Author: David - Page 3 - 10,000 Birds

Birds

Spoonbills are ibises with big flat bills

September 15, 2013 by David 3 Comments

Spoonbills and ibises are stocky, colorful wading birds with distinctive bills: downcurved and pointed in the case of ibises, flat and paddle shaped in...

James's Flamingos (by Pedro Szekely) and Horned Grebe (by winnu).

Birds

Exploring the relationship between flamingos and grebes: The wonderful birds

August 18, 2013 by David 3 Comments

That flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) and grebes (Podicipedidae) are probably each others’ closest living relatives is one of the most surprising discoveries in higher-level avian systematics...

Birds

The mousebird mystery

July 21, 2013 by David 2 Comments

Mousebirds (order Coliiformes) are one of the perennial puzzles in bird systematics. They do not look or act much like any other birds (my...

White-breasted-Nuthatch-by-Matt-MacGillivray

Birds

What to look for in the AOU 54th supplement

June 16, 2013 by David 5 Comments

The AOU’s 54th supplement to its North American bird checklist will be out next month. Based on the proposals submitted to date, here are...

Birds

Clapper and King rails may represent four or five species

April 21, 2013 by David 11 Comments

Clapper and King rails (Rallus longirostris and R. elegans) are the largest rails in the Americas. Their taxonomic status long has been unclear due...

Birds

2013 AOU North American checklist proposals

March 17, 2013 by David 2 Comments

The first batch of proposals for the 2013 American Ornithologists’ Union North American checklist supplement has hit the ‘tubes. Let’s take a look at...

Birds

Waxwings and their kin: Meet the bombycillids

February 17, 2013 by David 5 Comments

Waxwings and their relatives are a small, interesting group of songbirds that have seen some interesting taxonomic changes in the last few years. This...