Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Chickadee activity is one of the joys of December.

Bayer announced that they are withdrawing some of their patented GMO seeds.

Sad news about Whooping Cranes, and a new report about the prospects of many species with climate change. And good news about the building where New York’s Pale Male is nesting.

In addition to the ideas Laura presented yesterday, she recommends multimedia such as the Thayer guide–either the continental or the state version. She also recommends membership in the American Bird Conservancy. She explains some binocular basics, and recommends 8 power, mid-price models as a basic rule.

Laura recommends the Cornell Lab’s Handbook of Bird Biology for anyone who is deeply interested in birds. Lang Elliott’s Know Your Bird Sounds CD sets and Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs are great for anyone. Stan Tekela’s Birds of Minnesota leaves out too many birds to be useful.

The famous hawk living at 927 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan is far more popular with some people than others, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is less focused on protecting nesting raptors than they once were.

Laura drove through extremely harrowing, icy conditions this weekend to the Twin Cities. En route she stopped at Tobies, where the Duluth newspaper had a big picture of Viola above the fold. Delighted people were gathered, looking at the paper.

Sad news about the Poʻouli of Hawaii, and more cheerful news about Saw-whet Owls, and how their feathers glow pink under ultraviolet lights.

Sage grouse are losing the sage they require as cheat grass is taking over, and the oil, gas, and cattle industries are fighting protecting the dangerously threatened species.

When Laura was keeping her hummingbird feeders going for a Rufous Hummingbird in November and December in 2004, she was rewarded by a Pileated Woodpecker coming to a very close box elder right when her window was open to photograph it.

How did the saga of Viola the November Hummingbird end?

As of December 2, Laura’s hummingbird is still there, but acting more cold stressed. Is she genetically unfit?

More than 15,000 animal species are in danger of extinction according to a recent report, and this is considered a vast underestimate. Continental extinctions are rising now, in addition to the many extinctions on islands. Hawaii contains 0.2% of the US land mass, but over 25% of the endangered species of the country.

Laura is in Florida, so had to make arrangements for someone to make sure the hummingbird is getting food.

The number of owls people are seeing in northern Minnesota is almost unbelievable. No one is sure why they’re down here—most of the ones banders are dealing with are of good weight.

Laura’s hummingbird is still visiting, and she reports on some other out-of-place hummingbirds wintering here and there in the northeastern US.

Are Evening Grosbeaks really declining, or are we simply misremembering how abundant they once were?

(This program was reworked from 2003)

Laura had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird on October 1, for just a few minutes. And yesterday a new hummingbird showed up briefly!

The Great Horned Owl is the only raptor in Minnesota that is not protected legally in the state. Customs found Mountain Hawk-Eagles in a poacher’s bag. Bird flu is now being found in Russia. And the RSPB is recommending organic, bird-compatible rice crops.

Chickadees help keep us young.

Politicians in this election likened themselves to an eagle and their opponent as an ostrich.

Laura witnessed some extraordinary northern lights and started wondering about how birds perceive them.

Researchers are discovering plastic in the digestive tracts of seabirds in northern Canada and Alaska, and that albatrosses pick up cigarette lighters and other trash that they feed their young.

An Israeli ornithologist is working on protecting Israeli military aircraft from collisions with migrating birds by mapping bird migration and how high birds are depending on weather, to figure out where and when aircraft can fly most safely during migration. Thanks to his work, bird-aircraft collisions have declined 75 percent.

Audubon just released their State of the Birds report: 30 percent of North American birds, including 70 percent of grassland species, are declining significantly. A study in Washington found that students who had environmental education programs in their schools did better in other subjects as well. Audubon recommends that while people are waiting at the polls, they should use their birding skills.

Laura looked forward for many years to seeing the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, which are found in North America only in St. Louis. She happened to accomplish her goal the very morning after the St. Louis Cardinals broke the Boston Red Sox curse, but she doesn’t mention that in this program.

How did people create so many superstitions revolving around birds?

A western corvid named for William Clark has inexplicably turned up in Silver Bay.

Lots of amazing birds have been appearing in Duluth lately, so Laura and Photon headed out to see some at Erie Pier.

West Nile Virus, which has now reached Hawaii, is hitting birds far worse than it is humans. Individually tracked crows in Ithaca, New York, are reacting to losses of relatives and neighbors in surprisingly human ways.

Canada is considering a potentially dangerous pipeline; garlic repels birds as effectively as it does vampires; birds caught by banders in the U.K. are setting new longevity records; and Northwestern Crows are sneakier with their families than with strangers.

A late Ruby-throated Hummingbird turned up in Laura’s yard last week.

More birds have been killed in this year’s devastating hurricane season.

Bad News: Bald Eagles have been succumbing to West Nile Virus, and foggy weather in Duluth and Milwaukee have been killing migrants. Good News: Red-cockaded Woodpeckers may be more resilient than people thought.

Downy Woodpeckers are dealing as well as they can with Duluth’s massive hawk migration.

How did Hurricane Charley affect coastal birds? And drug testing for racing pigeons?

A coal mine may put endangered Great Spotted Kiwis in jeopardy in New Zealand, and ornithologists are manipulating the tongues of dead parrots as they pass air through the syrinx to see if they can produce vowel sounds.

Tonight Duluth Audubon will hear from Jim Fitzpatrick about the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s 1935 expedition to record Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, and about their much more recent acoustic monitoring in an attempt to find any survivors or verify that they are truly gone.

This year’s hurricanes have pushed a lot of birds around.

Burrowing Owls clearly do not watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The little owls’ use of dung around their nest attracts beetles that the owls eat.

The Wall Street Journal tells an exciting story about Atlantic Puffins and how children in Iceland rescue them. Of course, they were scooped by children’s book author Bruce McMillan, who wrote Nights of the Pufflings in 1995.

Hawk migration is starting to pick up right now. (5:02) Date confirmed.

Laura is savoring her hummingbirds while they’re still here.

A terrible die-off of migrating storks in Israel, research to make racing pigeons taste bad to Peregrine Falcons, and research into Townsend’s and Hermit Warblers are stories this week. (5:32) date confirmed

Music in and out. (4:21)

A Great Horned Owl, a murder of crows, and a spunky Blue Jay were the characters in an exciting drama in Laura’s neighborhood. (Laura reworked this in 2019) (3:55) Date confirmed.

THis program was written new for this date. (4:59)

A tern die-off in Massachusetts, a rare bird turning up in Massachusetts, and discovery of a “new species” that indigenous people had known about all along are the stories this week.

Different strokes for different folks, and different migration strategies for different birds.

Laura has some tips for those who live near shorelines. (4:48)

Protecting people indoors may help birds outside.

DDT can provide safe and effective protection from mosquito-borne diseases when applied to upper walls and ceilings.

Scott Diehl reports on a Peregrine Falcon with a fractured wing, someone intentionally running down a group of gulls, a Green Heron entangled in monofilament, and a Red-tailed Hawk that had been caught in Tanglefoot.

Tracking White-capped (Shy) Albatrosses in a race raises a lot of money and awareness for conservation.

Odd duck. Just ducky. “Chick,” in reference to a woman. Where did those expressions come from?

More serious climate change problems.

The sandeel population in the northern Atlantic crashed, probably more due to warming waters than overfishing, and this led to an unprecedented crash in seabird breeding in many places.

Blue Jays are facing West Nile Virus, but once in a blue moon we should take time to honor them.

Racing pigeon mystery, West Nile virus update, research on the color blue in birds and mammals, and an odd story about a birder who became mired in mud while tracking down some Great Blue Herons. (5:26) Date confirmed.

Cedar Waxwings are gathering in flocks, so many calling at once in soft, sibilant calls that the bushes sound as if they’re purring with sleepy contentment. (5:02) Date confirmed.

People seem to be selling wild birds and their parts on eBay. (4:16) Date confirmed.

A young man—a very young man—discovered a Wood Stork in Grand Marais.

Dealing with baby shorebirds is very tricky, but this story has a happy ending. (5:04) Date confirmed.

One of Laura’s favorite spots on the planet has been fenced off. (5:04) Date confirmed.

The largest American White Pelican colony in the world, in North Dakota, has suddenly been abandoned and no one knows why, or where the birds went.

When Laura started birding, it took her some time to learn the names of the everyday birds she’d been seeing her whole life.

Laura and an Elderhostel group just had a splendid evening at a spot near Shannon Lake in Wisconsin, looking at and listening to nighthawks and whip-poor-wills.

Noel Cutright is running a Breeding Bird Survey every single day from May 30 through the end of June to raise money for bird conservation.

Laura’s third nestling has fledged from high school.

On May 24, a major bird kill happened at a lighted tower at the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area.

Laura’s been enjoying Cape May Warblers, up close and personal. (5:42) (date confirmed)

A freakishly cold snap is sending a lot of unusual birds to backyard feeders.

Laura had a scary encounter with a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

The Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail officially opens Thursday, May 20, in a ceremony at Crex Meadows, and Laura will be speaking at the celebration.

Baby geese are hatching in Port Wing, leading to dramatic, heartbreaking, and joyful sights.

There is no excuse for running over a prairie chicken. (5:13)

Loon nest platforms are working wonders for nesting loons, but it’s extremely important not to provide too much of a good thing. (5:17)

Duluth Audubon and the Lake Superior Zoo are joining forces to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day this weekend.

Laura and Photon discovered a weasel and other delights on their walk. (5:35) Date confirmed.

Laura gives this one a thumbs up. (5:14) Date confirmed.

“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” But in cities is the preservation of wildness.

Trying to figure out where Evening Grosbeaks have gone is tricky.

The Miss Manners of Birding has a few gentle suggestions for proper deportment at social gatherings, and extends an invitation.

April is most cruel for lonely souls, in the face of all the pairings and romantic songs and surging new life all around. Perhaps we must feel a part of nature, rather than bitter onlookers, to take joy in the reawakening of song and romance and nesting and new life. (5:05) Date confirmed.

Laura reads a poem by David Bottoms to celebrate a new spring arrival. (3:28) Date confirmed.

The 2003 US Fish and Wildlife Service Mourning Dove survey showed a shocking 46.4% decline in Mourning Dove breeding numbers from the 2002 tally. Overall, this adds up to a 5.6% average annual decline during the past 10 years, and a 2.1% average annual population drop since the survey began in 1966. Why did the Minnesota DNR hide these numbers when proposing a dove hunt? (4:36) Date confirmed

California Condors in the Grand Canyon area are leading lives right out of a soap opera. (4:53) Date confirmed.

Laura talks about some of the interesting stories in the current Wilson Bulletin, including one that brings to mind her “pooped-upon” list of birds that have pooped on her.

Laura has tips on how to protect birds from some horrible fates.

Why do accipiter eyes change color as they get older?

Diclofenac, a common veterinary analgesic, is wiping out the vultures of India, Pakistan, and Nepal, leading to tragic consequences for people as well. (6:01)

Laura went down to St. Paul to testify about the proposed Mourning Dove season, but dirty tricks were the order of the day. (7:27)

Mercury is in way more objects than Laura realized. (5:11)

Visiting the Platte River in Nebraska is well worth the effort. (5:12)

Sewage overflows and crumbling infrastructure promise to endanger birds and us. Conserving water will at least minimize the problems. (6:22)

How does saving energy help birds? (7:47)

Laura reads from the March entry of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac.

Laura’s working on a conservation book, and one section is about cats. (6:11)

Laura celebrated the 29th anniversary of seeing her first Black-capped Chickadee by feeding her backyard chickadees by hand, when what to her wondering eyes should appear but a Boreal Chickadee.

How can we reduce the number of birds that crash into our windows? And how big of a problem is it, anyway? (5:30)

This year we’re enjoying many early signs of spring, along with some late winter birds.

Laura reads “Wild Geese,” “Goldfinches,” and “Little Owl” from Owls and Other Fantasies. Date confirmed.

How much does our choice of coffee affect birds? A lot. (Date confirmed)

Laura plays sound clip excerpts from her new DVD. (Date confirmed)

Is Mary Oliver a birder or a birdwatcher? You be the judge. Date confirmed.

The ecological importance of woodpeckers is, literally, mushrooming. (Date confirmed)

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology sponsors a fun and valuable bird count every February. (Date confirmed)

Millions of chickens are being slaughtered as some humans have died from bird flu. (Date confirmed)

Laura tells the story of a squirrel without a tail. (Date confirmed.)

From calendar on old Dell computer–no details.

Varied Thrushes occasionally appear in the Midwest in mid-winter. No one understands why. (Slightly modified from one from December 2001.)

I don’t know if this one was new or not–from old Dell computer calendar file, so no details.

From calendar on old Dell computer–no details.

More and more hunters are taking part in “canned hunts,” in which they can shoot unlimited numbers of pheasants and ducks without licenses. (Date confirmed)

This year there have been several wintering Brown Thrashers, including one on the Isabella Christmas Bird Count. (Date confirmed) Two different versions, one with the Beatles song A Little Help from My friends.

Laura saw several wonderful birds on New Years Day, including a Pileated Woodpecker! (Date Confirmed)