One of my retirement activities is giving “enrichment” lectures on cruise ships around the world. I’ve lectured on over 20 cruises and ten different cruise lines. Not sophisticated university-level lectures, but “edu-tainment” as the cruise lines call them. They are part of the ship’s activities, especially on “sea days” when the ship doesn’t make a […]
Cruising With Birds Read More »
Birds’ songs and calls are important for survival. The ear of a bird is very much like that of a mammal’s with two important exceptions. The external ear lacks a pinna (the flesh-covered outer ear) although owls have one, and nstead of three vibration-transmitting bones birds have only one, the columella. When sound waves hit
The Hearing of Birds Read More »
It’s well known that crows and jays and their relatives in the family Corvidae are the most intelligent birds. There’s an all black bird native to New Caledonia known as the New Caledonian Crow. The New Caledonian crow sometimes digs for grubs in nooks or crevices of a tree’s bark by using a small twig to probe
Something to Crow About Read More »
The most basic definition of a species is a group of biological individuals who can interbreed. Using DNA, and morphological and behavioral studies, birds are placed into categories based upon the closeness of their relationships. Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who formalized the modern system of naming organisms called binomial nomenclature.
What Are Bird Species? Read More »
The title of this blog is a quote from our former president George W. Bush. Of course I refer to Canada, specifically Newfoundland, where I visited a while back in the fall season. One of the best things about traveling is learning history, culture, and especially geography. Do you know where the easternmost tip of
Our Most Important Neighbor to the North 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 »
I was contacted by a Real Simple Magazine writer a few years ago asking if putting a plastic owl in a window would prevent songbirds from hitting the glass. My slightly smart-alecky answer was that an Elvis doll would be as effective as a plastic owl. Shortly after the article got published I got an
A while back I blogged about birds pecking at windows when they see their reflection and about birds running into windows. About a billion birds per year fly into windows and die, the second greatest source of human-caused avian mortality; cats are first . Birds run into windows because they either see the habitat (trees,
Bird-Safe Buildings Read More »
I’m not sure I know the difference between myths and folklore, but it seems that myths are deep-seated, mystical, significant stories and folklore is a narrower and less significant collection of beliefs. And then there is just boloney. Like the old saw that says you should not throw rice at weddings because birds will eat
Birds and Folklore Read More »
Do what you can to preserve, protect, or restore habitat. We moved into our neighborhood 30 years ago. We built our house on an old black walnut orchard. Had to take down some of the trees, but they were pretty decrepit anyway. After settling in and doing some landscaping to the front of our acre
Backyards for the Birds Read More »
