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Are East Texas Birds Toxic?
Just returned from East Texas a short while ago. Did some birdwatching of course but saw nothing exotic or unexpected, but I was struck by the difference in coloration in East...
1 month ago - Ornithology
Birding Bob
There's a birdwatcher in Central Park in New York City who calls himself Birding Bob. He leads bird walks in the park for the nominal sum of $10. But according to the New York...
1 month ago - Ornithology
The First Frontier
I am reading the The First Frontier by Scott Weidensaul, prolific nature writer and eminent ornithologist. A synopsis of the book reads: “Frontier: the word carries the...
1 month ago - Ornithology
The Science of the Syrinx
A little anatomy today. In Chicago when I was a kid of about 10, I was sitting on my home's front porch when a parakeet landed on my head, obviously an escapee. A tame and...
1 month ago - Ornithology
How Many Birds in the World?
According to a recent study*, there are about 50 billion living birds in the world, six times as many as there are people. It was not easy to come up with that figure but the...
1 month ago - Ornithology
Birds as Pollinators
Pollinator Week was June 21-27, 2021. Birds are key global pollinators of wildflowers and ornithophily occurs in more than 60 flower families. Bird pollinators include the...
1 month ago - Ornithology
Bird Fossils
I have often mentioned that bird fossils are hard to come by, as compared to other vertebrates and hard-shelled invertebrates. It's mainly because they are lightweight and...
1 month ago - Ornithology
Bird Mummies and Genetic Diversity
Between 650 and 250 BC the Egyptians killed and mummified Sacred Ibises as sacrifices to Thoth , the Egyptian god of the moon, learning, writing, languages, magic and wisdom...
1 month ago - Ornithology
Avian Home Invasion
News Nation Now reported via YouTube a story about birds invading homes in southern California in April by flying down chimneys. One pair of homeowners estimated the flock at...
1 month ago - Ornithology
The Drought's Effect on Avian Survival
Models of environmental conditions demonstrate that long term drought can affect the species diversity of birds. The lack of water and the temperature that goes along with it...
1 month ago - Ornithology
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Guide to Long Distance Binoculars
Guide to choosing the best high powered long distance binoculars to be used for land based observation. Most high lower bins are usually designed with astronomy in mind...
Best Birding Binocular 2016/2017
During the year many, many binoculars arrive on my desk for testing and review. So at times even I can find it a little overwhelming as to which is best. This every year I...
BirdWatching Binoculars 101
If you are new to birding, choosing your first pair of binoculars can seem a little daunting, but it needn't be. This guide takes you thought where to start and all the...
Grouse in PA, Grouse in Costa Rica
Grouse are the chickens we would love to lay eyes on. “Gamebirds” to some, cool, cryptic understory birds to the birding people, grouse crouch protected as unfettered winds...
A xxxxxxxx of Woodswallows
It is winter here on the east coast of Australia. So we are entitled to complain about the cold. At my house on a very chilly winter morning it may be as cold as five degrees...
Mast Landing Brewing Company: Pantless Thunder Goose Double India Pale Ale
The Guinness toucan is easily the most iconic bird mascot in beer history, but the storied Dublin brewery also boasted an ostrich and a pelican in its colorful, avian...