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Articles by Barry MacKay
We must protect wildlife against Doug Ford
By: Barry Kent MacKay When something is not working well, do you make it worse, or better? Worse if you are the government of Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario.
I fear cars more than coyotes, hereâs why.
By: Barry Kent MacKay, Honourary Director On February 13th, 2025, City TV published an article by Dilshad Burman about the vexing problem created by the clash between coyotes and humans in Liberty Village, in the urban core of Toronto, near the lake. There, a group of residents have formed the Coyote Watch Coalition (CWC), after a series of âattacksâ by âaggressiveâ coyotes.
A Renaming Committee of One
BirdNote® A Renaming Committee of One Written by J. Drew Lanham This is BirdNote. I’m J. Drew Lanham, an ornithologist, naturalist and writer. As we consider redacting the names of people from birds, it’s important to remember birds are flesh, feather and bone monuments of life, hope and higher aspiration. So it does matter. But I’m just one Black, bird-loving ornithologist, so what can I do? This is what. I’m taking the lark by the horns and forming my own committee of one.
Gulls or 'Seagulls'?
Gulls seem so much a part of the sea that we often just call them "seagulls," a colloquial title for these graceful, ubiquitous creatures. Twenty-two species breed in North America. The Pacific coast is home to the aptly named Western Gulls. The familiar Ring-billed Gull nests all across the northern states and Canadian provinces. Herring Gulls breed along the Great Lakes and Northeast waterways, while these Laughing Gulls nest all along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. BirdNote® Gulls or Seagulls?
Janet Ng on Becoming a Wildlife Biologist
BirdNote® Janet Ng on Becoming a Wildlife Biologist Written by Conor Gearin This is BirdNote. [Saskatchewan wetland soundscape] When Janet Ng was a kid, there was a very specific moment when she realized what she wanted to be as a grown-up. Janet Ng: I actually expressly remember watching a nature documentary, and they were interviewing a wildlife biologist.
Using Machine Learning to Forecast Bird Migration
BirdNote® Using Machine Learning to Forecast Bird Migration Written by Conor Gearin This is BirdNote. [Snow Geese flying overhead] Scientists can now forecast bird migration based on weather and how it affects bird flight. But weather isn’t the whole story – habitats on the ground also influence the birds’ journeys, says PhD student Mikko Jimenez.
The Mississippi Sandhill Crane Makes a Comeback
BirdNote® The Mississippi Sandhill Crane Makes a Comeback Written by Georgia Sparling This is BirdNote. I’m Georgia Sparling, a writer and podcaster from Southern Mississippi. [Sandhill Crane calls] There's something arresting about the Mississippi Sandhill Crane. Long-legged and four feet tall, they’re almost exclusively gray with a striking rust-colored crown on their heads. The birds are anything but subtle.
Renaming the San Pedrito
BirdNote® Renaming the San Pedrito This is BirdNote. [Puerto Rican forest soundscape] [San Pedrito/Puerto Rican Tody calls] The Puerto Rican Tody is a tiny green bird found only in Puerto Rico, where the species is called San Pedrito. [San Pedrito/Puerto Rican Tody calls] But the scientific name for these birds is Todus mexicanus, despite the fact that they don’t live in Mexico. People in Puerto Rico are working to get the San Pedrito an appropriate scientific name.
Birds Are Evolving Rapidly - Today
House Finches are evolving rapidly and visibly. In 1941, some captive House Finches from California escaped near NYC. They spread rapidly and are now found across most of the US. We know the finches have evolved, because those that survive differ from their parents. Size is one example. Male House Finches in recently established populations are larger than the males that escaped. Females have become smaller and survive better than larger females as nestlings.
Turkey Vultures and Gas Pipelines
Do vultures detect carrion by sight or by smell? The lightbulb moment came to ornithologist Kenneth Stager when a Union Oil employee told him of vultures congregating at the spots along pipelines where gas leaks were occurring. Why would they do that? Because a key ingredient in the odor of carrion is ethyl mercaptan — the same substance companies add to odorless natural gas in their pipelines, so they could smell if there was a leak.
The Benefits of a Raven's Black Feathers
It turns out, a raven's black plumage works quite well in the desert. Black feathers do conduct the sun’s warming rays, but they concentrate that solar heat near the feathers’ surface. All it takes is a breeze from the wind, or from flying, to move all that heat away from the surface of the feathers. If you ever miss a BirdNote, you can always get the latest episode.
Puffling Patrol | BirdNote
Just off the southern coast of Iceland, the Westman Islands are home to many of the country’s several million Atlantic Puffins. When puffin hatchlings, known as pufflings, get confused by the lights of the city, volunteers of all ages search for wayward pufflings on the street and bring them in for health checks. After the puffins get the green light, the volunteers release them along cliffs and beaches. BirdNote® Puffling Patrol Written by Lauren Colella This is Birdnote.
Bringing Condor Home
BirdNote® Bringing Condor Home Written by Tiana Williams-Claussen This is BirdNote. Aiy-yue-kwee nee-kee-chyue. Nek ‘new Tiana Williams-Claussen, esee Puleek’ ‘ne-mey’. I am a Yurok Tribal member, from the village of Wehl-kwel’. My home is in northwestern California, where the Klamath River meets the Pacific Ocean, in the mountains and beautiful coastlines here. The Yurok people have co-evolved with this region as both caretakers and recipients of its bounties.
Opinion | Endangered frogs face enough dangers in nature. We need to better protect them from humans
Upon entering showbiz, Kermit the Frog meant no harm to real frogs. He is among factors blamed for the endangerment of glass frogs, a family of tropical frogs called Centrolenidae. Most are thumbnail sized and some have transparent skin, allowing their internal organs to be seen. There are 158 known species, two discovered recently. Undoubtedly more will be found. They occur only in Central and South America. Being tiny, nocturnal and arboreal, it can be impossible to determine population numbers.
Opinion | Endangered frogs face enough dangers in nature. We need to better protect them from humans
Upon entering showbiz, Kermit the Frog meant no harm to real frogs. He is among factors blamed for the endangerment of glass frogs, a family of tropical frogs called Centrolenidae. Most are thumbnail sized and some have transparent skin, allowing their internal organs to be seen. There are 158 known species, two discovered recently. Undoubtedly more will be found. They occur only in Central and South America. Being tiny, nocturnal and arboreal, it can be impossible to determine population numbers.
The Wilson’s Phalarope's Dance
Marcela Castellino works as a conservation specialist for Manomet’s Flyways team, visiting wetlands, salt lagoons, and salt flats around Mar Chiquita in Argentina, one of South America’s biggest salty wetlands. She surveys shorebirds to track their populations and strengthen their conservation. One species she studies, Wilson’s Phalarope, travels from their breeding grounds in North America to winter in huge numbers at Mar Chiquita.
Banding Birds | BirdNote
BirdNote® Banding Birds Written by Allison Wilson This is BirdNote. [Field recording from bird banding station] During fall migration, this bird banding station, operated by the Willistown Conservation Trust, is in full swing. It’s late September at the Rushton Woods Preserve on the outskirts of Philadelphia.
Jays Identify Good Nuts by Shaking Them
BirdNote® Jays Identify Good Nuts by Shaking Them Written by GrrlScientist This is BirdNote. Some birds stash unopened seeds for use later. But how do they know which seeds are worth the trouble, before expending valuable energy to open them? [Mexican Jay call and mechanical sound http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/96005] Recently published research by a team of scientists from South Korea and Poland may provide an answer.
Hawai‘i’s One-of-a-Kind Bird Diversity
BirdNote® Hawai‘i’s One-of-a-Kind Bird Diversity Adapted from the Threatened podcast This is BirdNote. [Palila song] Hawai‘i is home to many birds found nowhere else. In a stunning example of natural selection, birds called honeycreepers evolved to fill many different roles in Hawaiian ecosystems. It’s a process called adaptive radiation, says Colleen Cole, the program manager of the Three Mountain Alliance.
Native Hawaiian Names for Birds
BirdNote® Native Hawaiian Names for Birds Adapted from the Threatened podcast This is BirdNote. [clip of Noah’s mele] Noah Gomes is an educator and researcher with a life-long love of birds and a passion for Hawaiian culture and language. Noah Gomes: Our native birds have a lot of meaning and a lot of different ways. A lot of them appear in our stories and our mele, our chants.
Having Your Tail Scared Off
When a hawk is about to capture a songbird, the songbird has one last trick: a fright molt. It’s when a bird loses feathers due to sudden stress. This usually involves feathers near the tail or rump, where they’re most likely to be attacked as they flee. It can be a saving grace when the bird is about to be caught — similar to a lizard dropping its tail. There’s a downside to having your tail scared off. A tail helps the bird turn and balance in flight.
Celebrating Female Bird Day
BirdNote® Celebrating Female Bird Day Written by Conor Gearin This is BirdNote. In 2019, several co-workers at the National Audubon Society formed a team for the World Series of Birding that focused on identifying female birds. They sought to highlight how female birds have been understudied and unfairly written off as quieter and less interesting. And they had the perfect name for themselves: The Galbatrosses.
Puffin Bills Glow
BirdNote® Puffin Bills Glow Written by Mark Bramhill This is BirdNote. Puffins are known for their flashy bills, striped in black, white, and vibrant yellow and orange, like a giant piece of candy-corn. They shed and regrow the bill’s colorful outer layer each year, likely donning their best attire to help attract a mate. But there’s more to their bills than meets the eye — well, the human eye, anyway.
Female Condors Have Offspring Without Males
A captive breeding program has helped set California Condors on the path to recovery. But when biologists reviewed the family tree for the breeding program, they found a big surprise. Two chicks had DNA that linked them perfectly to their mothers but didn’t match a single male. They arose through parthenogenesis, developing from unfertilized eggs without sperm from a male. These condors are the first case of parthenogenesis in a wild bird species where the females had access to fertile males.
Danielle Whittaker and the Mystery of Bird Scent
When biologist Danielle Whittaker started studying bird odors, some scientists tried to discourage her, claiming that birds can’t smell. But that only deepened her curiosity. Once, she caught a whiff of a cowbird, which smelled to her like sugar cookies. Danielle and her colleagues studied Dark-eyed Juncos and found that they produce many odors that help influence breeding behavior. Learn more in Danielle Whittaker’s new book, The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent.
Falcons, Parrots, The Tree of Life
Scientists have puzzled for centuries over how different groups of birds are related. Did birds that look physically alike, such as falcons and hawks, arise from a common ancestor, or did they reach those similarities independently? This line of inquiry was given an immense boost in recent years when an international research team unraveled the genetic codes of 48 species of birds.
Birds on the March with Army Ants
BirdNote® Birds on the March with Army Ants Written by Conor Gearin This is BirdNote. [rainforest ambi, maybe Quiet Planet QP01 0038 Tropical forest morning.wav] [fade in drumbeat] In Panama, thousands of army ants on the march, looking for prey, are a fearsome sight. As the ants pass through the leaf litter, they stir up countless grasshoppers, cockroaches, beetles, and even lizards that flee in terror.
From Simple to Complex Bird Sounds
BirdNote® From Simple to Complex Bird Sounds Written by The World According to Sound [Turkey Vulture call] This is Birdnote. [Turkey Vulture call] From the simplest bird sounds to the most complex. Most birds make sounds with their syrinx. But a turkey vulture doesn’t actually have one. [Turkey Vulture call] This cormorant has only one set of muscles to control its syrinx.
Birds Berries and Germination
BirdNote® Birds, Berries and Germination Written by Bob Sundstrom This is BirdNote. [Hermit Thrush, ML 100856, 0:06-0:12] When birds swallow berries, they also ingest the seeds within the pulp. After just half an hour or so, they dispose of the seed by passing it through their digestive system or regurgitating it. Either way, the hard seeds wind up on the ground. There’s an evolutionary reason for this. Plants that evolved fruits with edible flesh could attract birds to eat them.
Migrations: Pine Siskin Irruption
BirdNote® Pine Siskin Irruption Written by Ariana Remmel This is BirdNote. Do you ever see flocks of birds in your yard that show up in droves one year but are completely absent the next? [Pine Siskin songs https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/304501831] Take this flock of Pine Siskins swarming around a thistle feeder, their wings briefly flashing yellow as they flit about.
Migrations: Veeries Predict Hurricanes
In some years, tawny-colored thrushes called Veeries cut their breeding season short. Researchers discovered that Veeries tend to stop breeding early in the same years that the Atlantic hurricane season is particularly severe. Surprisingly, Veeries are sometimes better at predicting hurricane conditions than computer models! Despite their forecasting prowess, though, Veeries are vulnerable to climate change. BirdNote® Veeries Predict Hurricanes Written by Ariana Remmel This is BirdNote.
A Rainbow of Magpies
Unlike the black and white magpies of the American West, the Indochinese Green-Magpie is vivid green with bright red wings and a red beak. The Sri Lanka Blue-Magpie is rich rusty-brown and dark blue. Altogether, there are five blue-feathered magpies and four green, all living in warm zones of south and east Asia. Part of the same family as crows and jays, they are highly intelligent birds. BirdNote® A Rainbow of Magpies Written by Bob Sundstrom This is BirdNote.
How Birds Stay Perched
BirdNote® How Birds Stay Perched Written by Bob Sundstrom This is BirdNote. For years, we thought that when a bird perched on a branch to sleep, a specific tendon in its heel kept its feet locked on tightly. It was believed that the bird’s weight over its heels activated the tendon, clamping the toes in an unfailing grip. [Flock of European Starlings] Another hypothesis claimed that it’s the internal structure of the birds’ toes that keeps them securely perched.
Sprinting with Cooper's Hawks
Cooper’s Hawks hunts primarily from flight, using speed and stealth to surprise prey — mostly birds like doves. But they’re adaptable and opportunistic in both what and how they’ll hunt. If a Cooper’s Hawk misses catching a sparrow on its first dive, it will sometimes walk into a bush to pursue the sparrows on foot. This hawk will even climb after a nimble squirrel dashing up a pine tree. BirdNote® Sprinting with Cooper’s Hawks Written by Bob Sundstrom This is BirdNote.
A Pigeon-eyed View of the World
BirdNote® A Pigeon-eyed View of the World Written by Bob Sundstrom This is BirdNote. What does the world look like to a bird? Well, it depends on where the eyes are on its head. Pigeons, as well as many other birds, have their eyeballs located laterally, on the sides of the head, rather than in front like ours. [Rock Pigeon calls, , 0.04-.-08] This doesn’t mean they see two separate images of the world, one through each eye.
Voices and Vocabularies - Exquisite Thrush Songs
Some believe the song of the Wood Thrush to be the most beautiful bird song in North America. Others select the song of the Hermit Thrush. Still others name the singing of the Swainson’s Thrush. How do thrushes like this Veery create such fine music? The answer is that the birds have a double voice box, unique to them, called the syrinx.
Why Birds' Feet Don't Freeze
BirdNote® Why Birds' Feet Don’t Freeze Adapted from a script written by Frances Wood This is BirdNote! [Mallards quacking] Have you ever watched ducks walking around in freezing temperatures and wondered how they keep their feet from freezing? The ducks seem oblivious to the cold, even as they stand on ice-covered lakes and streams. Or perhaps you’ve been concerned that the tiny feet of songbirds will freeze to metal perches.
Bird Names for Birds
BirdNote® Bird Names for Birds Written by Mark Bramhill Mark Bramhill: This is BirdNote. There are a lot of birds named after people — just to name a few, there’s Bachman's Sparrow, [Bachman’s Sparrow ML74001] Townsend's Warbler, [Townsend’s Warbler ML47707] and Audubon's Oriole. [Audubon’s Oriole ML12507] Lifelong birder Jordan Rutter, along with others in the birding community, recently dug into the history of the people behind the many eponymous names, and what they learned is unsettling.
Northern Gannets Plunge-Dive
Just off the North Atlantic coast, hungry Northern Gannets are gathering to feed on fish. From 100 feet in the air, the gannets plummet head-first into the water at 60 miles per hour! Such high-speed collisions would knock most creatures out. But gannets have evolved air sacs in both the neck and shoulders that cushion the impact, and their skulls are specially reinforced.
Do Woodpeckers Harpoon Their Prey?
BirdNote® Do Woodpeckers Harpoon Their Prey? Written by Bob Sundstrom This is BirdNote. [Hairy Woodpecker drumming, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/30193, 0.10-.11, repeated] Because many have pointed tongues, it was once assumed that certain woodpeckers harpoon their prey. But what they actually do is more complex. Like a safe-cracker in a movie, birds like the Hairy Woodpecker use a killer combination of sensitivity and force.
Bats: Worth Getting to Know!
by Barry Kent MacKay in Blog, Coexisting with Wildlife, COVID-19 on May 26, 2020 Blyth's horseshoe bat. Photo by Davidvraju / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). One seeks silver linings to dark clouds and there seems to be an emerging optimism that just maybe the current pandemic humanity faces might lead to an overdue reassessment of our relationship with, and knowledge of, some of the millions of other species on this planet.
Seasons Spring 1980
DEPARTMENTS 4 | Earth Watch Zoo conference predicts bleak future; Killarney study nears end; cattails cleanse sewage, INCO wants to dam the Spanish River; spills bill sabotaged; wilderness American style; Kakabeka game found illegal; finding a home for liquid wastes; Dundas Elm saved; rights for the environment; hike Ontario; info on acid rain; a master plan for Kettle Lakes, planning for Presqu’ile; disappearing fishes; more development for Matchedash Bay?
What Can a Fight over Barn Swallow Nests Teach Us about the Next Great Mass Extinction?
by Barry Kent MacKay in Blog, Canada, Senza categoria on April 11, 2019 Barn swallows. Photo by Born Free USA. As reported in the media, there are abandoned horse stables within a wildlife refuge in Hadley, Maine. Within those stables there have been recorded some 37 nests of barn swallows, which are causing quite the uproar between animal welfare activists and local authorities.
Give a Snake Space; It's What She Needs!
by Barry Kent MacKay in Animals in Captivity, Blog on January 15, 2019 Captive boa constrictor. Photo by Pavel Å evela [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]. My friend, reptile expert Clifford Warren, has just co-authored an important paper, which backs up a long time concern here at Born Free USA.
Animals Need, but Don't Get, Shade and Adequate Water during Record Heat
As I mentioned in my last blog, after a 37 year hiatus, not ever wanting to return because I had been so disturbed by the terrible care animals were receiving during my first visit, I finally made my second visit to Marineland, and the horror of the place remains for me. I had been lured by advertisements for "Aviary Safari," a new attraction featuring 100 acres of "free-roaming" birds. I'm a bird expert; I should take a look. But it was false advertising. The attraction does not exist.
Sea Turtles Already Facing Extinction Are Now At Risk Of Hunters
Last week, I was astounded to learn that the Caribbean island of St. Lucia was planning to allow legal hunting of three endangered species of sea turtles — the hawksbill, the loggerhead, and the green — from Oct. 1 until Dec. 31. What was even more disturbing was the government's display of ignorance about some basics of turtle biology (and I'll get to that in a moment). And, as my good friend and colleague, Dr. Ron I.
Trophy Hunters Deserve The Attention The World Is Giving Them
As most folks now know, after suffering for 40 hours, wounded by an arrow, an African lion given the name "Cecil" was shot again — this time fatally — with a rifle. His tormentor was a dentist named Walter Palmer, from Minnesota, who had paid tens of thousands of dollars, traveling to distant Zimbabwe to kill animals: something he admits he loves to do. Cecil had been lured from a national park, which is illegal to do in Zimbabwe. And, the world took note. Cecil was wearing a radio tracking collar.
Trophy Hunters Think They Help Lions. Here's Why They're Wrong.
Unless you've been sequestered on the back side of the moon, you probably know by now that, in early July, Walter Palmer, a 55-year-old dentist from Minnesota, illegally killed Cecil, a lion who had lived in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. Cecil, age 13, wore a radio collar installed by researchers from Oxford University.
New Bill May Be Victory For Orcas, But Not Dolphins, Belugas And More
Oh, the perils of defending animals. On Mar. 31, Ontario's Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Yasir Naqvi, introduced for second reading a bill that banned the procurement, breeding, or keeping of orcas in captivity anywhere in Ontario. The one orca who is currently held captive in the province (at Marineland, a tacky aquarium-amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario) is exempted. So far, so good ... except for Kiska, the lone — and lonely — captive killer whale in the province.
Why Killing Deer Just Produces More Fawns
Why Killing Deer Just Produces More Fawns Barry Kent MacKay, Senior Program Associate for Born Free USA, is writing a special blog series about deer culling. Below is the first installment. Killing is how we solve problems, I thought, as I listened to the news in my hotel room in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. President Obama had requested authorization for use of military force against terrorists in the Middle East.
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