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Spoiler Alert: Can Gray Jays Survive Warmer Weather?
3 years ago - By All About Birds
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
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“Where'd they go?”
Scientist Ryan Norris was puzzled. Just moments ago, two doting Gray Jays were bouncing about the nearby spruce trees like Labrador retrievers happy to see their owner. When he wrapped a couple of cotton balls around one of the spruce tips, his rotund chums had quickly seized upon the offering. Cotton comes in handy for birds when they're in need of insulation material for nest...
Read more ...Canada's Gray Jay Debate
3 years ago - By All About Birds
Should the Gray Jay become the national bird of Canada? Illustration by Jillian Ditner, Bartels Science Illustrator.
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
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Unlike the United States with its Bald Eagle, and Mexico with its Golden Eagle, Canada doesn't have a national bird.
North America's northern dominion has a national emblem , a national horse , even national winter and summer sports. But no national bird.
In 2016, The Royal Canadian...
Read more ...Photo Essay: South Polar Skua, the Antarctic Survivor
3 years ago - By All About Birds
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
The South Polar Skua is famous for only two things: stealing penguin eggs and eating penguin chicks. What's a bird to do with such a bad reputation? A closer look at the largest skua colony in the world-1,300 pairs breeding among 300,000 Adelie Penguin pairs at Cape Crozier , Ross Island, Antarctica-shows there's much to admire in this inveterate survivor.
More From Living Bird Living Bird Winter 2018-Table Of Contents Living Bird Magazine-Latest Issue Living Bird Magazine Archives
“The drama of Antarctic bird life is not...
Read more ...Are Snow Buntings North America's Hardiest Songbird?
3 years ago - By All About Birds
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
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There's little about a Snow Bunting that isn't perfectly suited to life in the deep freeze. These winter wanderers are outfitted like little polar explorers, with a natural down parka of dense white feathers that cover even the birds' ankles and base of the bill-and keeps their exposure to cold at a minimum.
The adaptations are more than skin deep. A Snow Bunting's body temperature can dip 30 to...
Read more ...In a Crowded India, Farmers and Sarus Cranes Coexist
3 years ago - By All About Birds
A pair of duetting Sarus Cranes is considered good luck for a season's harvest. Photo by K. S. Gopi Sundar.
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
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It is hard to imagine a place less hospitable for cranes than the state of Uttar Pradesh in northeast India. Dominated by crowded urban centers and intense agriculture, Uttar Pradesh is geographically about the size of Michigan, and home to more than 200 million people-about the population...
Read more ...View from Sapsucker Woods: 2018 Is the Year of the Bird
3 years ago - By All About Birds
Red-tailed Hawk by David Speiser.
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
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In 2016 many bird enthusiasts and organizations, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, celebrated the centennial of the signing of a Migratory Bird Treaty between the United States and Great Britain (the latter an agent for the Commonwealth of Canada). This agreement to end the hunting of nongame birds in the U.S. and Canada would become a global...
Read more ...Bad News and Good News about Hawaiian Birds
3 years ago - By All About Birds
Iiwi feasting on an ohia tree. Photo by hawk person via Birdshare .
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
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Nearly every native forest bird of Hawaii is listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Until very recently, one of the happy exceptions to this grim rule was the Iiwi.
Historically, this cherry-red bird was among the most abundant birds on the islands. As recently as the late 1980s there were estimates...
Read more ...Gallery: The Alala
3 years ago - By All About Birds
From the Winter 2018 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now .
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The Hawaiian crow, or Alala, is getting a fresh start with reintroduction into the wild. As an artist on the big island of Hawaii, I take great pride in our native birds. For this piece, I was able to observe the Alala in captivity and paint this solitary Hawaiian Crow looking into the distance, with koa leaves dangling above its head. I used a purple color palette, straight surfaces, and right...
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Guide to Long Distance Binoculars
Guide to choosing the best high powered long distance binoculars to be used for land based observation. Most high lower bins are usually designed with astronomy in mind...
Best Birding Binocular 2016/2017
During the year many, many binoculars arrive on my desk for testing and review. So at times even I can find it a little overwhelming as to which is best. This every year I...
BirdWatching Binoculars 101
If you are new to birding, choosing your first pair of binoculars can seem a little daunting, but it needn't be. This guide takes you thought where to start and all the...
Into the Clouds
Trinidad's cloud forests typically aren't birded much. After all, the habitat is restricted to the highest and mostly inaccessible reaches of the mountain range across the...
Maine Jumpstarted My 2021 Birding
Like so many, the majority of my birding since the Covid-19 pandemic began has centered on my own backyard and local walking excursions. But as we kicked off 2021, I found...
Paradise Regained
Among all the birding locations I have found, Pino Real was my first love. I was just getting back into birding, and had only gone to some urban sites, during 2012 and 2013. I...
A Survey of U.S. Birders
Comprehensive surveys of U.S. birders are rare, so the recent release of a “ National Survey of Birdwatchers: Nationwide and Flyway Comparisons ” is notable. Although the...