10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It’s relatively easy to classify birds into family groups based on physical characteristics. It’s very hard to organize the many ways in which human beings relate to avian beings into comprehensible text. We view them as our enemies when they eat our crops and as an extension of our family when we see them at our feeders.

Birds 205

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 205

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Well-represented exotic families include starlings, ducks and doves and there are also many more individual species that now thrive here. The population has been present for at least 15 years. The population is not directly dependent on human support.

Miami 130

Miami Parrots Research Birds 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2012

Our small group spent a weekend at the Ferret Research Camp, a cluster of trailers tucked in the middle of a black-tailed prairie dog town and the site, as the name implies, of a black-footed ferret reintroduction program. Like the Rockies, though, this is a harsh beauty, not an ideal climate for the human animal by any means.

Wildlife 179

Wildlife Ferrets Montana Prairie Dogs 179

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

Not all habitat change is due to humans; there is Chestnut Blight destroying American Chestnuts in the early 1900s, and the more recent Dutch Elm disease. The first three sections are brief, presenting a summary of the bird’s current NYC status (migrant, resident, breeder, vagrant, etc.), They wrote books and published research.

New York City 146

New York City New York Birds Breeding 146

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. One part of this question can be answered with some very interesting recent research.

Penguins 188

Penguins Seals Peru Science 188

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

I want to talk about this research but if you really want to know more about it, don’t rely on me; one of the co-authors of this important paper is Darren Naish, who happens to be a stupendous blogger, and he has written the research up here. So, for example, humans are apes. Meanwhile I have a few random thoughts.

Camels 196

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 196

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

Ackerman’s new book is about owls and owl research–the knowledge recently and currently being discovered through DNA analysis, new-tech tracking and monitoring, and old-fashioned fieldwork under the auspices of organizations like the Global Owl Project and the Owl Research Institute.

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2017

In a time of little published information about the rainforests of Central and South America aside from scientific journal articles and the works of 19th-century naturalists, the “little green book,” as it was called, became a must-read amongst nature-oriented travelers and researchers.

South America 143

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 143

Animal Person

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Today's New York Times gives us Adam Shriver's Op-Ed " Not Grass-Fed, But at Least Pain-Free ," which presents its dilemma at the end: If we cannot avoid factory farms altogether, the least we can do is eliminate the unpleasantness of pain in the animals that must live and die on them. What about being torn from your family?

Factory Farm 100

Factory Farm Factory Farming Animal Factory 100

Animal Person

JUNE 8, 2009

Beloved family pet Dalmatian, Pepper, is stolen, and after several weeks of searching is discovered to have been experimented on at a hospital and died on the table when researchers tried to implant her with an experimental cardiac pacemaker. By the end of my time as researcher, I was performing behavioral experiments on humans.

Animal Welfare 100

Animal Welfare Monkeys Animal Welfare Act Vivisection 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

2014), presents an authoritative framework for our understanding of and future work on bird phylogeny. ’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. So do parrots, some songbirds, humans, and a few other mammals. American Flamingo photo by Dick Culbert). titled Avian relationships – What do we know?

Family 279

Family Parrots Birds 2014 279

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives. This was a pleasant surprise if only because I’m so used to the more technical views presented in his field guides.

2020 262

2020 Birds Groups North America 262

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

“A reading of recent research shows that Australian birds are more likely than most to eat sweet foods, live in complex societies, lead long lives, attack other birds, and be intelligent and loud.” When I publicly present bird photos, I sometimes play the call of the bird and ask what they think it is.

Birds 217

Birds Australia Ducks Mountain Goats 217

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

But, these numbers don’t adequately convey the work that went into this guide, which aims to “present the most up-to-date state of knowledge on the region’s birds for the first time as a whole in a single volume” (Introduction). Co-author Frank E. So, this is no ordinary bird guide. Where is the Indonesian Archipelago?

Indonesia 121

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 121

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2011

And if you look into it enough, it presents a classic case where science can fail us. Non-human beings have traditionally thought of on a basically immoral level…they lack any intrinsic values, are incapable of thoughts and emotions, and are only worth how good of a coat they make or how good they taste. But I digress.

Emotional 198

Emotional Science Birds Mammals 198

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2018

Birders have a natural tendency to appreciate variety in form, from the bewildering range of colors displayed within a single avian family, to minute distinctions between otherwise similar birds wholly inscrutable to the untrained eye (or even to those of many birders!). Birders are generally happy when this happens.

Ohio 113

Ohio India Hawaii United States 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2011

Way back when I started what turned out to be my thesis research (on humans), it became important for me to learn about bird migration. I was involved in the study of human movement and navigation on land, and there was a lot of research coming out about bird navigation. Itcher birds, migratory members of the tern family.

Research 187

Research Humane Compassion New York 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

Antpittas and Gnateaters covers 64 species in six genera and two families. (I Here’s Plate 3, the third plate for Conopophaga , one of the two genera of the Gnateater family. And, I looked at my eBird list and realized I’ve seen nine species of Antpitta and one of Gnateater.

Research 136

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 136

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2022

Of course, the paper ends with the usual thinly disguised request for more research grants: “This sharing behavior could indicate a high level of social awareness and prosociality that should be further investigated. Presumably, this also leads to income inequality, if parallels to humans are any guidance. Some delegates.

Finland 147

Finland Birds 2016 McDonalds 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

Picidae, Woodpecker, is one of those charismatic bird families that everybody gets excited about. Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide is the first major guide to family Picidae in 20 years. More is known about some woodpecker species than others, and Gorman points out cases where additional research is particularly needed.

Woodpeckers 234

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 234

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 23, 2006

He clearly thinks that it is wrong to cause animals to suffer unnecessarily, but he appears to be somewhat ambivalent about killing animals (provided the killing is carried out humanely). I suspect that underlying his thinking here is a common rationalization that many of my students initially embrace. Running time: 12 Minutes.

Factory Farm 40

Factory Farm Factory Farming Morals Meat 40

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

None fly, most are curious and social, which probably contributes to our cultural perception of penguins as one step away from human. Science and Conservation , the second section, presents two-page summaries of the diverse research being done around the world about penguins. Some are cute, some are dignified (and royal!).

Penguins 191

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 191