In 1970, there were approximately 10 billion birds in North America. Now, there are around 7 billion, representing a loss of over a quarter of the continent’s birds. Of the 3 billion birds lost, 90% come from just 12 families, all various types of songbirds: a broad suborder of perching birds including everything from painted […]
Tag: Painted Bunting
New study offers answers for why tropical birds are more colorful
“The closer one gets to the tropics, the greater the variety of structures, graceful forms and color combinations.” Such were the words of German naturalist, geographer and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), one of the founders of the school of biogeography. During his extensive travels in the Americas in the early 19th century, Humboldt noticed […]
The radical otherness of birds: Jonathan Franzen on why they matter
For most of my life, I didn’t pay attention to birds. Only in my 40s did I become a person whose heart lifts whenever he hears a grosbeak singing or a towhee calling, and who hurries out to see a golden plover that’s been reported in the neighbourhood, just because it’s a beautiful bird, with […]
POLL: Should a “Lights Out” program be enforced to save migratory birds?
Imagine arriving to work and finding nearly 400 dead birds on the ground. That’s precisely what happened at the American National Insurance building in Galveston, Texas, on May 4, 2017. In a single night, hundreds of migrating birds slammed into the side of the skyscraper. All but three found on the ground died. The birds […]
A Fun Day for Sparrows and Buntings
Yesterday I went to my favorite little sparrow spot in Seminole County. It has been fantastic to us this winter, since we’ve been able to see Grasshopper Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and even a Lark Sparrow, not to mention our more commons species: Savannah, Swamp and Chipping Sparrows. However, since […]
Rhythm
Lately I’ve been considering why it is I find birding so continuously fascinating, and even addicting. Of course there’s the beauty of the birds, the thrill of finding them (especially rarities), and the challenge of learning to identify them. I also have great interest in learning about their behavior–why they act the way they do. […]
South Texas Photography Trip – June 2014
First, this particular area of south Texas is called the Rio Grande Valley, more specifically, the Lower Rio Grande Valley. It is where the Rio Grande River meets the Gulf of Mexico, and is considered one of the most biologically diverse regions in North America, where over 500 species of birds have been documented. During […]
Huntington Beach State Park, 9/9/2013
My daughter and I decided to drive seven hours up to Myrtle Beach to visit my parents who were renting a house there. We had a fun weekend. The last morning before we left, we had a couple hours to do some birding. So my father and I went over to the Huntington Beach State […]