Are you a scientist who's active on Mastodon and does research in #ornithology, #ecology, #naturalhistory, or a related field? I want to follow you - please reply and introduce yourself! (And please share so this reaches more people!)
Hello, I am new here, and determined to make this my #ornithology outpost.
I am an ecologist interested in the behaviour of birds. I am particularly interested in how birds broadly communicate information - including social behaviours, visual (feathers!) and vocal signals, and the influence of the environment.
I also work on survey methods and species conservation. #introduction
Crows never cease to amaze. Their cognitive abilities are well-documented, but now we can tack one more cerebral skill onto their resume: statistical inference. Here’s more from ZME Science: https://flip.it/ITGyR1 #Science#Birds#Ornithology#Animals
"When Smith pulled these estimates together and adjusted each for its degree of certainty, the findings came down to a single ski slope of a chart. It showed a precipitous drop in nearly all these species in every part of the continent. At the bottom sat four lone digits—2.913. That’s the number of breeding birds in billions that had disappeared since the early 1970s."
The American Ornithological Society says it will give new English-language names to all American birds currently named after people, in an effort to make birding more welcoming for all communities and to focus attention on the birds rather than historical namesakes.
I often think that red-breasted nuthatches look a bit annoyed (or at least sassy) because of the eye stripe. You can also clearly see the large hind claw that helps them to go down tree trunks head first. #birds#birdsofmastodon#birding#WildCanada#ornithology
Birding from my archives today, so here is a grey-breasted seedsnipe from the Andes of Chile (October 2014). Seedsnipe are odd little shorebirds that act and look more like quail than sandpipers or plovers and sort of look like a cross between a quail and a small pigeon. In Chile, they occupy a similar niche to ptarmigan in the Rocky Mountains. #birdsofmastodon#birding#ornithology#Chile
Yet another cracticine bird today: the pied butcherbird. Note that unlike magpies and currawongs, butcherbirds have a curved tip to the upper beak, similar to that of shrikes. This specific butcherbird was hanging out for scraps at a cafe in the southern suburbs of Brisbane today. #wildOz#birding#birds#ornithology
Roosters may have passed the self-recognition test.
Phys.org reports: "Prior research has suggested that very few animal species have the type of self-awareness known as self-recognition—where they see and understand that an image in a mirror is of themselves rather than another member of the same species."
Cracticines, the "corvid-like" birds of Australia and New Guinea, are highly under-rated. These two, the Australian magpie and pied currawong are very common in suburban areas, very vocal, but have very different personalities. Magpies are more bold, becoming aggressive during breeding season. Currawongs are more skittish and tend to be more neophobic. Great to see them both again after many years away. #wildOz#ornithology#birds#birding
Are you into #birding, #ornithology or just like #birds and want to contribute to a citizen #science project aiming to combat illegal wildlife trade of birds?
Check out I Rate Birds https://iratebirds.app/ and contribute to science by rating birds based on how appealing they look to you!
This is a project of the Finnish Natural History Museum and involves my old colleague @annaha, which is why I am plugging it here
New paper out today on the evolution of skilled foot use in birds. Unlike mammals, birds cannot use their forelimbs to reach and grasp objects, but they do use their feet. In this paper, we explore what species use their feet, how they use their feet to reach and grasp, and assess the evolutionary origins of this behaviour.
A fantastic covid project by: gallinaciega@gallinaciega@fedisceince.org.
Urban light pollution linked to smaller eyes in birds: Study (phys.org)
The bright lights of big cities could be causing an evolutionary adaptation for smaller eyes in some birds, a new study indicates.