bcpodclassroom (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
In this episode the girls of AIN talk about three endangered birds! The three birds are the Puerto Rican Parrot, the Bald Eagle, and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker! For each bird, the girls of AIN discuss where it lives, what it eats, its appearance, why it’s endangered and how we can help. You’re [...]
A DC Birding Blog (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Pileated Woodpecker Pair / Photo by Jerry Downs Bird news New research has finally demonstrated that male Club-winged Manakins "sing" by vibrating specialized feathers together . Male animals, such as birds, fish, and odonates, show such a striking diversity of colors and shapes in part to attract females of their own species but also to help them recognize competitors of their own species...
Great Auk - or Greatest Auk? (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
The Dovkie’s head flopped loosely as Paul showed it around the room, asking if anyone knew what it was. I’d already volunteered the “auk” part, and was trying to maintain the discipline of letting someone else have a chance, especially since there were a lot of kids on this tour. They seemed kind of overwhelmed, [...]
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...
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,...
Red State (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
At first blush, this story from the Washington Post is pretty funny: a “green energy” firm’s wind farm project in West Virginia is being challenged under the Endangered Species Act by some local tree bat huggers. Tiny bat pits green against green It is the first court challenge to wind power under the Endangered Species Act, lawyers on both sides say. … At the heart of the...
Oh Get A Grip! (Free subscription) | 10/21/2009
One day Lisabet pointed out something to me. At this time I’d written three Nixie stories. If you string them together, she said, in a certain order they form a continuous narrative. One leads into the other. What about linking them together into an episodic novel? Then you’ll have your first novel. That was a brilliant observation. It had never occurred to me, and once the idea took hold...
10,000 Birds (Free subscription) | 10/18/2009
No, this has nothing to do with my soon-to-be-born boy. As a birder, I sometimes go far out of my way to see birds. But I would never agree with trading children for a bird…well, maybe if someone had an Ivory-billed Woodpecker… Copyright 2009 - For more of the same, visit 10,000 Birds
Notes from soggy bottom (Free subscription) | 09/15/2009
For some reason, a large number of people seem to be in quite a hurry to declare the Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinct. This is not a new phenomenon; it has been going on for nearly 100 years. Nor is it unique to the Ivorybill; there always are voices declaring the extinction of organisms that have not gone missing for nearly enough time to justify such a judgement. In the case of North America's three...
Greg Laden's Blog (Free subscription) | 08/27/2009
BirdLife International is launching a global bid to try to confirm the continued existence of 47 species of bird that have not been seen for up to 184 years. The list of potentially lost birds is a tantalising mix of species ranging from some inhabiting the least visited places on earth - such as remote islands and the western Himalayas - to those occurring in parts of Europe and the United States....
George Bristow's Secret Freezer (Free subscription) | 08/26/2009
Weekend... I was down at the British Birdwatching Fair, where no birdwatching was done, but an awful lot of gabbing. So much to report... first thanks to all you blogees who were concerned about my Diamond White intake. You'll be pleased to know that tonight I am drinking nothing but the purest detoxifying JD. First, a big welcome to the new Editor of British Birds . The very exciting news that a new...
Cryptozoology Online: Daily News (Free subscription) | 08/25/2009
Quest launched to find ‘lost' birds August 2009. BirdLife International, of which the RSPB is the UK Partner, has launched a global bid to try to confirm the continued existence of 47 species of bird that have not been seen for up to 184 years. The list of potentially lost birds is a tantalising mix of species ranging from some inhabiting the least visited places on earth - such as remote islands...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 08/25/2009
Pond-dipping, face-painting and the chance to meet Chris Packham, all on the banks of Rutland Water Last weekend, when cars jammed the M6 and A12 on their way to the V festivals in Staffordshire and Essex, equally large crowds headed to England's smallest county, Rutland. They were flocking to the British Birdwatching Fair – the largest annual wildlife event in Europe, known to its regulars...
The Birdchaser (Free subscription) | 08/24/2009
For decades birders have been suspicious of Louisiana State University ornithologists. When very rare birds are found within a day's drive of LSU, birders have been afraid that researchers might collect the bird, and when the rarity inevitably disappears, there has often been suspicion that an LSU researcher collected it while nobody was looking. I always took this to be a bit paranoid. But now we...
10,000 Birds (Free subscription) | 08/22/2009
BirdLife International is launching a global bid to try to confirm the continued existence of 47 species of bird that have not been seen for up to 184 years. “The mention of species such as Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Jamaican Petrel, Hooded Seedeater, Himalayan Quail, and Pink-headed Duck will set scientists’ pulses racing. Some of these species [...]
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