Your guide to the World of Birds and Birding
Since the beginning of modern ornithology, there has been a strong connection between birds and art. Art was used to document and illustrate new species and art still plays a major role in modern day birding and its culture. I’m sure many of you own a field guide or two, chances are, those field guides…
Generally, a species is considered the largest group of organisms, where if they reproduce, they produce fertile offspring. An often used example is the breeding of a horse and a donkey, produce a mule, which is non-fertile, proving the two parents are different species. That rule doesn’t apply to all though, which we can see…
Birds get their colors from various pigments and feather structures. One of those three pigments seen in birds is melanin. Melanin occurs both in a bird’s feathers, but also their skin. Depending on the concentration of this pigment, different colors can be produced. From being more sparse, which can include colors such as reddish browns…
In a previous blog post I went over some of the many different shapes a bird’s beak may have and how they are adapted to their diet, but I never went over what parts of a bird’s beak actually are. They are an important part of the topography of a bird and to truly appreciate…
Bird eggs are a very unique period in a bird’s life. They, like birds, come in a wide variety of colors and shapes. They have their own unique adaptations to give them the best chance of making it to hatching. The egg shell’s purpose is to be strong enough to protect the baby birds growing…
When you think of a species, most often a single visage of a species comes to mind. I say bald eagle for example, and the image of a large bird with a dark brown body, white head and tail, orange beak and piercing yellow eyes. But birds don’t generally look exactly the same as they…
Bird species use a variety of different structures to help protect their eggs and growing young before they fledge. Many times when you think of a bird’s nest, you think of a structure in a tree made of sticks, moss, and various other plant materials. Several species though make their nests in cavities instead, whether…
One of the highlights in spring is going birding to see and hear the colorful songbirds that have migrated back from their southern wintering grounds. These little songbirds are as brightly colored and diverse as their musical songs, whistles and trills. This colorful group is the parulidae family, also called the new world warblers or…
One of the more common large birds you may see overhead throughout North America is the turkey vulture, especially in the spring as they migrate in large numbers northward. One of their features to help identify them when they are in flight, even if they are at a great distance away, is their flight style….
While out hiking in a field, you spot a little american kestrel in a telephone wire. Its back is to you and you notice an interesting pattern on the back of its head, which appears to resemble eyes. These feather patterns aren’t eyes though, they are called ocelli, or false eye spots. This adaptation can…