Dr. Roger Lederer

It’s All in the Timing

January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Several years ago I took my second trip to Australia and this time drove up the Gold Coast from Sydney to past Brisbane and to the beginning of the Great Barrier Reef. Along the way we stopped at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, basically a zoo. An interesting place where you…

The Golden Fleece Award

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

The Golden Fleece Award (1975–1988) was a tongue-in-cheek award given by Senator William Proxmire to public officials in the United States for squandering public money, its name taken from the actual Order of the Golden Fleece, a prestigious award created in the late-15th Century. Examples of awards were those given…

Doves and Pigeons and Dodos, Oh My

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

I was listening to A Way with Words podcast the other day, the discussion being about horses being named for their color – palomino, sorrel, bay, etc. I learned that the word palomino comes from the early 20th century Spanish palomino ‘young pigeon’, from Latin palumbinus ‘resembling a dove’. The…

Creepy Birdwatchers?

December 21, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

In 2016 there was a study in New Ideas in Psychology entitled On the Nature of Creepiness. An online survey of 1341 individuals asked what appearances and behaviors by others made them feel creepy. Perhaps not surprisingly, the top three occupations listed as creepy are clown, taxidermist, and sex shop…

The Lyrebirds

December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

As I occasionally like to do, here’s a little natural history of an interesting bird group, this time the Lyrebird, either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds of the genus Menura and the family Menuridae. They are notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from…

Bread or Not

December 7, 2020December 7, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Ever hear the myth about not throwing rice at weddings because the birds that eat the grains will blow up when the rice expands? That would come as a real surprise to rice farmers who spend a lot of time and effort to keep birds from eating their crop. The…

Book in Progress

November 30, 2020November 30, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

I’m just beginning work on my 11th book, tentatively called An Atlas of Birds. Organized a bit like a geographic atlas, it will feature birds from each of nine biogeographical regions of the world. (although some say there are anywhere from six to twelve major biogeographical regions.) The goal is…

Kookaburra

November 23, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

In 1938, the feature film Tarzan and the Green Goddess contained a call from the Laughing Kookaburra even though Tarzan’s adventures occurred in Africa where there are no kookaburras; but the bird came to represent jungle calls in various movies. The call is heard in The Wizard of Oz (1939),…

The Smarter We Get…

November 16, 2020December 10, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Birds are smart and we ornithologists are continually elucidating the ways birds view their environment and respond to it. Recall my recent blog The Crow’s Story. The books and research papers coming out now reveal a whole new world of bird behavior and brain function. I read Jennifer Ackerman’s The…

Wind, Hot Air, and Bluster

November 9, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

I hesitate to get into politics in these blogs on birds, but the reason bird populations are in trouble are mainly due to various kinds of legislation – on land use, climate change, pesticide use, and so forth, which, of course, was passed by politicians who we elect. And having…

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