Birdchick Podcast #83 Ostrich Penises & Rare Bird Alert Gone Awry

This week's news! Has 2011 been the year of the bird penis? I feel like it's been in the news a lot...at least with ducks.  This time, it's about how ostrich penises reveal that the evolution of a lymphatic erection mechanism likely occurred in the ancestor of all birds rather than within birds.

Have you heard of Birds Be Safe before? It's a collar for people who insist on letting their cats roam outdoors and is supposed to reduce the invasive species ability to kill native birds.  Does it actually work or is it just feline humiliation?

Remember the mystery hummingbird in Chicago? They tried to id it based on poop but that failed, but don't worry they have a feather!

An uber rare bird called a red-flanked was found...and then eaten by a shrike.


Birdchick Podcast #82: Ravens & Larkwire Contest

Have you heard of Larkwire?  It's an interactive website that helps you learn bird songs via a game.  It beats the heck out of trying to memorize them.  You can check it out here and we have a contest going for Master Birder song pack.  And what we're going to do is have a bird call and you have to misidentify it: Click here to listen to the bird call you need to misidentify.

All the people to misidentify the bird between now and this Sunday at noon Central Time will be entered into a drawing for the code to win the Master Birder song pack!

The Raven publicist has been working over time this week:

Ravens vandalize cars parked in a commuter lot.

Ravens use gestures?

Wind farm project is scrapped thanks to preliminary surveys on nesting marbled murrelets.

Birdchick Podcast #81 Snowy Owls!

Snowy owls are in the news!  They are everywhere.  Here's a link to my Google News with "snowy owl" typed in!  Some of the most interesting stories:  over 100 snowies are reported to be in Wisconsin! And of course the obligatory "a snowy owl killed my dog." Wondering how to find a snowy owl near you?  Try typing in your state's name and the words "bird listserv" to see if there are reports in your area or check out the handy dandy map that eBird has set up based on user reports.

Check in with us on Wednesday...we're going to have a really cool bird contest courtesy of Larkwire!

Also, have you ever considered signing up for a Christmas Bird Count?  If not you should, find one near you!

Birdchick Podcast #79: Birder Packing, Protesting: Birding Style!

I have no idea what's going to happen with the podcast over the next week and a half.  I'll be in Israel and though I'm assured that there will be Internet access-I have no idea about what kind of free time I'll have and so we may have a podcast before December 1 or we may not.  Speaking of traveling, I have a post on 10,000 Birds about essentials all birders should back when traveling. In the meantime, check out Twin Cities Naturalist--he has a contest!

Right now if you order a pair of binoculars from Eagle Optics, you can get an ABA membership for $15 instead of $45.  Listen to the podcast for a discount code to Eagle Optics.

Dead found in a salad bag.  What species could it be?

Non Birding Bill's Kickstarter Project!

Birders who are protesting the Sandhill Crane Hunt in Kentucky are buying a license and a lottery ticket.  Only 400 will be given out and it's only $13 to enter if you are a non resident.  This same strategy was used by Paul Johnsgard in the 1990s to protest a prairie chicken hunt and was successful.

Some western marsh harrier males have permanent female plumage. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

Fascinating article about veery migration--where they go, how long they stay.  Wow, if we found this out about veeries, what else don't we know.  This is what a veery sounds like.  If you have never heard one in the wild, it is a moral imperative that you rectify this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK1gaTqBRRk[/youtube]



Birdchick Podcast #77: Calling All Birders To Wikipedia...

Red Rock Audubon wants you to help remove mining claim pipes in Nevada--this really does help birds! 10000 Birds brings up the pipe dream of having a non hunting duck stamp.

Starbucks is discontinuing it's shade-grown coffee line.  If you don't have a place that sells shade-grown coffee near you, I like to order the Chestnut-sided Warbler blend from Birds and Beans.

The American Birding Association wants YOU to contribute to Wikipedia.

Laughing gull tries to steal food from a great egret.

I haven't read the story but the headline involves the words "hawk" and "escalator" and it can only be a Cooper's hawk.

Burly Bird is unleashing some cool new stickers.  Check them out and if you want one...you know what to do.

Birdchick Podcast #76: Murmurations and Duck Penises

Warning.  This podcast gets a bit BLUE at the end.  If you listen to this with kids or at work...may not be the best one for you. Really cool video of starlings wheeling and spinning.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/31158841[/vimeo]

Sometimes even super common birds unleash their awesomeness.  Here's another video from @sfraster

My buddy Amber has an an op-ed piece in the Star Tribune about using lead alternatives when deer hunting.

Red-tailed hawk with the nail through it's face has been released--yay!

The duets of long-tailed wrens in Ecuador.  Be sure to watch the video with the article.

There's now a Kickstarter site for people doing science projects called Rocket Hub...and of course there's a research project on duck penises that needs funding.

Birdchick Podcast #75: Micro Brew Seed, Bird Researcher Convicted In Poisoning Cats

This is a real shame.  I had hoped that this story was false but it appears that Nico Dauphiné, former researcher at the Smithsonian National Zoo's Migratory Bird Center has been found guilty of misdemeanor attempted cruelty to animals for sprinkling poison atop cat food intended for feral cats living in Washington, D.C.  This does nothing to reach some sort of reasonable understanding with the misguided yet well intentioned cat lobbyists. Non native cats living in feral colonies is habitat destruction by humans.  Cats living in the environment are the same as birds hitting windows or someone bulldozing nesting and feeding habitat.

There's a reward for creating Bird Friendly Glass!

Paraglider ran into a griffon vulture (ignore how the "news" calls it an eagle, it totally is NOT).  Both survive!

Micro batch bird seed.  You can even create your own.  But the really interesting thing is that they are outing pesticide companies who carry seed for wild birds.

Dude creates a website to track road kill in California and Maine.  I so want to do this with my smart phone!  Here's a link to Wildlife Crossing.


Birdchick Podcast #74: Bird Grammar, Duck Stamp Winner

Texas couple ignore warnings to evacuate their home during wildfires and feed hundreds of hummingbirds. Birding the Net, the Audubon-sponsored campaign that has thousands of people scouring the Internet for birds, is benefitting from the largesse of more than 100 websites — including AOL, Slate, and Discovery Channel — that have donated a combined $700,000 in prime ad space for the imaginative and engaging project.

500 birds died at West Virgina wind farm.  Jim McCormac says they were mostly blackpoll warblers.

Fascinating story from Audubon about a wood thrush banded in Nicaragua that was found dead in Pennsylvania.

There's a new book coming Pale Male and the Infertile Girl...

Do birds have grammatical structure?

Oh, Pine Tree Farms, what were you thinking when coming up with product names? Nutsie? Log Jammers?  Oy.

Prizes to be given away in this podcast:

Backyard Birding

And the Hummer Swing.