Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Of the seven species of woodpeckers on Cuba’s official checklist, one is almost definitely extinct and one has appeared in the country only as an extremely rare vagrant. Laura saw all five of the others on her February visit to Cuba.

Seeing Bee Hummingbirds in Cuba last month filled Laura with joy.

During this bird flu outbreak experts are cautioning people to leave bird carcasses where they are, even though functionally illiterate eagles, dogs, and other creatures have been infected by these carcasses. Laura made a decision about how she will handle this situation if a carcass turns up in her yard.

Every spring it’s important to make sure our feeders are safe for birds. During this bird flu outbreak, this is more important than ever.

Famous migration patterns of swallows and cranes is scary this year, as wild and domesticated birds are still dying of highly pathogenic avian influenza and humans are getting infected, but we’re losing the very forces that usually manage these crises.

Laura is bewitched by Cuban Todies.

Laura’s hearing loss has grown worse since the pandemic, but suddenly things are looking up!!

The morning after she got home from Cuba, Laura and her husband set out for East Lansing, Michigan, so she could see a chickadee in the same area where she saw her first exactly 50 years ago. The blogpost corresponding to this segment is much longer, with lots of photos.

Laura had a splendid trip to Cuba.

Elon Musk is hoping to set up a launching and landing area for his SpaceX Starships in a very vulnerable, important area.

Laura and Russ had a “Three Owl Morning” on Superb Owl Sunday.

Laura tells the true story of a baby Pine Siskin.

Laura’s feeders are buzzing with the “Miss Congenialities” of the finch family.

STOP feeding ducks! Feeding other birds may be fine, depending on where you live.

Knowing when and when not to intervene when an owl seems distressed is not straightforward.

For a while in the 90s, Laura had two licensed education birds, a nighthawk and a Blue Jay, both lovable but entirely different. They inspired this story, written in 2020.

Laura’s stayed healthy while birding in Central and South America, Europe, and Africa thanks to the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health.

BB the banded Pileated Woodpecker still visits Laura’s yard now and then.

Jimmy Carter did not fail us. We failed him. (I used Lang Elliott’s recording of a Brown Thrasher, the state bird of Georgia, for this program.)

Northern owls are staging an irruption this year, many of them physically stressed. Birders can’t help but want to see them. If birders stick together and stay on the road, most owls can handle birders and photographers.

Laura has lots of plans to celebrate her “Year of the Chickadee.”

It took Laura 67 days from receiving her first pair of binoculars to her going out to find her first bird. How did she spend that time?

Fifty years ago, Laura was abysmally ignorant about birds. And then–a miracle!