Laura Erickson's For the Birds

What’s one lone Evening Grosbeak doing at Laura Erickson’s feeder? That’s what she’d like to know. 3:59

If it’s tough to be a bird, it’s tougher to be a tasty bird.

Columbus was hardly a discoverer.

Reworked from 2-1-88. (3:52)

Today we hear the continuing saga of a lost little Blue Jay. 3:47

What happens when a little Blue Jay decides to visit a kindergarten class? 3:39

What it like to have a Blue Jay loose in the house? 4:02 (Date confirmed)

What bird is also known as a clape or gaffer? 3:47

How are Laura Erickson’s baby Blue Jays doing? 3:54

What does it feel like to count dickeybirds at dawn? 4:08

Is it safe to keep hummingbird feeders out in September? Laura Erickson gives an emphatic yes. 3:12

What’s a pigeon doing sleeping in Laura Erickson’s rain gutter? 3:42 Date confirmed

What bird has been described as “the prettiest and jauntiest of our hawks”? 3:15

How do birds keep cool? 3:31

Are birds really declining? 4:01 (I think this is the right transcript for this date.)

How does a chick breathe inside its egg? 3:40

What’s the difference between a gaggle and a skein of geese? 3:46 (Date confirmed–program adapted from 1988 and 1989)

Is it true that Hummingbird feeders must be brought in before Labor Day? 3:45

In what peculiar way does a radio-birdwatcher’s mind work? 3:49

What weighs less than 2 ounces yet is as aggressive as Tyrannosaurus Rex? 3:21

Today Laura Erickson celebrates Odgen Nash’s birthday. 3:39

What kind of heavy equipment do Blue Jays like better, a backhoe or a cement truck? 3:49 date verified

Why do nighthawks and crows dislike home construction projects? 3:49 Date confirmed

What happens when 75 Brownie Girl Scouts meet 2 baby Blue Jays? 3:21 date confirmed

What flies 650 miles on a non-stop, 26-hour flight, using only 2 grams of fuel? 3:25

Summer is already over for many birds. 4:07

What bird sounds like a tiny mouse snoring? 3:23

What’s a baby Blue Jay’s favorite TV show? 4:22

Laura Erickson recently discovered that Lake Superior isn’t as clean as she thought it was. 3:31

What’s more fun than a house full of Blue Jays? 4:05 (date verified)

Sometimes, being upwardly mobile isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. 4:10 date verified

What birds are visiting the Erickson feeders this summer? 3:33

What is 109º, thin-skinned, and has a neck like ET? 4:04 Date confirmed

One by one, the little baby vireos have died, except one.

A woman “rescued” four baby Red-eyed Vireos, but fed them inappropriate food and didn’t keep them clean until it was too late.

Some birds are having a hard time this summer; others are doing quite well. The Airstreamers aren’t the only ones displeased with Duluth’s weather this summer.

Why is it that at the same time that some birds are becoming endangered for want of wilderness, others are thriving in our most urban environments? 4:02

How can people help birds? 3:54

How do birds stay clean? 3:44

Why does Laura Erickson like Blue Jays so much? 3:58

Today we hear the story of a South Range, Wisconsin, listener who had a chance encounter with a pair of Bald Eagles. 3:43

Why do redwings chase crows? 3:48

What bird did William Cullen Bryant call Robert of Lincoln? 4:12

What bird, like an alligator, lays its eggs in a mound of dirt and then abandons them? 3:55

How can little ducklings be so cute when newly-hatched robins are so ugly? 3:52

For years, Laura has been reading, and reporting, that loons have red eyes to help them see underwater. Turns out this isn’t quite true.

Laura drove down to Oklahoma, enjoying birds all along the way.

Reworked from 1989-03-02

Why does Laura call Mallards the “Bill Clintons of the bird world”?

Laura talks about the early migrants arriving now, and what they sound like.

(The filed transcript has modifications used in a later version of this program.)

Laura talks about the recent storm’s effect on birds, and recounts a devastating storm in 1904. (4:04) Date confirmed.

Modified from 3/24/89 (3:40)

Laura produced this program for April Fools Day when the Music of Your Life was her mother-in-law’s favorite radio station. The program features Russ, Joe, Katie, and Tom Erickson and John Keenan.

The noisiest owl of all is also one of Laura’s favorites.

Laura’s taking care of a pure white pigeon she’s calling Imelda. 4:07, date verified.

Laura talks about a pesky but interesting bird that has been in America for 101 years, and explains why introductions of exotic animals are usually harmful. (This program definitely aired this week, but date is not certain.)

Laura celebrates her wedding anniversary thinking about bird hearts. (4:02) (Date confirmed) (Reworked from 3-18-88)

What other species can find their way, and how do they do it?

Cats and dogs returning home over incredible distances are legendary, and true. But homing is most studied in pigeons, not mammals. Laura tells the story of her brother and his prize-winning pigeon Rocky.

Chickadees warm our hearts even the fiercest winter cold. (This is a remake of the original.)

Laura recounts some stories behind the birds on her lifelist. (3:31) Date confirmed. Might have been modified slightly for a remake.

Instead of looking over seed catalogs in February, Laura looks at her old bird lists. (Date verified)

Warm weather in winter is a mixed blessing. (Date confirmed)

Laura’s heading down to Texas to see some exciting birds. (4:07) Date confirmed.

Laura announces that For the Birds is going on hiatus for the duration of “Operation Desert Storm.”

The most bird for the least substance is a haunting presence in the north woods.

Why don’t birds get frostbitten toes? (4:05)

A lot of birds depend on having old growth and mature forests.

Winter finches aren’t around this year. Where are they? “Someplace else.”

Dead birds are fascinating, but mere shadows of the living, breathing creatures that deserve our protection.

This is a reworked program from 1-1-88, and based on the script changes, should have aired at the end of 1990 (but that was National Blue Jay Awareness Month) rather than the start of 1991. So the date isn’t certain.