Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Laura talks about how birds respond to the moon.

There is no blue pigment for feathers. So why are Blue Jays blue? Jim Baker invites your jays to stop on over at Baker’s Blue Jay Barn if they need a place to rest as they migrate.

Laura talks about the crests that many birds have, and Jim Baker urges you to buy “Baker’s Blue Jay Hot Cereal.”

Laura talks about Blue Jays in American folklore, and Jim Baker recommends Jaybelline eye cosmetics.

Where does the word “jay” come from? Laura talks about Blue Jays in our lives, and Jim Baker hawks Baker’s Blue Jay board games.

In honor of National Blue Jay Awareness Month, Laura investigates the difference in intelligence between a Blue Jay and a small child. This program features Tom Erickson when he was four years old.

Many baby birds can get along well with their siblings, but in some species, siblicide is the order of the day.

Birds usually work out their disagreements more peaceably than people do, and their squabbles are usually about more fundamental reasons. Jim Baker recommends Baker’s Blue Jay Party Mix.

Laura made the jump from records to compact disks, and now has a cassette recording of some European birds. And Jim Baker recommends Baker’s Blue Jay Video Games.

This was the original program that was improved in December 1999, telling us why we should marry someone like a Blue Jay.

A Great Horned Owl turned up at the John Duss Conservatory. And Jim Baker has suggestions for Christmas gifts for your Blue Jays.

Laura talks about the history of airplane-bird collisions, and about why the Duluth landfill had to close and relocate to prevent these collisions.

A true blue jay hater explains why she hates Blue Jays so very much.

A Pileated Woodpecker turned up in Laura’s yard on Thanksgiving. And Jim Baker tells us about Baker’s Blue Jay Barn’s newest product, Oil of Ojay. Give your jays the chance to grow old gracefully.

Feathers are uniquely characteristic of birds. How do birds maintain these fragile structures?

Jim Baker explains why to listen to For the Birds this month. (Jim Baker played by John Keenan.)

What do people do in a month with a Blue Moon?

November isn’t the time to look for warblers, or is it?

Laura is turning 39 this weekend and thinking, as usual, about birds and the Chicago Cubs. Date verified.

Laura brought her little boy Tommy and and her neighbor to see a Boreal Owl at UMD.

Laura explains why starlings are such a problem in the United States, but she didn’t have to look far to find someone who loves them.

Paul Schmitz helps Laura give some interesting history about starlings and Shakespeare.

Two years ago, Laura took her children to Grand Marais on a wild goose chase. This time, the King Eider showed up.

Recast from 12-12-86. (3:37)

Pileated Woodpeckers are not only splendid birds in their own right–they make the world better for other species as well.

In her continuing effort to bring us the inside story in the world of birds, Laura proves herself a very gutsy woman. (3:25) Date confirmed.

How do we know so much about White-crowned Sparrows?

What sparrows migrate through the Northland this time of year, and how do we tell them apart? 4:07 Date verified

Not everything that looks like a bird is a bird. (Date verified)

Laura got deathly ill from the bite of a louse that had been on a sick Sanderling. (date verified.)

How do birds far in storms?

What’s involved in counting birds? (3:57) Date verified.

Why are there three Sanderlings in Laura Erickson’s bathtub? (3:39) Date verified.

Anyone can watch bird migration. (3:57) Date verified

Do birds have a gall bladder? 3:41 (Date verified)

It’s easier to catch bugs as a bird than a human. (3:58) Date verified.

(Date verified) As flicker migration peaks in September, Laura looks at some interesting things about Alabama’s beloved “yellowhammer.”

Laura is enjoying birds and squirrels right now. (fall back when we had Chuckie.)

This is the original program Laura did after she learned that homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover wildlife damage and wrote to Dave Barry to investigate. (4:05) Date verified.

Many things are killing birds right now. Laura talks about some of the factors. (Verified date)

Nighthawks with the mantra, “Bolivia or Bust!” are passing through right now. Laura talks about how she cares for injured ones.

What will be necessary to help pintails return to their former large numbers?

Reworked from 1989-07-21

In 1987, Laura received a letter from Roger Tory Peterson about birds invading the fast food franchise habitat. This was a recasting of that script, but I have no idea when this program was redone.

(Recast from 1989) 3:55 Date verified

Paul Scott from South Range, Wisconsin, came upon Bald Eagles mating on “the muddiest day of mud season.”

Reworked from 1989-05-02

(sometime after 1987)

No idea about date

No clue when this first aired–a different version was repeated in March 2000.

Chickadees have a more interesting brain than scientists once thought. (still dot matrix printer–late december or early January, but no idea what year. Re-done–I put the edited script as 1900-01-12)