You are browsing the archives of 2006 March.

While the title of To See Every Bird on Earth by author Dan Koeppel may get fans of birding adventure narratives salivating, the book’s subtitle, A Father, a Son, and a Lifetime Obsession, hints at the human drama that carries this memoir beyond mere spotting and listing. I really enjoyed this book. Koeppel’s memoir describes [...]

Are you as excited as I am? The host of I and the Bird #20 is none other than Nuthatch, the pseudonymous blogger at   Bootstrap Analysis. Nuthatch is, hands-down, one of my favorite web writers, so in place of a long prelude, I’m just going to link to her bird.icio.us edition and get out of [...]

Specialization may be the trend in business, science, and academia, but birds who wish to succeed in tomorrow’s demanding environment should not specialize, but generalize. In this era of increasing urban sprawl and habitat fragmentation, birds with fewer specific environmental requirements are far more successful than birds with many. That means the birds that we [...]

What a conundrum… can we, as environmentalists, support wind power as a clean, safe, eminently renewable energy source or should we, as birders, decry its dangers to migratory birds? Actually, we can do both, but only if we get our collective act together to address the very real opportunities and threats posed by wind turbines. [...]

Reports of the first Eastern Phoebes of spring have been popping up all over New York and this weekend, I decided I was going to find mine. Now that the bird watching balance is tipping back from the water to the woods, it was high time to renew my acquaintance with one of my favorite [...]

The federal government just announced its strategic, five-point plan to detect the invasion of H5N1 avian influenza on American soil, first and foremost our westernmost regions of Alaska, the Pacific Flyway, and Pacific Islands.  The multi-pronged surveillance for early detection of the virus in migratory birds (the USDA is supposed to identify and monitor domestic [...]

If you’ve made it through winter in the company of a bevy of backyard birds, you’ll appreciate this next observation on avian identification. Seed-eaters are easier to identify than meat-eaters. Like you and me, most birds appreciate a good meal. In fact, a significant portion of a bird’s daily activity is devoted to seeking and [...]

The weather has been bitter lately and, frankly, I’m not in the mood for it. As a result, I stayed close to home this weekend with no birding on the itinerary. Bronx birds are good enough at times like these. Besides the trash bird triumvirate (pigeons, starlings, and house sparrows) plenty of fun species frequent [...]

Today is the international celebration of Masemas, the birthdate of our beloved Mason Hopkins Bergin. What a kid! Despite my own incredible love for the lad, I have to admit that I’m quite taken aback at how quickly observance of Mason’s birthday has spread. He’s only two, but throughout the United States, millions of people [...]

The last time I visited Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Basking Ridge, NJ, mere days after I started this site, I stated that tales of the swamp’s greatness were somewhat exaggerated. I’ve just been again, and the verdict is improving, but still not quite great. Perhaps the swamp isn’t entirely to blame. After all, [...]