Intentional, reciprocal communication: keys to effective leadership
AVMA News
FEBRUARY 13, 2024
The presentation reviewed how essential human connection is to effective leadership and the science of high-quality coaching practices.
AAALAC International appoints Dr. Gary Borkowski as CEO
AVMA News
SEPTEMBER 25, 2023
Borkowski will serve as the new CEO of AAALAC International, a nonprofit that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs. Starting in October, Dr. Gary L.
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Evidence of earlier humans in Madagascar is unconvincing but interesting
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 18, 2018
There is a virtual flock of new and interesting bird science news all of the sudden, including the rediscovery of an extinct Bahama Nuthatch. It was always thought that humans first inhabited the island of Madagascar about four or five thousand years ago or so. Science did not let us solidify that claim.
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Potpourri of Amazing Bird Science
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 17, 2015
The potpourri covers some interesting bird related science of the last few weeks, and the promise is this: I’ll get to that other stuff soon, I promise! From Science Daily : Crows have the brain power to solve higher-order, relational-matching tasks, and they can do so spontaneously, according to new research.
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A Fierce Cartoon Bird: Steller’s Sea Eagle on Hokkaido
10,000 Birds
APRIL 29, 2024
In what might nowadays be regarded as a slightly weird scientific practice, after meeting naturalist Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt, he married Messerschmidt’s widow after his death and got notes from Messerschmidt’s Siberia travels from her that had not been handed over to the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
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Why Humans Are the Only Ones with Rights
Critter News
AUGUST 24, 2011
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.
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Book Review: Spillover – Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 29, 2014
If you’re feeling fearful or ignorant, well, I can recommend vox.com’s coverage (as in most things), but you could also do worse that picking up Spillover – Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen. The book is about zoonoses, diseases that jump from animals to people.
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Christian Science Monitor Calls for Endangered Species Hour
Critter News
MARCH 28, 2010
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.
The return of the Old Man
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 23, 2024
The EU-funded LIFE+ project, called Reason for Hope, is coordinated by the Austrian association Förderverein Waldrappteam, and is claimed to be the first science-based attempt to reintroduce a migratory species to its area of origin. Such an intimate encounter with one of the world’s rarest birds was a memorable experience.
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Just positing a question/theory about primates/apes.
Reddit Animals
MAY 9, 2023
Now, something that caught my fancy, that was stated by the reactionist/YouTube personality, was that this ape, this early hominid if you would, which died out just prior to the arrival of humans or because of the arrival of humans. The way they described it made it seem that line was kind of blurred there. So, it died out.
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Vagrancy in Birds: A Book Review
10,000 Birds
APRIL 5, 2022
There are many more factors than I imagined: compass errors, wind drift, overshooting, extreme weather and irruptions, natural dispersal, and human-driven vagrancy. Some birders may want to carefully read the chapter on human-driven vagrancy, which takes up the question of ship-assisted vagrancy. Next time, I’ll know why.
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Quoth the Ravens: We’re Ready for Our Close-up
10,000 Birds
APRIL 6, 2014
Common Ravens tend to avoid nesting around lots of humans. Why else would they build their nest, which already contains two eggs, on the fire escape of the college’s science center? Which is what makes the Ravencam so special, according to Professor Nicholas Rodenhouse, who teaches environmental science and biological sciences.
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Solid Air: Invisible Killer Saving Billions of Birds From Windows–A Book Review
10,000 Birds
JULY 5, 2022
The first half describes the problem (why birds hit windows, the scale of the deaths, scientific research, what happens when birds strike windows) and the second half discusses what to do about it (community and worldwide education, window deterrent solutions, legal mandates and building codes, citizen science–what individuals can do).
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What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds: A Book Review
10,000 Birds
JULY 4, 2023
Jennifer Ackerman points out in the introduction to What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds , that we don’t know much, but that very soon we may know a lot more. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read.
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Four More Grosbeaks?
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 11, 2013
One the one hand, science is awesome. It seemed like a Rubicon for birding in general, and citizen science in particular, if you now need specialized recording equipment to even know what you’re seeing. But that’s not the fault of the science. Citizen science is not dead yet. What’s a birder to think?
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Tom Regan on the Use of Animals in Science
Animal Ethics
SEPTEMBER 6, 2012
All that the rights view prohibits is science that violates individual rights. There are also some things we cannot learn by using humans, if we respect their rights. If that means that there are some things we cannot learn, then so be it. The rights view merely requires moral consistency in this regard. (
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Birding Shanghai in June 2023
10,000 Birds
JULY 6, 2023
In the slightly frighteningly named journal “Science of The Total Environment”, there is a paper on organochlorine compounds in Purple Heron eggs nesting in sites located around a chloralkali plant (Ebro River). More work, less fun, all because humans introduced some stupid fish into kingfisher habitat.
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Every sperm is sacred
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 28, 2015
If you’re feeling particularly science-y, the full paper is here.). This differs from humans and other mammals, in which the addition of extra sperm essentially destroys the egg. That’s the finding of researchers from the University of Sheffield in the UK, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (If
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The popstars are back: Paradise Flycatchers in Shanghai
10,000 Birds
JUNE 26, 2023
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. Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16 not their own).
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Birding Nanhui, Shanghai in November 2021
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 9, 2021
Humans, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I have to say that the pattern suits the buntings much better than humans, though, and hopefully, it is also more pleasant for them to wear. This species is listed as vulnerable – similar to the Yellow-breasted Buntings, it is trapped on a large scale. Or duck?
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Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History from Cave Art to Conservation–A Book Review
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 6, 2022
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.
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212 Just like in people, yawning is contagious in birds
10,000 Birds
JUNE 1, 2015
Science is fairly well established that yawning can spread like wildfire among groups of humans, as well as a few other mammals. Apologies in advance for the ridiculous amount of yawns that reading this post will engender. Our first victim appears to be the Ring-billed Gull above, photographed by Corey.) Don’t say you weren’t warned!
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Firebirds and the Future
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
Sometimes it’s hard to know what to think about science reporting on this vast Internet of ours. When you receive a link to an article in the Daily Mail , for instance, your thoughts do not immediately leap to “my god, a ground-breaking, perhaps even mind-blowing advance in the study of avian tool use!”
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15 Australian Birds (Episode 2)
10,000 Birds
JUNE 13, 2022
Quite likely, these birds are also the inspiration for Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. According to the HBW entry for this species, it “has been claimed that loss of native mammals after European settlement created shortage of nesting material, explaining this species’ penchant for taking hair from humans.”
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A Climate Change Crash
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 21, 2018
Here are a few other things regular readers of this site may be familiar with: The bird science journal “The Condor,” the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley, the concept of “niche,” and the system for making field observations of species known as the “Grinnell System.”
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Birding Chongming Island in summer
10,000 Birds
JULY 18, 2022
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.
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162 Honey, I Shrunk The Dinosaurs!
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 19, 2014
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.
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Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds–A Book Review
10,000 Birds
APRIL 2, 2024
49-50) She is also adept at writing about conservation’s larger context in terms of its history, public policy struggles, and the science behind species re-introduction. Well-researched and footnoted, these sections never feel disconnected from the more personal sections.
Murder Most Wildfowl: A Review of “A Dance of Cranes” by Steve Burrows
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 22, 2019
It’s a matter of personal preference: neither does every reader like, say, science fiction, or the writing of Henry James, or romance novels. In A Dance of Cranes, dancing, both avian and human, is a leitmotif. (For There’s no accounting for taste.
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Birding Shanghai in March 2024
10,000 Birds
APRIL 1, 2024
I am sure some people will hate this photo of a Eurasian Hoopoe , framed as it is by human artifacts. As I am sure I have mentioned before, a lot of science work seems to aim to prove the obvious – though the researchers still phrase their results very carefully. Of course, me being me, this is a good reason to show it.
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Looking for Books about Animal Experimentation
Critter News
MARCH 21, 2012
But I want to be able to argue about it intelligently, citing science, not just morals. Apparently, there is a lot of argument out there than animal experimentation is even good for humans. A drug may work on an animal, but fail miserably on a human. Drugs are not always predictable from human to human even.
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The Elusive Goal of Bird-Safe Skyscrapers
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
The latest edition of Science News delves into the work of scientists studying this problem. Proposed solutions include creating glass with images that reflect ultraviolet light (which many birds can see but humans can’t), or that features dots or stripes barely visible to the human eye.
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173 COMMENTS ON COLLECTING BIRDS: A Reply
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 28, 2015
How it is being affected by human intrusions? Science doesn’t work that way! Describing the position that Linda took with regards to the validity of the science as dishonest may have been unfair. Science Schmience. Says the prosecution to this: “Can a dead bird educate the researcher on its song?
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Dawn in South Carolina
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 10, 2017
Today, the vast tract of land is protected, managed for science and conservation. At dawn, my feet hit one of the protected beaches with Wendy Allen, the manager of the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, one of the science and outreach organizations working within Hobcaw.
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Quick Fall of Light by Sherrida Woodley
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 3, 2012
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?
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159 The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and Who Pays for It
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 17, 2014
But the tenets of the North American Model were developed in the 19th century, when wildlife ethics and science were a mere glimmer of what we understand today. Dr. David Lavigne, Science Advisor to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, co-authored Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability 5.
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Healthy Birds, Healthy Rainforest: Lessons from the Amazon
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
But not everyone sees things through such an avian-positive lens, and hence science often has to make the case for birds’ intrinsic worth. The scientists hope to expand the scope of their study to examine how humans affect global ecosystems. The latest such argument focuses on birds’ value to the well-being of rainforests.
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Birding Sepilok, Borneo (Part 2)
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 13, 2023
The scientific species name stricklandii commemorates Hugh Edwin Strickland (1811-1853), a British geologist, zoologist, and the coordinator of the Strickland Code, a code of nomenclature for taxonomic classification prepared by a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, first published in 1842 ( source ).
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The Effects of Wildfires on Wildlife
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 9, 2018
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. References: 1 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is about 35 miles West of my home. over the last 30 years.
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A Lump and a Split and the List is Shredded?
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 24, 2016
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). On the opposite end of the spectrum is new research considering Yellow-rumped Warblers.
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104 SeaWorld Saves Some Sandhills
10,000 Birds
APRIL 29, 2011
Rather than risk the chick’s imprinting on humans, the team cleverly thought to pair their two charges. SeaWorld vets removed the gasket, and happened to rescue, during the bird’s rehabilitation, a newly hatched Sandhill chick.
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15 Australian Birds (Episode 6)
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 29, 2022
The Sacred Ibis was seen as the incarnation of the god Thoth, who (with gods apparently better at multitasking than humans) was (or maybe still is, who knows?) was responsible for maintaining the universe, judging the dead, and for writing and science ( source ). Possibly also for doing the dishes. Two ways of life folded at once.
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Will Animal Research Ever End?
Critter News
JUNE 5, 2009
Some scientists say it could end in a generation if we pursue the creation of "virtual humans" and living cell banks as research replacements. Tags: animal experimentation animal research medical research science. I just don't understand why.
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Potential Efficiency Improvements
10,000 Birds
JUNE 17, 2023
Supporting local conservation organizations and participating in citizen science initiatives allows us to contribute to the protection of Shanghai’s bird species and their habitats. Conclusion: Shanghai, with its juxtaposition of urban landscapes and thriving birdlife, is a testament to the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature.
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