You are browsing the archives of 2006 February.

Descriptions of birds having cryptic coloration can seem confusing or even macabre to those who only know the word “crypt” as a synonym for sepulcher.  The word “cryptic,” descended from the Greek kruptikos, means concealed, hidden, secret, or occult.  While the funeral industry may concern itself more with the latter definitions, zoology focuses on the [...]

The field guide guiding us on our January 2006 trip to the Bahamas was A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies by James Bond. This volume, written by one of the most well respected names in Caribbean aviafauna, edited by Roger Tory Peterson, and illustrated by Don R. Eckelberry, Earl L. Poole, [...]

For some people, the idea of waking up before dawn to board a boat plying icy winter waters for distant views of ambiguous seabirds DOESN’T sound like fun. What are these people thinking? Clearly, we’re not talking about birders; members of that group usually thrill to the thought of a February pelagic cruise. The Core [...]

The name of this humble website is based on a round number, a very round one indeed considering the shape of all those zeroes.  10,000 is the approximate number of bird species in the world but certainly not the actual number. If I understand correctly, the known number of avian species lies somewhere south of [...]

The Core Team went birding for Saemangeum yesterday. Even in the face of Super Bowl Sunday holiday observances, our commitment to global environmental justice remains firm. Anyway, I wanted to get out birding and Mason wanted to run around. We all like Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, the adults for its plethora of winter waterfowl, the [...]

How about those Seahawks? Though I’m a serious New York Giants fan, Seattle’s NFC Championship makes me pretty happy. Why, you ask? Besides the fact that Big Blue just wasn’t ready this year so it didn’t matter who took the conference, I’m very pleased that a football team with an obscure avian appellation is competing [...]

Dharma, the way of the higher Truths, exists at the core of an array of Indian philosophies, beliefs, and practices including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Ayyavazhi.  Despite or perhaps because of its spiritual significance, dharma is a rather difficult concept to define.  On the one hand, the word translates roughly to “law” or “way” [...]

The Bahamas boast an impressive array of wild native doves including the Caribbean Dove and White-crowned Pigeon. The various islands also support more adaptable civilized species like Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, and Rock Pigeon. But one columbiform has clearly conquered the rest; at least in the Nassau area, the Eurasian Collared-Dove reigns supreme. Eurasian Collared-Dove [...]