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A Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) coos this soft purring sound as he leaves his perch in a dead Juniper in Sedona, Arizona.
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Let’s face it—when you think of charismatic megaflora, chances are you have in mind something majestic, like a towering Sequoia, or something ancient, like a Joshua tree. But a plant with a four-foot stalk that smells like a cross between rotting stinky cheese and animal feces? This week’s podcast takes us to a sacred island off the coast of Madagascar, where an intrepid botanist braved fever and worse to bring a specimen of this unlikely botanical superstar back alive. Ari Daniel Shapiro reports. Image Credit: Amorphophallus Sp., Greg Wahlert
read moreDuration: 5:29Published: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:00:44 +0000
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There are three different songs here sung by a Western Meadowlark. The first repeats three times, the second song repeats 4 times, and the third song is repeated three times. This was recorded on Marble Hot Springs Road at the 2nd 90 degree turn as the Meadowlark sang from the telephone wire above. In the background you will hear cows moo and a few other birds call as well, but the Western Meadowlark is clearly the focal subject of the recording. This was recorded with a Fostex FR-2 and Sennheiser shotgun microphone, ME66.
The photo attached is a spectrogram of Western Meadowlark made in Raven Pro.
(taxonomy:binomial="Sturnella neglecta")
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This bird was recorded across the street from our apartment. I have not been able to actually see the bird, but for weeks I have been listening to it sing/call every morning. To be singing on our busy street (Massachusetts Ave, NE, just a few blocks from the Capitol in Washington, DC), it must be a common bird that thrives in the city, so I'd like to know this city dweller's name. I'll update this note when I learn who it is.
UPDATE: HOUSE WREN! Thank you, Mark, Perry, Martyn, Lang, Kristen, and Seth!
June 15, 2012, recorded with a Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME-66 Shotgun mic, Rycote windscreen. Sonnogram created using Cornell's Raven Pro Sound Analysis software.
(taxonomy:binomial="Troglodytes aedon")
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Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) have a distinctive call. This one was sitting in a large sycamore tree in Andrew Molero State Park, near Big Sur, California in April, 1999. He had been chased there by a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus).
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Imagine yourself immersed in a chilly, blue, three-dimensional world, one where vision isn’t much use but sound travels far. That’s the leap of the imagination demanded of scientists like Volker Deecke who study killer whales. Deecke and his colleagues must sort myth from science to learn the secrets of these consummate predators. Ari Daniel Shapiro reports from the Shetland Islands. Photo Credit: Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758). Public Domain.
read moreDuration: 5:30Published: Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:31:01 +0000
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Vacuumed up from its habitat a mile down in the ocean, the red paper lantern jelly may not look like much. Mostly water, it’s so fragile that once brought to the surface it’s reduced to a tattered blob in a jar. But this unassuming jellyfish has lessons for scientists. It’s teaching researchers in Japan how intricately life is connected down in the ocean’s deep, dark depths—and how the fate of this small red lantern sheds light on the fragility of life close to home.
read moreDuration: 5:33Published: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:35:07 +0000
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An altercation among adults escalates to include the young as well. Recorded at Dyson Lane in Sierra Nevada Valley in California on June 17, 2100 11:30 am with a Fostex FR-2 and Sennheiser ME66 shotgun mic.
(taxonomy:binomial="Fulica americana")
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Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius) are the most numerous Sandpipers in Costa Rica, especially inland. They are neotropical migrants. This is a flight call.
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Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius) are the most numerous Sandpipers in Costa Rica, especially inland. They are neotropical migrants. This is a call from a foraging bird.
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For centuries, human commerce has played a role in distributing plant and animal species around the globe. But not every species can claim the title of circumnavigator. In this week’s episode, Ari Daniel Shapiro journeys to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. to meet a tiny Magellan, the star of an unlikely story that has come full circle.
Download a transcript of this podcast read moreDuration: 5:29Published: Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:20:00 +0000
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This was from a Wilson Snipe that landed in the grass. It then walked through the tall grass towards us making this alarm call and when in sight we could see the tail was fanned and wings dropped in a distracting display to lure us from the nest toward her. At the end you can hear the wings flap as she flies off into the sky. The photo is of the habitat -- a beautiful meadow along the northern coral fence west of the old shepherd's shack. Recorded in Carman Valley in Sierra Nevada region of California on June 27, 2011 9:58AM with Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME66 shotgun mic.
(taxonomy:binomial="Gallinago delicata")