You are browsing the archives of buntings.

One of the most exciting aspects of bird migration in a coastal location is the potential for large numbers of birds to find themselves over the ocean when dawn breaks. They get to land as quickly as they can and sometimes can be found concentrated in large numbers. This isn’t fallout in the strictest sense, [...]

I was in Florida last week, the freakiest of the southeastern states.  Its peninsular shape, dipping so seductively into the neotropic Caribbean, suggest a haul of bizarre and fascinating birds found nowhere else on the continent.  All true of course.  But not only is Florida’s native birdlife pretty amazing, it also hosts strange exotics; species [...]

Sometimes we watchers see birds do things that surprise us—things birds are not supposed to do. This happened to me recently on a birding trip, with somewhat egg-on-the-face results. I was on a birding quest trip with my friend Geoff Heeter. We were driving up to northwestern Michigan from our homes in Ohio (me) and [...]

It is time for yet another series of photos of a bird hanging out at a waterhole in Kazakhstan.  This time the Grey-necked Bunting (Emberiza buchanani) gets the honors, and, let me tell you, it deserves them.  Not only did this bird take two water baths in full view at relatively close range when the [...]

Mesoamerican Month at 10,000 Birds has been better for all of us thanks to the photos of my friend from Guatemala, Renato Fernández Ravelo. Renato, a distinguished naturalist, photographer, and author of Birds: Guatemala’s Feathers, has already contributed stellar shots of a Steller’s Jay and Resplendent Quetzal. When I recently received a brief but poignant [...]