How does a bird reach the nectar when a flower blossom is elongated and their bill is short? In these field notes, evolutionary biologist Martin H. Moynihan (1928-1996) records his observations of a species known as flowerpiercers because of their special behavior made possible by a "hook" at the end of their bill. Moynihan often observed different species on his expeditions and later grouped those notes according to species. This is the first of four groups of notes that span an eighteen-year period, 1958 - 1974, and four countries in Central America and northern South America. Join up with a team of volunpeers to transcribe them. Your work will make them more accessible to researchers around the world.
How does a bird reach the nectar when a flower blossom is elongated and their bill is short? In these field notes, evolutionary biologist Martin H. Moynihan (1928-1996) records his observations of a species known as flowerpiercers because of their special behavior made possible by a "hook" at the end of their bill. Moynihan often observed different species on his expeditions and later grouped those notes according to species. This is the first of four groups of notes that span an eighteen-year period, 1958 - 1974, and four countries in Central America and northern South America. Join up with a team of volunpeers to transcribe them. Your work will make them more accessible to researchers around the world.
Martin H. Moynihan (1928-1996) was a world authority on animal behavior, with major contributions to the study of communication in birds, primates and cephalopods. In 1957 he became the Resident Naturalist and Director of what was then a small field station on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, later named the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). He transformed the station into a major research institution in tropical biology. After retirement in 1973, he served as Senior Scientist at STRI, and continued writing and researching the behavior of various species of wild and imported pheasants at his farmhouse in France. These papers consist primarily of field notes, and include correspondence, photographs, sonograms and spectograms, and a small number of audio tapes.
