The Nemesis Bird

You are browsing the archives of 2008 February.

One exciting aspect about living in the country during the winter is the flocks of birds that attend to the local manure covered fields. In fact, Lancaster County can attract blackbird flocks that number in the hundreds of thousands. Usually comprised of Brown-headed Cowbirds, European Starlings, Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds, these flocks can also [...]

As seen on the front page of Nature.com, feeding birds during the winter is not only fun for the people feeding them. According to a British study, feeding birds in winter benefits them during the breeding season by allowing them to lay their eggs 2.5 days earlier on average than birds that did not have [...]

There is a story on BBCNews.com currently reporting on the finding that Anna’s Hummingbirds chirp with their tail. Using high speed video, some researchers were able to see the male’s tail feathers vibrating during their display flights. These display flights are exceptional because they can reach 50 mph in a dive to impress nearby females [...]