Category Archives: birds

Readers’ wildlife photos

July 4, 2020 – 7:45 am

Today we have a second installment (first one here) of reader Doug Hayes’s photos of the birds that frequent his backyard feeder. The title is “The breakfast crew.” Doug’s IDs and captions are indented: More scenes from the bird feeders in our backyard here in Richmond, Virginia. A male House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) feeds a […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in mammals, photography, Readers' wildlife | Comments (14)

Templeton pays $1 million for an unanswerable question: do keas feel joy?

July 1, 2020 – 12:00 pm

Keas, Nestor notabilis, are the world’s only alpine parrots, found in New Zealand. What is it like to be a kea? When Tom Nagel wrote his famous article about what it is like to be a bat, he concluded that although bats may have consciousness, the content of that consciousness is inaccessible to us. He’s […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in animal behavior, Templeton, Templeton at it again, Templeton's shenanigans | Comments (62)

Spot the bird!

June 29, 2020 – 8:30 am

Reader David Fuqua sent a “spot the” photo which he thinks is pretty easy. Well, give it a try. Here’s what you’re looking for (and verify the ID if you can); click the photo to enlarge it.  The answer is below the fold: I rate this one easy, maybe too easy for your readers. This […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in spot the nightjar (and other beasts), spot the ________ | Comments (8)

Readers’ wildlife photos

June 29, 2020 – 7:45 am

While evolutionist John Avise sends us a “Duck O’ the Week” every Sunday, I also get regular non-duck contributions from him (birds, of course, as he’s a keen birder). Rather than hold onto them until the duck series is done, I’ll post his latest batch. John’s notes are indented. I’ll let you identify the species, […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in photography, Readers' wildlife | Comments (9)

Sunday Duck o’ the Week

June 28, 2020 – 7:45 am

Once again evolutionary biologist John Avise is instructing us on the various species of ducks in North America. Your job is to look at the photos below and guess the species. If you can’t guess it, learn its appearance and then go below the fold for the ID, John’s duck notes, and a range map. […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in ducks | Comments (5)

Readers’ wildlife photos

June 27, 2020 – 7:45 am

Today’s photos come from reader Doug Hayes, and all the notes (indented) are his. My own title is “At the feeder,” and it shows the diversity of wildlife you can see (including mammals) by putting out bird feeders. Since we put up the bird feeders, more birds and a couple of mammals have been frequenting […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in mammals, photography, Readers' wildlife | Comments (9)

Readers’ wildlife photos

June 24, 2020 – 7:30 am

Today we have photos of a lovely bird by reader Paul Peed, whose words are indented: These images are from late in the breeding season at the Roseate Spoonbill, Heron and Egret rookery.  Located in T.M. Goodwin Waterfowl Management Area in Brevard and Indian River County, Florida. More images are available at Instagram and Ebird. Feeding time […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in photography, Readers' wildlife | Comments (20)

Readers’ wildlife photos

June 22, 2020 – 7:45 am

We have a few in the queue, but I’d like more, so send in your good wildlife photos (please make sure they’re in focus, of a reasonable size, like 1mB, and have the species identified along with the Latin binomial). Thanks. We have several contributors today, the first being Dieter Letsch. As always, contributors’ words are […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in d*gs, insects, mammals, photography, plants, Readers' wildlife, reptiles | Comments (15)

Sunday Duck O’ the Week

June 21, 2020 – 7:45 am

Evolutionary geneticist John Avise is continuing his series of the ducks of North America. The goal is to educate readers about all the species in this group during lockdown, so that at the ends you will graduate with either an M. A. (master of Anas) or a Ph.D. (Duck of Philosophy). Your goal is to […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in ducklings, ducks, Readers' wildlife | Comments (9)

The pond had a visitor

June 20, 2020 – 7:45 am

The visitor is not one that I welcome in terms of potential carnage to my beloved ducks, but I do love to see it because the visitor is stately, splendid, and gorgeous. It is, of course, a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), and we haven’t seen one at the pond for several weeks.  When I […]

By whyevolutionistrue | Also posted in ducklings, ducks | Comments (16)