Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Keeping a year list makes even the most common birds exciting for a while.

Minnesota’s state bird may be gone right now, but the many Christmas loon decorations and gifts help to fill the vacuum.

Laura tells some pretty silly riddles in this one.

Laura gives the recap for this year’s Christmas Bird Count. (3:21)

Tomorrow is Duluth’s annual Christmas Bird Count. What can we expect? (3:45)

What is the difference between crows and ravens?

How much did Beethoven infuse his music with birds? (2:51) Date confirmed.

Laura gives tips about the best foods to offer birds. (3:28)

What kind of bird is Big Bird? Laura examined the question in 1986.

Laura reads from John Kieran’s account of the first time he ever encountered a nuthatch.

Laura did some investigative reporting to find out about eider down and where we get the down for sleeping bags. (3:47)

Rerecorded for 1987-11-25

Laura talks about the lovely little Snowflake, quoting John Burroughs about why it is “ever a voice of good cheer and contentment.” (3:15)

How are birds different from dinosaurs and pterosaurs? (3:35)

Thanksgiving pig-outs are nothing to what birds can consume.

Laura talks about why you’d have better luck finding a turkey in a grocery store or on a table than anywhere outdoors in Duluth.

Perusing an L.L. Bean catalog, Laura is reminded of all the ways birds are superior to humans.

The tiny junco, a.k.a. the snowbird, is treasured at feeding stations and in Anne Murray songs.

Laura talks about the magnificence of the Bald and Golden Eagles.

This is Laura’s original program about chickadees.

From socks to book, Laura has some gift suggestions for the birders in your life.

Laura reads Charlton Ogburn’s words about why humans are so fascinated with birds. 3:49 Date confirmed.

Veterans’ Day and Kurt Vonnegut’s birthday provide an appropriate opportunity to consider how birds have been used in wartime throughout the ages.

To celebrate Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s birthdays, Laura talks about the passing of the California Condor.

Recast from 7/11/86 (3:50) Date confirmed.

Movies about birds make some major mistakes.

Some useless yet fascinating trivia about birds.

Woodpeckers have several adaptations for slamming their faces into trees without killing themselves.

In the world of TV, you never know what birds are going to pop up where.

Laura reads a selection from Sigurd Olson’s The Singing Wilderness.

Laura gives a quiz in which she provides all the answers. (3:37) Date verified.

Sapsuckers, Gray Jays, Boreal Chickadees and more are visiting Duluth backyards right now. (3:30)

A man is suing Everglades National Park because when he played a recording of a Barred Owl, an owl did what owls do. (3:27) Date confirmed.

Goose overpopulation problems invariable started with foolish people, but solutions are very difficult.

Black-backed Woodpeckers are showing up near Hawk Ridge this year. (I’ve added an updated script at the end, but don’t know what date that one aired on.)

This is an excellent time to get your feeders up and running.

Birds are what make Duluth truly special. (3:40)

Tens of thousands of Broad-winged Hawks fly over Duluth every September.

Thousands of Blue Jays wing over Hawk Ridge and along Lake Superior every September. Don’t like it? Mark Twain loved them.

What cues do birds use to find their way?

Laura’s brother had racing pigeons as a boy. He started with one regular old city pigeon who ended up being his finest racer.

This was the first iteration of this one.

Laura makes a compelling case for why Purple Finches must be fans of the Minnesota Vikings. (3:08)

Some cool birds have turned up in Duluth in the past few days. 3:13

What diseases do birds get, and what can we do to protect them?

Disconcerting facts about DDT today. (3:48) Date verified.

What are the best foods to provide during early migration? (3:30)

Laura’s children have been watching Disney’s The Ugly Duckling, and have lots of questions.

Laura’s been fielding questions listeners send about birds.

Bird-eating hawks are passing through Duluth in big numbers right now. (3:33)

Working out fall warblers is tricky but rewarding. 3:10

Swallow migration is peaking. How do you recognize the different species?

Migration is already starting; Laura tells us what to watch for.

This is the first program Laura did about birds dealing with bad weather. (3:44)

This elegant bird is everywhere up here in August.

Laura talks about her favorite backyard bird and why it could make it into the pages of the National Enquirer. 3:43

Laura talks about the best approach to solving bird problems.

A listener from Meadowlands told Laura the song of the Winter Wren is her favorite of all.

Laura talks about the worst hazards for our backyard birds: window collisions, cats, and diseases.

Birds are hardest to find in summer. Rewarding as it is when you do find them, you might just want to take solace in Ogden Nash.

Romeo and Juliet’s first (and tragically their last) argument was about bird identification. (3:38) (Date and repeat verified)

Laura gives Mark Twain the last word on Blue Jays.

Mark Twain and Laura are very fond of Blue Jays—she explains why.

Why do hummingbirds disappear from feeders in late June and early July?

Some bird names are amusing; others give us interesting hints about the birds.

Laura talks about a promising program that may end up bringing Peregrine Falcons back to healthy population levels.

Little “flying cigars” are flying over Duluth right now.

Some birds are named for the sounds they make.

Laura talks about a bird from further south that appears up here now and then. (3:46)

Laura talks about the state bird of Washington, Iowa, and New Jersey.

Laura talks about a bird we usually hear while waiting for fireworks, the Common Nighthawk, and the bird on our national emblem.

Laura plays some very common bird sounds to help listeners figure out what birds they’re hearing.

Laura provides some information about Duluth’s nesting colony of Common Terns as well as some bad puns.

Laura talks about the treats in for hikers along Duluth’s Western Waterfront Trail.

Laura answers Simon and Garfunkel’s question.

The “swallows of Capistrano” are nesting in their little adobe houses.

Some of Laura’s listeners wrote to her about their favorite birds. (date confirmed)

What should you do if you find a baby bird? (Date confirmed)

Baby birds are everywhere! Why are ducklings so different from baby robins? (3:30) Date confirmed.

Laura talks about the bird Mr. Rogers sings about, Troglodytes aedon. (3:24)

Laura talks about a bird that has almost certainly vanished forever, unless it’s still hanging out in Cuba.

Laura explains why she keeps her feeders going all summer.

Laura talks about the bird that has joined her little daughter Katie having lunch at the picnic table. (Re-recorded for 1987-06-24)

Laura talks about the intelligent and wonderful (unless you hate it) American Crow.

Laura has advice for identifying the last big surge of spring migrants, and shares Ogden Nash’s words of commiseration as well.

When conditions are perfect for birding, they’re not so perfect for the birds. How can we help them?

A tiny, pugnacious bird with a liquid diet as sweet as soda pop.

Laura talks about the ubiquitous gulls sitting on lawns on the UMD campus, mooching for french fries at McDonald’s, fishing along the shore, fluttering in white clouds above the harbor.

Laura’s third “For the Birds” program, in the original trio of scripts she brought to KUMD in May 1986, is about a bird that people love (well, like) or hate.

This is the week Baltimore Orioles start appearing in Duluth. This program was one of the first three aired on KUMD in May 1986. I came into the station with three scripts when I wanted to see if anyone was interested in a local program about birds, Stephanie Hemphill recorded them on the spot, and decided I should do the program every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So I did.

The very first “For the Birds” program ever aired, in which I define the ddddddddddd’s—those “dull, dank, dark, drizzly, drippy depressing Duluth days, and the mmmmmm’s—magnificent Minnesota mornings, and explain why birders prefer the dddddddddd’s. (3:30)