In June of 2017, a judge in India declared that peacocks are celibate as they do not mate the usual way. I’ve received several questions from India, asking how peacocks reproduce. Apparently there is some widely believed myth in India that peahens get “pregnant’ by drinking the tears of the peacock. I don’t know if […]
The Birds and the Bees Read More »
Ecological indicators are useful tools for measuring changes over time, and provide valuable insights into how and why the environment is changing. We can measure the changing status of the environment, such as biodiversity – fewer species, more species, and/or different species; the reasons for these changes (habitat destruction or degradation, pollution, climate change, introduced
Birds as Indicator Species Read More »
Wherever I travel, I look for birds. Big cities, the suburbs, the sands of Namibia, and a few years back, Disney World. Disney World is huge, spread over 43 square miles and employing 50,000 people. Hordes of people, tens of thousands of vehicles, and enormous structures are everywhere, although a lot of natural vegetation
Disney World of Birds Read More »
I was reminded by a flock of Sandhill Cranes flying overhead that it’s that time of year again – migration. As the days lengthen as winter wanes, birds in northern climes get restless and finally uproot themselves from their southerly wintering areas. It’s always a sight to ducks and geese and cranes flying in their
Birds have been banded since ancient times. In one recorded instance a besieged Roman garrison was sent a swallow with three threads around its toes, indicating that help would arrive in three days. By the late 16th century many species of birds were being tagged in some way. Some Chinese put silver tablets on their
All individual organisms that scientists have named have scientific names, given by international committees by agreement. Scientific names, Latin or Greek based, are useful internationally. Common names can be confusing across different languages. But it gets even more complex. What is a species? Scientists argue this concept back and forth and often one or a
Lumpers and Splitters Read More »
We kiss under it but mistletoe is important in nature; it provides food, cover, and nesting sites for many animals. The Christmas mistletoe we hang from our doorways is only one of more than 1,300 species of mistletoe worldwide. In the U.S., we have only the American (kissing ) mistletoe and the dwarf mistletoe. The
I am a zoologist, ecologist, ornithologist, and professor; I am, bottom line, a scientist. One of the things that makes science and engineering such successful as well as rigorous fields, is terminology. Without precise terminology, one cannot define or solve many problems. The laws of thermodynamics, the principles of genetics, the oxidation-reduction reactions of chemistry
Bird watchers’ hopes in the discovery of a new species of hawk have been shot down after a New Zealand farmer was revealed to be spray painting the birds pinkish-red and releasing them for fun. In a judge’s decision released this week, Grant Michael Teahan was found guilty of two charges of ill-treating an animal after
POISONED BIRDS In 1959 Tom Lehrer recorded his notorious “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” song. I hope no one does that intentionally but many birds die each year from ingesting toxins. A recent study indicates that two-thirds of California Condor fatalities result from ingesting led shot from the ground or as part of the carrion
