hello everyone,

i just published a mystery bird challenge for you to solve. this challenge features eight pictures of two species of ducks that are similar -- more similar than i realized until i started looking at the images and realized that i was unable to ID (with confidence) which individuals were which species. of course, i don't have any field guides here yet to assist me, but still .. these are not rare birds! i'd certainly appreciate your insight and input on these images and the "whys" of each ID you make;

http://j.mp/644hHL

[keep in mind that i publish a mystery bird every day, seven days per week, and i am always looking for more images to share with my readers, so please do contact me if you have pictures you'd like to share with a large and appreciative audience.]

i published a story a few days ago that you might find interesting. this is a look at a scientific paper that was recently published that discusses the relationship between the brightness of carotenoid-based plumage, free radicals (no, not the political type) and sperm quality;


http://bit.ly/57reLW

i also wrote another story looks at the evolutionary reason that migratory birds fly so far north to breed when a more southerly location seems likely to serve them just as well, while costing them less effort. this study found that, in short, the birds are doing it for the kids; to improve the survival of their nestlings;

http://bit.ly/755YFL
GrrlScientist
http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/
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American Expat living in Frankfurt, Germany