‘Tis July, and the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists’ Union has issued the 49th Supplement to the Check-list, the authority on the names, relationships, and distribution of all the birds from the Canadian Arctic to Panama. Anybody who likes birds, and words, and birdwords, will find hours of delight in these [...]

Thanks for asking, Denis!
I don’t know that it is truly “America’s best-loved bird” (I think I hear a robin a-chuckling in the distance…), but there’s no denying that Purple Martins continue to signify culturally in ways that are quite independent of biological reality. The most eloquent witness to the emotional hold this lovely swallow has [...]

David Sibley has a particularly fine illustration of a nighthawk wing here, along with other examples of molt timing’s being useful to identification.

Arthur Pack Park Sunday evening was nearly deserted, just a few golfers and a zillion Gambel’s Quail families still out and about. Old habit made me scan the unnatural green of the golf course, and I saw something big and white galoomphing along through the grass–a Red-tailed Hawk. At first I worried that it was [...]

Dear Friends,
KT has very generously updated me to the newest blog software, including an easy RSS feed right here in the upper left corner of the page. Could I impose on all of you to spare me the embarrassment of a single-digit subscriber count by signing up for the feed? Thank you!