Birds 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, …
Orville 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 …
Every 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, …
Old 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, …
Last 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, …
Although 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 …
I’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 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 …
According 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 …
I 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 …
