Posts Tagged ‘ornithology’
Health & Medicine - Apr 19, 2010 12:02 - 0 Comments
Birds of a feather don’t fight infection together
PRINCETON (US)—Different populations of the same animal species don’t always use fever to fight infection the same way. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 24, 2010 12:52 - 0 Comments
Identifying birds by sniff, not song
INDIANA U (US)—Two recently diverged populations of a southern California songbird produce unique odors, suggesting smell could contribute to the reproductive isolation that accompanies the origin of new bird species. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Mar 23, 2010 16:07 - 1 Comment
Will sea birds suffer under EU ban?
U. LEEDS (UK)—A proposed European Union ban on throwing unwanted fish overboard from commercial boats in the North Sea could put the survival of a sea bird at risk. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 26, 2010 12:19 - 2 Comments
Antioxidants give birds breeding edge
U. COLORADO (US)—North American barn swallows outperform their peers in reproduction by maintaining a positive balance of antioxidants, found naturally in plant pigments—and in health food stores around the world. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Feb 9, 2010 11:55 - 0 Comments
New ‘Flowerpecker’ spotted in Borneo
LEEDS (UK)—A new species of bird has been seen—but only once—in the Bornean rainforest. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 4, 2010 16:16 - 0 Comments
Feathered dinosaur in full color
YALE (US)—Scientists have uncovered the vibrant colors that adorned a feathered dinosaur extinct for 150 million years by deciphering microscopic clues hidden within fossils. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Dec 4, 2009 11:22 - 1 Comment
Birds shout out to friends and enemies
UC DAVIS (US)—Birds’ alarm calls serve both to alert other birds to danger and to warn off predators. And some birds can pull a ventriloquist’s trick, singing from the side of their mouths. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 17, 2009 11:57 - 0 Comments
Bird vibrates feathers to hum love song
CORNELL (US)—Four years ago, a researcher reported a bizarre example of sexual selection in a rare South American bird: The male attracts the female by rubbing specialized wing feathers—more than 100 cycles per second—to create a high hum, similar to a sustained violin note. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Aug 11, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
Wind energy that’s for the birds
“Conducting this research will help the wind industry make informed, science-based decisions about where future wind energy projects can be built and how they can be operated to minimize the impact on migrating wildlife, while still providing much-needed alternative energy,” explains John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Earth & Environment - Jul 10, 2009 13:28 - 1 Comment
Dinosaurs of many kinds may have burrowed to survive
On the heels of his discovery in Montana of the first trace fossil of a dinosaur burrow, Emory University paleontologist Anthony Martin has found evidence of more dinosaur burrows—this time on the other side of the world, in Victoria, Australia. Martin believes the likely burrows were made by small ornithopod dinosaurs—herbivores that were prevalent in the region and were about the size of a large, modern-day iguana.
Earth & Environment - Jul 10, 2009 11:50 - 0 Comments
Pairing radar, acoustics to track birds near wind farms
This animation illustrates the use of a network of surveillance weather radar to record nocturnal migrating birds, bats, and insects in the continental U.S. from sunset to sunrise Oct. 1, 2008. The blocky green, yellow, and red patterns, especially visible on the east coast, represent precipitation; but within an hour after sunset, radar picks up biological activity, as seen in the widening blue and green circles spreading from the east across the country. The birds, bats, and insects take off, fly past, and get sampled by the radar beam. Note, the black areas on the map do not represent places without birds, necessarily, but rather places where radar does not sample.
Science & Technology - Apr 3, 2009 8:46 - 0 Comments
Feather color linked to structures similar to beer foam
YALE (US)—Most colors in nature—from the color of our skin to the green of trees—are produced by pigments. But the bright blue feathers found in many birds, such as Bluebirds and Blue Jays, are instead produced by nanostructures. Under an electron microscope, these tiny structures—similar to beer foam—look like sponges. (more…)
