About Grrlscientist

I am an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist and science writer. I write a science blog for the Guardian and another one for Nature (my pieces are mirrored from these two blogs) and a more personal blog at Scientopia. I am a Ravenclaw.

Alphabet Bird Collection | Book Review

Magpie. Image: acrylic painting by Shelli Ogilvy (2008). Summary: A delightful book for baby birders that is crammed with poetry, information and gorgeous paintings of birds! Oh yeah, it teaches […]

Journal Club: One-eyed wooing

SUMMARY: A newly published study shows that beauty is in the right eye of the beholder for birds, providing the first demonstration in any animal of visual lateralization of mate […]

Duck gauntlet | video |

SUMMARY: Why did the mother duck lead her ducklings across the road? To give watching humans a collective heart attack! It’s an age-old riddle: why did the chicken cross the […]

Restoring Beauty | video |

Prosthetic upper mandible. SUMMARY: A seriously injured bald eagle now has a bionic beak, thanks to modern technology One morning in 2005, an adult female bald eagle was spotted whilst […]

Birds of prey as ambassadors of peace in the Middle East

Not long ago, I told you that bird-friendly California vineyards may have fewer insect pests, but what about relying on birds to control another common food crop pest; rodents? Food crops and their rodent pests are a common problem everywhere. But when faced with putting out poisons — poisons that not only kill rodents but also harm human health and the land itself — farmers are increasingly looking for other solutions to address these ubiquitous pests. One such solution is birds of prey.

Inside the AMNH Collections: Ornithology

SUMMARY: This video takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour through the largest and most complete ornithology collection in the world.   Natural history collections are important. These collections, usually maintained […]