Captive-bred parrots may develop a different dialect from their wild relatives and this could prevent them from being able to communicate effectively with their wild peers after they’re released
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
NOTE: This piece was a Forbes Editors’ Pick. Originally published under the title: Can Parrots That Speak Different Dialects Understand Each Other?
Puerto Rico’s endangered parrots may be facing a new challenge to their long-term survival: dialects. Conservation efforts have apparently allowed these iconic parrots to develop different dialects from their wild relatives. …
A tiny Northern saw-whet owl was discovered huddled inside the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree that had been transported to Manhattan
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
This piece was a Forbes Editor’s Choice.
Imagine your surprise if you are awakened in the middle of the night, when you and your entire bedroom are bundled up tightly and transported from a small rural town to New York City.
This is exactly what happened to a Northern saw-whet owl who was trapped for three days in a 75 foot (23 meter), 11-ton Norway spruce tree that now stands in Rockefeller Center. …
An epic coming-of-age story that interweaves science, birds, politics and romance whilst confronting some of today’s most important environmental issues
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
Accidentals (Torrey House, 2020: Amazon US / Amazon UK) is a lovely story narrated by Gabriel, the 23-year-old son of a naturalized American who suddenly decides to leave California after residing there for more than 30 years to return to her native Uruguay. After some cajoling, Gabe leaves his high-paying but boring data analysis job to help his mother realize her dream to grow organic vegetables on the family’s abandoned estancia.
“You’ll like the estancia,” Mom said. I hadn’t even looked at her but she knew she was getting to me. “It’ll be spring, summer. If you don’t want to help with the farm, you can go exploring. Borrow a horse, or go hiking and birding.” (P. …
A gripping fast-paced mystery where our hero is seeking one of her students that disappeared in China, and quickly becomes involved with the theft of ancient Chinese jade sculptures
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
This gripping novel, The Chemical Reaction (Point Blank, 2020: Amazon US / Amazon UK) by Fiona Erskine is the second instalment in the Jaqueline “Jaq” Silver series and it starts, literally, with a BOOM. It picks up where the first novel, The Chemical Detective (my review), ended with our fearless hero, globe-trotting chemical engineer, Dr Jaqueline Silver, sailing the yacht, Good Ship Frankium, on the Black Sea with her lover, Giovanni. That yacht, which promptly sinks, was owned by her former boss, Frank Good, a ruthless corporate player who has trapped Jaq in a watertight contract that demands repayment for the cost of the boat, regardless of the fact — a minor detail? — that it was not seaworthy. …
An extremely rare bird with half its body looking like a male and the other half like a female was captured recently at a nature reserve in southwestern Pennsylvania
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
One of the most enjoyable aspects of birding is that I never know what I’ll find. Oh sure, I have a good idea what to expect, but I never know what I’ll see until I get out there and look.
Such was the situation for a team of bird banders working at Powdermill Avian Research Center (PARC) located in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania, 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. This facility, which is part of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s biological research station at Powdermill Nature Reserve, comprises 10 hectares of fields, hedgerows, ponds, wetlands, and streams, providing many opportunities for research with wild birds. PARC scientists conduct bio-acoustic research, evaluate avian perceptions of glass in an experimental flight tunnel to learn how to reduce bird-window collisions, and they operate a bird banding station. …
Five unwanted Congo African grey parrots recently rehomed to a British wildlife park have been regaling human visitors with their extensive vocabularies of swear words
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
NOTE: This piece was a Forbes Editor’s pick.
Over the past few days, five homeless Congo African grey parrots, Psittacus erithacus, that were taken in six weeks ago by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in Britain have been memeing their way across international news services. Why? …
The dramatic reduction in automobile traffic noise in San Francisco during the COVID-19 lockdown has allowed a common songbird to sing softer, more elaborate songs that are more appealing to the ladies
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
NOTE: This piece was a Forbes Editor’s pick.
The coronavirus pandemic response has been an unmitigated disaster for people living in the United States, but how has it affected wild birds? …
Feather microstructures can remarkably change the appearance of red plumage without any corresponding changes in either pigment concentration or molecule types
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
NOTE: This piece was a Forbes Editor’s pick.
Many birds have brilliant plumage colors, but why? There are several non-exclusive hypotheses may explain the reason(s) that birds invest so much energy into obtaining colorful pigments and creating ornamental plumages:
- coloration may help species identify each other, so they can avoid producing hybrids, which are often sterile, thereby preventing a waste of time and energy (ref).
- beautiful ornaments may reflect arbitrary aesthetic preferences in the choosing sex (usually the female) (ref), and may either be maintained through a runaway evolutionary process (ref), or may occur as a side effect of selection on another trait such as foraging, which is known as “sensory bias”…
Spectacular plumage color like that seen in many parrot species is usually associated sexual selection, which raises the question: are parrots genuinely monogamous? Or are other factors influencing their dazzling colors?
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
NOTE: This piece was a Forbes Editor’s pick.
People love parrots, at least partly because of their often spectacular plumage colors.
“The colors that parrots display are impressively beautiful and rare when compared with other birds”, said Luisana Carballo, who is the lead author of a recent study of parrot plumage color and a doctoral candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology.
In fact, parrots are one of the most colorful groups of birds, but the reasons for this are unclear. Is it because most parrot species nest in tree hollows, where they are safer from predators than if they nested in open cup nests or on the ground? …
A timely examination of how misogyny and male privilege affect all aspects of life in Western society, including sexual encounters, reproductive rights, health care, politics, knowledge, power, and relationship dynamics
by GrrlScientist for Forbes | Twitter
NOTE: This piece was a Forbes Editor’s pick.
How can a woman live her best life when everything she says and does is attacked, questioned or ignored? In today’s modern world, why is gender still a fundamental prerequisite to success?
Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women (Allen Lane/Random House, 2020: Amazon US / Amazon UK) by prominent philosopher Kate Manne is a timely and important investigation of misogyny, male privilege and how men believe they are entitled to women’s bodies, time, care, domestic labor, and admiration. In her earlier book, Down Girl, Ms Manne examined the ways that society polices girls and women who violate or even question the patriarchal system, whereas Entitled focuses on the range of ways that men behave that women cannot. …
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