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In China, wherever there is one real tourist attraction (like the Great Wall), the local strategy seems to be to add some fake attractions – replicas of palaces or tombs, amusement parks, shopping centers – in order to maximize the income from tourists.
Sadly, the HBW states that the species is “almost extinct in some areas in China owing to hunting and trapping for the cagebird trade and taxidermy” The Maroon Oriole looks much more interesting, though my photos do not really do it full justice.
At this moment, Baihualing is the eBird hotspot in China which has by far the largest number of species – 486. But that is science in hierarchical institutions). With 398 species, Nanhui is trailing far behind despite being covered by a much larger number of checklists (2225 compared to 608).
Today, I invite you to join me, Kai Pflug, on an extraordinary avian expedition as we explore the vibrant cityscape of Shanghai, a hidden gem for birdwatchers in the heart of China. Birding Beyond the City: For the more adventurous birder, Shanghai serves as a gateway to explore the diverse landscapes of eastern China.
As I am sure I have mentioned before, a lot of science work seems to aim to prove the obvious – though the researchers still phrase their results very carefully. I am sure some people will hate this photo of a Eurasian Hoopoe , framed as it is by human artifacts. Of course, me being me, this is a good reason to show it.
For those with a morbid streak, I suggest checking out the paper “Genetic Characterization and Pathogenesis of Avian Influenza Virus H3N8 Isolated from Chinese Pond Heron in China in 2021″ The HBW distribution map of the Masked Laughingthrush shows it to be common in Shanghai – in fact, it is rather rare.
Quite likely, these birds are also the inspiration for Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. Oriental Dollarbirds – having on average a much higher IQ than the typical resident of Shanghai – accordingly spend winter in Australia, not in China. Thanks to Clare for introducing me to him.
Shanghaibirding describes the Brown-headed Thrush as “a scarce passage migrant through northern and central coastal China, including Shanghai” – given that I only saw it once on Tianmashan, that is probably correct, though the date (January 09) seems rather late for a migrant.
Of course, for countries with mostly moderate climates such as the US, China, Japan, or Germany, it is always easier to claim that the winter range is the problem (i.e., Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16 not their own). Switching to the Amur Paradise Flycatcher , which has the Latin species name of incei.
A paper starts as follows: “Dongtan (or East Tideland) on Chongming Island in China is an important wintering site of Grus monacha ( hooded crane )” This is exactly where these photos were taken. But I may well be wrong. The global population of the Hooded Crane is about 8000 individuals – it is listed as Vulnerable.
Maybe better not to ever meet such a “mother” (given that I have been living in China for too long to be up-to-date regarding political correctness etc., According to Couzens, after laying the eggs, females sometimes immediately abandon their first mate and pair up with another male. Chinese Pond Herons also grow on trees.
contributors include schools from Australia, Japan, France, England, India, China and more. The Science of Superheroes: These characters are used to teach physics. Street Fighting Mathematics : It’s a math class to analyze fighting with science. A sample includes MIT, Harvard, Berkley and CalTech. Outside the U.S.,
According to the Post story, computer modeling conducted by Andreas Schmittner (College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University) indicates if we continue "business as usual" and do nothing to curb greenhouse gas emissions, average temperatures are likely to increase 7.0°F Most scientists agree that a 3.6°F
Pickrell, an Australian science writer who grew up in Great Britain and studied for his master’s degree at London’s Natural History Museum, is clearly engaged with his subject. There is a lot of science here to explain. Pickrell puts the pieces together in 11 chapters. Cope and O.C.
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.
With regard to the Grey-backed Thrush , “further research should focus on identification of nest predators, implications of nest exposure and begging calls on nesting success, and breeding habitat requirements at different spatial and temporal scales of Grey-backed Thrush in fragmented landscapes of northeast China.”
In other bird science news, we should be concerned about waterfowl in China. .” A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. But a baby bird on the ground is just annoying, better stuff something in its mouth.
An Archaeopteryx-like theropod from China Then one day you go to a conference of historians and there is a special symposium being held by some well regarded colleagues, who have been working for months with some archaeologists on a secret project. Du, K., & Han, F.
A paper on the Chestnut-vented Nuthatch titled “Nest-Site Features and Breeding Ecology of Chestnut-Vented Nuthatch Sitta nagaensis in Southwestern China” has 8 authors. While the HBW describes their presence in China as “very local”, they seem to be very common at Tongbiguan. ” Oh my, are we important.
Somehow, I feel this post about the few pheasants I have seen in China has gotten off to a wrong start – not quite the kind of motivation to blog readers to continue reading this post. So, back to the wonderful world of pheasants in China. Wait, does that remind me of anyone? Never mind. My favorite is the Blood Pheasant.
The Latin species name of the Common Greenshank , nebularia , sounds a bit like a science fiction novel to me – however, it means “misty” and apparently is derived from the birds’ misty, marshy habitat (HBW). Fortunately, they are quite common in Shanghai. If you want to signal to your environment that you a.
Turned out the superior hotel did not take foreigners, for whatever reasons – a somewhat inauspicious start to an initiative by the local government to attract foreign birders … In the end, I presented some bird photos to about 150 Chinese kids – me being an odd choice for this task, given that my Chinese is much too poor to describe (..)
was responsible for maintaining the universe, judging the dead, and for writing and science ( source ). Nice to encounter a quail that is not as shy as the ones here in China! The Sacred Ibis was seen as the incarnation of the god Thoth, who (with gods apparently better at multitasking than humans) was (or maybe still is, who knows?)
In the slightly frighteningly named journal “Science of The Total Environment”, there is a paper on organochlorine compounds in Purple Heron eggs nesting in sites located around a chloralkali plant (Ebro River). Summary result: relevant chemicals emitted by the plant can be found in the eggs.
Fortunately, in science, there is often a way to turn a defeat into a victory – in this case via the author just coming up with a new hypothesis, “if black eagles use the frequency or intensity of mobbing as a clue to locate nests, a lack of seasonal difference in mobbing behavior by drongos may be an evolutionary adaptive strategy.”
is based on a study of specimens and tape recordings collected during one visit to each of two localities in central China in 1997 and 1998 and their own tape recordings and specimens from Nepal; in all, 196 specimens were examined. Meaning: we did real science, Martens did not. ” Meaning: we did real science, Martens did not.
In retrospect, this weekend at Wuyuan was not exactly my finest hour as a bird photographer – hopefully, I could do better now, and perhaps one day I will, should normal traveling ever be possible again in China. Wuyuan is in Jiangxi province. I’d rather see yellow birds than yellow plants.
They ranged across 10 countries (Costa Rica, USA, UK, India, Australia, China, Brazil, Mexico, Serbia and Uganda). Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Alphabetic Taxonomic. calle jocote.
Red and yellow are the colors symbolizing several different things – for example, McDonald’s, the People’s Republic of China, Mastercard, and Kodac. Being a management consultant, I am well-versed in the science and art of b *g. ” Full iteration! It has such encouraging photo annotations as “P.
Malaysia comprises two halves separated by the South China Sea, the Peninsula and East Malaysia (northern Borneo), the latter made up of the states of Sabah and Sarawak. The place for such bold claims is usually at the end of a review, but just as well, in case you are too lazy to read the entire text, I may start with it.
I guess in China, there is always money for research related to Giant Pandas. Those readers with slightly morbid interests might want to seek out a paper in the Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences describing the case of heavy mixed infection of Golden Pheasants by Heterakis isolonche and H. gallinarum ( source ).
Nonprofit organizations, science, and the best intentions in the world came to the rescue with a captive breeding program, and we now have over 400 Pink Pigeons living in Mauritius, the nearby island of Ile aux Aigrettes, and the zoos hosting the breeding program, including the Bronx Zoo.
While the Speckled Piculet is described as being uncommon in China, it seems to have a fairly established presence at Tianmashan, Shanghai – presumably due to the extensive bamboo there (and maybe because the bird has gotten somewhat tolerant of noisy Chinese tourists). A video is here.
I am always trying to shame China into reducing its environmental pollution but with rather limited results so far. .” Hmm, does that convince me? Here’s a Bluethroat. Note the masterful match of the blue plastic with the color of the bird in this shot. In others, more like a sock puppet.
I was thinking of inventing a background story about a Chinese poet mentioning starlings (and other bird species) in one of his poems, and a rich Chinese fan of these poems pursuing the ambition of introducing all bird species mentioned therein to China, explaining the occasional occurrence of the starling in Shanghai.
As usual in China, there are some anonymous Leaf Warbler species – but who cares, apart from Bella of Alpinebirding ? While the HBW claims that the Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher is uncommon in China, this probably does not apply to this part of Yunnan. Which sounds like a species name taken from a science fiction novel for children.
A study found that for Plain Prinia , egg characteristics in a mainland China location with many cuckoos make it much easier to spot cuckoo eggs than in a Taiwan location with few cuckoos ( source ). But then, maybe not – it seems to be the nature of science that the more you know, the more you want to know.
Shanghai parks are rather crowded and noisy places, but the goshawks – who unlike me have lived in China all their lives – apparently do not mind. Coming from somebody who has exiled himself to China, this is not exactly a compliment. But it is all for science, I hear them say. but they do.
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