I learned the other day that synchronized swimmers don’t shave their legs, at least not to the point of smoothness. Apparently the hair on their legs gives them a sense of where their legs are in the water. Try lightly running your hand along your hairy arm or leg – there clearly is a […]
Birds have a skeletal system with a number of adaptations for their way of life. Flying especially requires a number of adaptations to make the birds’ bones lighter and stronger. Many bones are fused into one, some are hollow, and most have internal struts for strength. Flying birds have a keel extending from their sternum
Why Don’t Sleeping Birds Fall Out of Trees? Read More »
Many of us feed hummingbirds. During much of the year these tiny birds survive on nectar, the sugary fluid produced by flowers in order to attract pollinators. Hummingbirds eat “meals” as do humans – a relatively large and quick intake of food. Whatever the concentration of nectar, the birds will eat something like 5-14 times
Hummingbirds and Nectar Read More »
I’ll get right to the hatching part. Maybe in a later blog I can talk about how the egg is formed. After egg-laying begins (most birds lay more than one in a clutch), incubation begins. It may begin right after the first egg is laid or only after all of them are laid. Incubation means
How Does a Bird Hatch? Read More »
There is something like one bird book published every day in the U.S. Look in your local bookstore and you’ll find a plethora of titles. I gave a quick perusal of Amazon.com and found 432 books on hummingbirds alone – there were more, I just got tired of scrolling down the page. To the left
Bird Books of a Feather Read More »
The following is extracted and modified from my book, Beaks, Bones, and Birdsongs: Rice farmers lose millions of dollars each year in lost crops and expenses incurred trying to control pest birds and are looking at any solution that’s not too expensive or difficult. Chemical deterrents to make the rice taste bad have been tried but
Do Birds Taste Good? Read More »
Are birds immortal? Not exactly. Generally we consider mortality as immunity from death – living forever. As we all know, though, death is inevitable for all living things. Humans have extended their life span, though and some radical thinkers believe immortality is possible. Males born in 1940 were expected to live to be 65,
Research has demonstrated that we humans don’t multitask well; instead we switch quickly from one single task to another. But this switching produces a mental bottleneck and interferes with performance. This means that the moron in the BMW next to you texting his girlfriend is either driving or texting at some level, but not both
Multitasking Birds Read More »
OK, you have read all my blogs for a year, right? So how much do you know about birds? Try this quiz. Don’t Google the answers – try to do it off the top of your head first. How many avian species are there in the world? How many species are flightless? What’s your state
Ornithological Quiz – what do you know about birds? Read More »
According to the New York Times, the oldest known wild bird in the United States, is an albatross. “Wisdom, a Laysan albatross who lives in the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific northwest of the main Hawaiian island, is 60 years old. Among birds in the wild, albatrosses are believed to be the species that
How Long Do Birds Live? Read More »
