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Acorn Woodpeckers: The Clowns of the Avian World

10,000 Birds

Most Acorn Woodpeckers are cooperative breeders and live in family groups of up to a dozen or more individuals. Within a group, 1–7 male co-breeders compete for matings with 1–3 joint-nesting females who lay their eggs in the same nest cavity. This is their range map courtesy of Nature Serve.

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Flock to Marion

10,000 Birds

A family motel and passion for responsible ecotourism brought her home to the Oregon Coast where she and her husband, Erik, adventure and record a podcast ( Hannah and Erik Go Birding ), created in an effort to inspire others to get out and bird. The cats were eradicated by 1991, which left the mice population to go unchecked.

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A Strategic Arms Race Among Birds

10,000 Birds

There are two patterns that are fairly extreme that fall into this category: brood parasitism and helper-at-the-nest strategy. In the case of brood parasitism, made famous by the many species of Cuckoo as well as cow birds and some fiches, among others, one might expect the host birds to evolve anti-parasitism strategies.

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Birding Nonggang, Guangxi, China – part 2

10,000 Birds

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. But the starting point has to be a real attraction, not a fake one.

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The Fate of the Florida Anis

10,000 Birds

It is one of three species of ani ( Groove-billed and Greater Anis are the other two) and together form a unique branch in the cuckoo family. In addition to having a communal nesting strategy, anis also spend a significant amount of time allopreening, huddling together, and sunning themselves together on exposed branches.

Florida 202
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Rails: The Once and Future Kings of the Pacific

10,000 Birds

We’ve only recently begun to completely piece it together, using fossils and scientific analysis, but what is shows is that, once upon a time, the rail family was one of the most, if not the most, species rich family of birds in the world. But they are, as a family, prone to remarkable wandering.

Hawaii 214
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Polygynandry and avian swingers

10,000 Birds

Nice. ((** all names have been changed to protect identities and have been substituted with (almost) randomly chosen substitutes suitable for a family of Alpine Accentors.)) small families putting less pressure on the adult members of the family). all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes.

2011 221