Bird List 2016b 🌅Sunrise Emoji               

    all yr: 2012-now          FOS in NY
    2016 celebrate birding 10 year anniversary - 決志:  矢志不渝 、堅定不移地 進行觀鳥, 成為一生一世的嗜好, 天長地久的興趣.
    2016 (Aug-):  HK
    2016 (Jan-Jul): Mexico (4/7)
    2015 (8/14-): Curacao / HK
    2015 (Jan-8/8) log: South Carolina / Seattle
    2014 log: Jamaica / Canadian Rockies / Curacao
    2013 log (New Orleans, Costa Maya, Belize City, Roatan, & Cozumel, HK)        
    2012 (after Hurricane Sandy) log  
    2012 (Jul-before Hurricane Sandy) log  (Netherlands, UK, Scotland, Norway, Denmark) (birdList.b4_split2_b_and_c.htm)   
    2012 (Jan-Jun) log  (Costa Rica)  
    2011 log  (HK, Punta Cana) 
    2010 log  ( 1. Mar. Caribbean Cruise : Fort Lauderdale / Cozumel, Mexico ; 2. Nov. Caribbean Cruise : Puerto Rico / Half Moon Cay ) 
    2009 log  (Las Vegas; HK, Mainland China and Taiwan)  
    2008 log  (South Caribbean Cruise - Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Bonaire & Aruba; Toronto; Palm Beach, Florida)   
    Photo and Video @ Punta Cana    pic01.htm  others   HK trips
    Note on Dragonfly and Damselfly   my insect spider list    Macro   butterflyMoth.htm   frog   kissena_rare_encounter.htm    Postings of NY Birding List
    Favorites in 2013   Favorites in 2012   Favorites in 2011  
    Bees   Wasps   Cricket   myInventory   myNationalPark.htm
    Costa Rica info   Costa Rica, 2012 - Photo    costa_rica_mybirdlist.htm
    Birding in Shetland Islands     Norway cruise     pc_stuff.htm    Google Voice    t-mobile (6/2014)   多部未华子   Don't vote Senator Gillibrand in 11/2018!   cull_CanadaGeese_at_JBWR.htm
    samsung_s3600.note01.htm   smart_phone.htm   car_problem.htm
    http://www.nycgovparks.org/news/notices   Biblical_problems_caused_by_translation.htm   translation resource
    how_can_i_make_a_very_sharp_phot.htm   flash_wont_sync_in_slave_mode.htm   Camera/Camcorder for birding   cam4underwater   infrared_photography.htm
    snorkeling  
    comet_PANSTARRS.htm    Jamaica_bird.htm   2015plus_jamaica_trips.htm   Glacier   Hay fever   Glacier & Canadian Rockies  
    Curacao-1   Curacao-2   Bermuda   Cancun
    Cuba [mirror]  Ethiopia [Rockjumper's standard tours (as we classify this PNG tour) are aimed at the keen birder who wants to see as many birds and as much wildlife as possible without extreme effort or arduous hours in the field i.e. the average birder. src]  
    NewFoundLand
    South Carolina   Seattle
    Lead Adventures 3-Week Galapagos program - doc  
    Quito - Monastery of San Francisco - pic1  quito.htm
    List of whale and dolphin species        List of birds of HK
    全膝關節置換術 (TKA)   飛蚊症
    Honeywell 20 in. x 20 in. x 1 in. Elite Allergen Pleated FPR 10 Air Filter  $20  

Vanessa's Delights Omega-3 Mix contains Omega-3 Fortified Cranberries, Roasted Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Raw Pistachios, and Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds).   Other brands: thenutbox.com (has retail stores in NYC)

How many birds with common name in USA starting with American? 19.  ref-1  ref-2 

- American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) vs. Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
- American Black Duck
- American Wigeon
- American Green-winged Teal
- American Bittern
- American Coot
- American Avocet
- American Woodcock
- American Golden-Plover
- American Oystercatcher
- American Kestrel
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Tree Sparrow
- American Redstart
- American Pipit
- American Dipper
- American Robin
- American Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis)

How many duck (inc.  shelducks) species did I see?  And which has not yet?

Confirm (20+): 
     Redhead.  Muscovy Duck.  Wood Duck.  American Wigeon.  Gadwall.  Ruddy Duck.  Bufflehead.  Blue-winged Teal (8/20/2011).  Green-winged Teal.  Hooded Merganser.  Ring-necked Duck (1/2012 at "New Alley Pond").  Shoveler.  Mallard.  American Black Duck.   Domestic Duck. 
     Greater or Lesser Scaup (1/8/2012).   Red-breasted Merganser (1/8/2012, 7/28/2012).  White-winged Scoter (1/8/2012).  
     Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (where and when? 2012 Costa Rica?)  Long-tailed Duck (2/18/2012).   
     Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus; "fox-goose") in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae (8/24/2012).  
     Muscovy duck (?Kissena Park 2/28/2009 [No, it is the the big Snowy Goose]?, Punta Cana 2011). 
     Horned Grebe (1/8/2012).

Question: Mottled Duck (rare in NYC) in FL or others?  Masked Duck.  Mandarin duck (HK). 

Definitely Not Yet:  (1) Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera) 

Note: Mallard call duck - mini mallards breeding for their loud call, to attract mallard's for hunting.

What color is a blue jay?

Animals produce their own melanins. Even humans produce melanins when tanning, which darkens the skin. But the building blocks for carotenoids come from diet. Flamingos get their pink from the color of the shrimp they eat. Deprived of shrimp, the flamingo is white. There are blue pigments in nature. The blue in blueberries is a pigment. Chlorophyll is a green pigment. Yet birds cannot convert these pigments to color their feathers.

Blue and green are oddball colors in the animal kingdom. They are structural colors. In birds, they are caused by microscopic structures in the feather that refract light like a prism. When this light passes through a dark layer of melanin, some wavelengths are filtered out, and the bird looks blue. In Maine, blue jays, indigo buntings and bluebirds all get their color from structure, not pigment. If the light passes through a yellowish pigment, the bird looks green. Most parrots are green because of structural color.

Structural color exists in insects and amphibians, too. The blue morpho is a large tropical butterfly that glows a brilliant blue.

Iridescence is a structural color. Refracted light is why a hummingbird is ruby-throated. It’s why grackles and starlings turn shimmering purple in the sun. It’s why the glossy ibis is glossy. Iridescence is apparent only when the light hits the bird at certain angles. Otherwise, all you see is the dark of the melanin.

Photo:
  Hooded Merganser -
  White-throated Sparrow - <1>   <2>
  Northern Mockingbird - <1> 
  RWBB, juvenile with eye disease - <1> 

Photo:
  Hooded Merganser - <1>