When you weigh 4 g you need to go light on the bling. A necklace of 3.2 g (80% of body weight) is the most you can carry, and only for short distances.[1] For comparison a teaspoon of sugar weighs 5 g.
2022-08-20 North Tract, Putuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, MD
[1] DOI:10.1242/jeb.200.5.921
More bird-brained behaviour: First year terns learn migration routes by accompanying a parent (see movie). Usually this is Dad, who is following the same route taught to him by his father. Those that stray too far get lost and eaten (beware the big bad eagle). DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-29300-w
2022-08-06 Belle Haven Park, Alexandria, VA
Cuckoos have a reputation for brood parasitism, which is when a bird sneaks her egg in the nest of another bird and leaves it to raise her young (hence the word "cuckold"). This is mostly practiced by Old World species, but YBCU will also do so on occasion.[1] In some cuckoo species this has led to an interesting adaptation: Their chicks can learn the begging call of their host in order to get more food.[2]
2022-08-06 Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA
[1] DOI:10.2307/1366235 [2] DOI:10.1098/rstb.2020.0249
Songbirds not surprisingly have several innovations regarding song. Extra muscles for vocal control and brain structures for learning provides for extreme variability with rapid evolution. Rather than vocal folds, birds have membranes on the walls of their throat which vibrate when air moves past. In songbirds this "syrinx" sits at the top of each lung, giving them independent control of airflow and tension for instant pitch shifts or even two notes together.[1] New songs are learned each season, with some brain regions doubling in size in spring and shrinking back in the fall.[2]
2022-03-25 NIH pond, Bethesda, MD
[1] Lateralization of birdsong. Wikipedia
[2] DOI:10.1016/j.neulet.2008.07.085
Tyrranus tyrranus, the type species for the tyrant flycatcher branch of perching birds. After splitting from the parrots, perching birds developed in what is now South America, spreading to India, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand while they were still connected (help reunite Gondawana!) One African species (Sapayoa aenigma) migrated back to South America over the Atlantic land bridge about 28 MYA. How it managed to survive without diversifying for so long is an enigma. Song birds developed in Australia during millions of isolation as it moved from Antarctica to Asia. They have since spread across most of the world and now account for half of all bird species, with tyrant flycatchers adding another 10%.
2022-08-20 Putuxent Research Refuge (North Tract), Laurel, MD
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.1501005
A domestic dispute between Passer domesticus. Presumably an unsuccessful attempt at forced copulation (6% occurrence).[1] This is the type species for all perching birds (Passerines), with a particular Swedish specimen as the "holotype" (Linnaeus was Swedish). One adaptation that defines the order is a tendon at the back of the leg which tightens the claws when the leg is bent. Very handy for not falling off the branch while you are asleep.[2]
2021-03-22 NIH pond, Bethesda, MD
[1] DOI:10.1007/BF0018330
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passerine#Anatomy
... because it provides food and cover for partridges. As an annual competing for space in the tall grass prairie, Chamaecrista fasciculata uses biowarfare, nurturing fungi that inhibits root growth in big bluestem, even though its own growth is severely reduced. DOI:10.1046/j.1365-2745.1999.00383.x
2022-08-20 Putuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, MD
A late season flower (Thymophylla acerosa) provides a splash of colour. As you might guess from the name, it is not popular with the foragers. Also, its leaves are mildly toxic, and can be ground to powder and sprinkled on beans to keep down weevil infestations, though other plants work much better for this. DOI:10.5897/AJAR12.1757
2022-12-12 Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM
Ericameria nauseosa has sap with a high concentration of latex, hence the "rubber" in the name. Its roots go deep, sucking up calcium, and its biomimic, strontium-90. Not good when you have buried nuclear waste on site: one plant in particular contained 100,000x background level,[1] but 2-3x is more usual.[2]
2022-11-30 Los Alamos, NM
[1] Fresquez, P R, Foxx, T S, and Naranjo, L Jr. (1996). Uptake of strontium by chamisa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) shrub plants growing over a former liquid waste disposal site at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
[2] Gonzales, G. J., Fresquez, P. R., Mullen, M. A., & Naranjo Jr, L. (2000). Radionuclide concentrations in vegetation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1998 (No. LA--13704-PR).
Flying into the sunset leaving a trail of icy dew. Water vapour from burnt fuel coalesces around soot particles to form dew drops which freeze in the cold upper atmosphere. These spread out to form human generated cirrus clouds which persist until the ice evaporates or a downdraft carries them to warmer air. Cirrus clouds let sunlight through but trap infrared, giving a net warming effect.
2022-12-11 Los Alamos, NM
La Fonda on the Plaza, a hotel built in 1920 in the Pueblo Revival style: terraced with adobe coloured walls and projected wooden beams. The roof of the hotel is lined with farolitos: brown paper bags filled with sand and a candle to light the path for the Holy Family on Christmas Eve.
2022-12-10 Santa Fe, NM
Over hundreds of millions of years layer upon layer of sand, silt and mud were laid atop what is now Utah, building up thousands of meters of sedimentary rock. Sometimes seabed, sometimes shoreline, sometimes desert, the layers continued to settle. About 20 MYA uplift started raising the land thousands of meters above sea level and now erosion is dominant. Rivers, wind and ice turned rocks back into sediment, leaving canyon lands and isolated mesas such as this 60 m Entrada sandstone formation.[1,2]
2022-12-03 Church Rock, Monticello, UT
[1] https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/geology-canyonlands-national-park
[2] https://geology.utah.gov/apps/intgeomap/?view=scene&scale=10600&zoom=15.77&lat=38.07015&lng=-109.339&layers=500k%2C100k&tilt=1&heading=1&elev=4846&exag=2.5&base=ustopo
Squeezing hundreds of thousands of birds onto a small winter refuge requires some compromises. For northern pintails this involves a nightly commute of 30-50km, leaving shortly after sunset to the grain fields for a night of foraging, then back to the wetlands at dawn for a safe place to rest. This costs about 20% of daily calories. DOI:10.2307/1369861
2022-12-12 Bosque del Apache, San Antonio, NM
It gets cold in the mountains. What's a little bird to do? Huddle for warmth in a cozy nest and let your body drop into hypothermia apparently. This cooperation extends throughout the year, with young birds assisting breeding pairs with food and alerting for predators. There are benefits to grown children living at home. DOI:10.2307/1368158
2022-12-10 Valles Caldera National Preserve, NM
Spotting an insect at 35 m requires good visual acuity. In her case, about 45 c/deg, compared to 30 c/deg for 20/20 vision. This is far from the best in the bird world. A wedge-tailed eagle from Australia does 3x better with 140 c/deg.* [DOI:10.1016/S0042-6989(03)00304-3]
2022-12-12 Bosque del Apache, San Antonio, NM
* Cycles per degree is an awkward unit. With 20/20 vision you should be able to resolve the mm markings on a ruler at 1.7 m (30 markers spanning 1 degree). For 45 c/deg move the ruler to 2.6 m and for 140 c/deg move it to 8 m. As angular resolution these are 60, 40 and 13 seconds of arc respectively.
Taking a break from foraging, an all-day every-day winter activity. Come spring hundreds of thousands will fly back to Canada for breeding. A leading cause of death on this journey is power line collisions. These heavy birds are not evolved to spot cables hanging over unfamiliar waterways in the dark. By adding UV lights the collisions were almost completely eliminated and last second dodges much reduced. [DOI:10.1093/condor/duz008]
2022-12-12 Bosque del Apache, San Antonio, NM
Clever birds. After caching food, they will sneak back and move the cache if another bird saw them doing it. For a protein supplement they will ride on the back of mule deer, picking off ticks and deer flies. The deer is happy to oblige, lifting its ears so the bird can reach more of them, and even tolerating the rather hard pecks needed to dislodge the ticks (they use soft pecks for the flies). DOI:10.2307/1367147
2022-12-12 Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM
A desert cardinal on a cold winter's day. In summer he keeps his cool by panting, allowing him to survive in temperatures up to 50 C. This is not very efficient, costing 5-9% of body mass per hour. Doves use sweat to cool, costing only 2%. Quail have a "super-pant", fluttering their throats up to 10 times per second without burning extra calories. [DOI:10.1242/jeb.161141]
2022-12-12 Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM
Relaxing in the summer sun, arms crossed behind his head, watching the world go by. I can understand: it is enough for me to coordinate four limbs, never mind six. Females have an additional throwing arm. Using a body segment near the end of her tail, she can dip her eggs in water then toss them into the grass by the shore.[1]
2022-08-27 Gunner's Lake, Germantown, MD
Another aquatic invasive, Ludwigia peploides is native to both South America and Australia.* Left unchecked it will completely cover shallow waterways. It is an efficient accumulator of lead and zinc [DOI:10.1007/s12665-018-7566-4] so you get decontamination for free as you try to control its spread.
2022-08-27 Gunner's Lake, Germantown, MD
* Although rare, it is not unprecedented for plants to traverse the Pacific.[DOI:10.1111/geb.12713]
If you have Lythrum salicaria on your property in Minnesota* you are required to control it. Good luck with that: 2+ million seeds per plant per year which can survive for 20 years in the soil. At least it provides late-season nectar for honeybees, and you can feed it to piglets to reduce post-weaning diarrhea while maintaining a healthy microbiome.[DOI:10.1016/j.jep.2020.113073]
2022-08-27 Gunner's Lake, Germantown, MD
* Also banned in CA, MA, MD, BC and many others.
Like marshmallow (Althaea officianalis) whose roots were boiled then whipped into a foam, the native Hibiscus moscheutos stems were similarly boiled and whipped. These were used as medicines, applied externally to wounds and skin conditions or taken internally to treat throat and bladder infections.[1] There are numerous modern studies showing the efficacy of marshmallow for various conditions, but I found nothing for swamp rose mallow.
2022-08-06 Huntley Meadows, Hybla Valley, VA
[1] King, J., and Newton, R.S. (1852) The eclectic dispensatory of the United States of America. HW Derby & Company.
A summer banquet
Hibiscus syriacus
the Korean rose
2022-08-27 Gunner's Lake, Germantown, MD
Hibiscus coccineus. This is a wide-ranging genus with several hundred species including annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees. There are 20+ native to the US among the hundreds worldwide. This is not the hibiscus commonly used in tea (H. sabdariffa), nor that used as herbal medicine (H. rosa-sinensis).
2022-08-27 Gunner’s Lake, Germantown, MD
Sitting on an invasive butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii) sipping nectar and waiting for a passing female (with an adult lifespan of 6-11 days every second is precious). They thrive in urban environments where Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) provides food and shelter for their caterpillars. Kind of ironic that a native species is so dependent on an altered ecosystem.[DOI:10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[0182:cbahwa]2.0.co;2]
I looked around for the origin of the name "fiery skipper" hoping to find details about spiciness of edible butterflies (the flaming hots of the insect world?), but it's probably something boring like the orange on the topside of its wings. There is the related white maguey worm (same family), which is available in a spicy sauce from Mexican markets.[Wikipedia]
2022-08-27 Gunner's Lake, Germantown, MD
Not the healthiest of lakes (a few too many phosphates and nitrates for the ecosystem to process), but the resulting algal mats are pretty. Algae can be useful for bioremediation, adsorbing metal ions from the water. Pull it out and store it compactly in a landfill, or carefully burn it for energy. Tweak the genomes a bit and reform into convenient pellets with lots of surface area for even better performance.[DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.04.007]
2022-08-27 Gunners Lake, Germantown, MD
... because it is black and skims, speeding along the water with its lower beak trawling for fish. Using the same trick as shark skin, small surface grooves reduce drag by about 4%.[DOI:10.1098/rsta.2016.0134] The same beak is used as a murder weapon, grabbing a wayward chick and shaking vigorously until dead (42 attempts over 3223 observing hours). Sometimes their own chick is the victim, if it wanders too far before returning to the nest.[Forys, 2022]
2022-10-09 Cape May Beach, NJ
Forys, E.A., et al. (2022) Marine Ornithology 5, 43-47.