“A tiny wren was among the Chrysanthemums this morning,
noiselessly flitting in and out, like a little shade;
evidently in a state of the highest enjoyment.
No doubt I and the bird both took our pleasure with them in different ways!”
– Eleanor Vere Boyle

Do you love birds and the people who watch them? Do you watch birds and love to blog about it? Welcome to I and the Bird, a carnival for bloggers who love birds.

I and the Bird is a carnival celebrating the interaction of human and avian, an ongoing exploration of the endless fascination with birdlife all around the world. It is also a biweekly showcase of the best bird writing on the web published on alternating Thursdays.

SUBSCRIBE: For notification of new editions of IATB, please subscribe to the 10,000 Birds feed or the new IATB e-mail list.

THE CURRENT I AND THE BIRD

3/17/11 I and the Bird #146 – Costa Rica Living and Birding

THE NEXT I AND THE BIRD

3/31/11 I and the Bird #147 – 10,000 Birds!
Send your link to me (mike AT 10000birds DOT com) by March 29!

UPCOMING EDITIONS OF I AND THE BIRD

4/14/11 I and the Bird #148 – Madras Ramblings
4/28/11 I and the Bird #149 – Twin Cities Naturalist
5/12/11 I and the Bird #150 – ???
5/26/11 I and the Bird #151 – ???

*If you want to host, let me know!

PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF I AND THE BIRD

7/7/05 I and the Bird #1 – 10,000 Birds
7/21/05 I and the Bird #2 – Charlie’s Bird Blog
8/4/05 I and the Bird #3 – B and B
8/18/05 I and the Bird #4 – milkriverblog
9/1/05 I and the Bird #5 – A DC Birding Blog
9/14/05 I and the Bird #6 – BirdChick
9/29/05 I and the Bird #7 – Bird TLC
10/13/05 I and the Bird #8 – Science and Sarcasm
10/27/05 I and the Bird #9 – Living the Scientific Life
11/10/05 I and the Bird #10 – Thomasburg Walks
11/23/05 I and the Bird #11 – The House & other Arctic Musings
12/8/05 I and the Bird #12 – Search and Serendipity
12/22/05 I and the Bird #13 (lost post) – Woodsong
1/5/06 I and the Bird #14 – Bird brained Stories
1/19/06 I and the Bird #15 – Snail’s Tales
2/2/06 I and the Bird #16 – Dharma Bums
2/16/06 I and the Bird #17 – WildBird on the Fly
3/2/06 I and the Bird #18 – The Birdchaser
3/16/06 I and the Bird #19 – Science And Politics
3/30/06 I and the Bird #20 – Bootstrap Analysis
4/13/06 I and the Bird #21 – Cup O’ Books
4/27/06 I and the Bird #22 – Home Bird Notes
5/11/06 I and the Bird #23 – bird DC
5/25/06 I and the Bird #24 – Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding
6/8/06 I and the Bird #25 – Rob’s Idaho Perspective
6/22/06 I and the Bird #26 – The Hawk Owls’ Nest
7/6/06 I and the Bird #27 – 10,000 Birds (first anniversary edition!)
7/20/06 I and the Bird #28 – Bogbumper
8/3/06 I and the Bird #29 – Alis Volat Propiis
8/17/06 I and the Bird #30 – Burning Silo
8/31/06 I and the Bird #31 – Migrateblog
9/14/06 I and the Bird #32 – Sand Creek Almanac
9/28/06 I and the Bird #33 – Don’t Mess With Taxes
10/12/06 I and the Bird #34 – Tortoise Trail
10/26/06 I and the Bird #35 – Migrations
11/9/06 I and the Bird #36 – Words & Pictures
11/30/06 I and the Bird #37 – Five Wells
12/14/06 I and the Bird #38 – Ben Cruachan Blog
12/28/06 I and the Bird #39 – NaturalVisions
1/11/07 I and the Bird #40 – Peregrine’s Bird Blog
1/25/07 I and the Bird #41 – Snail’s Eye View
2/8/07 I and the Bird #42 – The Neurophilosopher’s Weblog
2/22/07 I and the Bird #43 – Earth, Wind & Water
3/8/07 I and the Bird #44 – The Greenbelt
3/22/07 I and the Bird #45 – Journey Through Grace
4/5/07 I and the Bird #46 – lovely dark and deep
4/19/07 I and the Bird #47 – Bell Tower Birding
5/3/07 I and the Bird #48 – Greg Laden
5/17/07 I and the Bird #49 – Via Negativa
5/31/07 I and the Bird #50 – A Blog Around the Clock
6/14/07 I and the Bird #51 – The Birdchaser
6/28/07 I and the Bird #52 – The Wandering Tattler
7/12/07 I and the Bird #53 – 10,000 Birds (second anniversary edition!)
7/26/07 I and the Bird #54 – The Egret’s Nest
8/9/07 I and the Bird #55 – Birdfreak
8/23/07 I and the Bird #56 – Big Spring Birds
9/6/07 I and the Bird #57 – A DC Birding Blog
9/20/07 I and the Bird #58 – The Nightjar
10/4/07 I and the Bird #59 – Naturalist Notebook
10/18/07 I and the Bird #60 – Search and Serendipity
11/1/07 I and the Bird #61 – The Drinking Bird
11/15/07 I and the Bird #62 – Greg Laden
11/29/07 I and the Bird #63 – The Greenbelt
12/13/07 I and the Bird #64 – Iowa Voice
12/27/07 I and the Bird #65 – WildBird on the Fly
1/10/08 I and the Bird #66 – Born Again Bird Watcher
1/24/08 I and the Bird #67 – Trevor’s Birding
2/7/08 I and the Bird #68 – Biological Ramblings
2/21/08 I and the Bird #69 – Living the Scientific Life
3/6/08 I and the Bird #70 – Earth, Wind & Water
3/20/08 I and the Bird #71 – The House & other Arctic Musings
4/3/08 I and the Bird #72 – Ecobirder
4/17/08 I and the Bird #73 – Snail’s Eye View
5/1/08 I and the Bird #74 – Consworld
5/15/08 I and the Bird #75 – Gallicissa
5/29/08 I and the Bird #76 – Wanderin’ Weeta
6/12/08 I and the Bird #77 – Great Auk – or Greatest Auk?
6/26/08 I and the Bird #78 – It’s Just Me
7/10/08 I and the Bird #79 – 10,000 Birds (third anniversary edition!)
7/24/08 I and the Bird #80 – The Hawk Owl’s Nest
8/7/08 I and the Bird #81 – the Marvelous in Nature
8/21/08 I and the Bird #82 – Sycamore Canyon
9/4/08 I and the Bird #83 – Wrenaissance Reflections
9/18/08 I and the Bird #84 – Audubon Birdscapes
10/2/08 I and the Bird #85 – 10,000 Birds
10/16/08 I and the Bird #86 – The Drinking Bird
10/30/08 I and the Bird #87 – Ecobirder
11/13/08 I and the Bird #88 – Aimophila Adventures
11/26/08 I and the Bird #89 – Bird Ecology Study Group
12/11/08 I and the Bird #90 – Jeffery A. Gordon
1/8/09 I and the Bird #91 – From the Faraway, Nearby
1/22/09 I and the Bird #92 – the Marvelous in Nature
2/5/09 I and the Bird #93 – Vickie Henderson Art
2/19/09 I and the Bird #94 – The Birder’s Report
3/5/09 I and the Bird #95 – Birds O’ The Morning
3/19/09 I and the Bird #96 – The Birdchaser
4/2/09 I and the Bird #97 – Great Auk – or Greatest Auk?
4/16/09 I and the Bird #98 – Biological Ramblings
4/30/09 I and the Bird #99 – Migrations
5/14/09 I and the Bird #100 – Nature Blog Network
5/28/09 I and the Bird #101 – Living the Scientific Life
6/11/09 I and the Bird #102 – Birder’s Lounge
6/25/09 I and the Bird #103 – Birdfreak
7/9/09 I and the Bird #104 – A birding blog by Gunnar Engblom
7/23/09 I and the Bird #105 – Picus Blog
8/6/09 I and the Bird #106 – 10,000 Birds (fourth anniversary edition!)
8/20/09 I and the Bird #107 – Liza Lee Miller
9/3/09 I and the Bird #108 – The Zen Birdfeeder
9/17/09 I and the Bird #109 – Madras Ramblings
10/1/09 I and the Bird #110 – Foovay’s Cauldron
10/15/09 I and the Bird #111 – Twin Cities Naturalist
10/29/09 I and the Bird #112 – Walk the Wilderness
11/12/09 I and the Bird #113 – The Modern Naturalist
12/3/09 I and the Bird #114 – The Life of a Bird Tour Leader
12/17/09 I and the Bird #115 – xenogere
1/7/10 I and the Bird #116 – Listening Earth Blog
1/21/10 I and the Bird #117 – the Marvelous in Nature
2/4/10 I and the Bird #118 – Ben Cruachan Blog
2/18/10 I and the Bird #119 – Somewhere in NJ
3/4/10 I and the Bird #120 – Sand Creek Almanac
3/18/10 I and the Bird #121 – Birder’s Lounge
4/1/10 I and the Bird #122 – Chuqui 3.0
4/15/10 I and the Bird #123 - Idaho Birding Blog
4/29/10 I and the Bird #124 – Birds, Words, & Websites
5/13/10 I and the Bird #125 – Twin Cities Naturalist
5/27/10 I and the Bird #126 – Coyote Mercury
6/10/10 I and the Bird #127 – The Drinking Bird
6/24/10 I and the Bird #128 – Bird Ecology Study Group
7/8/10 I and the Bird #129 – 10,000 Birds (fifth anniversary edition!)
7/22/10 I and the Bird #130 – Count Your Chicken! We’re Taking Over!
8/5/10 I and the Bird #131 - The Flying Mullet
8/19/10 I and the Bird #132 – Great Auk – or Greatest Auk?
9/2/10 I and the Bird #133 – A DC Birding Blog
9/16/10 I and the Bird #134 – Birds on the Brain
9/30/10 I and the Bird #135 - The Birder’s Report
10/14/10 I and the Bird #136 - The Birdchaser
10/28/10 I and the Bird #137 - The Greenbelt
11/11/10 I and the Bird #138 - Wanderin’ Weeta
11/30/10 I and the Bird #139 - From the Faraway, Nearby
12/16/10 I and the Bird #140 - Peregrine’s Bird Blog
1/6/11 I and the Bird #141 – Birding is Fun
1/20/11 I and the Bird #142 – Birds O’ The Morning
2/3/11 I and the Bird #143 – Slugyard
2/17/11 I and the Bird #144 – Greg Laden
3/3/11 I and the Bird #145 – Island Nature

I AND THE BIRDS FAQ

What is a blog?
For our purposes, a blog (or web log) is simply a dynamic online journal of activity presented in reverse chronological order, latest entry first. You don’t need comments, RSS feeds, or fancy blog software to have a blog; all you need is periodically updated content presented in the standard blog format.

What is a carnival?
A Carnival is a periodic presentation of excellent blog writing, selected and submitted by the authors themselves. The first carnival, Carnival of the Vanities, sought to showcase posts that bloggers felt were their very best, which is why such a collection can be called a vanity. Subsequent carnivals have developed in the same spirit, but are usually focused on a particular theme. The one that has influenced me the most has been the tragically defunct Tangled Bank, a carnival for science, medicine, and natural history bloggers. A comprehensive list of current nature carnivals can be found at the Nature Blog Network.

One of the defining traits of a carnival is that the responsibility (some call it honor) of being the host rotates. Each installment is edited by a different blogger and hosted on that person’s blog. Though hosting a carnival can be a lot of work, most bloggers find the experience quite satisfying. The potentially dramatic increase in traffic doesn’t hurt either.

What makes I and the Bird different from other carnivals?
At long last, bird bloggers have a carnival to call our very own. I and the Bird is a compendium of blog writing about wild birds and bird watching.

When is the carnival?
I and the Bird is published every other Thursday. If there wasn’t a new one last Thursday, expect one this Thursday. Of course, we have contributors from all over the world, so time differences may shift the publishing time significantly.

Can you be more specific about what is suitable for I and the Bird?
I’d be happy to. Posts recounting the interaction between the writer and birds are what this carnival is all about. A celebration of you (or I) and the bird. That’s all. All kinds of birding, bird watching, backyard birding, or even bird glancing are perfect, anything from a detailed, multi-day trip report to a brief rumination on that crow that won’t shut up. As birding types are a visual lot, photos are a plus!

The personal aspect of your entry is key. Submit a post that reflects your point of view and your writings rather than a comment on a bird picture or article.

Note that the relationship between human and bird depicted in your post should be non-hostile or exploitative. Bird rehabilitation and banding are reasonable topics for this collection, whereas pet keeping, game hunting, and cock fighting are not. Also, discourses on avian science may be more suitable for Scientia Pro Publica.

We welcome submissions from bloggers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints and philosophies. With that in mind, it should be understood that the opinions of individual contributors should not be taken to represent the opinions of other contributors, the host, or the founder of I and the Bird.

Why should I participate in I and the Bird?
The purpose of I and the Bird is to twofold. For readers, this carnival is a showcase of the best writing the ever-growing ranks of bird blogs have to offer. For contributors, participation offers an opportunity to share your favorite work and attract a wider audience. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

Who can participate?
I and the Bird is open to anyone with a blog. You don’t have to be a lister, a twitcher, or even a birder. You don’t even need to be a nature blogger. The frequency with which you write about birds, whether habitually or occasionally, is not a concern. If you’ve written something that you’re proud of involving you and a bird, please send it in.

I want to contribute to I and the Bird. How do I get started?
Easy! Pick out your favorite blog post on some form of bird watching and send me or our most current host a link and brief description. Please include I and the Bird in the subject line. If you’re not sure if your selection meets the criteria for this carnival, just send it in and we’ll let you know. Finally, let’s have one submission per blog please!

Can I host I and the Bird?
Probably. The real question is, “Are you up to it?” Hosting a carnival is a commitment. You’ll have to be prepared to read a large number of blog posts, evaluate them for suitability, and write up an entertaining presentation of the links. This process may, based on the number of submissions, take hours. You’ll also need to post your presentation of I and the Bird on the specified Thursday.

Still interested? Then read on:

• Start by submitting a subject-appropriate blog post. I’d like to make sure that every host has participated in I and the Bird as a contributor at least once prior to hosting.
• Let me know that you’re interested in hosting and I’ll put you in the schedule.
• Read my series on how to host a blog carnival.
• The I and the Bird host that precedes you will announce your site and e-mail address and solicit submissions. I’ll also announce it here at 10,000 Birds. While preparing, you might also want to scout around and look for worthy articles in various weblogs too. (Always ask permission to include someone else’s writing.)
• Review all submissions carefully for content. If a post is off-topic, do not include it. If you are unsure of the suitability of a submission, send it to me.
• I and the Bird is published. Organize timely submissions into an article on your blog, and publish it.
• Obscene or inappropriate blogs will not be allowed to host I and the Bird.

Can I promote I and the Bird with a fancy badge?
I wish you would! Take your pick from the logos below:

This microbadge is a dainty 80 pixels wide x 15 pixels high. Fits virtually anywhere!

The classic badge, at 88 pixels wide x 31 pixels high, captures our catchy logo with both elegance and efficiency.

This macrobadge weighs in at a hefty 171 pixels wide x 49 pixels high. When space is no issue, bigger is better!