Photo by Sebastià Torrens
Photo by Juanjo Enseñat
Photo by Sebastià Torrens
Photo by Sebastià Torrens
Illustration by Aina Bonner

Welcome!

Welcome to AVIENIGMA. This is a personal blog of Josep Antoni Alcover and the views expressed here are not those of my employer (the Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universitat de les Illes Balears, Mallorca). They are mine and solely mine. I would like to thank my Institute for the facilities provided for the use of the material preserved in its scientific collection. The mistakes that can be made in this blog are exclusively mine. I apologize and ask for understanding for possible errors.
I hope you will enjoy my queries, their “solutions”, as well as my occasional meanderings.

Acknowledgments

The initial photographs of this blog have been made available to us by Sebastià Torrens(Link Facebook) and Juanjo Enseñat. The question mark that accompanies these lines and the challenges has been prepared by Aina Bonner.
Xisca Comas, Carme Alcover, Miquel Rayó, Laia Pubill, Alejandro Valenzuela, Pau i Maebh Manning i Pedro Serrano have contributed in different ways to improve the presentation of this blog. Thanks a lot!!!!

Ornithological challenges

Presentation and way of functioning of the Blog

It has nothing to do with grandparents (“avis”, in Catalan). The name of this blog, AVIENIGMA, refers to “enigmas” about birds. It is an ornithological blog that was born as a WhatsApp-group during the first phase of the COVID It was conceived as a kind of entertainment, a “divertimento”, addressed to a very small group of about 15 friend ornithologists, people who are very enthusiastic and full of knowledge and curiosity on birds. Mostly, amateurs; a few, professionals. It was a way to keep in touch while we were trying stimulate our neurons and learn, all of us, more about birds.

Click to continue reading the presentation

For me, the development of the challenges during the corona-lockdown has been very stimulating and I learned a lot, not only from what I had to read, with pleasure, to elaborate the challenges, but also from the knowledge, opinions and views of those who participated. The “Ornithologic Questionnaire” in the WhatsApp phase had its limitations, and it came to an end with the “35th challenge”.

With this blog I want to rescue the work done, give it some continuity, and make it more extensive than it was through the primitive WhatsApp-group. Within this rescue, I will start by repeating the challenges posted in the WhatsApp phase, while the answers, the “solutions to the challenges”, will be here more elaborate than in the WhatsApp messages. In some way, this is an invitation to the birding community to do an immersion in the bird’s world.

The dynamics of this questionnaire will be to pose a biweekly challenge to those who want to answer it. As a rule, this challenge will be presented on Wednesday. There are challenges of different levels, some that can be solved easily by a general audience, others more difficult. All, however, useful for understanding and loving birds.

The dynamics of this questionnaire will be to pose a biweekly challenge to those who want to answer it. As a rule, this challenge will be presented on Wednesday. Responses / comments will be collected in a section that will be not always visible to participants. I will present my “solution” and comments the next Wednesday, and I will present a new challenge next Wednesday. So, challenges and answers will be presented alternatively every Wednesday. I hope you will have fun!

In the answers, I will present not only my comments, but also the bibliography on which I based them. I want to encourage readers to turn to this bibliography to expand their knowledge. Sometimes I will present an illustration from the bibliography consulted. If it is not available in Open Access I will present it with a watermark, which will refer the reader to the consultation of the original work, respecting copyright.

This blog not only has an ornithological function. It also wants to have a cultural function, for the promotion and dissemination of ornithology in Catalan. To this end, it has been sent to the mailing lists of the ornithological societies of the Catalan cultural area, but also to other ornithological societies of the Spanish State. Obviously, it is open to everyone.

Latest Challenges

  • Josep Antoni Alcover
  • Posted by Josep Antoni Alcover
January 26, 2023

The birds that have carpometacarpi larger than the humeri are the Apodiformes (swifts) and...

Read More
  • Josep Antoni Alcover
  • Posted by Josep Antoni Alcover
January 18, 2023

  Photo: Jordi Muntaner. Question marks: Aina Bonner   Challenge 7 Today this Challenge is on osteology Knowledge of bird anatomy was in vogue among ornithologists more than a century ago. It is not so much now. The skeletal system of birds is extremely informative about how they evolved and how they work. Personally, I love bones. In this blog I will sporadically present osteological challenges, which may help us understand a little more the uniqueness and diversity of birds....

Read More
  • Josep Antoni Alcover
  • Posted by Josep Antoni Alcover
January 9, 2023

Birds that leave their buried eggs like crocodiles do...

Read More