This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
The single greatest challenge facing any book of science writing is balance. Otherwise, there would be no science writing, everyone would just go straight to the journals. Nothing keeps a human reader more engaged than a genuine character, and the birds here are exactly that. Pinyon Jay by Dave Menke of the US FWS.
I like this opinion piece from the Christian Science Monitor which calls for an "Endangered Species Hour." The Christian Science Monitor rightly points out that citizens and consumers need to get involved in endangered species protection, because at the CITES level, it's all about money and international politics.
More than 50 years ago, the Hawaiian Goose (Nene) was one of the first birds listed under the Endangered Species Act, part of the inaugural “ Class of 1967 ”. Under the Endangered Species Act, any listing, uplisting, downlisting, or removal from a list requires a formal “rulemaking” process.
Someone posted a question about why humans have human rights and whether they should considering that others do not. In the matter of science, and there are varying levels of this viewpoint, the human is the most advanced of creatures. I responded. It's not profound, but an opinion. We are made in God's image.
On a positive note, in one study , when small swaths of dense bamboo were cut and cleared for an unrelated study, these were utilized by small insectivorous species including the Golden Bush Robin for foraging. Humans are not always bad for birds, only about 95% of the time. One is the White-throated Redstart.
There is a fantastic paper just out in Science : “Sustained miniaturization and anatomoical innovation in the dinosaurian anceestors of birds” by Michael Lee, Andrea Cau, Darren Naishe and Gareth Dyke. So, for example, humans are apes. The paper that just came out in science has the following spectacular conclusion.
It also has one of the highest human population densities in the state. Not surprisingly, this brings Burrowing Owls into close contact with humans across the county. The Florida sub-species of Burrowing Owl is now classified as a threatened species in Florida and it is one of the rarest sub-species of Burrowing Owls.
What if, in turn, the discovery that the species was not truly extinct held the key to saving humanity from another, even more devestating flu outbreak? This is a book that people come to for the plot and the science. I’m ok with fantasy, but not with pseudo-science. But what of that?
Somewhat strangely, the HBW calls it a “small grey to yellow babbler” – while the species indeed has some grey parts, that is not the color that sticks to mind when seeing or remembering the bird. I usually restrict my unfair jokes to humans. ” That seems a bit unfair to me.
Bluebird Man is about Alfred Larson, but you can be one of the film’s heroes by contributing to its production… There is something special about bluebirds, and it isn’t just because the world’s three species are only found in North America. There is something more. Preparing to band 3 Mountain Bluebird chicks.
Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. Penguins are flightless, but some species locomote over long distances on antarctic ice to travel between breeding grounds and the sea.
Long ago I preached the idea that rapid climate change was more important (in a negaive way) than large climate change, and suggested that the Holocene was different from earlier time periods (and thus, for instance, humans invented agriculture and large areas of forest developed, etc.) because the Holocene had little rapid climate change.
per cent of individuals of a species at a given time” and a vagrant bird as a bird that shows up outside of this range (p. There are many more factors than I imagined: compass errors, wind drift, overshooting, extreme weather and irruptions, natural dispersal, and human-driven vagrancy. Next time, I’ll know why.
The birds were too far away to identify, and I know more than one species does this, but if I had to guess they were starlings. There is a bit of science news. If half the Warblers go extinct, that would be a lot of species but you’d still pretty much have Warbler DNA. But there were a gazillion of them. This makes sense.
Quite likely, these birds are also the inspiration for Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. Honeyeaters are a large bird family (190 species) with a strong presence in Australia. The Common Myna is an aggressive invasive species. Thanks to Clare for introducing me to him. ” (HBW). ” ( source ).
Not too many highlights, not too many species … hard to say whether this is just the usual nostalgia for a better but probably nonexistent past or a real phenomenon. This species is listed as vulnerable – similar to the Yellow-breasted Buntings, it is trapped on a large scale. Humans, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
There’s a little hint of white in the malar and throat too, which would seem to be a problem for the species Black- chinned Sparrow. Identification of abnormal birds such as this one is not an exact science, but this one seems to break down as one half White-throated Sparrow and one half Dark-eyed Junco.
Sure, the AOU has the final say in whats a species, whats not, yadda yadda yadda… but who tells them what to say? I’ve been sciencing really hard lately. After all, there are some epic splits coming your way… what do you think about new species of storm-petrel and murrelet that can be found in the United States?
Apparently, the species name rutila means “red, golden red, reddish yellow”, which sounds a bit like a contradiction in itself. It is well known that chicks of this morph immediately start having an identity crisis when combining the knowledge of their species name with the information gathered from a look in the mirror.
Birds are less compelling to human interest than our fellow primates, in many regards, but surely they are more arresting than a big wad of tentacled whale chow. Now why should this be?
You’d think, then, that applying science to philosophy by studying the evolutionary underpinnings of thought and behavior across species would be right up my alley. In the end, we are essentially stuck in a human viewpoint.
Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.
A press release about the study likened the contrast to “the differences between humans with and without freckles.”) Genetic differences in throat color illustration by Liz Clayton Fuller/Bartels Science). Genetic-based research published in The Auk indicates that the four variants of “butternuts” include at least three full species.
It can take over a year to raise a chick for the larger species, and even species that can fit their entire breeding cycle into one year tend not to breed in consecutive years. It is a surprisingly difficult question for science to address, but it can say this.
It’s a matter of personal preference: neither does every reader like, say, science fiction, or the writing of Henry James, or romance novels. Each title in the series is the collective noun for a bird species, which becomes a central theme of the story. In A Dance of Cranes, dancing, both avian and human, is a leitmotif. (For
But it wasn’t founded to serve as a refuge for human refugees, but animal ones, specifically elephants. The park was created as much to protect the local communities from marauding elephants with a hatred of dangerous humans and a lack of interest in the differences between nations as it was to protect the elephants.
They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.
It’s very hard to organize the many ways in which human beings relate to avian beings into comprehensible text. Additional back of the book material includes a Glossary, Biographical Details, a Select Bibliography, Notes, Credits, an Index to Species and a General Index. Eagles are national symbols of the U.S.,
The Majestic Wetlands: Within Shanghai’s boundaries lie several pristine wetland habitats that serve as vital sanctuaries for a plethora of bird species. This expansive marshland is home to rare and endangered species such as the charismatic Black-faced Spoonbill, Saunders’s Gull, and the elegant Oriental Stork.
This was the local name meaning “ugly” used for these primates by the people of the Gonder area in northern Ethiopia when the German naturalist Rüppell “discovered” this species for science in the 1830’s. they are the most terrestrial primate after humans. Foraging Geladas in their typical crouched feeding position.
There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.
Any place that used to be good for an interesting species last year is likely to have been turned into another construction site this year. I don’t think many other bird species are named after Japanese citizens. Also, there are quite some variations within each species – for details, see here. One, a Ryukyu Minivet.
From the Abstract and summary: Changes in climate can cause populations of species to decline, to increase, or to remain steady. looked across species of common birds in Europe and the United States. Stephens et al. The trend in CII is positive and similar in the two regions. Stephens, Philip, et al. 352:6281(84-87).
At first I was surprised by some of the species that weren’t there, quite common and noticeable birds like the Great Blue Heron and Mute Swan. The main body of the guide covers 150 species of North American birds that are found in close proximity to humans and likely to be seen well.
Not only is it a very impressive citizen science project that manages to marshal the legions of birders around Canada and the U.S., Time will tell how much good science can be wrung from the data (due to observer bias, misidentifications, the vastly differing skillsets of contributing observers, under-birded areas, etc.),
The citizen science aspect is a big hit with many users, and eBirding areas with little existing data can be fun as well. Flycatcher Jen of I Used To Hate Birds has amassed close to 160 species in the last two years just walking and biking around Portland, Oregon, which is a number that deserves a toast if you ask me.
What I didn’t know was how this relationship actually works: the mechanics of Red Knot migration, the reduced digestive systems necessary for their long flighta, the need to fatten up quickly so they can fly to the Arctic and breed, how they compete with other shorebirds and gulls and, it turns out, humans, for horseshoe crab eggs.
You see, up to this point, let’s say 1972, perhaps 1973, I had never really been exposed to a “Threatened, or Endangered” species of any kind. Much like every beautiful sandy beach, the human encroachment is substantial. Not for lack of trying, mind you.
According to a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study, human-induced climate change has doubled the area affected by forest fires in the western U.S. Vicki states that fire benefits several bird species, like the Black-backed Woodpecker which feeds off the bark and wood-boring beetles that lay eggs in the charred trees.
The magnificent history and diversity of birds on Earth came into sharper focus this month with the publication of 28 new scientific papers in Science and other journals. processed the entire genomes of 48 bird species and compared nearly 42 million base pairs of DNA (Hackett et al. American Flamingo photo by Dick Culbert).
But " Minding the Animals: Ethology and the Obsolescence of Left Humanism " is a great look back at how we humans have managed to always find a way to consider ourselves unique, despite what the reality of the nonhuman world tells us. Having misled us for so long about animals, science is initiating a revolution in our understanding.
In humans, adults (probably mainly mothers) do this thing called “motherese” which is talking in a way one would normally not talk to another adult, to a baby. Jon Sakata, a professor of neurobiology at McGill, says that songbirds learn vocalizations like humans learn speech. Salmón, J. Nilsson, A. Nord, and S.
Unfortunately, in the science of language, this does not sound particularly raunchy but rather like a rational decision: “A rare species such as the Chinese Pond Heron might choose heterospecific mates rather than abandoning all chances of reproduction.” How efficient. How surprising.
There are 17 different species of them, a few of them endangered, particularly some island endemics. It is listed as Near Threatened – the HBW cites the usual reasons that are just other ways of saying that humans do not care enough for other species, such as forest loss and degradation in its winter range. not their own).
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 30+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content