Tim O'Connell
@tinosaurs.bsky.social
wildlife; birds; landscapes; 322 ppm; dad vibes; science; critical thinking; woke = compliment; views mine; don't care if you call them "seagulls".
Assoc. Prof. in NREM, OKState.
Past-President, Wilson Ornithological Society
https://timoconnell.wordpress.
Assoc. Prof. in NREM, OKState.
Past-President, Wilson Ornithological Society
https://timoconnell.wordpress.
Reposted by Tim O'Connell
It was a fun little paper though, once it was done and off my plate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Ground nesting by arboreal American robins (Turdus migratorius)
Mobile organisms often construct breeding structures in set locations, but American Robins that typically nest in trees or on human structures construct ground nests in predator-rich tree-filled arbo....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:15 AM
It was a fun little paper though, once it was done and off my plate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Unique among birds, #trogons have digit TWO rotated backward to join digit 1 in opposition to the forward-facing digits, 3 and 4!
This is #heterodactyl.
#Evolution be weird, yo!
Congrats Alex on the great photo and the superb birding!
This is #heterodactyl.
#Evolution be weird, yo!
Congrats Alex on the great photo and the superb birding!
November 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Unique among birds, #trogons have digit TWO rotated backward to join digit 1 in opposition to the forward-facing digits, 3 and 4!
This is #heterodactyl.
#Evolution be weird, yo!
Congrats Alex on the great photo and the superb birding!
This is #heterodactyl.
#Evolution be weird, yo!
Congrats Alex on the great photo and the superb birding!
For those many hundreds of #zygodactyl birds (and those weirdos like owls that can be facultatively zygodactyl), it is digit 4 that is rotated back to be in opposition with digit 1 to the forward-facing digits 2 and 3.
But NOT for one group of birds –– TROGONS!...
But NOT for one group of birds –– TROGONS!...
November 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
For those many hundreds of #zygodactyl birds (and those weirdos like owls that can be facultatively zygodactyl), it is digit 4 that is rotated back to be in opposition with digit 1 to the forward-facing digits 2 and 3.
But NOT for one group of birds –– TROGONS!...
But NOT for one group of birds –– TROGONS!...
The avian default of 3 forward and 1 back is #anisodactyl, i.e., "digits not the same". The 2X2 pattern is #zygodactyl, i.e. "digits yoked". BUT, *which toes* point where matters.
Toes are numbered, with #1 (our "big toe") in opposition for birds; they've lost #5 (our "pinkie toe")...
Toes are numbered, with #1 (our "big toe") in opposition for birds; they've lost #5 (our "pinkie toe")...
November 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The avian default of 3 forward and 1 back is #anisodactyl, i.e., "digits not the same". The 2X2 pattern is #zygodactyl, i.e. "digits yoked". BUT, *which toes* point where matters.
Toes are numbered, with #1 (our "big toe") in opposition for birds; they've lost #5 (our "pinkie toe")...
Toes are numbered, with #1 (our "big toe") in opposition for birds; they've lost #5 (our "pinkie toe")...
Proud of my correctly sensing "this dude is a scumbag" long about 1983.
November 15, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Proud of my correctly sensing "this dude is a scumbag" long about 1983.
Scissortails unable to tell Viceroys from Monarchs = me with wild persimmons: "This one might be heavenly delicious or it might feel like drinking bleach."
November 12, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Scissortails unable to tell Viceroys from Monarchs = me with wild persimmons: "This one might be heavenly delicious or it might feel like drinking bleach."