Critter News

JANUARY 25, 2012

1, 2012, egg-laying hens across many European countries will live with fewer discomforts: The European Commission has officially implemented its ban on battery cages, the notoriously cramped cages used by many egg farmers and criticized by animal rights proponents and veterinarians who call them cruel and harmful to the birds' welfare.

Battery Cages 100

Battery Cages Battery Animal Welfare Welfare 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2014

Howell, Ian Lewington, and Will Russell, right in front of me. The authors set June/July 2011 as the cut-off date, and were able to add noteworthy records up to November 2012, the date the manuscript was sent to the publisher. New species that were documented from Fall 2011 through Summer 2012 are listed in one of the appendices.

North America 258

North America America Birds United States 258

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

A number of research projects have sought to determine if some of these human brain abilities are found in other animals. And most recently, a team of researchers from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Austria have demonstrated that New Caledonian Crows understand UCAs. Taylor, Alex, Miller, Rachael, & Gray, Russell (2012).

Abandon 235

Abandon Abandoning Abandonment Research 235

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

Jackson, 2012. Previously, even researchers had problems getting access to nesting Kirtland’s Warblers. For many years after the first documented bird was shot and its skin donated to the Smithsonian Institute, people had no idea where the bird nested, how it migrated, where it wintered, what it ate. photo by Lynn C.

Michigan 236

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 236

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

And, he places current research within a framework of paleontological history of intrigue, backstabbing, and name-calling feuds. (No, “Feathery forearms would have allowed these emu-sized dinosaurs to shade their eggs from the head of the midday sun 80 million years ago” (right, Dinoguy2/Wikimedia).

Mongolia 187

Mongolia Science Reptiles Indiana 187

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

Looking through this compact yet extensive guide, I realized that I have been amiss in not reviewing the first book of this series, the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie (same authors, order reversed), published in 2012. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2012, $29.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Early research suggested that “Fragmented distributions and population bottlenecks due to human activities appear to have increased genetic differentiation among populations” (Leberg 1991). This is the time of year that we rightfully contemplate the noble Turkey. Which would be weird. Newbold, Bradley, et. Kiva 78(1):37–60. Reitz, Elizabeth.

Turkey 207

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Yet they also bring up questions, which I’m going to talk about right now before diving into the specifics of the guides themselves. I think we do have the right to expect that artwork and species descriptions when repeated are current, reflect recent studies and taxonomic thought. © 2023 by Steve N. .” © 2023 by Steve N.

Costa Rica 223

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 223

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

They say so right here in the Preface of Oceanic Birds of The World: A Photo Guide —seabirds are “some of the most challenging of all birds to identify.” Care has been taken to align the photographs and photo plates so the birds always face right, allowing for a consistency of view that makes comparative examination easier.

Albatross 164

Albatross North America Birds Groups 164

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) And, to make things even more confusing, why did Ian’s 2012 ffrench guide list the motmot under its old name, Blue-crowned Motmot? .

Trinidad 201

Trinidad Birds South America Research 201

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

The archipelago consists of 17,000 islands stretching out over 2500 miles along the Equator with a varied history of avian research and study, most on the under- or not-studied side. And, there is A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indonesia: Second Edition by Morten Strange (2012). So, this is no ordinary bird guide. Illustrations.

Indonesia 131

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 131

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2013

SINGAPORE, DECEMBER 2012 – Ask any birder where you should go birding in Singapore and the short list will always include Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve , this city-state’s finest wetlands. I went right to the main pool to get a ration of Old World shorebirds. Also worth the walk was the shot at Baya Weavers along the road.

Singapore 138

Singapore Zebras Zoos Owls 138

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2012

That’s NEXRAD radar map in the left binocular lens and a surface weather map on the right. How to Be a Better Birder by Derek Lovitch Princeton University Press, 2012, 208p. The cover of the book (not of Derek Lovitch) gives you some idea of the tools the better birder needs in the early 21st-century. 53 color illus.

New Jersey 242

New Jersey Science United States Birds 242

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Text is on the left, plates are on the right. Images of each species are grouped together, with the brightest colored bird, usually the adult male, on the far right, and duller plumages–female and immature–to the left. The images on the right, from the Peru field guide, are more intense in color.

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2016

A minor item, but I like to get these things right.) It’s heavily illustrated with both drawings (72 Colour Plates, 920 drawings) and photographs (over 650), and employs extensive references to and from each section, which makes research relatively easy. Looking further, the book itself says ‘83’ in the introduction.

North America 157

North America Asia Europe America 157

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Hunters and groups like the NRA consistently leverage the power of Duck Stamp funding to promote hunter-friendly agendas (such as expansion of hunting rights on refuges) sometimes overriding the voices of non-hunters whose wildlife considerations are often different yet equally valid. The Wild Duck Chase.

Wildlife 208

Wildlife Hunters Ducks Hunting 208

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2012

It covers 70 seabird species, explaining specific identification points with over 900 photographs and highly detailed descriptive text, all backed by an expertise based on years of research in the field, examination of museum specimen, and knowledge of ornithological literature. Princeton University Press, 2012, 520 pp.

North America 159

North America Albatross America Species 159

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Each Species Account consists of text on the left-hand page, distribution maps on the bottom of the page, and illustrations on the right. The text account starts off with common name, scientific name and a ‘Likelihood of encounter score’–a symbol indicating abundance in the bird’s appropriate habitat.

Australia 108

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 108

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2013

When you think about it, this is pretty remarkable; even with all the excellent bird photographers available, it must have taken hundreds of hours to locate good quality photographs in which the bird looks towards the right. King Eider to the left, Common Eider to the right. Swainson’s Thrush opposite Gray-cheeked Thrush.

Birds 165

Birds North America Groups Falcons 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

For my new book, due out in 2012 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, I’ve been researching sandhill crane hunting. A Great Backyard Bird Count Miracle Best Bird of the Weekend (Last of January 2011) What is the International Bird Rescue Research Center Anyway? Or These Blasts From The Past What’s In A Name?

2011 252

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 252

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

That’s a photo of Ridgway’s office on the right, fifth floor of the South Tower. Yale University Press, 2012. Ridgway spent the rest of his career in the Castle, the Smithsonian building that then housed the National Museum’s bird collection. What bird books did you read during and after Hurricane Sandy? ISBN: 9780300175523?

Collecting 151

Collecting Illinois United States Science 151

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2018

Watch out for Tom during October to see this anomaly put right. Hopland Research and Extension Center (restricted access). Hopland Research and Extension Center (restricted access). Hopland Research and Extension Center (restricted access). Alphabetic Taxonomic. Stygian Owl – Asio stygius. Parque do Ibirapuera.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Los Angeles 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2019

This year the big prize must go to Tom who has pushed himself, right to the wire to acheive a magnificent score for a self-funded, wife-organised, wife-sponsored Little Big Year , accounting for 57% of the total. Hopland Research and Extension Center (restricted access). Hopland Research and Extension Center (restricted access).

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113