I’m baking bread and looking out my kitchen window at the first migratory visitors to my bird feeder. There’s a White-crowned Sparrow. Resident birds are partaking of the goodies too as the leaves turn, the weather gets cooler and the insects less abundant. Titmice, doves, towhees, jays, and the occasional Cooper’s Hawk come by to […]
Forty Years From Now Read More »
In the northern hemisphere, birds have been heading south for the past few weeks, or even longer, depending on the species and where they are starting from. Some birds have not begun their southward trek yet. Wherever they begin and whatever their destination, it’s a perilous journey. Just before I sat down to pen this
It’s Migration Time Read More »
You have probably heard from one of many news sources, like the NY Times and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, that birds are vanishing. Somewhere between 25 and 30% of all birds in North America have disappeared since 1970. That’s about three billion breeding birds. I have heard estimates of up to 40%. It’s devastating
Birds are Disappearing Read More »
Imagine coming home one day and finding your house severely damaged, all your bank accounts drained, and people you don’t know hanging around. It would be intimidating and stressful. You might be able to adjust and rebuild there or nearby and recoup your financial losses or you might move elsewhere if you could find suitable
Many people feed or just watch birds out their kitchen window; that’s a treat but one might eventually get bored with watching the same conglomeration of birds from day to day. After all, having a mob of a few dozen Eurasian Collared Doves, a throng of jays, and a coterie of House Sparrows visiting one’s
More Birds In Your Yard Read More »
Even though Big Bird was 8 feet two inches tall, he wasn’t the biggest bird we know about. The biggest bird that ever lived was the Elephant Bird of Madagascar that stood nearly 10 feet tall and weighed about 1700 pounds. Its egg weighed 22 pounds. Extinct since the 17th century, there were reports by
Namibia, with the second least dense human population (after Mongolia), sits on the southwest side of Africa, just above South Africa. I have been fortunate enough to visit this country twice in the last 14 months and of course took some time to birdwatch. Nambia is not particularly known for its bird life although it
Just today I received an email from a reported at a British newspaper in Yorkshire, England, asking if I knew anything about babies (human babies) being attacked by seagulls. No, I hadn’t, so I looked it up. Couldn’t find any information on baby attacks, but I read about others. One woman complained that her Chihuahua
From NPR: The new Secretary of the Interior, responsible for the protection of our natural resources, is a former gas and oil lobbyist. Bernhardt says that responsible energy development on public lands is good for both American taxpayers and towns dependent on oil, gas or coal. The Department of the Interior manages one-fifth of all
Migratory Bird Treaty Act Defiled Read More »
According to Science Daily, May 23, 2019, warm blooded animals – birds and mammals – are getting smaller. That seems bizarre until you put some pieces together. Scientists have known about Bergmann’s Rule for many years. This “rule” is actually a general ecomorphological concept which says that as the environment gets colder, the body sizes
The Incredible Shrinking Birds Read More »
