[Edited 2 Jan to add a hint of uncertainty to the identifications] Over the holidays I was able to spend a few days at my parents’ house in upstate New York, and enjoyed the redpolls that were visiting the bird feeder. I saw one clear-cut Hoary and at least two other Hoary-type Redpolls, and at […]
My Holiday (Redpoll) Photos Read More »
After my previous posts on redpolls here and here, I’ve had a chance to skim some of the redpoll literature, and it confirms that these are two very similar species (gasp! really?). Two papers in particular by Seutin et al (1992, 1993) offer some interesting observations. They conclude that it is possible to classify specimens
Slaty-backed Gull in Gloucester, MA on 23 December 2007 – Photo by Phil Brown Part 1: On 6 December 2007 at about 8PM, in the midst of an intense winter storm, a resident of Lillooet, BC heard a thump on their front door. Thinking the dog wanted to come in, they opened the door to
What are the odds? Read More »
I was in Washington DC recently and signed some calendars at my cousin’s flower shop in Mount Airy, Maryland. So if you’ve been thinking about getting a calendar and you’d like one that I’ve signed, you can order them here. And my new Birder’s World column about identifying songbirds by flocking habits is now available
Calendars and columns Read More »
Our perspective and the assumptions and decisions that are triggered by that point-of-view, strongly influence how we perceive the world around us. In short, what we see often depends on how we look at it. This classic drawing looks like a frog sitting on the edge of a pond… but rotate it ninety degrees and
Perspective on a mystery bird Read More »
If identifying Hoary Redpoll is not enough of a challenge for you, maybe you’d like to look for subspecies of Hoary and Common Redpolls? First, check out this map from the Canadian Atlas of Bird Banding. This shows selected western band recoveries of Common Redpolls, and the obvious suggestion is that some of the Common
Redpoll subspecies Read More »
Some updates 4 and 6 December –check out Jochen’s comments and blog post here With the predicted superflight of finches beginning to develop (1st ever Common Redpoll in New Mexico last week) more and more questions are coming up about finch identification. RedpollsHoary Redpoll, although always less numerous than Common south of the Arctic, is
Redpoll Identification Read More »
After a week of pretty good success on the windows, today was cold with light snow, and the bird feeder was very active. I realized last week that one of many variables I need to consider when I record bird-strikes-per-hour is bird activity, but I haven’t tried to record that yet other than excluding long
More on windows and birds Read More »
Update 16 November – There are a couple of points I think I should clarify. First – and I guess this may be clear already – I’m still not convinced this will work, or how well it will work, and it will probably work in some situations better than others, and never be 100% effective
A Potential Simple Method for "Bird-Proofing" Windows Read More »
I’m pleased to join my friends Kenn Kaufmann, Pete Dunne and others as a contributor to Birder’s World magazine, and editor Chuck Hagner promises that I will “reveal the real secrets” of bird identification. I don’t know if everyone’s really ready for that, but each of my columns will be a short illustrated discussion of
My new Birder’s World column Read More »