More Bird Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! contestants were presented with this clue under the category of Roger on 06/22/04:

Clue: In 1934, Roger Tory Peterson, published his “classic” field guide to these.

Question: What are birds? (answered correctly by the current reigning champion)

The field guide in question was Peterson's A field guide to the birds.

Ohio's Trees

From the Ohio Department of Natural Resources comes this wonderful reference on the trees of the State (bot native and introduced). The site includes an Introduction, Glossary, an Index to 101 species of trees for which narrative accounts are provided, and a list of Ohio’s Big Trees. The species accounts are illustrated with photographs showing distinguishing features and are full of interesting tidbits. As but one example, I learned that the large fruits of the Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) "were reportedly sliced in half by the pioneers and used to attract and poison houseflies."

Confusing Bird Names

Some interesting anecdotes from the Grand Forks Herald on the confusion that can arise from the assignment of formal and colloquial common names to birds. For example, the bird known to scientists as the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is known locally by such varied and often derogatory names as crow-duck, lawyer, nigger goose, shag, and Taunton turkey (presumably a reference to a town of that name in Massachusetts). The latter reference reminds me that a former colleague of mine used to refer to any cormorant in southeast Alaska as a Norwegian turkey.

Hummingbird Flosser

There are few common household products that bear the name of a bird, so the recent introduction of the Hummingbird power flosser by Oral-B, a division of the Gillette Company, is worthy of note: be sure to check out the nifty animation, complete with hummingbird buzzes. On TV ads and product packaging, the name is spelled as Humming Bird (two words), and on company Websites it appears at HummingBird.
http://www.oralb.com/products/product.asp?tid=products&sub=power&cid=power&pid=hbird
http://www.oralb.com/products/product.asp?tid=products&sub=power&cid=power&pid=hbird

Disappearance of American White Pelicans Continues to Mystify Wildlife Officials

Still no sign of the 27,000 American White Pelicans missing from a nesting colony at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota. Adding to the dismay is a report that another 2,000 birds took off last week, “leaving hatchlings behind to die.”

Hot Times in Alaska

The PBS show Scientific American Frontiers, hosted by Alan Alda, will broadcast a show this evening entitled Hot Times in Alaska. One segment of the show will feature a 28-year study conducted by George J. Divoky of the black guillemots that nest on Cooper Island, near Barrow, and the role that global warming has played in the steep decline of that colony since the early 1990's.

Flipping the Bird British Style

It seems the British have their own way of flipping someone the bird, also known as the one-finger salute (an offensive hand gesture in some cultures). Compare flipping the bird (British style) with the finger (American style).

I never would have been aware of these vagaries of style had I not read David Segal’s review of Madonna’s Reinvention concert. It seems that Madonna ended one number “by flipping the crowd the British equivalent of the bird. (It’s the peace sign, only with the back of the hand to the recipient, if you’re interested.) Either nobody realized it, or nobody minded.”

Finally, how did this obscene gesture ever come to be associated with a bird?

Synonymy of North American Birds

I’m greatly impressed by Bob Patterson’s compilation of information on the History of North American Bird Names. After first reviewing his introduction, go to the index and scroll to a group of species of interest to see how bird names have changed over time. You will find, for example, that the bird now known to ornithologists as the Great Egret has been known by no fewer than five “official” English names and four scientific names:

English Names
American Egret (1886-1910)
Egret (1910-1931)
American Egret (1931-1957)
Common Egret (1957-1998)
Great Egret (1998-present)

Scientific Names
Ardea egretta (1886-1910)
Herodias egretta (1910-1931)
Casmerodius albus (1931-1998)
Egretta alba (1998-present)

Patterson’s source was the Check-list of North American birds published by the American Ornithologists’ Union in 1886, 1895, 1910, 1931, 1957, 1983, and 1998. My only complaints are that he (1) arranged the species in 1886 Check-list order and (2) did not include birds of the Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Missing Pelicans

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that they have lost track of 27,000 American White Pelicans that abandoned a nesting colony at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota, in late May. Thus far, all efforts to account for the missing birds or to explain their sudden disappearance have proven futile. More details are provided in this article from the Bismarck Tribune. This is a real wildlife mystery!

Ban the Cannons

In the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, a group of citizens has started a campaign to ban the use of propane cannons by local blueberry farms (PDF). Propane cannons have long been used to scare depredating birds from agricultural fields. In this instance, residents complain that the cannons are causing noise pollution and that there are other, more environmentally friendly, ways for the farms to deal with the problem. This site was last updated on 10/20/2003. Were the citizens and farmers able to find a mutually agreeable solution to this conflict?

Birds as Cartoon Characters

With much appreciation to Don Markstein’s Toonopedia Website, I here list 29 bird or bird-like cartoon characters that have appeared in a variety of media, including comic books, television, movies:

Baby Huey (a giant baby chicken)
Beaky Buzzard
Birdman (a bird-human superhero)
Chilly Willy (penguin)
Count Duckula
Daffy Duck
Darkwing Duck
Destroyer Duck
Dinky Duck
Donald Duck
Duckman
DuckTales
Foghorn Leghorn
Fox and the Crow
Hawkman (a bird-human creature)
Heckle and Jeckle
Henery Hawk
Howard the Duck
Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Donald’s nephews)
Plucky Duck
Quackula
Road Runner
Scrooge McDuck (Uncle Scrooge)
Spacehawk (a bird-like alien creature)
Super Chicken
Tennessee Tuxedo (a penguin)
Tweety Bird (a canary)
Woody Woodpecker

Ornithology Online

Dr. Gary Ritchison has posted this incredibly useful syllabus for his advanced course in Ornithology (Biology 554/754) at Eastern Kentucky University. Ritchison touches on everything from Bird Flight to Parental Care, plus everything in between. This site isn’t just a bunch of boring text, but is profusely illustrated with fascinating diagrams, tables, and photographs. This is undoubtedly the best online source that I've happened upon for basic information about ornithology.

Final Jeopardy! Is For The Birds

Contestants on Jeopardy! were presented with the following final jeopardy clue on Friday, June 4:

Phoebe Snetsinger,
she of the appropriate first name,
set a record for this activity,
about 8,400 species

Only one of the three contestants was able to come up with the correct answer, which was (of course):

Birdwatching, or birding.

America's Top Birder Still Going Strong At Age 85!

From the Washington Post's Susan DeFord comes this wonderful tribute to Chandler S. Robbins, the creator of one of North America's most popular field guides, developer of the Breeding Bird Survey, and a guiding force behind the Maryland Breeding Bird Atlas. A few interesting facts that I learned from this article: his B.S. is in physics (from Harvard '40), he was a conscientious objector in WWII, and he doesn't keep an up-to-date life list of birds seen.
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/

More Information on White-bellied Storm-Petrel Sighting

These exciting details about the White-bellied Storm-Petrel sighted in North Carolina waters on May 31 come from Michael Tove, courtesy of the CarolinaBirds listserv. Turns out that this represents only the second recorded occurrence of this species in the Northern Hemisphere!

White-bellied Storm-Petrel Sighted off North Carolina

From North Carolina offshore waters comes this unconfirmed sighting of a White-bellied Storm-Petrel (Fregatta grallaria). If confirmed, this would constitute the first record of this species in North America. Heretofore, this species claim to a place in the North American avifauna has rested solely on a specimen (now lost) taken in the mid-1800's in the harbor at St. Marks, Florida. Absent a specimen, there has long been uncertain about the identity of the purported 19th century occurrence of this species (Check-list of North American birds, 1998:687-688). The White-bellied Storm-Petrel inhabits the southern oceans (i.e., South Atlantic and South Pacific).