The lockdowns resulting from the COVID pandemic have affected birds in mostly good ways. This “anthropause” as some have called it, resulted in less traffic on the roads, on water, and in the air, with a concomitant decrease in air and water pollution. Birds such as the Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Red-tailed Hawk became more common …
A summary of recent research claims that “Migratory birds undertake long and challenging journeys that have selected for a suite of adaptations from sensory mechanisms that facilitate orientation to extreme feats of endurance that push physiological limits. Recent work on two distantly related species revealed that migrating individuals increase their flight altitude dramatically during the …
The other day as I savored my morning bowl of Cheerios, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was a Turkey Vulture, common around my house, but unusually close to the windows because the house is surrounded by trees. For some reason the vulture decided to swoop down to take a …
As it walks in its marshy habitat, its ungainly stride makes it look as if the bird is limping, hence the common name of Limpkin. Aramus, the genus name, comes from the Greek meaning sword and the species name guarauna from a Tupi (Brazilian) language and meaning marsh bird. And indeed the Limpkin is a …
