Dr. Roger Lederer

Common Names

January 13, 2020January 13, 2020 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Coppersmith Barbet A scientific name clearly designates a particular bird species, tells you something about the bird’s relationship to other bird species, and usually provides a decent description of the bird. Common names are less useful for the former but apt for the latter. The obvious advantage common names have…

The Colorful Critters

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

Dr. Roger Lederer

Birds are among the most colorful of animals, their colored feathers evolving mainly as an adaptation for reproduction. Males of species such as hummingbirds, sunbirds and t tanagers attract mates with their colors and Red-winged Blackbirds establish and defend territories with their blazing epaulets. And of course, in the thickness of…

Bond, James Bond

December 30, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Bird lovers may be surprised to discover that the original, real, James Bond, after whom Ian Fleming’s character was named, was one of their own. Bond was born in 1900 in Philadelphia, but when his mother died in 1914, he moved to England with his British-born father. There he went…

Phoebe Snetsinger, Birdwatcher Extraodinaire

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Philip Roston is apparently the most accomplished birdwatcher, or at least lister, as he has seen 9,607 species out of a possible 10,500+. There are a number of other birdwatchers with impressive records, though. See the list on Wikipedia. But a person with "only" 8400 species on her list is…

Volcanoes and Birds

December 17, 2019December 17, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

White Island Last week, a volcanic eruption on White Island off mainland New Zealand killed several unfortunate people and likely had devastating effects on the bird population, including thousands of Australasian Gannets and some endangered bird species. How the bird populations will recover is unknown at this point but there…

Emotional Support Birds

December 12, 2019December 13, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

I’m not a fan of caged birds. I understand why people want to keep birds in cages and I don’t have a particular problem with budgerigars, cockatoos, or canaries as they have been raised in cages and bred as pets for many years. But I am opposed to keeping parrots…

Ornithological Art

December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Carolina Pigeons (Mourning Doves, J.J. Audubon I’ve always been an admirer of artists who paint realistic scenes. Whether watercolor, oil, acrylic, woodcut, or anything else, the skills involved are considerable and way beyond me. I took two short painting classes and rapidly realized how out of my league I was.…

Birds: Ornithology and the Great Bird Artists, Continued.

November 26, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Alexander Wilson, artist and "Father of American Ornithology" Before artists and naturalists knew much about ecology, they drew their pictures from specimens, not knowing much about them. So birds that inhabited different areas of the world, like a guinea fowl from Africa and parrots from South America were often pictured…

Birds Predicting the Weather

November 17, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Continuing a previous discussion of pseudoscientific and simply nonsensical beliefs about birds, let’s talk about the weather. Some of these actually make a bit of sense. “When the fish hawks (Osprey) come north, winter’s over.” “On the eastern shore of Maryland, they always arrive on St. Patrick’s Day.” That is…

Barn Owl Color Variation

November 12, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer

Like many birds, Barn Owls show variation in their plumage coloration. There could be several reasons, but there are at least two that I know of. I’m sure you have driven at night when a white owl flies across the road in front of your car. Often they look bright…

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