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Why Crickets Just Won’t Shut Up | Deep Look Video
Male crickets play tunes non-stop to woo a mate or keep enemies away. But they’re not playing their song with the body part you’re thinking.
Ask most people about crickets and you’ll probably hear that they’re all pretty much the same: just little insects that jump and chirp.
But there are actually dozens of different species of field crickets in the U.S. And because they look so similar, the most common way scientists tell them apart is by the sounds they make.
“When I hear an evening chorus, all I hear are the different species,” said David Weissman, a research associate in entomology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
Weissman has spent the last 45 years working to identify all the species of field crickets west of the Mississippi River. In December, he published his findings in the journal Zootaxa, identifying 35 species of field crickets in the western states, including 17 new species. California alone hosts 12 species. But many closely resemble the others. So even for one of the nation’s top experts, telling them apart isn’t a simple task.
“It turns out song is a good way to differentiate,” Weissman said.
This is another installment of the PBS Deep Look series. If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you. [Chuck Almdale]
The kids should see this… | Bird video collection
Smart videos for kids of all ages.
Screen shot of part of page two.
The website is: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/tagged/birds
246 videos about birds. It boggles the mind.
I’ll mention only two videos and supply YouTube links to them because there are two-hundred-and-forty-six videos on this site! You can click the videos below, but we suggest you go direct to “The Kids…” website, as you can watch all 246 videos from there and also read about them. There also other categories of video collections: Science, Tech, Space, Nature, Animals, Food, Music, History, Art, Animation, Do It Yourself.
Really, it boggles the mind. Thanks to Lillian for the link.
[Chuck Almdale]
Gannet life in Newfoundland, Canada
Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Cape St Mary’s Ecological Reserve is home to one of only six gannet colonies in North America. This video provides an overview of Northern Gannet behavioral ecology throughout the breeding season and highlights the importance of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Ecological Reserves to the conservation of the species. Time: 9:08
A blue-and-white flycatcher bathes in a Japanese bird bath
“Vigorous bathing of young male Blue-and-White Flycatcher” Today’s Cute Kawaii Visitors. Time: 14:01
If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you. [Chuck Almdale]
A dustup over McCown’s Longspur
This article is on a currently controversial topic. Some may find it offensive, but different people may have widely varying reasons for that opinion. SMBAS doesn’t often link to stories like this. Nevertheless, I felt it was worthy of consideration as it definitely pertains to birds and what we name them. If you object to or approve of the content, I suggest you contact the writer, Hannah Tomasy. Look for the “Comments” tab on the right side of this page. Thanks(?) to Ellen for sending me the link. [Chuck Almdale]
A Bird Named for a Confederate General Sparks Calls for Change
McCown’s longspur has launched a renewed reckoning over the troubling histories reflected in taxonomy
Smithsonian Magazine | By Hannah Thomasy, Undark | smithsonianmag.com | July 21, 2020
Across the United States, people are pushing for the removal of Confederate officers’ names from buildings, schools, and army bases, as protests against racial injustice continue in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.
Something much smaller has also elicited debate over its Confederate name: McCown’s longspur, a bird that lives in the Great Plains and looks a bit like a sparrow. It was named after John Porter McCown, who was involved in forcible relocations of Native Americans during the 1840s, and who left the United States Army to serve as a Confederate general during the Civil War.
How Nature Works: White-winged Crossbill Feeding Technique | Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Take an up-close look at the remarkable physical adaptations White-winged Crossbills use to retrieve seeds hidden inside tightly closed spruce cones.
A film from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you. The Lab is a member-supported organization; they welcome your membership and support. [Chuck Almdale]
Part three of our impromptu series on hummingbirds.
Ecuadorian hummingbirds chirp ultrasonic songs of seduction
Retrieved from CP24.com, Toronto
The Associated Press | Christina Larson | Friday, July 17, 2020
Perched on a flowering shrub on a windy Andean mountainside, the tiny Ecuadorian Hillstar hummingbird chirps songs of seduction that only another bird of its kind can hear. As the male sings, he inflates his throat, causing iridescent throat feathers to glisten princely purple. The female may join in a courtship dance – or chase him off. For the first time, scientists have shown that these hummingbirds can sing and hear in pitches beyond the known range of other birds, according to research published Friday in the journal Science Advances.
More on the CP24 website.
Here’s the original study article from Science Advances, 17 July 2020.
High-frequency hearing in a hummingbird
Authors: F. G. Duque, C. A. Rodriguez-Saltos, S. Uma, I. Nasir, M.F. Monteros, W. Wilczynski, L.L. Carruth.
Science Advances, 17 Jul 2020: Vol. 6, no. 29, eabb9393.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb9393
The complete study is on the website (possibly for only a short time); here’s the abstract.
Abstract: Some hummingbirds produce unique high-frequency vocalizations. It remains unknown whether these hummingbirds can hear these sounds, which are produced at frequencies beyond the range at which most birds can hear. Here, we show behavioral and neural evidence of high-frequency hearing in a hummingbird, the Ecuadorian Hillstar (Oreotrochilus chimborazo). In the field, hummingbirds responded to playback of high-frequency song with changes in body posture and approaching behavior. We assessed neural activation by inducing ZENK expression in the brain auditory areas in response to the high-frequency song. We found higher ZENK expression in the auditory regions of hummingbirds exposed to the high-frequency song compared to controls, while no difference was observed in the hippocampus between groups. The behavioral and neural responses show that this hummingbird can hear sounds at high frequencies. This is the first evidence of the use of high-frequency vocalizations and high-frequency hearing in conspecific communication in a bird.
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 