TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| David Attenborough in conversation with Richard Dawkins From mayflys and digital dinosaurs to life on Mars and pre-Cambrian fossils, David Attenborough and Richard Dawkins leave no stone unturned as they discuss the state of science guardian.co.uk |
Today's mystery bird for you to identify A friend sent me his stunning capture of a common bird that I had to share with you (includes a couple challenging questions to keep you busy).Mystery bird photographed on the island of Anglesey, north-east Wales, UK. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Richard Carter, 8 September 2010. [larger view].Canon EOS 5D Mark II. This stunning picture depicts a mystery bird that is probably not mysterious to anyone, but I liked the picture and wanted to share it with you. Of course, since this bird is such an easy ID, that means I get to ask you challenging questions about it, so here are my questions: first, if you were walking around Anglesey and saw this bird in midsummer, what five other bird species would you expect to see as well? Which of those species would still be present in midwinter? Being a logolept, I am most interested to know the etymology for how the heck this bird got such weird common and scientific names?Daily mystery bird rules: 1. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification, keeping in mind that more than one field mark is often necessary to distinguish between species. IDs without any supporting information are not valid and may be deleted by the moderators. 2. Expert and intermediate level birders: do NOT try to be the first to blurt out the mystery bird's ID. Instead, please provide helpful hints, such as descriptions, literary references, puns, personal anecdotes, and other forms of discussion and assistance for beginning birders and for those following on their iPhones without naming the species. Expert and intermediate birders are free to name the bird species 24 or more hours after it was first published.3. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation. 4. Each bird species will be demystified 48 hours after publication. If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciate audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Bull ants have right eye for the job Worker bull ants have military-style night vision, while their higher status winged nest mates see best during the day, Australian researchers have discovered. abc.net.au |
Mystery Bird: White-winged Scoter, Melanitta fusca deglandi Here's a demystified mystery bird -- or, because there is so much we don't know about it, is this bird truly demystified?White-winged Scoter, Melanitta fusca, photographed at Bolsa Chica Wetlands, Huntington Beach, California, USA.Image: Steve Duncan, February 2009 [with binoculars].Question: Despite the fact that it is fairly common, this migratory North American and European mystery bird is quite mysterious in many ways -- for example, not much is known about this species' migratory patterns nor about its molting sites. However, there are a few things that we do know about this bird -- can you tell me about them?Response: This is a female White-winged Scoter, Melanitta fusca, snacking on a clam. This large seaduck ranges over much of the northern hemisphere, breeding in the far north of Eurasia as well as North America. There is also a separate population that breeds eastern Turkey. The East Siberian and North American white-winged scoter, M. deglandi (or M. fusca deglandi), is sometimes considered to be the sister taxon with the Eurasian velvet scoter, M. stejnegeri (or M. fusca stejnegeri). The velvet and white-winged scoter, along with the surf scoter, are placed in the subgenus Melanitta, distinct from the subgenus Oidemia, where the black and common scoters are placed. Female white-winged scoters can be distinguished from adult males of the species because they lack the male's distinctive "comma shaped" white patch around the eye. Female surf scoters look similar to female white-winged scoters, but surf scoters have more white on their cheeks, larger bills and a darker crown than surf scoters. Female black scoters also have darker crowns along with a contrasting paler face. They also lack white spots on the face, and have rounder heads. Male black scoters are all black in color with a bright orange bill and a round head. Embedded below is a 2 minute radio programme about the dramatic declines of a number of bird species, including the white-winged scoter, thanks to my friends at BirdNote Radio:If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciate audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Council abandons gas plan Cobar is unlikely to have access to natural gas in the near future with the Shire Council abandoning further investigations into the proposal. abc.net.au |