Author: Laura Bies
Guest feature | Interview with author Gerard Gorman
While arranging the review of Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide, I had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Gerard Gorman. Our conversation is below. Gerard’s books are available at Amazon You can learn more at his website: http://www.probirder.com/ Ashworth What was it that got you involved with birds? Gorman That is a tricky one to […] Read More
OC bimonthly news brief September-October 2022
The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in September and October 2022. The Ornithological Council’s mission is to: Our work focuses on animal welfare issues, permits, research funding, and other policies that affect ornithologists and ornithological societies. We greatly appreciate your support. Please contact Laura Bies with questions or concerns […] Read More
Guest feature | How ringing data can help improve geolocator studies
Thanks to their light weight, multi-sensor geolocators are ideally suited to study the migration patterns of smaller birds. Indeed, while GPS trackers provide accurate data, their cost is prohibitive and their weight still restricts their use to larger birds (100grams and above). Read More
Peterson Reference Guide to Bird Behavior
There is a stereotype of a certain type of birder, sometimes called a lister, ticker, or twitcher, who is only concerned with identification, chasing rarities, and adding new species to a life list, while the behavior and the lives of the birds are unimportant. I don’t know how many birders actually fit that stereotype, but it is certainly true that many birders know little about the behavior of the birds they chase. Even backyard birders might initially know little about the chickadees that are coming to their feeders. Read More
Guest feature | Post-fledging ecology of endangered Golden-cheeked Warblers
Ever since I was a child I’ve had a passion for wildlife conservation, especially endangered species. It was almost too good to be true, then, when I started my thesis work on an endangered avian species that was endemic to Texas, the Golden-cheeked Warbler. The University of Illinois provided this research connection in collaboration with the Fort Hood Military Installation, which holds one of the largest Golden-cheeked Warbler populations... Read More
Guest feature | Song dialects of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Many bird species, like humans, have distinct regional dialects. A New Yorker may refer to a midday meal as “lunch”, but in the south that meal is “dinner”. Likewise, the song of a Common Yellowthroat in the east may sound very different from one in the west... Read More
Guest feature | Interview with Jonathan Slaght, Blakiston’s Fish Owl researcher and author of Owls of the Eastern Ice
While arranging the review of Owls of Eastern Ice, I had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Jonathan Slaght. Our conversation is below. Ashworth For those not familiar with Owls of the Eastern Ice, can you share sort of a Reader’s Digest condensed version of your book and the research that went into it? Slaght […] Read More
The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent
The COVID19 pandemic presented an enormous scientific challenge almost unparalleled in its urgency. Among the myriad of questions laid at the feet of virologists and epidemiologists by the emergence of SARS-CoV2 was the question of transmission. We all recall the first months of the pandemic in early 2020 and the guidelines calling for frequent handwashing and distancing of two meters... Read More