Ornithology.com Blogs

There are hundreds of short, 500 or so word, blogs for you to peruse. The most recent ones are excerpted below. Below them is a list of archived blogs by month all the way back to 2015. Enjoy and feel free to comment. And consider subscribing.

  • Falconry

    Falconry—the art and practice of hunting wild quarry with trained birds of prey—is one of humanity’s oldest and most refined partnerships with the natural world. Its origins stretch back at least 4,000 years, with early evidence from Mesopotamia and Central Asia. Over time, it spread across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, becoming both a…

  • eDNA

    For centuries ornithologists relied on binoculars, mist nets, banding stations, and direct observation to determine which bird species occupied a particular habitat. Today, however, an extraordinary new tool is transforming the field: environmental DNA, commonly called eDNA. This technique allows scientists to detect birds not by seeing or hearing them, but by identifying tiny fragments…

  • Birds in War

    War has shaped avian populations in ways that are both devastating and, at times, paradoxically beneficial. The immediate and most obvious effects are direct mortality and habitat destruction. Modern warfare brings aerial bombardment, artillery, and chemical contamination, all of which can kill birds outright or destroy nesting and foraging habitats. Wetlands are drained or polluted,…