There are probably over a hundred blogs on birds on the web. Some are broad in concept like mine, Ornithology.com , and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Others are limited to particular geographical areas and some have conservation goals as priorities. There are several whose goal is really advertisement.
My blog has its own niche. Rather than offering a long, detailed blog, mine is about 500 easily digestible words. My goal is to educate readers about the fascinating world of birds bit by bit. I have been studying birds for over 50 years, have given hundreds of talks and led hundreds of field trips, and I keep learning new things. Sometimes these facts have been known for awhile and I just recently discovered them and sometimes the facts themselves have been recently discovered. I do a lot of reading and of course communicate with other ornithologists.
Ornithology.com is a very popular website and comes up on Google #3 after Wikipedia and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. You have the option to sign up up for my blog posts by clicking on the Subscribe button on the right.
What you will get from me are short but meaty pieces of ornithological information, sometimes lightweight but sometimes heavyweight, but mostly in between – something you will enjoy and learn from. And I welcome comments, questions, and general input. I will try to blog on a weekly basis so you always have something to look forward to. So I hope you will sign up. Meanwhile, let me know what areas of ornithology most interest you. Below is a list of the last 50 blogs. There are over 300 so there are plenty more for your reading pleasure. And as always, if you have questions, please contact me, The Ornithologist.
- Economic View of BirdwatchingThere’s a recent (Oct 2023) article in the journal Ornithological Applications entitled “Historical racial redlining and contemporary patterns of income inequality negatively affect birds, their habitat, and people in Los Angeles, California.” It’s rather complex but the basic idea is that well-to-do or even moderate-income neighborhoods have a greater diversity of birds than do low-income …
- The Twelve-wired Bird-of-ParadiseRegularly I like to blog about some of the more interesting birds of the world. Today, one of the 45 species of Birds-of-Paradise. Birds-of-Paradise, family Paradisaedae, are only found in Indonesia, New Guinea, and a small part of Australia. In the early years of exploration, European Traders shipped Bird-of-Paradise skins from New Guinea to collectors …
- The Naming ControversyI earlier discussed the proposal by the American Ornithologist’s Union (AOU) to change the common names of birds named after people. Let me add a little more here. Will this lead to a change in scientific names as well? The AOU changed McCown’s Longspur to the Thick-billed Longspur because of McCown’s support of slavery as …
- The SnakebirdI like to alternate my posts between scientific and philosophical musings with looks at some interesting birds. Today the bird is the Anhinga. The word “anhinga” is derived from the native Brazilian Tupi-Guarani language word “ana’ĩnĩa,” which translates to “devil bird”, “snake bird” or “evil spirit of the woods.” The Tupi people (one of the …
- Bird Names Changing?From the Washington Post, November 1, 2023: “The American Ornithological Society (AOU) says it will alter the names of North American birds named after humans, starting with up to 80 of them.” Their justifications are that the names are of people with negative reputations – endorsing or participating in slavery, for example – and that …
- Common Cuckoo“Cuckoo” has come to describe someone not fully in control of their mental state, but it has a number of other meanings that you can look up here. But today I’m going to give you the real scoop on the real cuckoo bird. The Common Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus. Cuckoo and cuculus both reflect the bird’s …
- Japanese “Nightingale”The English name “nightingale” refers to the Japanese Bush Warbler, a common songbird in Japan. The singing of the bush warbler has encouraged the keeping of these birds as caged birds in homes. To encourage singing the cages of birds were covered with a wooden box with a small paper window that allowed only subdued light …
- Japanese Gardens and BirdsJust returned from a three-week trip to Japan. Not a birding trip but I snuck in some birdwatching when I could. Mostly visiting cities and towns and villages, I had a look at several parks and gardens. Japanese gardens are attractive, neat, and clean, but perhaps overly so. One of the elements of Japanese garden …
- A Little HiatusThis just a quick note to subscribers of Onithology.com blog posts. I will be out of the country for a few weeks and won’t be able to publish my blog until early October. If you miss reading my blog, I have written about 400 of them so you can read the ones you missed or …
- Migration Time, AgainFall is migration time in the Northern Hemisphere when birds leave their summer homes to winter at locations to the south; in the spring the migration is reversed, the birds moving from their summer homes to breeding locations in the north. But have you ever thought about the birds living in the Southern Hemisphere? Where …
- The SecretarybirdThe Secretarybird –Sagittarius serpentarius. The common name comes from the feathers of the head crest which resemble quill pens. Sagittarius, from the Latin, means “arrow or archer” and refers to the way an archer walked while stalking prey; serpentarius means “serpent handler” from the bird’s supposed affinity for snakes. They are endemic to Africa where …
- Bird Bones as ToolsOne of the most notable characteristics of birds is their lightweight skeletal systems. Even though most bird bones are thin-walled and hollow relative to mammal bones, the wall of the bone itself is quite dense and the internal struts deter breaking. Some recent research tells us something that we had not known before: bigger birds …
- Laughing GullThe Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla. Gulls are not to be dismissed as just annoying picnic intruders. Some say they are actually “noble.” “Gull” from old Norse, means unhatched or new bird. Leucophaeus, from ancient Greek, means “dusky white.” From the Latin, atricilla means “black tail.” The adult Laughing Gull is easily identified by its contrasting …
- Ruddy TurnstoneThis is the time of the year when shorebirds start making their way from their breeding grounds in the tundra to more southern climes. It’s an arduous journey to say the least. So today’s blog is about one of these birds, the very attractive Ruddy Turnstone. “Ruddy” refers to the reddish color on the back …
- Power Line FatalitiesData show that up to 65 million birds in the U.S. are killed by flying into powerlines, or perching on them and being electrocuted, each year. Worldwide, the mortality might be as high as 175 million birds. Some areas are installing powerlines with insulators so the birds do not make contact with power and putting …
- Lear’s MacawI thought it would be nice to visit a bird that we don’t hear much about: Lear’s Macaw. Of 380 species of parrots worldwide, 19 are classified as macaws, a distinctive group of large, colorful birds. Inhabiting the tropical forests of South America, macaws differ from other parrots with their relatively larger beaks, long tails …
- Names, Redux, AgainThere are all kinds of reasons for the common names birds have. They are named after people (Baird’s Sandpiper, for instance), places (Carolina Wren), physical description (Purple Finch), voice (Chachalaca), and behavior (dipper). Sometimes they are misleading, like the Red-bellied Woodpecker whose belly is really pinkish and the Ring-necked Duck whose ringed neck is very …
- Nathan Leopold, Birdwatcher and MurdererYou might be familiar with one of the most famous murders of the 20th century, that committed by Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, teenagers who killed a 14 year old Bobby Franks in 1924 apparently for thrills, money, and the thought that they were smart enough to get away with it. They were intellectually astute …
- Fancy ThatThe general assumption here is that the brightest, most active, aggressive, colorful males (and sometimes females) attract the best or most (for polygamous species) females, ensuring that their offspring have the best genes. It’s also reasoned that this is a tradeoff as the most obvious males would be most likely to attract predators and/or be …
- The PelicansAs I drove home from a week at a lake, catching few fish, I saw a group of fish-eating birds circling overhead – pelicans. Were the Pelicans mocking me? Probably not, but I stopped to admire these large, seemingly ungainly waterbirds which are so adept at piscivory. Known for their unique long beaks and large …
- Adulterous BirdsI’ve been rereading Jared Diamond’s The Third Chimpanzee – humans. He spends a lot of time on various aspects of sex, one of which is extramarital sex. According to various human studies, somewhere between one and 30 percent of children are conceived as a result of extramarital sex, but the data are dubious because interviewees …
- Trusting ScienceA recent (June 16, 2023) article in the New York Times described the loss of trust in science, which is rather odd because during the pandemic the trust in science went up. What is science? It is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based …
- Uric Acid and the CloacaBirds have evolved a number of anatomical and physiological adaptations to reduce weight for flight – lightweight skeleton, fused bones, no teeth, no sweat glands, few scales, an aerodynamic body, and, in most cases, no urinary bladder. Mammals have a urinary bladder, used to eliminate the products of protein digestion. Water in the bladder dissolves …
- The Rainbow DinosaurThere was an article in the New York Times recently about the evolution of birds, a field of knowledge that still has lots of mysteries. There are thousands of bird fossils, many of which have still to be fully examined and classified. But we are learning. One of the more interesting is Caihong juji, an …
- Singing CanariesI discussed The Canary Bird earlier; here’s a bit more. Years ago, singing canaries were popular. A radio show in the 1940’s in the U.S. featured dozens of canaries singing along with classical records. There was also a canary song training record from Hartz Mountain you could use at home to teach your canary to …
- Avian VocalistsA recent article in the Washington Post, Why Birds and Their Songs are Good for our Mental Health, notes that “researchers found a significant positive association between seeing or hearing birds and improved mental well-being, even when accounting for other possible explanations such as education, occupation, or the presence of greenery and water, which have themselves …
- Sounds Like…..SOUNDS LIKE…… OK, what bird makes this call: honk, honk, tweeeeet, twitter twitter, buzzzzzz. Don’t know? That’s OK, neither do I. But I get questions like this on a regular basis from folks who want to know what bird they heard. Bird songs and calls may sound the same to different people but the descriptions …
- Sexual Preference in BirdsLGBTQ+ issues have been pretty common in the news lately, but humans are not the only animals that may fall into one of these categories. 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 …
- Quantitative OrnithologyDuring each February the Great Backyard Bird Count occurs. Collectively, 7,538 species of birds – 2/3s of the known 10,960 species were found this year. More than 200 countries shared bird sightings. eBird is a global database of bird observations. It is an amazing tool for birders to keep track of their sightings, but it is also much more than …
- Rough-winged SwallowAn interesting bird name is “swallow.” In late Old English and Middle English it meant “gulf, abyss, hole in the earth, whirlpool,” also, in Middle English, “throat, gullet.” The name apparently stuck to the birds because of their dizzying, whirlpool-like flight, or their voracious eating habits. A In Ancient Greece, swallows were associated with Aphrodite. …
- Bird DiseasesI received an email the other day from someone who destroyed the nest of a bird which was built in a patio cover next to the house. She thought it was a health hazard. That is highly unlikely. Birds, however, do carry a variety of diseases, some of which can be transmitted to humans but …
- Bird Photography and ContestsI have taken photos of birds in the field, primarily for research purposes. Mostly they were terrible. A friend of mine who sees himself as a great bird photographer has made albums of his photos, framed blowups, and entered art shows. They were not much better than mine, unless you consider blurry shots a form …
- Madagascar Serpent EagleMadagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, is an unusual environment and as a result, 90 percent of its plant and animal species are endemic. It has 23 species of raptors, 17 diurnal and 6 nocturnal. Of these, 13 are endemic to the island. The Madagascar Serpent Eagle (Eutriorchis astur) is one of the …
- Life ListingIf you Google “life list”, you come up with various definitions such as goals for your life, bucket list wishes, or any other list of things you want to possess or achieve. Some people want to visit every major league ballpark or every state capitol building or own all the versions of Beanie Babies. But …
- Blister Beetles and BustardsBustards, the largest flying birds, are ground-dwelling birds found in Africa, Europe, and Asia. There are 26 species in the family Otitidae, ranging in size from 16 to 60 inches. The Great Bustard (left) can weigh as much as 40 pounds while the smallest species, the Little Brown Bustard, weighs around 1.6 pounds. Bustards are omnivorous, …
- European GoldfinchBirds are a pretty homogeneous group. They all have feathers, lay eggs, and lack teeth, for instance. It’s easy to generalize, but there are nearly 11,000 species and each is unique. So once in a while I want to write about one particular species. Today, the European Goldfinch. The European Goldfinch is an iconic bird, …
- Airplane-Bird StrikesOrville Wright hit a bird with the Wright Flyer while flying over an Ohio cornfield in 1905. On October 4, 1960, Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 struck a flock of European starlings during take-off. All four engines were damaged and the aircraft crashed in the Boston harbor with 62 fatalities. Bird collision with aircraft is …
- The Eurasian HoopoeEvery once in a while, I like to step back from my usual patter about the interesting things in the bird world and just talk about one bird in particular. This is about one I have seen many times but they always surpise me with their unusual appearance. Widespread across much of the Old World, …
- Birds’ Official NamesOld Chinese Proverb: “Wisdom begins with putting the right name on a thing” There are a number of species of birds with widespread distributions such as the Peregrine Falcon, Mallard, and European Starling. Each has a scientific name and all of the nearly 11,000 species of birds have an official common English name as well, …
- Bird ControlLast blog I wrote about Pesky Birds. There are legitimate situations where birds need to be chased away or eliminated and lots of methods for doing so. What I mean by legitimate are situations like birds destroying crops, posing a health hazard, or interfering with air traffic. I don’t consider birds pecking at your window, …
- Those Pesky BirdsAlthough we love our birds, they can and do become pests at times. The imported birds such as Rock Pigeons, House Sparrows, and European Starlings are good examples, but native blackbirds, crows, and even swallows are given that designation at times. A pest is simply an unwanted plant or animal, such as weeds in our herb garden …
- Binoculars ReduxI’m not going to provide another review of binoculars as there are lots of those on the WWW. Frankly, I think the best thing is to try binoculars in person and if they work for you, that’s what you want. You can get a cheap pair that work well, although the more expensive ones tend …
- Beaks and BillsBeaks and bills are the same structure, although beak was once used when referring to hooked bills. The beak is the only tool a bird has, used in finding and capturing and manipulating animal or plant food, preening, courtship, defense, building nests, communicating, and feeding young. So the beak really defines a lot of the …
- Happy Bird DayAccording to National Today, Jan 5, 2023 is National Bird Day. But according to Wikipedia, “Bird Day was established in 1894….. It was the first holiday in the United States dedicated to the celebration of birds. Babcock intended it to advance bird conservation as a moral value.” Wikipedia continues with “International Migratory Bird Day, a conservation initiative that brings awareness on conserving …
- So You Want to be an OrnithologistI get regular inquiries from high school and college students, and even older folks looking for a new career, wanting to know how to get into the field of ornithology. Without reiterating everything I have already posted in detail on Ornithology.com about careers, let me make some general points. Most everyone who aspires to be an …
- Can Birds Predict the Weather?A couple of months ago, someone asked me if birds could predict the weather. Well, sort of. Watching my bird feeder, I notice the activity becoming almost frantic just before rain and wind start. When the sun comes out, fewer birds are feeding, and less often. There’s science behind this. In one study, captive White-throated …
- NichesThe other day my local newspaper ran a letter from a realtor who is supporting a proposed housing development of 1400 acres. He dismissed the effect on wildlife due to the destruction of habitat that will ensue by saying that the animals will just move. “The hawks will just move elsewhere to find food.” This …
- Slow BirdingRecently Slow Birding, a book all about enjoying the birds in your backyard, was published. The author, Joan Strassmann, an accomplished scientist in the field of evolution and microbes writes about her hobby of birdwatching and offers some good advice. Rather than traveling far and wide to see and list birds in new locales, the …
- ChachalacaThe name of the dance called the Cha Cha is derived from the shuffling sound of the dancers’ feet when they dance two consecutive quick steps. It is an onomatopoeia, meaning that the name comes from a sound. Originally from Cuba, it was first called the Cha Cha Cha as the footwork goes one, two, cha cha …
- The Preen GlandThe uropygial gland, also called the preen gland or oil gland, is a bilobed structure on the dorsal base of a bird’s tail between the fourth caudal vertebra and the pygostyle, the structure formed by the fusion of the final caudal vertebrae. The pygostyle is surrounded by flesh, the fleshy structure commonly called the “pope’s …