African Penguins by Paul Mannix

Learn about one of the largest animal rescue operations to ever occur. It saved a total of 40,000 penguins: 20,000 were oiled and the other 20,000 were shipped away.

Dyan deNapoli talks about her experiences during the oil spill which happened on June 23rd, 2000. It happened off the coast of South Africa in between two of the most important African Penguin nesting islands. Towards the beginning of the video, Dyan brings up the german scientist by the name of Silvia Gaus. Silvia said during the Gulf Oil Spill :

Kill don’t clean. The survival rate of oil-soaked birds is under 1 percent. We, therefore, oppose cleaning birds.

I don’t agree with this and neither did Dyan in her presentation. She said:

More than 90% of the oiled penguins were successfully returned to the wild. And we know from follow up studies that they have lived just as long as never oiled penguins and bred nearly as successfully.

Another thing I found interesting in the video was that up to 1000 people a day would show up to volunteer. Ultimately, a total of 12,500 different people volunteered!

I also really liked the quote towards the end of the video by Ryunosuke Satoro:

Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean.

Together we really can make a huge difference.

Getting closer... by Danny Perez

Hummingbirds can’t live on nectar alone. They also need protein.

According to Gregor Yanega of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina:

Hummingbirds need the equivalent of 300 fruit flies a day to survive.

So how can a bird that specializes in feeding on nectar also catch insects?

While other insect-eating birds such as swifts and nighthawks have a cartilaginous hinge near the base of their beaks, hummingbird beaks are solid bone. Yanega said:

They’re also incredibly thin. This makes their lower beaks stiff yet springy, like a diving board.

So their lower beak can flex up to 25 degrees when it opens. This also widens the base to create a larger surface area to catch insects

When maximally bent, the beak snaps shuts. Yanega said:

Their beaks snap shut in less than a hundredth of a second.

That’s fast! According to Matthew Smith from Cornell University:

The extra speed likely leads to greater success in catching insects.

In the high speed video below, you can see how the lower beak bends and then snaps shut.

This phenomenon is known as snap-buckling. Smith said:

The phenomenon is similar to the opening and closing of a snap hair clip.

Snap-buckling has been observed in plants and insects, but this is the first time is it has been observed in vertebrates.

Harpy Eagle by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen

After watching a documentary on the Harpy Eagle, I was curious to see just how large their talons are. So I did some searching and found this size comparison.

In the image below from left to right is the Harpy Eagle, Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk and Peregrine Falcon.

No wonder some people describe the talons of a Harpy Eagle as a “fist full of knives“!

Talon Comparison by Gary Ritchison

Kirtlands Warbler USFWS Midwest

In this video, learn about the Kirtland’s Warbler and what is being done to protect it in Wisconsin.

The Kirtland’s Warbler is a North American songbird that nests in young Jack Pine forests. The bird  is found in normally in Michigan and occasionally in northwest Ohio. In 2007, the bird was discovered in Wisconsin.

From the video:

Much of the Wisconsin land that hosts the warbler belongs to Plum Creek Timber Company, one of Wisconsin’s largest private landowners — the birds found enough Jack Pines within a Red Pine plantation to nest.

To me, the most important takeaway from the video is that the Plum Creek Timber Company is working with wildlife experts to create habitat for the birds. I like to see people and organizations working with nature and not against it.

Pied Kingfisher by ian.white1

Being able to hover in mid air, good eyes to locate a fish, and a quick reaction time makes the kingfisher a great hunter. Nature never ceases to amaze me!

Here is a fantastic video about the Starlings at an RSPB reserve called Otmoor, near Oxford, England.

YouTube user Dylan Winter narrates. He explains how the Otmoor reserve came to be and explains why the starling create such incredible aerial displays.

Towards the end of the video, Dylan says:

And it happens every day, all through the winter, just a couple of miles from my doorstep. How good is that?

Dylan is very lucky to be so close!

Woodpecker Inspired Shock Absorber via New Scientist

The head of a woodpecker inspired the design of a shock absorber for electronics.

Researchers from the University of California wanted to learn how the woodpecker’s head can absorb such tremendous shock.

According to the New Scientist:

A woodpecker’s head experiences decelerations of 1200g as it drums on a tree at up to 22 times per second. Humans are often left concussed if they experience 80 to 100g, so how the woodpecker avoids brain damage was unclear.

Their studies reveal how amazing nature really is!

In the above info graphic five areas of the woodpecker’s head are compared to a design for a electronics shock absorber. The outer case  was inspired by the woodpeckers beak. The elastic layer is similar to the hyoid which is the springy part of the woodpeckers head that supports the tongue. The aluminum layer ressembles the woodpeckers skull and the electronics are the brain.

To test this design, researchers

placed it inside a bullet and used an airgun to fire it at an aluminium wall. They found their system protected the electronics ensconced within it against shocks of up to 60,000g.

Wow! This design could be used for flight data recorders, race car electronics, and much more.

For more information, read New Scientist’s article called Woodpecker’s Head Inspires Shock Absorbers.

Restoring the Bald Eagle to the Channel Islands, image from video

After the 1960s, there were essentially no Bald Eagles on the islands due to ranchers who considered the bird a menace and the chemical DDT. The Bald Eagles ingested DDT from fish and other marine life that they fed on. Then those eagles would lay eggs with shells too thin to protect the young.

So much hard work had to be done to bring the Bald Eagle back to the islands. Some of which included hanging from a helicopter to replace eggs!

Red-crowned Crane by joyrex

Learn about the Red-crowned Cranes from the people at How Stuff Works.

You will learn about their unique courtship dance, about the red patch on their head (hint: it’s not feathers) and other really interesting stuff.

I need to visit Japan!

Zombie Bird by NaniBird

Here’s a fun little weekend project called NaniBird.

Basically you print out the template, cut, fold and glue. That’s it!

There a so many birds to choose from. I went with the “Zombie Bird” that’s in “Batch One”. There are also “Special Blends” that are not just birds.

You can print a PDF in two different sizes A4 or Letter. I used plain paper, but I would recommend something thicker like card stock.

Directions are printed along with the template. Be sure to follow them so you know what to cut and what to bend. I of course did not the first time around!

Zombie Bird Directions by Andrew