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The hours are ticking down to Super Bowl XLIII, a hotly anticipated contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. As an avid American football fan, I observe Super Bowl Sunday as religiously as anyone. Plus, every once in a while, my attentiveness to avian athletic mascots comes in handy.  That’s why, without actually evaluating [...]

We’ve never been this close to having an official National Football League Bird Bowl, meaning a Super Bowl played between two teams named for birds. With three of the four teams battling it out in the playoffs this weekend, we’ll never have a more auspicious opportunity for the following post by Nick Lund. I’ve been [...]

In all of North America, only one avian species serves as both the beloved mascot of seven states as well as the totem to two professional sports teams (and an infinity of amateur ones!) Ironically, this feathered figurehead is neither a bird of prey nor particular distinguished athletically. Rather, this icon is extremely adaptable and [...]

How about those Seahawks? Though I’m a serious New York Giants fan, Seattle’s NFC Championship makes me pretty happy. Why, you ask? Besides the fact that Big Blue just wasn’t ready this year so it didn’t matter who took the conference, I’m very pleased that a football team with an obscure avian appellation is competing [...]

Now that Seattle’s football team is an NFL powerhouse, I’m getting a slew of inquiries asking, “What kind of bird is a seahawk?” Good question, sports fans!
Seahawk is but one of many nicknames for the awesome Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). This large, long-winged bird of prey cuts a striking figure, dark chocolate brown above and white [...]

The intersection of ornithology and North American professional sports is nowhere more prominent than in the National Football League, where no fewer than five teams sport bird names. If you like Ravens, Eagles, Falcons, Cardinals, and, of course, Seahawks, the NFL is the place for you.
The sport that comes closest to that level of avian [...]