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A local birder friend of mine, Ricardo Arredondo, mentioned to me just last week that while the Swainson’s Hawk is supposed to be only a transient species during migration here in southwestern Mexico, he has seen it throughout the winter months near his city of Zamora. So I’m including it here, just because I can. .
Steve Kelling from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology gave the keynote talk, “The Birder Effect: Birding, Science, and Conservation.” The talk described eBird’s origins in 2002 and traced its history as a project aimed at using “citizen science” to help researchers and conservationists learn more about birds. .
Like any birder visiting a new place, I had a target species list I was hoping to seek out during the one day I had available between business commitments. The climatic changes set in motion by the Industrial Revolution are now proceeding at a pace far greater than many species and ecosystems can adapt to naturally.
New studies find that: when birds migrate from the Arctic to South America, fragments of mosses, fungi, and other “diaspores” hitch a ride (and a similar phenomenon may have spread acacia trees from Hawaii to an island in the Indian Ocean); caterpillars which feed on many different types of plants are more attractive meals for birds than caterpillars (..)
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.
I was looking for a new project to write about on Wikipedia, something unusual, and this species appealed for reasons I can’t quite define. I hadn’t until a little over a month ago when while flicking through one of my volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) I came across it. It was both mysterious and plain. .
The data are in: the nesting season proved successful for some species of Florida’s wading birds and… less so for others. The science tells us that Everglades restoration works for wading birds,” says Kelly Cox, Audubon Florida’s Director of Everglades Policy. Note: Erika works for Audubon Florida.
The Audubon Society just released Audubon’s Birds and Climate Change Report: 314 Species on the Brink. The report itself is a few dozen pages long, and describes how “North America’s birds may respond to future climate change” using citizen science data. Each offers a distinct way to engage with the science.
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.
Every single species account includes at least one sentence in which gratuitous references to creation are made. The eighteen species covered are divided into five groups by color (blue or gray, brown, red, black, and yellow or orange) and each species gets an account that is a couple of minutes long.
BirdLife International believes that this might be maximum population the species can reach, as it seems to completely saturate its range. Occasionally the Tristan Thrush Nesocichla eremita will prey upon chicks from the two-egg nest of the Inaccessible Island Rail but this not enough in any way to threaten the species.
This isn’t just a case of some business orientated universities having contempt for the natural sciences (although no doubt that plays a part). Make no mistake, museum collections are essential and irreplaceable tools to advance science. Data from museums helps the IUCN make decisions about threatened species.
The more data about bird migration we gather from professional and citizen science efforts, the more each one of us can learn about the comings and goings of our favorite species. Try to contain your morbid fascination as you sort by Airline, Aircraft, Airport, Year, Species, and even Repair Cost! Fun, right?
Obviously, those who seek the best views often aspire to the best optics, which we can all agree are modern miracles of science. While we’ve seen more than 150 amazing species in our first 48 hours attending the 3rd African Birding Expo and the pre-Expo familiarity tour of Uganda, one species stands as first among equals.
We estimate that one in four species is threatened with extinction and that the population of one in two is declining," the researchers said in a report to be published Friday in the journal Science. The findings were being released Monday at the IUCN meeting in Barcelona, Spain.
As a result, the bird has a long history with the Endangered Species Act. If it was not, there would be no listing, as the overall species was not in peril. If it was not, there would be no listing, as the overall species was not in peril. FWS released a 5-year review of the species in 2010.
Myers, a professional birding guide in “real life,” summarizes the etymology and history of all common bird names (of bird families and groups, not all 10,000-plus species). The guide covers 265 of Maine’s 461 bird species: common nesting species, common migrants, and wintering birds.
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. The paper that just came out in science has the following spectacular conclusion. Science , 345 (6196 ), 562–566.
I work part time for the National Park Service (although, we’ll see what happens this weekend if there’s a federal government shutdown) and our visitor center is located in the Science Museum of Minnesota. An American Robin was perched on the side of one of the Science Museum vans.
On a Big Year, every species counts equally, even the lowly House Sparrow. As of my writing this he is off to a roaring start with 169 species recorded already. Rangel Diaz is doing a big year in Miami-Dade County, Florida, hoping to reach 300 species, and keeping a blog about it. What records will fall in 2013?
” But here I’m using it because someone ELSE used it … the Bird 10K project is an effort to do the whole DNA thing they do on groups of species on the whole mess of 10K (or more) birds. Beagle had an enormous impact on Darwin’s thinking about ‘On the Origin of Species’. 1 Genome-scale phylogeny of birds.
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). We have tended to a liberal (= realistic) direction when recognising species.” And that is what recommends Steve N. And now – the photos.
Award-winning free-lance science journalist Nicola Jones , most noted for her work on climate change and environmental issues, ventured into the book world with a picture book on the wildlife rehabilitation efforts for one of North America’s most endangered bird species, the Northern Spotted Owl.
I was happy to read that the wood stork ( Mycteria Americana ), a bird near and dear to me, was down-sited from the status of endangered to threatened species. Fish and Wildlife Service is down-listing the wood stork from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). As a biologist working for the U.S. Photo: U.S.
This, the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count , is one of those times: tell us how you contributed to citizen science. I hoped to add the Carolina Wren that’s been hanging around my house to the tally, but settled instead for Northern Cardinal , the most common GBBC species at the midway point.
For one thing, we become more aware of cultural biases in our science (new findings on warbling female birds, for example, reveal both gender and geographic biases). Many popular science books have neither. As Ackerman explains in her Introduction, studying extreme behavior brings new insight into what we think we know.
In light of spring’s recent arrival, do you ever find yourself wondering how some species are able to withstand freezing, wintery days and yet still thrive in summer’s heat? This kind of detailed genetic and developmental work has traditionally relied on model species in the lab (aka chickens). Thanks for your support! Maria’s Project.
And, some time later, during the final stages of the bird-atlassing work, computer models of Serbian ranges for some 150 bird species were produced for the first time ever: Some bias was created because of the large data set from Belgrade and environs where the majority of active eBirders live. The consequences were amusing.
And, if you support conservation, clean air and water, not letting species go extinct, and the importance of science, then don’t vote for the evil bastards in the Republican Party. Be afraid for our future and that of our children.
You could raise an eyebrow that at a time of cuts and austerity measures across a range of environment services and departments to be able to find £375k in support of a non-native species that is reared specifically to be killed anyway is a little astonishing. of nearly 500 radio-tagged releases).
When choosing the top birding area of Serbia for a weekend visit, head for lowlands, Deliblato Sands and Labudovo Okno complex with 250 bird species. If you have 5-7 days, combine these two zones, adding wetlands around the village of Baranda (220 species). Serbia – the big picture. Birding overview. Self-drive tour planning.
However, there are those species which have a hard time bringing attention to themselves such as Yellow-shouldered Blackbird , Giant Nuthatch , and Vinaceous-breasted Parrot. Regardless of their popularity, these species and the threatened ecosystems they inhabit are equally spectacular. Photo by Dušan Brinkhuizen (www.sapayoa.com).
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. The accounts cover vagrancy patterns for the family as a whole, reasons for vagrancy, documented examples of vagrancy for specific species and reasons that might account for those incidents.
The period between May and September offer the best potential for an assortment of pelagic species (species which live most of their lives far from land) off the Atlantic coast of Florida. Birds, like this Great Shearwater , are attracted to the chum slick set out by the ship’s crew.
To all you hardy naturalists who have already logged Christmas Bird Count hours in service to citizen science, I salute you! But he really appreciated the Surf Scoters he saw at Shinnecock Inlet out in Suffolk County on Long Island on Saturday so he chose that species. Winter has come early and often to Western NY. How about you?
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. Sounds a bit like some weird Nazi eugenics experiment to me, but I guess it is just science.
It’s not an exact science, but it’s to get an idea of general usage and to see how the habitat can be managed in a better way for migratory feeding. Can you make out any species in the above photo? Our job is to fly above the Mississippi River at a about 120 feet going about 100 mph and count and ID ducks.
Before my first trip to the tropics many years ago I always wondered how is it even possible that new bird species are discovered with all the deforestation and general habitat obliteration going on all over the world. I mean, we as a species are today basically everywhere. But still new species are found.
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.
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. That issue aside, though, this is a fascinating book which will engage not just birders, but most people who have any interest in nature or the science of the mind.
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. … Traill did this enough times that Shirley began to hide the scale.’
Mark Kirk and Alisha Belo are doing a southern Africa big year, trying to see 800 species. As of the end of March they had already reached a whopping 652 species ! Ali Iyoob is sitting pretty at 230 species in his North Carolina big year during which he is trying to break the state record of 351. Birding 2013 big year'
If you spot one of these blue banded birds, you can help by reporting it and contribute to this important citizen science project helping the conservation of this amazing species. They are currently running their Second-Annual Banded Pelican Contest. So as Arnold would say, “Do it!
I know for a fact that science is correct in stating that they don’t suck the milk of goats. Then again, science is definitely wrong in stating that goatsuckers have legs. Here is a further series of images from another typical day-roost of the species: roof-tops. They don’t, and I know it. Legs: The Expendables 2.
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