild animals and conservation.
So comparisons of bill shapes, foot shapes, and the like can certainly stimulate the imagination, but we need rigorous science to explore and synthesize more molecular work, morphological analysis, and biogeographical hypotheses in order to close more gaps in our understanding. What do you think?
Here's a site for kids to program them to become "the next generation of laboratory animal science professionals." the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science Foundation. Also, it's a great way to get girls interested in science! There was a link from Drovers, America's Beef Business Source.
Birkhead, the experienced storyteller who is also Emeritus Professor at the School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, author of multiple scientific articles as well as books of popular science, knows how to make it readable and fun. Common Guillemot research at Skomer Island, Wales. Beagle , pt.
The task of wrestling this topic down into something that the human mind can manage, without losing sight of the big picture because it’s snowing in Buffalo, is likely to be the task of a lifetime for many science communicators.
Scientists all over the world are sounding the alarm about ecological disruptions already in motion, and birders in North America are already seeing changes in the distribution of species, from the 61 percent of bird species wintering farther north to expanding ranges of birds like Mississippi Kite and Great-tailed Grackle. .
But getting a grip on gulls can be rewarding, and even within a large group of seemingly drab-colored, dump-loving trash eaters, there are spectacular species, like the dramatic Sabine’s Gull, the nearly mythical Ivory Gull, and easily one of the most sought-after species in North America, the mysterious Ross’s gull. (p.
Found throughout South America in ever-dwindling numbers these extremely beautiful birds – threatened by habitat destruction and collection for the wild bird trade – are often difficult to see and hard to find. Chestnut-fronted Macaws Ara severa. Volunteers are one of the most important aspects to the project.
Smith is the Staff Scientist Emeritus with the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Centre in Panama. The work was widely cited, followed up with an article in Scientific American and the research appeared (and I may be wrong still appears) in textbooks. Do the Common Ringed type migrate through Europe and the Semipalmated head south?
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of citizen science involvement. The 117th Audubon Christmas Bird Count began yesterday and runs through January 5th. Click on photos for full sized images).
Yes, it’s physically massive, exhaustively researched, rich with appendices and notes and maps and illustrations, and in every way the sort of thing that you look at and think “Wow, this author really, really cares about John James Audubon. Yes, even the title is bulky. So yes, this summer, give this book a shot.
Zamorano University may be regarded as one of the crown jewels of Latin American higher education, particularly in the areas of agriculture, environmental management, and food science, but this idyllic campus excels for more reasons than simply academics. Zamorano happens to be incredibly birdy.
Chapter Two is a potpourri of stories about nemesis birds, birding by ear, birding for science, under the rubric of birding ‘for the love of it.’ Marybeth and Lynn chase birds familiar and unfamiliar to me, a Northeastern birder, and I’m sure it will be the same for any reader in North America. ” I wondered.
This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives. copyright @2020 by David A llen Sibley. As Sibley tells us in the Preface, he originally intended to write a children’s book.
He wrote about birds in North America, Central America, and parts of South America, including the Galapagos. This is probably one of the reasons Daniel Lewis,the author,turned from writing a popular biography to a history of ornithology as a science and the ornithologist as a profession. It’s challenging reading.
What are the best field guides for birds in North America? Birding can be enjoyed at various levels of intensity, from casual birdwatching in one’s backyard to more dedicated pursuits that involve keeping birding lists, participating in birding competitions, or contributing to citizen science projects. Analysis : Good summary.
” These comments make sense if you are familiar with the larger body of Howell’s critiques of molecular ornithological research as applied to taxonomic changes and of AOS taxonomic decisions in general. .” Species are useful handles (p. 16, below).”
All populations mentioned above for both species have occurred in North America, and larophiles already attempt to separate out these forms when possible. ” So if any of you birders have a science background and are looking for something to do, please move to eastern California and sort this out for us.
And, I started daydreaming about encountering something a little different, maybe a Horned Frog, Ceratophrys cornuta, a large, squat green and brown frog of South America, with a wide mouth large enough to eat other frogs as well as reptiles. If you don’t live near a science museum, then read this chapter.
At the recent Swarovski Social Media Summit in Arizona, Nate proselytized passionately for the program that both manages your sightings and contributes them to science. A contemptuous lack of suggested locations to match the ones submitted forced me to research literally hundreds of locations in the U.S But Nate is an eBird fanatic.
49-50) She is also adept at writing about conservation’s larger context in terms of its history, public policy struggles, and the science behind species re-introduction. Well-researched and footnoted, these sections never feel disconnected from the more personal sections. Endangered. Extinction. Conservation.
The first shows three subspecies of Whimbrel that have occurred in North America–“Hudsonian,” “Eurasian,” and “Siberian.” Sullivan are birders as well as writers, researchers, and organizational administrators, and this makes a big difference. Authors George L. Armistead and Brian L.
Diversity of habitat means, of course, great biodiversity, and the Introduction boasts that Bolivia “is the richest landlocked nation on Earth for bird diversity, the sixth richest overall, and the fifth richest in the Americas” (p. That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India!
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