10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2015

We are on the threshold, just stepping across it really, of understanding one of the most important evolutionary events that ever happened. This is a key feature of birds. Not all birds fly, but all birds have flight related anatomy and at least descend from those that did. I speak of flight, of course.

Rodents 187

Rodents Primates Bats Science 187

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. Even among our primate relatives, whoa are generally very smart, “Theory of Mind” is found in only a few species. But that’s another story. Here’s the idea. The graph shows the results.

Abandon 228

Abandon Abandoning Abandonment Research 228

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2012

My friends, knowing my interest in birds, were eager to show me. In European folklore particularly, birds (that is White Storks ) bringeth babies, and birds (specifically various types of eagles) taketh babies away. Everyone knows you bait eagles with babies in Alpine meadows, DUH.

Eagles 135

Eagles Psychology Primates Montana 135

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

And apart from local people, primate researchers sometimes spot it, but it is a species seen by fewer than ten living birders. This book is essentially about those birds that breed on the continent south of the Sahara, a topic few birders are familiar with. Some are incredibly rare and hard to find.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Madagascar 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2016

One of the key features of birds, and I use the term “key” literally, is vocalization. Primates are exceptional among the mammals, living amphibians (which represent only a small part of the original amphibian family tree) are pretty noisy too. Vocalization is central to bird behavior and evolution.

Groups 169

Groups Collecting Primates Bats 169

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2011

Recently, the news came out that beloved Archaeopteryx is not really a bird ancestor. This has happened before, Archaeopteryx and the bird family tree have had an often tenuous relationship. The second kind of trait are those held in common by different bird and non-bird lineages because of common ancestry.

Mammals 248

Mammals Europe Groups Family 248