I write, read, talk about birds, birding, and birders--not necessarily in that order--and lead Birds and Art tours for ventbird.com
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Articles by Rick Wright
Western Hummingbirds, East
BirdNote® Western Hummingbirds, East Written by Rick Wright This is BirdNote. Not that long ago, the only hummingbird someone living in the eastern United States and Canada could hope to see was the familiar little Ruby-throated Himmingbird. [Ruby-throated hummingbird chips and wing noises] But things have changed. Over the past couple of decades, more and more western and tropical hummingbird species have been discovered far out of what used to be considered their “normal” range.
Waxwing Nightlight
BirdNote® Waxwing Nightlight Written by Rick Wright This is BirdNote. For the better part of two thousand years, the waxwing was credited with an amazing power. [Richard Wagner, Siegfried-Idylle][Bohemian Waxwing calls and “song,” ML 170762, 04:26 and following] It was believed in all earnestness that these gentle, crested fruit-eaters glowed in the dark. Pliny reported that their feathers were said to “shine like flames” in the dark forests of central Europe.
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.
Preserving John Edmonstone
BirdNote® Preserving John Edmonstone Written by Adé Ben-Salahuddin This is BirdNote. Scotland may not be a place that comes to mind when you think of Black history. But in the early 1800s, a talented Black taxidermist made a name for himself in the developing zoology scene around Edinburgh, one specimen at a time. [Guyana soundscape] John Edmonstone was born on a timber plantation in British Guiana, and enslaved by Scotsman Charles Edmonstone.
The Freedom Song: Harriet Tubman’s Barred Owl Call
BirdNote® The Freedom Song: Harriet Tubman’s Barred Owl Call Written by Tasha Lawson This is BirdNote. [Barred Owl song] She was an incredible astronomer, master of the stars. Extremely knowledgeable of landscapes and geography, an expert forager and healer; an amazing naturalist. She was in tune with the birds and their calls. Notably, the hoot of a Barred Owl: [Barred Owl song] Harriet Tubman was a heroic abolitionist in the cause to end chattel slavery, and an expert birder.
New Sam Peabody | BirdNote
In late winter, White-throated Sparrows erupt into song, easily set to human words: “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.” Or “Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada.” But something changed since those classic memory aids were coined. Sixty years later, the bird sings a simpler, shorter song. Bird song, like human language, changes. By the 1960s, the bird’s longer song became rare. Researchers suggested that the “classic” song had — for some unknown reason — died out, to be replaced by a shorter version.
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.
A Pigeon’s Eye View
BirdNote® A Pigeon’s Eye View Written by Mark Bramhill This is BirdNote. Seeing the earth from above, out of an airplane window or from the top of a skyscraper, has a sublime beauty. While today you can just load up Google Maps, in the early 20th century, almost no one had seen a birds-eye view of the world. But in 1907, Dr. Julius Neubronner, a German pharmacist who used carrier pigeons to deliver medicine, invented the pigeon camera.
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.
A Bird Walk 65 Million Years Ago
BirdNote® A Bird Walk 65 Million Years Ago Written by Bob Sundstrom For today’s bird walk, we’re going to need ... our binoculars, some sunscreen, our hiking boots, annnnnd… this time machine. Let’s set our course for the late Cretaceous Era, 65 million years ago.
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.
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.
Recreating a Princess’s Feather Skirt
BirdNote® Recreating a Princess’s Feather Skirt Adapted from the Threatened podcast This is BirdNote. Rick San Nicolas is a master featherworker, carrying on a tradition of making elaborate feather garments that dates back centuries in Hawai’i. Rick San Nicolas: The Hawaiians felt that all the native Hawaiian birds were the most sacred, the feathers were the most sacred because they would be able to be the closest to heaven.
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.
Sandgrouse - Desert Water-carriers
Sandgrouse live in some of the most parched environments on earth. To satisfy the thirst of their chicks, male sandgrouse carry water back to the nest in a surprising but effective way: by carrying it in their feathers. Thanks to coiled hairlike extensions on the feathers of the underparts, a sandgrouse such as this Burchell's Sandgrouse can soak up and transport about two tablespoons of liquid.
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.
Capuchinbirds | BirdNote
The peace of the vast Guyanan jungle is abruptly broken with the dawn chorus of male Capuchinbirds, one of the most bizarre birds in South America. The singing male bows forward, then suddenly stretches to his full length, raising a monk-like cowl of feathers around his naked blue-gray head. The unmistakable noise attracts female Capuchinbirds, which jostle each other ruthlessly in the quest to get close to the studliest of the displaying males.
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.
Connor O’Toole and More
Yes, folks, that was former La Cueva star Connor O’Toole who was ejected for targeting while playing on the Utah kickoff coverage team in the Rose Bowl. It, also was O’Toole, however, who threw a key block — it looked to me like THE key block — the play before. The Albuquerque freshman’s block sprung returner extraordinaire Britain Covey for a 100-yard touchdown return against Ohio State. The Buckeyes won a highly entertaining game, 48-45.
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.
Margaret Morse Nice and the Song Sparrow
Few backyard birds in North America are more widespread than the Song Sparrow. But it was the study of this seemingly unremarkable bird that helped shape modern ornithology. In 1928, Margaret Morse Nice began carefully observing Song Sparrows near Columbus, Ohio, where she lived. For eight years, Nice banded and made detailed accounts of the birds' lives and behavior.
Lobos-Pioneers memories
Lobos-Pioneers memories Tonight’s (Dec. 9) men’s basketball game at the Pit between the New Mexico Lobos and the Denver Pioneers brings back some old-time memories — in particular from the 1959-60 season. At the time, Denver and UNM were rivals in the old Skyline Conference. The Pioneers were pretty good. The Lobos ... weren’t. On Jan. 30, 1960, the teams played in Denver.
Western Hummingbirds, East
BirdNote® Western Hummingbirds, East Written by Rick Wright This is BirdNote. Not that long ago, the only hummingbird someone living in the eastern United States and Canada could hope to see was the familiar little Ruby-throated Himmingbird. [Ruby-throated hummingbird chips and wing noises] But things have changed. Over the past couple of decades, more and more western and tropical hummingbird species have been discovered far out of what used to be considered their “normal” range.
To taunt or not to taunt
I come here in support of the NFL’s crackdown on taunting, and if you don’t like it, consider the ball spiked at your feet. Yeah, that’s right. Man, I was really hoping this issue had been dealt with. After eight taunting penalties were called in Week 2 of the 2021 season, only eight more were assessed in Weeks 3 through 7. My takeaway at the time was that coaches and players had gotten the message.
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.
Starlings Say It With Flowers
European Starlings regularly adorn their twig nests with marigolds, elderberry flowers, yarrow leaves, and even willow bark — all of which are full of aromatic chemicals, which fumigate their nests and are thought to discourage pests and parasites. Scientists discovered that starlings hatched in well-fumigated nests tend to weigh more, and live longer, than those raised without fragrant herbs. Subscribe to the BirdNote podcast, featuring special extended episodes we can’t fit on the radio.
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.
The Ali Documentary
The Ali Documentary Finally, this morning, I finished viewing all eight hours of Ken Burns’ Muhammad Ali documentary. Verdict: I found myself wishing for eight hours more. Burns, as he long since has demonstrated, is a master of the form. I really have no bones to pick; I believe Burns presented and illustrated this most remarkable human being for who he was, warts and all. I was curious, though, about a couple of things. Laila Ali was totally absent other than one mention of her name.
The Birds of Former Rice Plantations
Birdnote® The Birds of Former Rice Plantations Adapted by Conor Gearin from the Threatened podcast episode by Ari Daniel This is BirdNote. Drew Lanham: We’ve got what look like Rough-winged Swallows, likely. [Red-winged Blackbird song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/329796431] There’s a Red-winged Blackbird. On the banks of South Carolina’s Combahee River, ornithologist Drew Lanham looks across a wetland that was once a rice plantation built and farmed by enslaved people.
Thoughts on a boxing death
In the aftermath of the death of 18-year-old Mexican boxer Jeanette Zacarias Zapata after a fight in Montreal against Canadian Marie Pier Houle, the criticism that’s been leveled at the promoter who made the fight and the commission that approved it is neither unfair nor misplaced. And yet ... you know what we say about hindsight. Had that same matchup been made here in New Mexico, and had I been aware of it as a reporter, I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye.
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.
Legends of the Jackdaw
BirdNote® Legends of the Jackdaw Written by Bob Sundstrom This is BirdNote. [Western Jackdaw, https://www.xeno-canto.org/156262, any of first 0.30] The catchy name “Jackdaw” belongs to a European bird that looks like a compact crow drawn in shades of light and dark gray. Jackdaws fly in aerobatic flocks, tumbling and swooping along the vertical faces of cliffs and buildings.
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