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The return of the Old Man

10,000 Birds

Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World states that “disturbance by local people, tourists, and egg and zoo collectors has similarly reduced the colonies, and more protection is vital”. Such an intimate encounter with one of the world’s rarest birds was a memorable experience. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a fascinating bird.

Morocco 235
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How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals about Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity: A Book Review by a Non-Science Person

10,000 Birds

He is also a serious birder (and a birding friend), and his birding observations and adventures are used throughout the book to introduce evolutionary questions and illustrate the mental interplay between personal experience and scientific curiosity. The book is smartly organized into 12 chapters. This is a book that requires attention.

Science 228
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Birding Shanghai in June 2023

10,000 Birds

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). Summary result: relevant chemicals emitted by the plant can be found in the eggs. Bye, bye, Lesser Coucal.

Birds 130
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The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Going back to that assumption that birds don’t have a sense of smell, it can be traced to John James Audubon (of course), who performed several experiments with Turkey Vultures and concluded that the vultures used sight, not scent, to find food. 241) that contribute to a bird’s odor. This is an extremely helpful aid.

Science 235
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Birding Chongming Island in summer

10,000 Birds

This would have allowed you to summarize your experience in sentences such as “A total of 98 boluses regurgitated by 52 chicks aged 1 day to 11 days after hatching form the sample and are shown to contain 323 food items.” End of side note. To female readers then: the Pheasant-tailed Jacana. But maybe that is actually a good thing.

Birds 162
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Birds of the West: An Artist’s Guide–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

The lengthy Introduction gives both a personal history and a global history of birds and art, including brief profiles of John James Audubon and the far lesser known Genevieve Estelle Jones, who conceived of a book eventually called Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio in the late 19th century.

Birds 159
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Review of Feathers

10,000 Birds

Platypus have bills, bats and bugs can fly, and reptiles lay eggs, but only birds have feathers. Of all of the sections of the book I definitely learned the most from Evolution. Feathers are the unique ingredient when it comes to birds.

Reptiles 191