Tag Archive | "ornithology"

Eighty percent of urban fledgling catbirds killed by predators

Eighty percent of urban fledgling catbirds killed by predators

Scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center have found that fledgling catbirds living in the suburbs are extremely vulnerable. Almost 80 percent are killed by predators before they reach adulthood. Nearly half of the deaths are connected to domestic cats. The team studied catbird nests in 3 suburban neighborhoods in Maryland: Spring Park, Opal Daniels [...] [...more]

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Earthworms to blame for decline of Ovenbirds in northern Midwest forests, study reveals

Earthworms to blame for decline of Ovenbirds in northern Midwest forests, study reveals

A recent decline in Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla), a ground-nesting migratory songbird, in forests in the northern Midwest United States is being linked by scientists to a seemingly unlikely culprit: earthworms. [...more]

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Urban songbirds adjust melodies to adapt to life in the big city, Smithsonian scientists find

Urban songbirds adjust melodies to adapt to life in the big city, Smithsonian scientists find

For the first time, researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center analyzed how songbirds are affected by both general noise and the acoustics of hard human-made surfaces in urban areas. [...more]

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Fossil feathers from a Hawaiian cave help reveal lineage of extinct, flightless ibis

Fossil feathers from a Hawaiian cave help reveal lineage of extinct, flightless ibis

Ornithologists Carla Dove and Storrs Olson used 700- to 1,100-year-old feathers from a long extinct species of Hawaiian ibis to help determine the bird’s place in the ibis family tree. The feathers are the only known plumage of any of the prehistorically extinct birds that once inhabited the Hawaiian Islands. [...more]

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Complete evolutionary tree of the Hawaiian honeycreepers traced by Smithsonian scientists, collaborators

Complete evolutionary tree of the Hawaiian honeycreepers traced by Smithsonian scientists, collaborators

Smithsonian scientists and collaborators have determined the evolutionary family tree for one of the most strikingly diverse and endangered bird families in the world, the Hawaiian honeycreepers. [...more]

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Dodo bird a resilient island survivor before the arrival of humans, study reveals

Dodo bird a resilient island survivor before the arrival of humans, study reveals

A new study on the dodo’s island home of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, paints a picture of this unusual bird as an intrepid survivor on par with the giant tortoise for its resiliency. [...more]

conservation biology, paleontology Comments (1)

Illustrations of the nest and eggs of birds of Ohio

Illustrations of the nest and eggs of birds of Ohio

Illustrations of the nest and eggs of birds of Ohio was published in the small town of Circleville, Ohio, from 1879 to 1886 through the dedicated efforts of the family and friends of a young woman named Genevieve Jones. Despite being produced not just by amateurs but largely by women, far from the publishing houses [...] [...more]

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Zoo celebrates birth of two Micronesian kingfishers, a species extinct in the wild

Zoo celebrates birth of two Micronesian kingfishers, a species extinct in the wild

The Zoo’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., is celebrating the recent hatching of two Micronesian kingfisher (Todiramphus c. cinnamominus) chicks, a female and male, born July 25 and Aug. 20, respectively. [...more]

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Scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center have found that fledgling catbirds living in the suburbs are extremely vulnerable. Almost 80 percent are killed by predators before they reach adulthood. Nearly half of the deaths are connected to domestic cats. The team studied catbird nests in 3 suburban neighborhoods in Maryland: Spring Park, Opal Daniels Park, and Bethesda. Learn more about this 2011 study by clicking here. (Catbird photo by Gerhard Hofmann)

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