Monthly Archives: August 2012

As the Caribbean and southeastern U.S. brace for Tropical Storm Isaac, scientists are reporting that some migrating shorebirds survive flying through hurricanes for hours and even utilize the back end of a hurricane to shoot them toward land, according to the American Bird Conservancy. Biologists at the Center for Conservation Biology in Virginia have been [...]

Last week, I gave out some tips for helping birds stay cool in heat waves, but for all those unfortunate wild birds that don’t have awesome people providing water and shade, interesting behavioral adaptations keep their internal temperatures down. If you took a bird’s temperature, you’d probably think it had a fever. That’s because birds [...]

It’s a sight I hope I never have to see. Michelle Cavalieri was among numerous people who witnessed dozens of birds fall from the sky last week in New Jersey, according to an article at NJ.com. The Red-winged Blackbirds dropped out of the sky early in the morning and attempted to stand up before collapsing [...]

July was the hottest recorded month in the history of the United States. Unless you were living in some icy pocket of the country (in which case, tell me where), you felt it. And temperatures in August, especially in the Southwest, have continued to be inhospitable. With climate change expected to continue unabated, things are [...]

If you look at the types of buildings most architects are currently designing, they usually have one thing in common: glass. Architects have fallen in love with the look of large glass windows and green spaces. but the combination of those two seemingly beautiful elements is deadly to birds. Every year, all across the world, [...]

Deep in a remote cloud forest of the Peruvian Andes lives a small bird called the Sira Barbet—the latest addition to the more than 10,000 bird species around the world. The colorful bird, which has a black mask and a scarlet breast, was discovered in 2008 during an expedition by Cornell University graduates, led by [...]

It’s a common occurrence. You start noticing small sprouts under your feeder. Weeds begin growing. Small critters are coming around more often. Then, you see—eek!—a rat scurrying about. While bird feeders are designed to beautify your yard by bringing in ebullient birds, spilled bird seed can be destroy your lawn and make the place look [...]

People express their love for birds in a variety of ways. Some people paints birds, others photograph them and some—like me—write about them. Still, few of these outlets match the inventiveness of the amazing LEGO bird creations by Thomas Poulsom. LEGOs, for those who may not remember, are the colorful building blocks beloved by children [...]