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Urban Birding Adventure: St. Louis Tree Sparrows!
I spent the Thanksgiving holiday with relatives in Saint Louis, Missouri. We went to the local zoopark, and I enjoyed the opportunity for some backyard and urban bird-watching. As nice as it was to see the Cardinals of Saint Louis (of course, I mean the birds not the baseball team), the ornithological highlight of the trip had to be the sighting ( Read more... ) -
Birds in Space II: Quails in the Cosmos
In the previous account of poultry in space, I related the story of how chicken embryos were launched aboard Discovery STS-29, but I did not make it to the story of birds (ex ova) in space. Despite claims to the contrary, someone did indeed try to launch birds into space, and the attempt was not a total failure.
A few small and clumsy flaps for ( Read more... ) -
Birds in Space I: Eggstraterrestrial Chicken Embryos
Over a year ago, I had the privilege of attending a talk on directions in space biology given by Dr. Antonio J. Ricco, and having had so recently seen the image of the "moulting swan," I just had to ask about birds in space. He mentioned the case of launched avian embryos referring to the work of Dr. J. David Dickman, but he and his associates ( Read more... ) -
Passerine Gynandromorphy Collage
Via Birdchick, I first learned that a gynandromorphic Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) had been spotted by a retired school biology teacher in Rock Island, Illinois in 2009. Minnesota Birdnerd has posted additional photos of this sighting.
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Two Minutes of Toucan Beak Fame
Last May, I spent a day in Fallbrook at Emerald Forest Bird Gardens, the very source of our Toucan beak and feather specimens (NB: No birds are harmed in this research!). The special occasion was a NOVA filming event for the "Making Stuff" series, the first part of which aired last week. I was very pleased to see that our Toucans had their moment ( Read more... ) -
Panties! Panties! My Blogdom for Pink Panties!
I have to confess my profound consternation over the fact that one of the top search engine terms leading to my blog includes the word "panties" And it serves as no consolation that the number one (by grand margin) search term on the list reveals what lies beneath the panties. It has been suggested that I should capitalize on that interest ( Read more... ) -
Aviary Visitor
On Saturday morning, I was roused from slumber before 7:00 AM by the unnerving machine gun style alarm calls of the Bulbuls (of which there are now four free-flying in my living room). I stumbled off of the sofa, peered out of the window, and looked for a cat. I did not see one, and yet I heard a panicked rush of aviary birds, and Bulbuls were ( Read more... )
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