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August 13, 2009

Birdbrains of Science: Global warming causing birds to shrink
Global warming is making birds smaller, according to new research from the Australian National University. Climate change is being blamed because varieties of the same birds tend to be smaller near the equator and larger closer to the poles to help them conserve heat more efficiently. A study of museum specimens found eight Australian species have reduced in size by between two and four percent over the past century.

"It's astounding that our instruments are so sensitive a 2 percent reduction in bird size can be detected amongst all the other influences. Birdmometers have apparently reached the pinnacle of modern mometry."

Posted by Vanderleun at August 13, 2009 11:25 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

It might just as likely be the Dread Feather Eating Bacteria earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8178000/8178785.stm

Posted by: retriever at August 13, 2009 12:37 PM

If I interpret the Telegraph article correctly, the variegated fairy-wren has experienced a 3.6 percent decrease in (average) wing length. According to Wikipedia, the average length of the variegated fairy-wren is 5.5 to 6 inches. (I suppose that is from end to end, including beak and tail.) I would guess (I admit I'm guessing about things, which is a lot more than some scientists will admit) the wing length would be no more 3 inches. If I calculate correctly, 3.6 percent of 3 inches is roughly eleven one-hundredths (0.011) of an inch. Even if my figures are only approximately correct, we are still talking about changes in length that are measured in one or two tenths of inches, using specimens some which have been dead for a century and a half.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one greeting this "scientific pronouncement" with a hearty guffaw.

Posted by: ELC at August 13, 2009 2:19 PM

And with all of that being said, I would now like to turn the call over to Blake.

Posted by: scarpe hogan at June 4, 2014 7:55 PM

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