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Bird songs hit right note for forest protection

January 13, 2011 By Matt Dietz, Ph.D.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

"Quick, three beers!"  Although a cold one may be in order at the end of a long day in the field, this is not the call to head to the pub, but the call of an Olive-sided Flycatcher — at least it’s the mnemonic device that we ornithologists use to help remember its song. While I find it the most enticing of the mnemonics, it is certainly not the strangest. That distinction would go to the song of the Warbling Vireo, which we represent as “if I sees you I will seize you and I’ll squeeze you till you squirt!” Region:  California Read more

What a day with the Atlantic Brant teaches about Alaska’s Izembek

April 28, 2009 By Elisabeth Condon

Atlantic Brants in the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Elisabeth Condon.

I spent last weekend birding the coastline of New Jersey. My partner in crime was Seth Cutright, a hawk counter at Sandy Hook Bird Observatory, just across the pond from New York City. After a hectic morning in which the air was alive with American kestrels and Northern harriers, the slowness of the afternoon prompted Seth’s generous supervisor to give him the rest of the day off. Seth and I did not waste a minute — off to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (a.k.a. Brigantine, or simply Brig, to locals) we went. Read more