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Birding the Kruger Park (4): Letaba area

10,000 Birds

While this is a very charismatic bird, the Southern Grey-headed Sparrow emphatically is not. On Quora , one question asked (presumably not by a sparrow) is “What does he mean by I have a beautiful soul?” ” This sparrow does not want to hear it has a beautiful soul.

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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.

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Bird Talk: An Exploration of Avian Communication–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

”* And then, my bird club friends started talking about alternate warbler songs and sparrow dialects and I thought, “Really? And, that sparrow I heard in California that sounded so different really is a Song Sparrow?” Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.

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The Feathery Tribe: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

This led to a correspondence with Spencer Fullerton Baird, then assistant secretary of the Smithsonian, the mentor of many naturalist/scientists of Ridgway’s generation, himself a disciple of John James Audubon, and, yes, the Baird of Baird’s Sparrow. Baird, Brewer, Cory, Bicknell, and Worthen all make appearances. It’s challenging reading.

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Try, Try Again

10,000 Birds

And for the first time, I saw a Bronzed Cowbird (which lays its eggs in other birds’ nests) checking out one of these nests. Two weeks later, it was a young math and science teacher from Oregon named Brent who asked me to take him with me. I know this photo isn’t very helpful, but there are four Motmots in that one tree.

Mexico 162
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Birding Shanghai in October 2022

10,000 Birds

Of course, it is hard to resist looking at a paper titled “Host personality predicts cuckoo egg rejection in Daurian redstarts” Basically, the personality of a female redstart (bold or shy) predicts the responses to parasitic eggs – bold hosts are more likely to reject parasitic eggs.

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Collaborative List – February 2018

10,000 Birds

Jamaica Bay, Big Egg Marsh. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail. Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and Estuary Trail.

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