Showing posts with label Cornell Ornithology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cornell Ornithology. Show all posts

Monday, October 5, 2009

Avian Hallowe'en Nest

From the folks at Cornell's ornithology department - even the birds are getting into the Hallowe'en spirit! Cornell has a funky nest contest and this nest was one of the winners.
I took this photo of a Herring Gull nest on Swinburne Island in New York City using my blackberry on 30 May, 2009. I conduct the annual colonial waterbird surveys for the New York Harbor and get to see a lot of urban nests with interesting refuse incorporated into them. Balls such as tennis balls or baseballs are a common sight in the nests of ground-nesting birds. We believe these birds roll them into their nests instinctually. This rubber skull was a first for us :)

by Elizabeth Craig: Graduate Student @ Cornell and Research Associate at NYC Audubon, Ithaca, NY