10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

A mozzie bites me, so I take the “Expedition Plus Insect Repellent” from my rucksack (when I think about it now, any local brand would probably be equally efficient, but they lack the word “expedition” which immediately turns you into a proper explorer) and start spraying my hands and neck. Telia, copyright © Nitin Bhardwaj.

Tigers 252

Tigers India Killing 2012 252

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Experiments in the field (the famed Asa Wright Nature Center veranda) involving Bananaquits and bananas came up with numbers ranging from 7 to 16, but a tanager always came along to interfere with Bananaquits’ noisy appreciation of their namesake fruit. (2) Which hummingbird was more beautiful—Tufted Coquette or Ruby-topaz Hummingbird? (3)

Trinidad 205

Trinidad Birds South America Research 205

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Some ornithologists strive for synthesis (see, for example, Gerald Mayr’s 2007 paper Avian higher-level phylogeny: well-supported clades and what we can learn from a phylogenetic analysis of 2954 morphological characters ), and I believe it’s in this approach that the future lies.

2011 155

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 155

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 20, 2008

Even the most ardent defenders of the morality of using animals for food and as “tools” in scientific experiments admit that premises (1) and (2) are true and acknowledge that (1) and (2) capture something central to our moral relationship to animals.

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Meat Ethics Lacto-Ovo 40