World Wide Words newsletter (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
Non-Invasive New Scientist magazine mentioned a term that I’ve since learned has been around since about 2003 but which is not well known. That may in part be because it’s specialist, but also because its subject matter is gruesome. Autopsies are very messy procedures, involving extensive post-mortem surgery that by its nature is destructive. Some religious groups don’t allow them....
Reality Check (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
8 of them are being bred in captivity. The remaining population, which is less than 20, all live on a single lake .
BBC News (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
Conservationists have taken the first step in their mission to save the critically endangered Madagascar pochard.
BBC News (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
Conservationists have taken the first step in their mission to save the critically endangered Madagascar pochard.
Daily Mail (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
Fewer than 20 Madagascar pochard are believed to be living on just one lake in the wild.
Cryptozoology Online: Daily News (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
November 2009. A complicated and challenging mission to a remote lake in Madagascar has resulted in a huge step being taken in efforts to save the world's rarest duck from extinction. A collaborative team of specialists were hampered by electrical storms, gruelling journeys and illness in their bid to secure a precious batch of eggs laid by the Critically Endangered Madagascar pochard ( Aythya innotata)...
Lost in the Jungle (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
There is a bird that haunts the remaining forest mountainsides of the Philippine island of Mindanao. People know it by various names; scientists christened it Pithecophaga - The Monkey-Eater; but the locals know it by another name: Haring Ibon - The King of Birds. Standing 1-metre tall and weighing over 6kg, the Philippine Eagle is described as being the most regal, tallest, and perhaps largest
WarblerWatch (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
(Drawing of Bachman's Warbler, left) Here’s three questions I’ve received recently, but I’m too busy with deadlines this week (and, in addition, I’m preparing to teach an Ornithology class at Merritt College that begins soon, I’ve got “one-liners” for answers. 1. Warbler Guy: How many wood-warbler (Parulidae Family) members are there within the A.O.U. checklist...
Positive News Media (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
MANILA, Oct. 31 (PNA) -- The Department of Tourism (DOT) now joins Prince Albert II of Monaco and Sir David Attenborough in the Birdlife Species Champions honor roll, as it seals its commitment to the conservation of one of the rarest birds in the world, the Cebu Flowerpecker (Dicaeum quadricolor), only found in the Philippines.
Fat Finch--Birds, Birding & Blogging (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Long time readers of this blog are used to its author whining about not seeing a California Condor after several attempts at the Grand Canyon. Another attempt, this time at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, failed last week. But there will be no more whining about not seeing a condor. After a trip through parts [...]
A New Band A Day! (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
You know what to expect from modern leftfield electronic music by now. Made as a one person/laptop hybrid operation, the creator will hide behind a bank of deliberately obtuse sounds, strange imagery (musical and visual) and a series of curious song and artist names. So far, so predictable. What makes returning to these seemingly identikit bands worthwhile are the songs - each invariably packed with...
Biological Ramblings (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
A friend read my previous post about artificial nest boxes for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and forwarded the following press release: Ithaca, NY - The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has taken a note out of the pages of Red-cockaded Woodpecker conservation plans, and have rolled out a new artificial nest cavity, specifically designed to provide nestling habitat for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. This photo shows...
Desdemona Despair (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
A global campaign will make young people aware of the danger the illicit drug trade represents to hundreds of species in Colombia's rainforests By Jamie Doward, The Observer , Sunday 25 October 2009 Until recently, the Gorgeted Puffleg was rather obscure – in fact, until four years ago it did not officially exist. But although the tiny hummingbird was discovered only in 2005, in a small and remote...
Notes from soggy bottom (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Singing trees, not singing fish While I was continuing to get skunked at Moss Island, at least on the double knocker front, "Jacob" had been circulating my 3/18 double knock recording a bit amongst other interested people. I did not expect much response, as the big projects seemed to have dismissed Tennessee a year or more before. However, in June one of the Cornell PIs did have comments,...
Vox Verax (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
James Doward The Observer A global campaign will make young people aware of the danger the illicit drug trade represents to hundreds of species in Colombia's rainforests Until recently, the Gorgeted Puffleg was rather obscure – in fact, until four years ago it did not officially exist. But although the tiny hummingbird was discovered only in 2005, in a small and remote region of rainforest in...
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