Boku-boku, the Night-owl, married the bats’ sister, and often took his brothers with him at night to rob peoples’ houses. One night they came across a house where the people were drying fish on a babracote: just to frighten them, they all sang out, boku! boku! boku!, this made the occupants run out into the […]
Category: North America
Why the Turkey wears a red collar
When the smart Terrapin won a running race from the Rabbit by fooling him (another story) the animals wondered and talked about it a great deal, because they had always thought the Terrapin slow, although they knew that he was a warrior and had many conjuring secrets beside. But the Turkey was not satisfied and […]
Folklore, how Raven made Pelican steal fire for a good cause
Only the Rock people had fire, and they guarded it jealously. Raven decided that all people should have fire, and he went to see the Rock people. Knowing he was a transformer and fooler of people, they drove him away. To make themselves more secure from Raven, they made a wide stretch of water all […]
Folklore, how Raven colored the birds
Raven called great feast for all the birds. He painted each one a different way, all birds, the hawks, the owls, the eagles, the jays, great and small. He painted Robin red on the breast, Bluejay blue, and a knot on his head. He tied up Ruffed-Grouse’s hair in a knot. He painted Bald-Headed Eagle […]
Folkore, the birth of the Raven
This story tells how the Raven came to birth. It is a Tahltan tribe story, an Indian tribe living in Britsh Columbia and Canada. A number of people were living together near the sea. Among them was a man, gifted with magic power, who did not live with his wife. He did not allow any […]
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus): A Technical Conservation Assessment
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) Science Article 5 abstract In western North America, yellow-billed cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus) have undergone catastrophic declines; the eastern subspecies has undergone less rapid declines in most areas since approximately 1980. Direct loss and degradation of low-elevation riparian woodland habitats have been cited as the primary causes for the declines in yellow-billed […]
Food abundance and parental care in yellow warblers
Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 1 abstract Emlen and Oring (1977) suggested that monogamy in birds is maintained because of the need for strict biparental care. A corollary of their suggestion is that paternal care should decrease under conditions of high food abundance. An alternative is that paternal care would increase if males take […]
Extra-pair mating, male plumage coloration andsexual selection in yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia)
Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 14 abstract Extra-pair mating has been proposed as a source of sexual selection responsible for secondary sexual traitsthat are common among socially monogamous birds, although supporting evidence is scant. In the socially monogamous yellow warbler, males are larger than females, and unlike females, have extensivereddish streaking on their breasts. […]
Ruby-throated hummingbirds observed following yellow-bellied sapsucker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) Science Article 8 abstract The authors document an observed association between Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. They conclude that the hummingbirds’feeding at sapsucker wells may effect the timing of hummingbird migration. by David Flaspohler and David Grosshuesch Several species of hummingbirds are known to feed at the sap wells created by […]
Speciation and rapid phenotypic differentiation in theyellow-rumped warblerDendroica coronatacomplex
Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 7 abstract The relative importance of the Pleistocene glacial cycles in driving avian speciationremains controversial, partly because species limits in many groups remain poorly understood,and because current taxonomic designations are often based on phenotypic characteristicsof uncertain phylogenetic significance. We use mtDNA sequence data to examinepatterns of genetic variation, sequence […]