http://www.rockethub.com/projects/5619-the-stress-response-in-baby-kestrels
My RocketHub research fundraiser is winding down and ends on May 5th, so I’m unveiling a TUMBLR SPECIAL for all of you who showed interest in my project but are on a tight budget (which, as a master’s student, I totally understand…)
For those of you who didn’t run across my last post, I am researching the effects of stress on the development of birds (specifically American kestrels) and need money for my analysis kits. And since RocketHub is a crowd-sourcing site, you receive unique gifts in exchange for donations.
So what is the TUMBLR SPECIAL and why do I keep typing it in all caps? Well, the TUMBLR SPECIAL is a limited offer (limited because my fundraiser ends in 17 days) where donating just $10 lets you ADOPT A BABY KESTREL! Like the ones in the pictures up above!
Adopting a baby kestrel means that in a few weeks, when the kestrels hatch and grow up, I will send you pictures, video, and stats on your baby bird, as well as its band number so you can check on its progress in the future. And you get to name it! Awesome!
So if you are interested in birds, science, conservation, or cute baby animals, check out my project here:
http://www.rockethub.com/projects/5619-the-stress-response-in-baby-kestrels
so me and best roommate ever just split a donation and totes just adopted a baby kestrel
he is not hatched yet
but when he is
his name will be
aziraphale…
Omg I Wanna Adopt One…………..
Yes, I know birds are a difficult topic. Why?
We simply do not know.
But I realize that with things like the “baby crow” image getting passed around, people don’t know a basic and very helpful fact about baby birds that will help them identify them.
Some birds are altricial, and some birds are precocial.
Altricial birds hatch naked and helpless. They generally look hideous when they hatch.
This crow is an altricial chick.
Precocial chicks, as their name might suggest, develop precociously. They start out with feathers and the ability to walk, and are damn cute.
This duckling is a precocial chick!
And the great thing about altricial and precocial birds is that related groups tend to have similar offspring.
Precocial birds, like the chick in the “baby crow” photo, include flightless birds like ostriches and emus, penguins, fowl, waterfowl, gulls, plovers, loons, grebes, albatrosses, terns, and rails.
Altricial birds are mostly made up by pigeons, owls, herons, birds of prey, and passerines (which include songbirds and crows).
Knowing these facts may not save your life, but they will make you more informed about the wonderful world of ornithology.
(additional reading: http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Precocial_and_Altricial.html)
(via aquadyne)
