Today’s Boobies-at-Sea Study-of-the-Day is: “Social Interactions of Juvenile Brown Boobies at Sea as Observed with Animal-Borne Video Cameras,” Ken Yoda, Miku Murakoshi, Kota Tsutsui, Hiroyoshi Kohno, PLoS ONE 6(5): e19602. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019602. (Thanks to investigator Robin Abrahams for alerting us to it.) The authors, include video, some of which you can watch (or, depending on how […]
Tag: Birds
Birds drops from the sky, explained
Kees Moeliker, who knows a thing or two about bird collision/deaths (he was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for documenting what is now perhaps the most famous bird collision/death in history — the collision was the prelude to the first scientifically documented case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck) explains the current crop of […]
Bubble Wrap for Surgical Patients
A veterinarian in Lake Worth, Florida reports a surgical innovation: “Bubble Wrap for Surgical Patients,” Greg J. Harrison, Journal of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, vol. 7n o. 4, 1993, p. 221. Dr. Harrison — the Harrison of Harrison’s Bird Foods — writes: “We have used regular bubble wrap to envelop avian patients undergoing long-term […]
The art of bird sketching
Wpbf.com reports: “Some dog walkers in downtown West Palm Beach [Florida] claim they have been attacked by a ‘crazy bird’ that swoops through the air.” The bird is described as being “black with a lot of yellow on its breast,” but its specific identity was not clear. To help identify the feathered nuisance, bird attack […]
Organic wheat: not for the birds
Global demand for organic produce is increasing by billions of dollars annually. But that pertains to human consumption. What about granivorous birds? Do they prefer organic over conventional wheat? Ailsa J. McKenzie and Mark J. Whittingham of Newcastle University addressed this question and found that: ” [ … ] captive birds in the laboratory and […]
Non-local pigeons banned from movies?
A proposed new law restricts the appearance, in films, of non-local pigeons. Here is the complete text of the bill: HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2203 FILED ON: 1/12/2009 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 816 AN ACT RELATIVE TO PIGEONS IN MOTION PICTURES. Be it enacted […]
Armed bird photos
People are now photoshopping arms onto birds. Here are two samples: (Thanks to investigator Vanessa Leuven for bringing this to our attention.)
Eat, (and) Like a Bird
Which birds are the most edible, and which are the least? During and just after the second world war, Hugh B Cott of Cambridge University doggedly pursued these questions, using means that were waspy, feline and human. His discoveries are summed up in a 154-page report called The Edibility of Birds – Illustrated by 5 […]
Spots Where the Spotted Were Spotted
Here are two maps of the state of Kansas. Each map is filled with spots. In figure 1, each spot marks a county in which the spotted sandpiper has been spotted. In figure 4, each spot marks a county in which the spotted towhee has been spotted. Both maps were prepared by the Kansas County […]
Male quail porn stars
“Female Japanese Quail Affiliate With Live Males That They Have Seen Mate on Video,” A.G. Ophir and B.G. Galef, Jr., Animal Behaviour, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 369—75. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2003.2229). (Thanks to Elinor Lichtenberg for bringing this to our attention.) (That’s an excerpt from the article “Boys Will Be Boys,” Published in AIR 14:4.)