The Grey Heron, a wading bird

　　The Grey Heron, is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions. It has become common in summer even inside the Arctic circle along the Norwegian coast. I hope you’ll like them all beautiful and amazing grey heron pictures….

Ducks Are Mostly Aquatic Birds

　　Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water. I would appreciate if you take my little poll. Results will be posted later.

Cockatoos

　　Abeera Zamad A cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae (the true parrots) and the Strigopidae (the large New Zealand parrots), they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes. Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of parrots are unresolved. The family has a mainly Australasian distribution, ranging from the Philippines and the eastern Indonesian islands of Wallacea to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.

The American Kestrel

　　The American Kestrel hunts by hovering in the air with rapid wing beats or perching and scanning the ground for prey. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers, lizards, mice, and other small birds. It nests in cavities in trees, cliffs, buildings, and other structures. The female lays three to seven eggs, which both sexes help to incubate. It is a common bird to be used in falconry, especially by beginners.

The famous pink birds

　　These famous pink birds can be found in warm, watery regions on many continents. They favor environments like estuaries and saline or alkaline lakes. Considering their appearance, flamingos are surprisingly fluid swimmers, but really thrive on the extensive mud flats where they breed and feed.Greater flamingos are likely to be the only tall, pink bird in any given locale. They also have long, lean, curved necks and black-tipped bills with a distinctive downward bend.

The Parasitic Jaeger

Abeera Zamad The Parasitic Jaeger, also known as the Arctic Skua or Parasitic Skua, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae.This species breeds in the north of Eurasia and North America, with significant populations as far south as northern Scotland. It nests on dry tundra, higher fells and islands, laying up to four olive-brown eggs. It is usually silent except for newing and wailing notes while on the breeding grounds. Like other skuas, it will fly at the head of a human or fox approaching its nest. Although it cannot inflict serious damage, it is a frightening and painful experience. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropics and southern oceans.

The Penguin Farewell Tour has begun

　　Motivation is one of the reasons I love watching nature shows on @AnimalPlanet. Seeing animals on TV reminds me how cool it’ll be when I see tigers, chimpanzees, and penguins with my own eyes. That reminder motivates me to keep working hard as a Science Promoter. Some days though, TV won’t do, so I head down to the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Well, it saddens me to share with you that the zoo will be closing down a motivating exhibit of mine–home of the penguins & seabirds. See the news release: Change at Kovler Penguin-Seabird House. Equipment that maintains the temperature of the exhibit is outdated, and not like an iPad 1. We’re talking outdated as in Sony Walkman. Over the upcoming weeks, the birds will still be visible to the public as zoo scientists search for homes for these lovely creatures of the cold. The zoo is free, so visit anyday. In the meantime, say hello before you say goodbye to the six lovely species of penguins & seabirds that currently reside in the Kovler Penguin-Seabird House.
Have you seen a Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata)? They are adorable! See wild Puffins in California:

Meet the linebacker of the group, the Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica). You can find his relatives around Antarctica:

The coolest looking penguin, with the coolest name, is the Rockhopper penguin

The animals in the Netherlands

Approximately 2 million animals are slaughtered in the Netherlands without stunning each year. This number is composed mainly of poultry, but also of large numbers of sheep and cattle. Although Dutch and European laws generally prohibit slaughter without stunning, exception is granted to ritual slaughter, practiced by parts of the Jewish and Muslim communities. In 2008, the Royal Dutch Veterinary Society published a report proving that this practice causes the animals to experience much stress and unacceptable suffering (video produced by the Party for the Animals, contains shocking footage).
This month, the Tweede Kamer (the Dutch Lower House of Parliament) completed a first reading of a bill to prohibit ritual slaughter, i.e. to make the existing ban on slaughter without prior stunning absolute. The bill was introduced by the Dutch Party for the Animals (PvdD), which holds two seats in the House. Although the proposal is likely to be adopted, it has received plenty of media attention. The discussion has been focused on the clash of fundamental rights and values.
For animals have not been accorded explicit rights in the Dutch constitution. However, there are national and supranational laws in place that protect animal welfare and prohibit cruelty towards animals. On the other hand, freedom of religion is embedded in the constitution as a fundamental right of all inhabitants. The question that is currently before Parliament is whether the goal of preventing animal cruelty trumps a religious practice that, according to believers, is a fundamental part of their religion. According to recently shifted public opinion, the balance tips to the side of the animals. Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Iceland, Switzerland have already banned ritual laughter and legislative action is under way in Spain and Belgium.
There are voices that see the ban as an undue burden on minority communities who merely want to practice their ancient religious customs. And although the PvdD’s proposal is guided by an honest concern for animals, some commentators fear that the bill will contribute to a wider populist political climate where there is more and more talk of ‘defending’ Dutch values and mistrust towards this diverse society’s minority groups.

Feral Cats In National Feral Cat Day

Kathleen Stachowski Other Nations
October 16th is National Feral Cat Day. That’s just under a month out, but forewarned is forearmed, and if feral cats aren’t on your radar now, perhaps they will be.
Feral cats (also called community cats) weren’t on my radar until my cousin Beth, a feral cat activist in Indiana, e-mailed to ask that I contact federal officials (via an action alert from Best Friends) about the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s role in undermining community trap-neuter-return–or release–(TNR) programs.
Yes, this is the same agency that claims the Northern Rockies wolverine warrants Endangered Species Act listing but is “precluded” (along with over 20 other warranted-but-precluded species and 250-some additional “candidate species” in need of protection) because the agency lacks resources and can’t make it a priority. Can’t list a rare carnivore who continues to be trapped in Montana–but can go after community TNR programs? This required investigation. I learned something about feral cats along the way.
I tend to think of feral cats as city cats, or maybe unsocialized barn-dwellers. Here in rural Montana, feral cats are otherwise known as mountain lions (ha ha). Wild domestic cats are rare to nonexistent, likely because they’re considered lunch by the predators in the ‘hood. But in other places, feral cats are the predators, and there’s the rub. More on that later.

Larkspur
My own two feline shelter stories, Larkspur and Juniper, never leave the house. Larkspur was on her way to feralhood when some kind soul caught her in a carport in Missoula and took her to the humane shelter as a wary, frightened sub-adult. Even after 8-1/2 years in our safe, loving home, she still panics and flees when we stride into the room too quickly. But she’s a purring love-sponge other times; imagining her as one of the wild legions helps put a face to the problem–helps me see that these aren’t just so many ferals, but individuals whose predicament we created and who deserve our assistance and compassion.
But compassion is not on the agenda when FWS teams up with The Wildlife Society (TWS), an international scientific and educational nonprofit (mission statement here), for the latter’s annual conference in November in Hawaii. A Fish & Wildlife Service-organized workshop description reads, in part,
“Feral and unrestrained domestic cats kill and estimated 1.4 million birds a day, every day—and at least as many small mammals and herps. This direct mortality is similar in scale to mortality caused by building collisions and far exceeds that caused by collisions with wind or communications towers, oil spills, or other sources on which conservation agencies invest time and money. Municipalities across the U.S. are being pressured by cat advocacy groups to adopt Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) programs in which voluntary caretakers feed cats 24/7 at feral/stray cat colonies, establishing populations of subsidized invasive predators that continue to depredate wildlife. ~Informing Local Scale Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Release Decisions (scroll down at workshop list)
It’s important (and fair) to note that TWS is not a conservative politics/property rights group disguising as conservationists. They embrace global warming science, the Endangered Species Act, conservation of old growth forests, voluntary restraint in human population growth, and wolf restoration (“Restoring populations…to suitable habitats represents an opportunity to partially reverse a long history of persecution by humans”). They are scientists dedicated to the conservation of native wildlife populations (see all of their position statements here).
But along with scholars and scientists, it’s also fair to note that their governing council includes personnel from state fish and game agencies (including Wyoming, home of the Northern Rockies’ most onerous wolf hunt proposal). Their definition of wildlife management includes goals that run the gamut from enhancement of endangered species to sustainable harvest of game species to elimination of destructive introduced species. They are all about management. Influencing state and local animal welfare legislation is also on their agenda.
Just one revealing example: While calling for ”individual animals (to be) treated ethically and humanely,” TWS supports fur trapping for fun and profit, recognizing “…the economic and recreational benefits of trapping.” In their smarmy treatment of animal rights, TWS cites the Public Trust Doctrine, ”…based on the premise that wild animals are a public resource to be held in trust by the government for the benefit of all citizens. Animal rights advocates philosophically oppose this concept of wildlife as property…”
Wildlife as human property. Property, we know, must be defended from threats. Feral cats are exotic (non-native), invasive threats, according to TWS: ”As a domesticated animal, cats have no native range and, therefore, are a non-native species in natural systems worldwide. In addition, native prey species often have no evolved defenses against this exotic predator, making the domestic cat a potential threat wherever it is introduced.” Into this hostile milieu a discussion of feral cat control will take place.
Forewarned is forearmed. If thwarting community TNR programs and replacing them eradication is the goal, TNR supporters had better be on top of that game. (It’s likely that feral cat advocates already know this–it’s the rest of us who might need educating.) A purely emotional response (save the wild kitties!) won’t cut it when bird mortality, avian extinctions, and disease transmission are laid at the paws of feral cats and presented as scientific fact by a federal, taxpayer-funded agency.
Enter Vox Felina
According to its website, Vox Felina provides “…critical analysis of claims made in the name of science by those opposed to feral/free-roaming cats and trap-neuter-return (TNR).”

Disappointing History Of Evolution

In the long, often boring, and generally disappointing history of evolution, nothing has managed to capture our imagination quite like the dinosaurs.1 The simple fact that there were once giant, terrifying reptiles with tiny brains who “ruled the Earth”2 is enough to inspire awe, but that they then disappeared prior to the invention of the camera phone really compounds it. On the cosmic scale of things, the fact that grizzly bears frighten us is a bit laughable, for if they stepped out of a time machine and into the age of the dinosaurs, grizzly bears would spend the majority of their short lives screaming like children and running away from everything they saw – including the plants, probably – and wondering what the hell was going on here (and also kicking themselves for not just stopping the time machine in 1929 and shorting the stock market, like they had planned).

‘I’m short oil, I’m short steel, I’m short railroads…I’m short pretty much everything. Oh, I’m from the future.’
Of all the dinosaurs, none is so iconic as Tyrannosaurus rex (lit. ‘Tyrant-Lizard King (not the band)’). Hailing from the late Cretaceous between 85 and 65 million years ago, Tyrannosaurus rex (or T. rex, as it preferred to be called), was, from what we can suss out based on skeletal remains, one of the largest carnivores ever, standing 15 feet tall, reaching up to 40 feet long, and weighing somewhere around 7,000 pounds. According to people who estimate things that are impossible to estimate, its 700 pound head could, with the aid of serrated teeth the size of bananas, tear off up to 500 pounds of meat in a single bite. But what’s most breathtaking about T. rex was that it was, at one point, real. T. rexes roamed Western North America for millions of years, and in a time when dinosaurs ruled, they were king.

‘More mead and serving wenches! And tell my younger brother to calm down. I can’t handle his psychodrama right now.’
Or so we’re led to believe. The truth is that everything we know about T. rex comes from fossilized remains – reptilian bone slowly replaced by minerals over the course of millions of years – and a few Spielberg movies. And from these sources, our best and brightest scientists can only make rough deductions about T. rex based on a knowledge of biomechanics and animal anatomy comparisons drawn from extant fauna. What this means is that, while it certainly looked like a carnivorous tyrant-lizard king, for all we really know, T. rex actually liked eating flowers and hugging. Only one thing is for sure—leaving behind a giant skeleton with massive teeth the size of bananas is a surefire way to get lots of kids books written about yourself.

His one wish was that some future species educate their offspring about his work.
As with all other dinosaurs, there are no T. rexes frozen in ice (unlike the wooly mammoth), no T. rex photographs, no T. rex audio recordings, and only the crudest of T. rex diary entries, leaving a vast chasm of T. rex knowledge that is open to interpretation, speculation, and prolific grant-writing by bearded paleontologists who spend their adult lives hoping that PBS interviews them in their Indiana Jones hat at least once.
‘Believe it or not, I’m a bit of a rebel. I mean, I got the hat and everything.’
For instance, some paleontologists believe that all tyrannosaurs, including T. rex, must have been covered in feathers at some point during their life cycles (most likely after hatching). If nothing else, a feather-covered T. rex was surely a lot less intimidating, not to mention a lot more upsetting for his dad. But we don’t know. We also don’t know whether T. rex was a hunter or a scavenger. While a massive dinosaur with a mouthful of banana teeth that could deliver a bite with 1440 pounds of force in the front part of its jaw and 3011 in the back would seem to be a bit of a no-brainer in the hunting department, some paleontologists suggest that their massive legs may have prevented them from running as fast as their potential prey (biomechanics pins their top speed at about 18 mph, which is slightly faster than a human being can run). They also had relatively large olfactory lobes, which could (could!) mean a powerful sense of smell for locating rotten meat (similar to New World vultures, which are award-winning, world-class scavengers). And then, of course, there was the issue of T. rex’s hilariously undersized forearms, which could not even reach their own mouth (meaning that, however they got their food, they never wiped their mouth after dinner). These almost vestigial forearms were likely little use for grasping prey, and they were almost certainly worthless in push up contests.
‘Well they’ll work just fine for Xbox. When’s that coming out again?’
But others dissent from this view and remain convinced T. rex was a hunter, pointing to its stereoscopic vision (and, you know, the spiky banana teeth). Still others think the shreds of rotten, bacteria-infested meat lodged in its numerous teeth gave T. rex a “septic bite,” which caused an initial bite wound to become infected, making these tyrannosaurs among the very first bioterrorists. And, for what it’s worth, this would also explain why two T. rex fossils have never been found locked in a passionate kiss.
The most complete T. rex skeleton ever found was discovered in South Dakota in 1990. Currently on display at the Field Museum in Chicago, ‘Sue’ has shed a great deal of new light on the Tyrannosaurus rex. For instance, we now know that we don’t know whether Sue was a male or a female. We do know, however, that Sue died at some point in what is now South Dakota. Probably. For all we know, she or he passed away in what is now Montana, but the other T. rexes brought her to South Dakota for an incredibly elaborate funeral procession that featured a full marching band and several push up contests.
‘By the way, I was also pink. Everything was. Long story.’
However, using a little bit of common sense, we can probably make the reasonable leap and conclude that T. rex was a hunter; after all, T. rex-esque wounds have been found in other dinosaur skeletons. Of course, these may have been inflicted post-mortem. But let’s be honest–does anyone think that something with banana teeth and a brain smaller than a quart of milk was reluctant to bite anything and everything around it?
Obviously, grading an animal that no longer exists – and about whom so much remains murky – presents a challenge. But after much meditation and consideration, one is stuck with the words ‘banana teeth,’ and grading T. rex, unlike every other aspect of its investigation, becomes quite simple.
GRADE: A+
1 The notable exception being the great white shark.
2 A small minority of experts think that the dinosaurs were brought down by an overextended state budget, bread riots, an overreliance on mercenaries, and general internal decadence. This minority is very, very small.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Last weekend, I took my two sons, 13 and 21, to see “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which we thoroughly enjoyed on several levels. It’s a rousing slave revolt, an entertaining techno-thriller, a drama about a dysfunctional household (chimp included) dealing with disability and job-related stresses (in the conflicted genetic engineer played by James Franco). (Manohla Dargis liked it, too, as did my sons’ favorite critics, the team at Spill.com.
It’s also a film about the troubled relationship of Homo sapiens to its closest kin, the other species in our taxonomic family, the Hominidae. Abuses have occurred from the forests of the Congo basin and Borneo to the research centers of drug companies and universities.
In the realm of drugs and medicine, there’s certain research that can only be done on apes or other primates. Where does one draw the line, in terms of which research goals are lofty enough to justify killing or causing pain to animals. Are some animals too sentient for such uses?
These questions go well beyond our treatment of other hominids, of course, and arise in considering everything from factory farming to the global trade in endangered species to the routine use of countless other species in medical and other testing.
The film, not surprisingly, got a seal of approval from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which also gave an award to the director, Rupert Wyatt, for insisting that no real apes be used during filming (something possible thanks to the geniuses assembled by Peter Jackson in New Zealand.
I was heartened to see that the film did not completely tilt toward the predictable Hollywood approach to “Big Pharma” of an evil corporation plotting terrible things in the pursuit of money.
While the new “Apes” film has the greedy head of a biotech firm only concerned about profits and dismissively referring to the company’s research chimps as property, its human star, Franco, represents something of a middle path. He plays a researcher who is willing to use apes as test subjects for drugs aimed at improving the human condition (including that of his father, fading from Alzheimer’s) — but who had an ethics-based line he wouldn’t cross.
We all have benefited, knowingly or not, from all manner of research involving animals. (I’m sure the post-stroke levels of coumadin in my blood right now were worked out on other species first.)
These are tough issues. I think the film will help nudge people to consider the potential ethical failures that underlie their health care. Another helpful prod was an Op-Ed article today by Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett, a Republican of Maryland, who makes a powerful argument for ending all laboratory work with chimpanzees.
Yesterday, I was able to spend 45 minutes interviewing the film’s screenwriters, Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, who conceived the story after collecting string on various instances in which a chimpanzees ended up beingraised in human households, almost always with bad outcomes. (Listen to more on “The Idea” by clicking that link in the audio box.)
Only after their research was well under way did Jaffa have a “classic lightbulb moment,” Silver recalls, where he realized they had the seed of a fresh approach to the seemingly dormant “Planet of the Apes” franchise.
They described the remarkably smooth effort to pitch their new take on the “Apes” saga to 20th Century Fox executives. (Click “The Pitch” in the audio box at left for more.)
But we mainly focused on issues related to research labs where the animals are housed and studied, some of which I reported on in the 1990s. (Click “The Issues” button in the audio box.)
I noted how, while watching the scenes in the film of chimps watching TV, I was reminded of my tour of a onetime New York University chimp center in Tuxedo, N.Y., where the televisions were showing “The Wizard of Oz.”
We explored how the fast-forward pace of scientific knowledge and technical skill is seemingly outpacing humans’ capacity to comprehend and honestly grapple with the ethical issues that arise.
In discussing the ethical issues, Silver said: “It’s easy to be shrill,” but added that they sought a more nuanced approach. “Would you test on a chimp to save someone you loved?” she asked, alluding to the quandary of the Franco character. “The deepest moral questions are the ones that force you to make difficult moral choices."

While 8.7 million may seem astronomical

A recent New York Times article, published in late August, discussed a new study, which estimated the number of species living on the Earth to be approximately 8.7 million, give or take 1.3 million. To me, this number seemed astronomical (though I sometimes feel that there are 8.7 million different species of bugs that manage to get into my house every week).
After reading a few articles on the study, something got me thinking. In one particulararticle, it is noted that one of the study’s authors feels that population estimate studies are particularly important due currently accelerated rates of extinction, brought about by a host of human activities. This piqued my curiosity. With 8.7 million estimated species on the earth, just how do the extinction rates measure up? I decided to check this out.
To begin, it must be noted that I am by no means a scientist. Scientific background aside, a wealth of research on my part made clear that there is at least a shaky consensus among some scientists, noted here and here, that under the natural order of things (known as the background extinction rate), somewhere between 10 and 100 species would go extinct per year. The IUCN estimates, however, that the current extinction rate is 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than it would naturally be. What this shows me is that while there appears to be no general consensus on exact numbers, one thing is for sure- the extinction rates are a lot higher than many are comfortable with.
So while 8.7 million may seem astronomical, the truth is, it isn’t. Research is telling us that climate change, habitat destruction, and human population growth, among other factors, are seriously altering species’ ability to survive on the Earth, and these 8.7 million species are dwindling at much faster rates than they should be. Perhaps this study should be our wake up call that perhaps 8.7 million species on Earth might just be a million or so too few.

African Elephants

　　
　　It’s been an active two weeks for African Elephants in the world news. Here’s the round-up, both good and bad:
Early last week, NGOs including Elephant Family released a report discussing the soaring illegal ivory trade in China. According to the report, Chinese demand for ivory has increased dramatically over the past few years due to the country’s recent economic boom. The report states that the number of ivory items on sale in China has doubled since 2004, and that approximately 90% of all ivory sold in the country has been obtained illegally. The report, which has received significant attention in the news, has prompted ivory researchers to beseech the Chinese government to tighten enforcement of ivory regulations.
In other news, The Republic of Congo is also attempting to battle the ever-growing ivory trade in China. On August 10th, authorities in the country sentenced a Chinese ivory trafficker (who attempted to board a plane with 5 elephant tusks) to 4 years in prison. From a lay perspective, 4 years seems a minimal punishment, but it is the harshest sentence The Republic has thus far imposed for such a crime.
And finally, on August 17th, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (commonly known as CITES) met with the intention of discussing broad-based elephant issues including conservation and the illegal ivory trade. At the conclusion of the meeting, it was announced that CITES intended to launch a trust fund to protect African Elephants. According to John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES: “The target is to raise $100 million over the next three years to enhance law enforcement capacity and secure the long-term survival of African elephant populations.” As things stand, several countries have already contributed to the fund.
Overall, it seems there is some progress is combating the massive illegal ivory trade. At least for the African Elephant. The Asian Elephant, it seems, will be considered another day.