The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small, brood-parasitic songbird native to North America. It inhabits a wide range of open environments, including grasslands, agricultural fields, and forest edges. Instead of building its own nest, it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, relying on host species to raise its young. This parasitic […]
Once there was an old gray pussy, and she went down into the meadow, where she saw a merry lark flying among the tall reeds; and pussy said, “Where are you going, little lark?” And the merry lark answered, “I am going to the king to sing him a song this fine May morning.” And […]
Until recently when many Mopan began using wristwatches, birds played a crucial role in marking time. Even today when watches are more commonly seen, many birds are still a valued resource for knowing the time of day. For example, the Yellow-billed Casique (Amblycercus holosericeus) (known as otz, otz otz, or ootz ootz) is said to […]
Big Man-eater had a wife but stole another woman and carried her to the place where his wife lived. Next day he started off. After he had traveled about hunting for a while he came back without having killed anything. Then he said to his wife, “Cut off a piece of your body and roast […]
All the Mewan tribes, and many belonging to widely different stocks-including even the Washoo of Lake Tahoe and adjacent valleys east of the Sierra, class the Meadowlark among the bad birds. They say he talks too much and is a gossip and they do not like him. The Washoo call him Se-soo-te-ai-le and, like several […]
The Sertanejos think that keeping a Campo Troupial as a pet can attract disagreeable events. Consuming a brew made from the meat of the Cactus Parakeet is believed bythe Sertanejos to facilitate the eruption of new teeth in children. Bird nr 3 in the plate. Bezerra, D. Birds and people in semiarid northeastern Brazil: symbolic […]
The call of the Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) is said to indicate it will rain soon. The Mopan claim that the often seen pa’ap, or Brown Jay (Cyanocorax morio) can be useful for hunters since it cries out when it sees a game animal; however, it if cries too loudly, it can scare the game […]
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Science Article 3 abstract The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) uses the earth’s magnetic field as one source of directional information for its migratory orientation. However, the location and structure of the magnetoreceptors that transduce the magnetic information to the nervous system are unknown. Because treatment with a strong magnetic pulse results in a […]
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Science Article 5 abstract It is now quite generally accepted that seasonal changes in day-length play animportant role in the temporal regulation of several annual cyclic phenomena inmany birds of the northern hemisphere. Best known is the effect of photoperiodson the annual cycle of the testes, but evidence is accumulating that there […]
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Science Article 2 abstract Habitat edges are well-studied components of fragmented landscapes, yet factorsmediating edge effects remain unclear. We report how different types of edges surroundingpatches may affect spatial distributions of Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), a declining, area-sensitive songbird that breeds in grasslands. We expected Bobolinks to be less abundant near edges, and […]