Author: Laura Bies
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
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
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
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
Cryptic migration in a common feeder bird shows it’s a great era for avian natural history
With all of the incredible revelations in ornithology during the 21st century, it’s easy for a young birder who wants to “discover new things about birds” to feel like they’re late to the scene. But upon getting deeper into field ornithology, it becomes readily apparent how much basic life history of North American birds remains […] Read More
Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide
When Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide arrived, my initial thought was ‘Do we really need another guide to Europe’s birds?’ The first thing I noted was that the book is a photographic guide and the second that its subtitle is ‘An identification guide’ rather than a ‘field guide,’ – a difference which is significant and one we will get back to later. Read More
