Migration

Songbirds /  by Tsering Frykman-Glen

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Articles on songbirds (not in any particular order - most recently discovered first)

Pesticides disrupt songbird migration - Wildlife Preservation Canada (2017)

”A team of Canadian scientists have linked harmful insecticides with migratory impairment in the white-crowned sparrow.”

Why you can thank geology for your morning songbird chorus - Dr Hanneke Meijer, The Guardian (2016)

“Today, songbirds are the most successful group of birds on the planet. With more than 5000 species worldwide, they form half of the world’s known bird species, and have colonised almost all corners of the world (with the exception of Antarctica).”

Borne on the Wing: Avian Influenza Risk in U.S. Wild Songbirds Mapped - Phys.org (2010)

“Scientists have discovered that 22 species of passerines--songbirds and perching birds--in the contiguous U.S. are carriers of low-pathogenicity avian influenza.”

Chickens /  by Tsering Frykman-Glen

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Building a dinosaur from a chicken by Jack Horner

Articles on chickens (not in any particular order - most recently discovered first)

Here’s what happens when you rewind the clock on chicken domestication - Elizabeth Pennisi, sciencemag.org (2015)

The tamer birds grew faster, laid larger eggs, and were bossier than their more fearful counterparts. "Low-fear [birds] seem to be developing the traits we want in domestication," Larson says.  

Ancestors of chickens studied for conservation - Economic times (2008)

“The ancestors of domestic chickens and poultry are being conserved and studied by scientists in case the domestic birds are eradicated by outbreak of diseases like bird flu.”

The furcula or wishbone - Wikipedia

“The furcula ("little fork" in Latin) or wishbone is a forked bone found in birds and some other species of dinosaurs, and is formed by the fusion of the two clavicles.”

How did the chicken, a shy, flight-impaired forest bird, migrate around the globe? - Hanneke Meijer, The Guardian (2016)
"Chickens are native to the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia, but over the last approximately 8,000 years, chickens have been domesticated and spread around the globe to become one of the most valued domesticated animals."

Furcula /  by Tsering Frykman-Glen

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Articles on furcula (not in any particular order - most recently read first)

ORIGINS OF BREAKING THE WISHBONE: HORSESHOES, GROINS AND CHICKEN OUIJA BOARDS - Madeleine D’Este, folklorethursday.com (2017)

“But the wishbone is not only for making wishes, the furcula is also used to divine the weather. Geese are traditionally eaten on St Martin’s Night (11th November) and the thickness of the wishbone of a goose predicts the severity of the coming winter.”

Why Do We Wish on the Turkey’s Wishbone? - Matt Soniak, Mental Floss  (2017)

”When a chicken was killed, the furcula was laid out in the sun to dry so that it could be preserved and so that people would still have access to the oracle's power even after eating it.”

The fabulous flight-facilitating furcula -  Dr Dave Hone, The Guardian (2016)

“This familiar little bone is shaped somewhere between a U and a V sits in the upper chest of a bird and acts to help support this area of the body under the strains of flight.”

Colonised Fauna /  by Tsering Frykman-Glen

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Alfred and Tsering's initial conversation originated from a shared observation about exotic fauna in Western European art, and whether these depictions of birds and animals had been utilised to enhance position and status. Ostensibly, patrons could exploit art to show off their connections to the colonies by the insertion a tropical bird or animal. These commissioned works of art lavishly display the real or fanciful creatures that were taken from the colonies (invariably without showing the colonised*) as tamed playthings or worse, food. By making the people of the colonised country invisible and implying possession of the fauna, thus signifying the land, was this a way of declaring ownership? To show that the colonisers had brought the "wild" to heel?

*While certainly there are many exceptions, it is important to note, that people of colour in Western European art were often depicted either as strange and outlandish or those in servitude, mostly unnamed, while various notable non white historical figures have been (and continue to be) portrayed as white. However, there is a rich history of people of colour in Western European art that is often ignored and the issue of how these works are (or not) displayed is frequently problematic. 

Migration /  by Tsering Frykman-Glen

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Thousands of Cranes Take Flight in One of Earth's Last Great Migrations - National Geographic

Articles on bird migration (not in any particular order - most recently read first)

Ancestors of chickens studied for conservation - Economic times (2008)

KOLKATA: The ancestors of domestic chickens and poultry are being conserved and studied by scientists in case the domestic birds are eradicated by outbreak of diseases like bird flu.

Sunny steppes? A tiny parrot fossil suggests Siberia was once subtropical - Nicola Davis, The Guardian (2016)
”The identification of a bone fragment from around 17 million years ago offers clues to both parrot evolution and a very different Siberian ecosystem”

Pesticides disrupt songbird migration - Wildlife Preservation Canada (2017)
”A team of Canadian scientists have linked harmful insecticides with migratory impairment in the white-crowned sparrow.”

How did the chicken, a shy, flight-impaired forest bird, migrate around the globe? - Hanneke Meijer, The Guardian (2016)
"Chickens are native to the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia, but over the last approximately 8,000 years, chickens have been domesticated and spread around the globe to become one of the most valued domesticated animals."

Songbirds' epic migrations connected to a small cluster of genes - Phys.org (2016)

“Scientists from the University of British Columbia have shown that there is a genetic basis to the migratory routes flown by songbirds, and have narrowed in on a relatively small cluster of genes that may govern the behaviour.”

Flight Insurance: What Is Being Done to Protect Migratory Birds? - Scientific American (2011)

“Chief among environmental threats to migratory birds is habitat destruction. Human development of wetlands areas leaves many birds without suitable habitat for stopovers and even wintering sites.”

Bird Migration Routes and Risk for Pathogen Dispersion into Western Mediterranean Wetlands - Elsa Jourdain, Michel Gauthier-Clerc, Dominique Bicout, and Philippe Sabatier (2007)

"...data about avian movements might be used to improve disease surveillance schemes or to adapt preventive measures. However, solid bridges between ecology and human medicine are still lacking."

Rituals /  by Tsering Frykman-Glen

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Articles on rituals (not in any particular order - most recently discovered first)

Brown hares and chickens were treated as 'gods,' not food when they arrived in Britain - Phys.org (2020)

"Historical accounts have suggested chickens and hares were too special to be eaten and were instead associated with deities—chickens with an Iron Age god akin to Roman Mercury, and hares with an unknown female hare goddess."

Scientific Illustration /  by Tsering Frykman-Glen

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These images are a collection of illustrations and documentation from my first trip abroad to study Natural History Illustration in Newcastle (AU), 2012. One of my final requirements was to create a black swan composition.