A few years ago I received an email from someone in Hawaii wondering why so many pigeons on Maui were missing toes. I had no idea so I emailed the ornithologist at the University of Hawaii and she responded that with many people with long hair lying on the beaches leave bits of their tresses …
I was sitting on my garden bench the other day and watched a small flock of Lesser Goldfinches land on my sunflower plants and peck at the leaves. What they were eating I didn’t know so when they left I searched the leaves for bugs. No bugs. Turns out the sunflower leaves were full of …
Regularly I get emails asking why there are fewer birds in one’s backyard this year, or why there are fewer blackbirds, or why hummingbirds are not coming to their feeders, or something like that. The answer is complicated. First of all, there are about 3 billion fewer breeding birds in the U.S. and Canada since …
I’ve written before about hearing impaired birding. It’s a challenge and I speak from personal experience. Unlike birds whose cochlear hair cells in the ear, which transmit sound to the brain, grow back, ours never do. As we age our hair cells die and our hearing diminishes. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy birding. …
What do feathers mean? In many cultures, feathers represent a connection to spiritual realms. Coming from birds, feathers symbolize freedom, both mental and physical, from the bounds of the earth. In Native American cultures, feathers have always been significant parts of ceremonies, often used for clothing, decorations, tools, weapons and “dreamcatchers.” The Iroquois have a …
It wasn’t until my junior year in college when I took ornithology and started watching birds. My first bird guide was a Peterson. We didn’t ask for a bird guide when we wanted to look up that bird on the fence post, we asked for a Peterson. If you were a serious birdwatcher, you had …
In 1851, John P. McCown, an amateur ornithologist and army officer stationed in Texas, shot a group of birds. Examining his kills, he noted two birds he’d never seen before and sent specimens to an ornithologist friend, who named it McCown’s Longspur. Ten years later, McCown joined the Confederate States Army, where he was ultimately …
There’s a new, to me at least, podcast about birds called Bird Banter. Dr. Ed Pullen, retired family physician of Tacoma, Washington, interviews birders from around the country. I have to admit that I didn’t know about his podcast or that there were so many other podcasts about birds. Like: American Birding Podcast, Out There …
About once a week I get contacted through my website Ornithology.com regarding a baby bird. Often the explanation is that the “baby fell out of the nest.” Typically, the baby actually jumped from the nest as songbirds do when they fledge. Not quite capable of flight, they walk or hop on the ground, dependent on …
The following is from my latest book, The Art of the Bird: The History of Ornithological Art through Forty Artists. Janet Turner was one of the artists I discussed and special to me because I knew her personally. She borrowed bird specimens from the natural history museum I supervised, allowed me to visit her in her art studio, and …
