Dendroica virens

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Black-throated Green Warbler

(Immature)

An immature Black-throated Green Warbler is seen perched in a cedar hedge, in my backyard, in King City, Ontario (just north of Toronto), Canada.

Photo: Christina Rollo / Alamy

(Female)

A female Black-throated Green Warbler is seen perched on pink flowers in Binghampton, NY, US.   The birds breed in the north-eastern US and southern Canada in summer and then migrate to Mexico.   They are very abundant.
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BarrytheBirder

How many bird species in the world?

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Are there 9,000 or 20,000 species in the world?

It's been almost a year since a study doubled the number of bird species in the world by redefining 'species'.   Joel Cracraft, an evolutionary biologist and ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and some colleagues, settled on a new figure at 18,043.   But it could be as high 20,000.   The new figure is an extrapolation of a study of 437 biological bird species, which on average, were split into 2.4 taxa each.   A current list of 9,159 species therefore grew to over 18,000.   How accurate and valid is this extrapolation?   No one really knows.   What I know is that I was right, a long time ago, to forget about being a lister. Now I just enjoy myself watching and listening and appreciating the simple existence of my feathered friends.   Which means I can experience the presence of a single species a hundred times and never stop marvelling at its differences and similarities to me.   Amen.

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BarrytheBirder

What would they tell us if they could speak?

Photo: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Marabou Storks stand on a pile of recyclable plastic materials at the Dandora dumping depot on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya.

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BarrytheBirder

Bird on a wire...

Photo: Donald Devine/Alamy

An immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird perches on a fence in Searcy, Arkansas, US. It appears to be sticking its long nectar-sucking tongue out at something or someone.

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BarrytheBirder

British Trust of Ornithology ~ Part 5

Andean Condor in flight over mountain peaks

by Ben Hall, UK.

Gold award winner 

in the birds in the enviroment category

An Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) circles the thermals looking for prey in its dramatic habitat of Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

A perfect landing

by Bret Charman, New South Wales, Australia

Gold award winner in the birds in flight category

"I was photographing Australian Pelicans (Pelicanis conspicillatus) on the edge of a small mangrove swamp.   They were resting in the calm, shallow waters and the soft evening light was providing the perfect conditions to capture reflections.   I was photographing a portrait of an individual when I heard the wing beats of another bird coming in to land and took the snap".

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BarrytheBirder

British Trust of Ornithology ~ Part 4

Barn Owl hovering

by Roy Rimmer, UK.

Category: bird behaviour

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) at Wigan, UK.

Grey Heron
by Ahmad Alessa, Kuwait
Silver award winner in the attention to detail category
Grey Heron (Ardea cinera) photographed in Hungary

Camouflage
by Daniel Stenberg, Sweden
Honourable mention - birds in the environment category
Mallard (Anasplaty rhynchos) in central Stockholm, Sweden

Calling for the Sun
by Ondrej Pelanek, Czech Republic
Gold award winner
Young bird photographer of the year

Whiskered Tern (Childonias hybrida) in wetlands in Hungary 

More photos tomorrow... 

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BarrytheBirder

British Trust of Ornithology ~ Part 3

Bearded Sunset

by Markus Varesvuo, Helsinki, Finland
Winner in best portfolio category
and honourable mention for best portrait

Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus) is seen against the setting mid-winter sun.

Wing Formation

by Tom Hines, UK.

Gold award winner in the attention to detail category

Detail of a Great Cormorant wing (Phalacrocorax carbo) in Hyde Park, London, England.

Full Speed

by Faisal Alnomas, Kuwait

Category: bird behaviour

A little Greater Tern (Thalasseus bergii) runs at full speed to get its meal in Kuwait.

Goosander and brood
by Johnathon Gaunt, UK.
Category: bird behaviour

A female Goosander (Mergus merganser) appears on an upland stream with her newly hatched brood, on the edge of the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland, UK.

More photos tomorrow...

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BarrytheBirder

British Trust for Ornithology ~ Part 2

Pink Flamingo feeding their young

by Alejandro Prieto Rojas, Mexico

Gold Award and Best Photographer of the Year 2017

Winner in the best portrait category

This image was taken during the annual feeding of the flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) chicks in their nesting area at Rio Lagartos, Mexico.

Twilight

by Markus Varesvuo, Kuusamo, Finland

Best portfolio winner in the creative imagery category

A black-and-white study of the Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa) in twilight in northern Finland. 

Coots fighting

by Andrew Parkinson, Derbyshire, UK.

Gold Award Winner in the bird behaviour category

Two Common Coots (Fulica atra) are fighting in a dispute over territory; the background illuminated by dawn sunlight.

Barn Owl hunting by house

by Jaime Hall, Suffolk, England

Gold Medal Winner in the birds in the garden category

A Barn Owl (Tyto alba) hunts for vole and rats against the photographer's patio light.

More photos tomorrow.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

British Trust of Ornithology

The British Trust of Ornithology (BTO) has announced the winners of its 2017 Bird Photographer of the Year competition.   The photos appearing here were published by England's Guardian Newspaper Online and include several winners and short-listed images from this year's competition.

The Battle

by Jose Garcia

Category: bird behaviour

A Great White Heron  (Ardea herodias occidentalis) is fighting a green snake in the Florida Everglades.   The battle lasted for nearly 20 minutes with the heron having to release its prey.

The Speculum

by Georgina Steytler

Gold Award winner in the creative imagery category

A Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa) shows its iridescent speculum feathers in Garvey Park, Perth, Western Australia. "I took this photo at a small lake.   The still waters and the dark foliage of the background resulted in an opportunity to highlight the gorgeous feathers...".  

Catch of the Day

by Vince Burton, UK.

Winner of the Nature Photographer Ltd. Peoples Choice Award

A Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is seen in Suffolk, England.   "The kingfisher caught the fish by spearing it with its beak.   It flew to a nearby branch, threw back its head and tossed the fish in the air, before catching it again". 

Daily Basket

by Ionel Onofras, Romania

Category: best portrait

Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) on the Danube Delta, Romania.

More photos tomorrow.

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BarrytheBirder

A different bird's-eye view...

Photo: Yashpal Rathore / Nature PL / Solent

A low-angle view of cranes in the village of Khichan, in Rajasthan, India, is seen after the photographer, Yashpal Rathore, buried his camera in the ground underneath scattered grain to capture the birds feeding.   Thousands of migrating cranes land in Khichan, flying from the east.

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BarrytheBirder

In Florida's Everglades...

Photo: Alamy Stock Photo

An Everglades Snail Kite (pictured above) rests in Water Conservation Area 3A., in Florida.   The district received nearly twice its average rainfall in June and about 150% of its average rainfall in July. When water levels stay high for too long, it can cause drowning of wildlife and damage to critical parts of the Florida Everglades system. While Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas gulf coast, residual torrential rain could exacerbate the Florida Everglades flooding situation, as might other hurricanes in the new season.
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BarrytheBirder
  

Struthio camelus

Photo: Dan Callister / Alamy Stock Photo

The ostrich roams the great Sahara.

Its mouth is wide, its neck is narra.

It has such long and lofty legs,

I'm glad it sits to lay its eggs.

                                                    -- Ogden Nash

                                                

The Common Ostrich, pictured above, was photographed in South Africa at Cape Point, the most south western corner of the continent.

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BarrytheBirder

Alright...alright...no mother-in-law jokes

Photo:Rose+Sjolander/Greenpeace

EUROPEAN SHAG

Phalacrocorax aristotelis

Apart from having a 2-part Latin scientific name with 24 letters in it, this shag's claim to fame may very well be those piercing green eyes.   This one was photographed on the Farne Islands in Northumberland, England.   The islands are home to 23 different species of birds such as shags, guillemots, puffins, kittiwakes and terns.
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BarrytheBirder 

Butterfly with a bird name...

Photo: Josie Latus / Butterfly Conservancy

The Peacock Butterfly

Pictured above is a Peacock Butterfly, one of many that will be counted in Britain this summer, in what is being called the world's largest butterfly survey.   The total abundance of butterfly species has fallen by a quarter since monitoring began in 1976, with drastic declines for once-familiar butterflies such as the Peacock pictured above.   This phenomenon is similar in many ways to declines in bird species abundance.   As with certain bird species, some butterfly species numbers are changing (up and down) in certain areas.   Global warming is thought to be one of the causes of this.   Results of studies on changing environments may apply to both birds and butterflies.

Please comment if you wish.   

BarrytheBirder 

Arctic Terns ~ clever and opportunistic

Photo by David Constantini

These Arctic Terns were photographed by David Constantini, on Norway's Svalbard Archipelago and the photo was 'Highly Commended' in the 2017 BMC Ecology Image Competition. The birds found a clever nesting solution in a human-modified landscape.   They made their nest on an abandoned shovel.

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BarrytheBirder 

The Glorious Twelfth ~ "...killing for the psychopathic joy of it..."

 Photo: Jane Barlow / PA

Ben Quinn, writing in The Guardian Online on August 13, says the start of Britain's grouse shooting season has been overshadowed by protests, marking the growing confidence of animal rights supporters that they are making their biggest breakthrough since the hunting ban in 2004.   The protests took place on Ilkley Moor, the site of the only shoot still taking place on public land.   BBC presenter Chris Packham told thousands of marchers that the days of the West Yorkshire shoot were numbered.   "I think when people now see others killing for the psychopathic joy of it they are increasingly sickened and the reason for that is that our wildlife is running out".

Photo: Jeff J. Mitchell

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Guillemots are found on all arctic coastlines

Photo by Yuri Smityuk / Tass

This Guillemot was photographed in Avacha Bay, on the southeast coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. in the north Pacific Ocean.   While this Guillemot appears to be taking a running start to get itself airborne, this waterbirds is quite able to quickly leap into the air, whether on the ground or in the water.   The guillemot is classified as 'Least Concerned' (LC) on the IUCN Red List, however it is susceptible to ingestion and biomagnification of marine pollution because it takes prey from shallow water or at the sea floor.   The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says studies have shown accumulation of mercury, pesticides, and cruse oil residue in body tissues and eggs.   Oiling of feathers from spills at sea usually result in death.

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Barry Wallace

Hard to tell where bird begins and flowers end

Photo: Alamy

A Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) is a colourful, medium-sized, Australian parrot.   It feeds (in any position, it seems) on the flowers of a coral tree.

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BarrytheBirder

A rather unfortunate name...

Photo: Alamy

SSCRUB JAYY

Aphelocoma Californica

A Scrub Jay is seen on Angel Island State Park, in the San Francisco Bay, off California, US.   I've wondered in the past about whether the Scrub Jay was named for the scrubby habitat it prefers or for its sometimes scrubby and dull looks, compared to other beautiful jays.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Bullock's Oriole ~ way out of bounds

Photo: Birds and Blooms

Oriole to return to west coast by jet aircraft

Nearly two year ago, a female Bullock's Oriole was seen perched on an apple tree in Ontario.   It was thousands of kilometres from its natural habitat and caught the attention of birdwatchers across Canada.   Now, the Bullock's Oriole who ended up in the Ottawa area is about to finally fly home to western Canada, courtesy of Air Canada.   She was first spotted in late 2015; probably blown off her migration route.   Weeks later, she was found lying in snow and freezing temperatures, and suffering from frostbite, dehydration and hypothermia.   She was taken to the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre  and began to recuperate.   After much red tape, it was decided to return the Oriole to British Columbia, the northern most point of the Bullock's Oriole habitat.   Once the bird is rehabilitated by the Wildlife Rescue Association of British Columbia she will be freed to find her way back to her native wintering grounds in the southern US or northern Mexico.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace