Texas Researchers Sequence Entire Genome Of Scarlet Macaw
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online In what is being hailed as a “groundbreaking” advancement in the fields of avian evolution, biology and conservationism, researchers from the Texas A&M University (TAMU) College...
Latest Ornithology Stories
Campaign Committed to Fostering Self-Esteem Among Women Reaches Billions Around the World ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Less than a month after launch, the Dove Real Beauty Sketches film became the number one viewed online video ad of all time. The film, which explores how women view their own beauty in contrast to what others see, has been viewed more than 114 million times to surpass all previously recorded video ads, according to the Viral Video Chart...
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a groundbreaking move that provides new insight into avian evolution, biology and conservation, researchers at Texas A&M University have successfully sequenced the complete genome of a Scarlet macaw for the first time. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120502/DC99584LOGO) The team was led by Drs. Christopher Seabury and Ian Tizard at the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center in the College of Veterinary...
HARRISBURG, Pa., May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania turkey hunters are permitted to hunt from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset, beginning Monday, May 13. The expanded hunting hours continue through the last day of the season, Friday, May 31. All-day hunting during the second half of the spring season began in 2011 to provide interested hunters with more time to be afield. "By the second half of the season, hunter participation decreases...
New Acres for America projects protect wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities across the U.S. BENTONVILLE, Ark., May 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Walmart's Acres for America program, a conservation partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), is protecting priority lands across the country to provide wildlife habitats and recreational opportunities for local residents. Newly-announced projects in Arkansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Wisconsin, New Hampshire,...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Using cutting-edge tracking devices and data analysis techniques, a group of UK researchers has discovered new migration habits of the Manx Shearwater, a small seabird. Scientists at the University College London (UCL) and the University of Oxford collected data over three consecutive years to reveal the birds’ complex pattern of rest, flight and foraging, according to their report in journal Interface. "Understanding the behavior...
An Arizona State University biologist and her team have found that the Asian subspecies of great bustard, one of the heaviest birds capable of flight, covers migratory routes of more than 2,000 miles, traveling to and from its breeding grounds in northern Mongolia and wintering grounds in Shaanxi province in China. The research study, which is available online and will be published in the next volume of the Journal of Avian Biology, is the first of its kind to monitor the movement of this...
Utility providing habitats for Southeastern American Kestrel in Manatee County's Duette Preserve JUNO BEACH, Fla., April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- After Florida Power & Light Company installed new, more storm-resilient power line poles in the Duette Preserve in Manatee County, the company preserved nests for the Southeastern American Kestrel, and provided additional nesting options for the threatened bird. The Southeastern American Kestrel is the smallest falcon in the United...
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Swallow-tailed gulls hunt most often under a new moon, when fish come to the surface under the cover of darkness The lunar cycle controls the behavior of various animal species: owls, swallows and bats, for example, align their activity with the phase of the moon to maximize their hunting success. However, marine life is also affected by the moon. Many species of fish hide from their enemies in the depths of the sea during the daytime and only come up to the...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online When you think of penguins you probably think of cold, harsh climates, like those around Antarctica where the Emperor Penguin reigns supreme. However, not all penguin species live in cold regions of the world. In fact, several species live in more tropical climes such as the Galapagos and other equatorial regions. Penguins can also be found in Africa. And while only one species exists along the continent’s southern coast today,...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online When you inspect the legs of most birds you will find everything from the knee down is scaly rather than feathery. There is an exception to this rule however. Some birds of prey, such as eagles, have more feathering below the knee extending down to the feet. As for those with scaly legs, it is a remnant of their ancestry, when birds evolved from small two-legged dinosaurs millions of years ago. For the most part, experts...
Latest Ornithology Reference Libraries
This bird of prey is known more as a pigeon hawk. The Merlin is from the Northern Hemisphere with some migrating to subtropical and northern tropical areas during the winter. There has also been a discovery that there are two different, very distinct, species: the North American and the Eurasian. The North American Merlin was first described by a Swede taxonomist, Carl Linnaeus. The Merlin is between 9 and 13 inches long with a wingspan of 20-29 inches. The Merlin is an exceptionally...
The White-throated Hawk (Buteo albigula), is a bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae, which includes hawks, eagles and Old World vultures. In British usage, it would be called a buzzard rather than a true hawk. It is a rather small Buteo, 42 to 45 cm in length. It lives in the Andes mountains of South America and ranges down to the coast in the O’Higgins region of Chile, favoring wooded areas. It’s closely related to the more widely distributed Short-tailed Hawk and was...
The Hooded Crane (Grus monacha) is a small, dark colored crane. Its body is grey and the top of the head and neck is white, except for a patch of bare red skin above they eye. It’s one of the smallest cranes, but is still a fairly large bird, a 3.3 ft in length, weighing 8.2 pounds and a wingspan of 6.2 feet. It breeds in south-central and southeastern Siberia. Breeding is also assumed to occur in Mongolia. Over 80% of its population winters at Izumi, southern Japan. There are also...
The Great Egret (Ardea alba), also known as the Great White Egret, Large Egret, Great White Heron or Common Egret, is a large and widely distributed egret. Dispersed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions throughout the world, in southern Europe it’s rather localized. In North America it’s more widely distributed, and it’s everywhere across the Sun Belt of the United States and in the rainforests of South America. It’s occasionally confused with the Great White Heron...
The Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris) is a small sized wader, although, it is the largest of the calidrid species. Their breeding habitat is tundra in the northeast parts of Siberia. They nest on the ground, laying about four eggs in a ground scrape. They are strongly migratory, wintering on the coasts in southern Asia through to Australia. This species forms extremely large flocks during the winter. It’s a rare vagrant to western Europe. This bird has short dark legs and a...
