Northern pintail ducks, Anas acuta, breed in summer in Northern Eurasia, Alaska, and across Canada. They fly south to spend the winter along the east and west coasts of North America and across the southern half of the United States and into South America. Some pintails, like these two males, show up in winter at […]
Author: Julie Feinstein
I am a Collection Manager at the American Museum of Natural History, an author, and a photographer. I live in New York City. I recently published my first popular science book, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, an illustrated collection of natural history essays about common animals. I update my blog, Urban Wildlife Guide, every Sunday.
Where are they now?
Everyone seems to be pretty well informed about the migrations of monarch butterflies in North America. Long distance southbound fliers end up in southern states in the east and in refuges in California and Mexico in the west. In spring, northbound females lay eggs that hatch into butterflies that fly north and lay eggs, reaching […]
Appreciating Cardinals
It has been raining and gray here for days that feel like weeks. It seems to make the red cardinals stand out even more than usual. It reminds me of something Terri Guillemets wrote: “Winter is the slow-down Winter is the search for self Winter gives the silence you need to listen Winter goes gray […]
A Woodpecker Visit
This bird was too big and noisy to miss — about a foot long, and announcing its presence with repeated loud calls of kyeer as it eyeballed a little pile of raisins and peanut bits I had left on a fence post for the cardinals and robins. Although flickers eat mainly insects, they also take […]
Cardinals Doing Fine
Northern cardinals nest in the garden behind my condo every year; it’s a good spot for them with trees, water, and food. They stop by my porchoccasionally and I give them snacks of raisins and peanuts. For the past few days the female pictured above has been going out of her way to make sure […]
Butterfly Dream
“Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then […]
Dog Day Cicadas
Dog day cicadas like the Neotibicen tibicen pictured below are chirping outside right now and have been at it for a few weeks. They are named for the dog days of summer when they appear. The dog days, traditionally early July to early August, are called that because the dog star, Sirius, appears in the […]
Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly
My favorite detail is the ringed antennae, alternately black and white. Pretty! Also note that it has a small thin “tail” on each hindwing; when perched the butterfly typically moves its hind wings and the tails move up and down. The butterfly also sports three orange dots on the lower surface of the hindwing. Eastern […]