The Doris Huestis Speirs Award is presented annually to an individual who has made outstanding lifetime contributions to Canadian ornithology. In 2017. the award went to Professor David Bird who is Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Biology and Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. Research research by Martin Gardiner
Tag: bird
Budgie Mirror Mystery (study)
“Mirrors or mirror-related toys are often provided to Budgerigars as a substitute for social interactions with a plethora of different mirror toys available for purchase. Despite widespread use, exactly how mirrors relate to social behaviors (i.e. actions directed towards conspecifics within a flock) remains a mystery in Budgerigars.” That’s to say, with reference to […]
Professor Bird (avian science expert)
If you’re seeking information about avian matters, who better to consult than the Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre (and Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Biology at McGill University, British Columbia,) Professor Bird. Previously, he was past-president of the Raptor Research Foundation Inc.; past-president of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists, past member of the […]
Brain size in birds and their deaths in traffic accidents? (new study)
If a species of bird has a relatively small brain [compared to other avian species] is it likely to be less intelligent ? And, if so, might it be more likely to be involved in a traffic accident? A team from Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, France and the House of […]
The effects of artificial bird beak extensions – (new study)
If one were to superglue an artificial beak extension [see diagram] onto the bills of pigeons and crows, which of the species would best adapt? Answers are to be found in a new experimental study from Hiroshi Matsui (Department of Psychology, Keio University, Japan) and Ei-Ichi Izawa (Japan Society of Promotion for Sciences, Tokyo). And […]
Correct measurement of the wing-length of waders (recommendation)
Those involved in research projects often need to take measurements of some kind, and usually, the more accurate the better – leading to the question ‘Can any measurement ever be taken without some margin of error?’ As an example, see the work of Professor P R Evans, writing in the Wader Study Group Bulletin, (69, […]
Can a bird use a human as an artistic tool?
Can a bird use a human as a tool to express its artistic ideas? Discuss. This performance is by Compagnie Le Guetteur – Luc Petton. Thanks to Laura Bassett for bringing it to our attention.
New uses for old CDs (part 1)
Got old CDs? Looking for uses for them? Have you thought about them in the context of ostrich entertainment? See: ‘How To Enrich the Largest Living Bird ‘ in the 2015 issue of The Ratite Review : The AZA Struthioniformes Taxon Advisory Group’s Annual Newsletter [note: 10 MB download] “Captive Ostrich enjoy various forms of […]
Can (or should) Ostriches Eat Horseshoes?
The idea that ostriches are partial to eating horseshoes goes back a long way. Hundreds of years in fact. See this 14th century depiction of a horseshoe (and nail) Struthioniforme mealtime. But can the birds actually eat and digest them? Over the centuries, several experiments have been performed to find out, and some are recounted […]
The tweets of Dr. Kwak (Twitter Investigator)
The tweets of Dr. Kwak, who is an expert on Twitter [being the lead author of ‘What is Twitter, a social network or a news media?’ (cited 3,000+ times)] may be found here.