Bird & Nature Blog

,

Bird Names for Birds

,

Birds are awesome. They come in all different shapes, sizes, sounds, colors, and habitats. Some are bold and loud, some are elusive and quiet. Some perform, build dozens of nests, or sing beautiful melodies to attract a mate. Some eat fish, others seed, others insects, others nectar. Some are striped, some speckled, some solid colors. Some migrate, some overwinter. Birds are AMAZING.

Some of the people they’re named for, however, are not amazing. These people lived lives that do not uphold the morals and standards the bird community should memorialize. Birds should have bird names, and these honorifics should be changed. Instead of naming a bird after a person, why not give birds names that describe the bird?

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar

Goose Pond Sanctuary now in your home

We welcome you to explore the brand new Goose Pond Storymap. This interactive website is designed to introduce or reacquaint you to this 730 acre sanctuary and all it offers you, including hiking trails, points of interest, and more. This storymap brings Goose Pond to you, wherever you are, through your smartphone or computer.

Photo by Monica Hall

,

Greed and birds are a bad mix

,

In the last days of the Trump administration, the Department of Interior ended some protection of migratory birds. The rollback consisted of removing penalties for actions that killed or injured birds but were perpetrated without the intention of killing birds. One past example of such an act was popularly cited: the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster which released millions of gallons of oil and destroyed hundreds of thousands of birds (and many other creatures). One that resonated with me would be a person or company who deliberately used a banned pesticide. Even if that poison killed many birds, the perpetrator would not be liable under the Trump Administration's revised regulations because the intent was to kill some sort of pest, not birds. This loss of protection changed the interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that has protected migratory birds for decades.

Photo by Monica Hall

, ,

A Birder's Online Toolbox

, ,

We’re entering into our second week of extremely cold, frigid temperatures—making outdoor birding a challenge. I’ve been focusing on some window-birding from my apartment for the Great Backyard Bird Count, but I’ve also been using this indoor time to explore more of my favorite online birding resources and brush up on my identification skills. Spring migration is just around the corner, after all. (That’s what I keep telling myself to get through these negative temps!)

This week’s Entryway to Birding blog is going to share some of my favorite free resources that I use to give my birding skills an edge. When the pandemic hit and I wasn’t able to go on field trips and learn from our area’s expert birders, I turned online to find free resources that could help me navigate the complex world of bird identification. This post is somewhat of a mish-mash of resources, but I hope you can find something useful in here to add to your own birding toolbox.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

,

Good news for Cerulean Warblers and us

,

Please, please, please use this link to read how the MVC and an incredibly generous anonymous donor saved 108 acres of Crawford County habitat important to migrating Cerulean Warblers and other songbirds. And this land will be open for us to watch those lovely birds and the other cool flora and fauna the land supports.

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren