Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
I now have one set of photos in the tank, and one on the way, but I’m still rationing them out. I thought that I’d put up a video by Tara Tanaka from five years ago, as I don’t think I’ve posted it before and it’s a beautiful short video. See if you can identify the birds (and the mammal), which I’ve put—not necessarily in order—below the fold.
We have a lovely five-minute wildlife video submitted by reader Jim. I’ve indented his commentary:
You might remember me from my photo submissions of Allen’s Hummingbirds last year. . . This time I have a video submission of the “wildlife” in my little garden. I hope you enjoy.
I live in a small Spanish bungalow by the beach in Southern California. This property has a fairly large patio where I’m able to keep a garden of succulent around the borders and various pots containing fruit trees, flowers, herbs, and seasonal vegetables. Since starting this small garden a few years back, I’ve been impressed not only with the variety of fauna it attracts, but in the beauty of even the smallest plants that thrive in this somewhat harsh beach environment. I love experimenting with different plants every year, and I grow almost everything from seed.
Click to watch (there are lots of flora and fauna along with lovely music). See how many species you can identify.
I watched this documentary for free at the link below (click on screenshot), and found it one of the best nature documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. It’s called “Woodpeckers: The Hole Story“, and features great biology and some fantastic video. Here’s a summary of the show from PBS:
Go deep into the woods to explore the lives of a unique avian family. Woodpeckers come in 239 species and live on every continent except Antarctica and Australia, playing a powerful role in every ecosystem they inhabit. They come in all shapes and sizes, each uniquely engineered for their particular lifestyles. Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum (Nature: Super Hummingbirds) pecks away at what makes these birds so special through the intimate stories of woodpecker families across the world. Narrated by Paul Giamatti.
Buzzworthy Moments:
Black woodpeckers in Poland are elusive and have rarely been filmed. A pair of these large, imposing birds make a home in a beech tree, where they feed their hungry chicks.
Acorn woodpeckers love to collect acorns and “tattoo” them into the holes they create in trees. The acorns are woodpecker gold – high in vitamins, minerals, fats and protein. Placing these acorns into trees helps this food last throughout the winter.
Gila woodpeckers make their homes in cacti in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. After carving out the nest cavity in between the spines, the Gila must wait several months for the inner pulp to dry into a tough leathery casing before moving in.
I was intrigued to learn that there are 239 species of woodpeckers, that they all form a clade long diverged from other birds, and that every woodpecker bores out its own hole for resting and breeding. (Sometimes the holes are in vertical mud cliffs.)
Now it’s possible you might not be able to see it for free (I couldn’t this morning). But you can try. Or, you can definitely see it for free if you donate to PBS, even on a one-time basis. Do try, for this is definitely worth watching!
It reminded me of a rhyme I learned as a kid:
“The woopecker pecked at the old barn door;
He pecked and he pecked ’til his pecker got sore.”
Oh dear, the photo tank is draining dry/I get know pics; do you know why? Send ’em in, please.
Today we have photos of grebes, one of my favorite birds, from ecologist Susan Harrison. Her notes are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Grebes at Upper Klamath Lake
These pictures are from Putnam’s Point on Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. It’s so well known as a grebe-watching spot that the city of Klamath Falls recently put up a statue honoring grebes.
The birds are a mix of Western Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) and Clark’s Grebes (Aechmophorus clarkii), which are nearly identical and flock together. The less common Clark’s was declared a separate species in 1985 based on DNA differences. The only visible difference is that Westerns’ eyes are surrounded by black plumage, while Clarks’ eyes are surrounded by white plumage.
Courtship happens in May (photos are from 5-14-22). Single birds sing “creet creet” (Western) or just “creet” (Clark’s). Pairs of birds form and begin swimming around together, mirroring each other and performing ritualized preening. You can tell males by their slightly larger beaks.
Courtship
Courtship
Courtship
Courtship
“Rushing” is the high point of the courtship drama – the pair runs across the water with necks outstretched, still perfectly mirroring each other.
Rushing
Fast-forward two months (7-16-22) and the happy couples now have 2-3 kids and a station wagon, or rather, mom and dad ARE the station wagon.
Young chicks
Young chicks
Young chicks
Young chicks
Young chicks
Chicks often hop off one parent and swim to the other to try to be fed first, as you can see in the last two photos.
At around one month old, chicks become too large to ride, and swim around their parents incessantly calling “feed me”.
Older chicks
Older chicks
At around two months old, they’ll begin diving for their own food, and several months later they’ll fly off with the adults to overwinter at the coast.
When it rains it pours: Tara Tanaka has graced us with another video, this time with the mating display of a male great egret (Ardea alba), the formation of a pair bond, and the beginnings of a nest. It is so beautiful that it made me tear up. And the male bringing sticks for the nest is fantastic. Be sure to watch this on the big screen.
Her video notes:
This is the closest Great Egret nest site in our backyard wildlife sanctuary – approximately 250’ away. There hasn’t been a nest here is a couple of years due to low water, but the afternoon before last I saw a male displaying on a branch, and the next morning he had already attracted a mate. He repeatedly brought branches from across the pond, and with sometimes questionable hand-offs she skillfully wove the sticks into their growing nest.
Tara’s Vimeo site is here, and her Flickr site is here.
http://vimeo.com/h2otarahttp://www.flickr.com/photos/focused-on-birds
Let’s begin with ducks, as Stephen Barnard sent another fantastic mallard photo as well as a video of a flock of mallards taking off from his fields. My title is “Two mallards in flight—afternoon delight.”
The photo:
The video: Look at all them ducks!
Reader Chris Winstead sent a photo of a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).
This is, I believe, a great horned owl. They were nesting in my neighborhood during the summer, and visited my yard most evenings. These photos were taken from my back doorstep. There were at least two babies and a mother. I didn’t capture any photos of feedings, but did observe some feeding, grooming, and pellet deliveries.
Some more waterfowl (Trumpeter swans, Cygnus buccinator) from reader Charles Sawicki. His notes:
These shots were taken during a June visit to Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota. Tamarac is covered with isolated, shallow, glacial lakes ideal for the breeding of water fowl. Trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) are common in the summer. but cygnets are normally kept well out of sight. These are one of the most massive water birds and are very aggressive in protection of their nests and young, having been known to kill raccoons and foxes.
Below: A pair of adult swans
Trumpeters often dabble to reach submerged vegetation including roots and tubers. A pair with six cygnets is seen below with their necks stained by feeding. The cygnets stayed very close to the larger male. A good idea since snapping turtles are common in these lakes.
From Raymond Mackintosh, some 2003 photos of yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) taken on the Otago Peninsula of New Zealand. (I tried to see these in my trip to NZ last year, but failed.)
Adult (can you spot the penguin):
Chicks (the Kiwis build nest boxes for the birds):
Today I’ll put up photos from one reader and a video from another.
The video comes from Rick Longworth, who also sent a photo montage from that video. His comments are indented:
In early September, with night temperatures into the high 40s, the rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) begin to pack up for Mexico. Their numbers peaked here in the first week and I was able to get some final shots using several different lenses. A wide angle lens allows a wide view and greater depth of field. I used a macro lens for some close-ups. These are female and immature rufous. Much of the footage is slo-mo. The chirping sounds are the birds alarm calls. They are always fighting over the feeders.
Note: the pollen dutifully carried on the beak at 1:24.
An eye blink at 1:40.
Now that they are gone, I’m getting that “abandoned” feeling, but I am leaving my feeders with nectar because the local birders told me that Anna’s hummingbird(Calypte anna) may stop by in the fall.
The photos:
I tried to keep track of who was who around the feeder by compiling mug shots. Unfortunately, the cast of characters shifted too fast to make that of much use. Note the immature male black-chinned hummingbird(Archilochus alexandri) with one tiny blue feather on his throat – BC2.
And some New Zealand photos from Will Savage:
Here a few more for your tank, all of marine mammals and taken in New Zealand during my one and only visit there in 2007.
A male New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) sunning itself.
A pod of Hector’s Dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori), one of the smallest dolphins in the world, averaging about 4 feet long, and endemic to New Zealand waters. These are members of the sub-species found in waters to the south of the South Island.
Yellow-eyed penguin, (Megadyptes antipodes):
Takahe (P. hochstetteri), photographed at Tiritiri Matangi:
Brown quail (Coturnix ypsilophora):
Spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus) feeding its young:
New Zealand kaka (Nestor meridionalis). It came to the veranda of our hotel and I fed it pieces of apple.
Colony of breeding shags, including spotted shag and others.
New Zealand scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae):
