March/April 2006 Winging It

Ed and Bryan have wrought their magic at the ABA offices, and the new issue of Winging It should be in your hands soon (unless you’re not an ABA member, in which case you should hasten to join at americanbirding.org).

There’s a lot of very useful birdfinding information this time ’round, including Charlie Babbitt’s piece on Arizona’s White Mountains, home of the American Three-toed Woodpecker, Pine Grosbeak, and Blue Grouse. I’ve never been able to find the woodpecker there, so I’ll be carrying Charlie’s article next time I get up that way. An excellent introduction to another southwestern site is C.J. Grimes’s piece on two New Mexico sites, El Morro and El Malpais National Monuments; can’t wait to see those “lava tubes”!

We printed quite a bit of information for pelagic birders, too, including an ‘addendum’ to last issue’s Directory of Pelagic Trips. My editorial on Virginia Beach includes a little info about seabirding on the east coast, and Jane Kostenko has written a charming eulogy on “Shrimpy,” the Maryland Kelp Gull (”eulogy” probably gives it away in case you were still wondering what had ever happened to that bird!). Chris Cook provides an introduction to coastal birding in Japan, and we also have an interview with Betty Anne Schreiber, pretty much the expert on seabird behavior and breeding ecology. John Boyd fills us in on the condition of South Florida and its birds after last year’s incredible hurricane season.

Those with a taste for the exotic will especially enjoy Paul Venuto’s report from southeast Brazil, along with Sally Johnsen’s account of Andean birding in Ecuador. Ruben Dario Quintana describes efforts to save the habitat of the Dusky-legged Guan in Argentina, and Mercedes Rivadeneira introduces us to Angel Paz, whom she calls the “Pied Piper of the Antpittas”: I’ve got to see this!

And there’s poetry, membership news and announcements, classified ads, and the “Sightings” column–and, of course, “Pete’s Tips,” with Pete Dunne’s usual great advice for us all.

Let me know what you think this time!