Since 1977, House Sparrow populations have declined by 67 percent in Great Britain. Once a very common bird, the mystery of their disappearance has apparently been solved: a lack of insects. Disappearance of habitats, pesticides, and the conversion of gardens into parkin spaces have all contributed. But it’s not just House Sparrows and not just […]
Farm Birds Disappearing Read More »
Last week was the 48th anniversary of Earth Day. I attended the first Environmental Teach-In in 1970 at the University of Michigan, a month before the first Earth Day on April 22nd. I saw Gaylord Nelson and Gordon Lightfoot there and attended lectures at even at 2, 3 and 4 am on environmental issues. There was
I often hear that birds mate for life. It’s much more complicated. Yes, some birds like waterfowl and seabirds and eagles tend to have long term pair bonds and they may actually stay together for life. This “marriage” certainly makes life easier as it minimizes annual courtship, nesting, and territorial activities. There are a number
Do Birds Mate for Life? Read More »
Chickens are the domesticated descendents of the Red Junglefowl, native to Southeast Asia and have been around for perhaps 10,000 years. There are more chickens in the world (24 billion) than any other bird. And there are perhaps 500 different breeds of chickens in the world, such as Plymouth Rock, Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, Silkie,
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 »
There are probably over a hundred blogs on birds on the web. Some are broad in concept like mine, Ornithology.com , and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Others are limited to particular geographical areas and some have conservation goals as priorities. There are several whose goal is really advertisement. My blog has its own niche.
Ornithology.com Blogs- sign up! 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 »
Seems like every time there is an unusual event, conspiracy theorists and their ilk come up with farfetched explanations. Science generally operates on the principle that the simplest explanation is generally the right one. There is no need to invoke ideas like changes in the earth’s magnetic field, toxic gases, black holes, radio waves, or
Birds Falling From the Sky Read More »
