Birds in Focus Archive
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Choosing Binoculars
It is a monumental decision in the life of any birdwatcher. At stake is nothing less than the pleasure you get in the company of birds. So here is some advice on buying and using binoculars. First, recognize that bigger isn’t always better. Binoculars bear two numbers: 7x35, 8x30, or 10x50, for example. The first is magnification. You’re fine with… (more)
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An Ode to Warblers
Color, music, grace, and flight mingle in the lives of most birds. But no bird, at least here in the Northeast, pulls it off like a warbler. Warblers are in a family called Parulidae, known for their distinctive morphological and genetic characteristics. But my own definition of a warbler is, simply: a tiny, vibrant, vocal, migratory songbird. You want vernal… (more)
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Calling in the Mob
The black-capped chickadee may be the perfect songbird. It is vocal and approachable, inquisitive and dependable. Even the casual birdwatcher finds in the chickadee a neighbor, a friend, an entertainer, a mobster. A mobster? Well, not exactly Al Capone. But if you’re willing to join its mob, the chickadee will make you an offer you can’t refuse. The Mob, in… (more)
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Bird Morphology
A forester cannot properly describe a tree without terms like “crown” and “trunk.” A hunter can’t boast of a champion white-tailed buck without discussing the finer points of its “rack.” And no birdwatcher can describe how birds fly without mentioning their “wings.” Bird are much more than wings, of course, so here is a lesson on bird morphology, a refresher… (more)
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Hummers
They are the epitome of avian energy, hovering, darting, and flowing like no other birds, almost as if they weren’t birds at all but rather androids or creatures borne from the sparks of our imagination. Ecuador has 130 species. Arizona has more than a dozen. In the Northeast, for most of the year, our hummingbird diversity is a grand total… (more)
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Shorebirds
Across great distances they migrate, powered on a diet of arthropods and a blast of determination. When they stop to visit, they are among the most watchable of all wildlife, feeding and mating in wide-open spaces without inhibition. We have given them some of our most vivid and entertaining bird names – Hudsonian godwit, short-billed dowitcher, purple sandpiper, and piping… (more)
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Little Brown Birds
For those of you struggling to learn bird identification, here’s an innovative system to help you name any species you encounter. That’s right. No more pesky field guides. Your avian aggravations are over. Simply locate the bird, then name it – either “big brown bird,” “little brown bird,” or “other.” It’s that simple! And once you’ve learned this method, here’s… (more)
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Winter’s Visitors
No birdwatcher’s life is complete without experiencing the penetrating gaze of a great gray owl. Even a glance from those lemon-yellow eyes will cut through your Carhartts. Designed for the cold, great gray owls are mostly feathers – a deep, downy layer covering a relatively small body. A great gray can locate its prey, often a small mammal, not by… (more)
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New Feathers, New Look
When they arrive each spring, displaying color and song and romance, birds are faithful to their given names. Chestnut-sided warblers have chestnut sides. Indigo buntings are indigo. And scarlet tanagers are scarlet. But no more. The summer of songbird love is over. The molt begins. Most birds gradually replace (molt) some or all of their feathers after the breeding season.… (more)
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Nesting Time
The Bicknell’s thrush looked like a greedy patron at a salad bar. Stuffed into her bill were a crane fly, a moth, a pupa of some kind, and what looked like a caterpillar. But that apparently wasn’t enough food. She returned later and gathered a heaping plate of earthworm. Yet the thrush wasn’t being greedy at all. Instead, by collecting… (more)