January/February 2023

BirdWatching

Feel the thrill of finding, attracting, and identifying birds

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More To Read On BirdWatchingDaily.com
A conservation organization has purchased 432 acres of land in the Dominican Republic that will considerably expand a nature reserve and safeguard habitats for the vulnerable Bicknell’s Thrush and a variety of endemic species. Some BirdWatching custo
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From The Editor
WINTER IS UPON us, and I find myself thinking back to the winter of 2004-’05. That year, birders in the Upper Midwest, myself included, enjoyed an incursion of Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls. These showstopper species normally winter no farther so
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New Owl Species Described
A new species of owl was described recently from Príncipe Island, part of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe in Central Africa. The newly recognized owl is now officially known as the Príncipe Scops-Owl, or Otus bikegila. “Otus” refers
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BirdWatching
Editor Matt Mendenhall Founding Editor Eldon D. Greij, 1937-2021 Contributing Editors Pete Dunne, Laura Erickson, Kenn Kaufman, David Allen Sibley, Brian E. Small Editorial Consultant Lee Mergner Senior Graphic Designer Jaron Cote Operations Coordina
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Birding Briefs
A 4-month-old Bar-tailed Godwit known as B6 set a new world record by completing a nonstop 11-day migration of 8,425 miles (13,558 km) from Alaska to Tasmania, Australia. This trip represents the longest documented nonstop flight by any animal. A tea
BirdWatching2 min read
Eye On Conservation
The Pale-headed Brushfinch was rediscovered in west-central Ecuador almost 25 years ago — following three decades without a record of the species. The expedition that found this “lost” bird was spearheaded by Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco with A
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DNA Confirms Rare Hybrid
In June 2020, Stephen Gosser, a self-described “diehard birder,” was out in the woods of western Pennsylvania when he thought he heard the song of a Scarlet Tanager. The blood-red bird with black wings and tail is a favorite among birders for both it
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Bird Flu’s Toll
Highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza (HPAI) swept across North America beginning in late 2021 and continuing throughout 2022. The strains have infected wild birds, backyard flocks, commercial poultry facilities, and wild mammals. In response,
BirdWatching4 min read
On The Wire
By Joan E. Strassmann, TarcherPerigee, 2022, hardcover, 350 pages, $27. Joan E. Strassmann has been a slow birder all her life. She is an award-winning teacher of animal behavior at universities in Houston and St. Louis. In this book, she explains th
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Hard-headed Facts
ONE OF THE great pleasures of winter is listening for drumming woodpeckers. Their loud tattoos ringing out on a frigid, otherwise silent northern landscape fill me with hope that winter will eventually come to an end even as I marvel at the adaptatio
BirdWatching4 min read
A Dream Year
GIVEN NO ENCUMBRANCES, somebody else’s expense account, and perhaps a private jet, I have summarized here the birding locations I would wrap into my perfect birding year. It’s not a Big Year but an itinerary tailored to engage the birding spectacles
BirdWatching9 min read
How To Find A Snow Chicken
It was a clear day, but at nearly 12,000 feet, the crisp air steadily permeated my layers, and snow crept into my hiking boots, advancing toward my already-numb toes. I continued climbing up a snow-soaked slope at Guanella Pass in Colorado, leaving p
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Ptarmigan Pointers
Ptarmigan are hardy grouse of Arctic and mountainous regions and spend nearly their entire lives above tree line, occurring on high latitude or alpine tundra. Only three species exist worldwide, and all of their ranges overlap in Alaska. In winter an
BirdWatching9 min read
Going On Tour
IN June 2022, my husband, Russ, and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with a big adventure, a two-part birding trip organized and guided by Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT): “Grand Alaska: Nome Pre-Trip” and “Grand Alaska Part II: Anchorage
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Always Listening
What if you could listen to the birds in your backyard 24 hours a day? I can’t do it. But the Haikubox can. I recently purchased the device and a required subscription. Think of it as a tool that will enhance your enjoyment of birding. Technically, i
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Tango In The Wind
This story represents one episode from the four years my wife, Paula, and I spent traveling in South America, making films on a pro bono basis for cash-strapped bird conservation non-governmental organizations. The most important bird protection grou
BirdWatching5 min read
ID TIPS: Golden-crowned Sparrow
THREE SAD, SWEET whistles in a descending pattern — oh, dear, me — make up the simple song of the Golden-crowned Sparrow. It’s a common voice of summer in Alaska and northwestern Canada, and it’s also heard from wintering flocks all along the western
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The Most Elegant Genus Of Sparrows
In identifying sparrows, it’s helpful to break them down into groups by genus. Four of the five species in the genus Zonotrichia can be found north of the Mexican border. Golden-crowned, White-crowned, White-throated, and Harris’s Sparrows are all la
BirdWatching2 min read
Take A Closer Look
ONE OF THE challenges of understanding the color patterns of birds is that we only see the tips of their feathers, and feathers are flexible. This means that longer feathers on the body can move around a lot relative to their neighbors, and the color
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Contest Winners
Last summer, bird photographers entered more than 330 images into our 2022 BirdWatching Photography Awards contest. They included photos of cranes, ducks, gulls, flycatchers, and many more birds. Thanks to everyone who entered! On our website, birdwa
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Hotspots Near You
IOWA AND ILLINOIS 42° 9'0.17"N 90°17'10.47"W I dream of spending weeks combing every shoreline, wetland, prairie, and upland forest of the 240,000-acre Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, as well as nearby public lands. Even if
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First Place
GILDED FLICKER AND EUROPEAN STARLING Jim Burns of Scottsdale, Arizona, won first place with this remarkable photo of a fight between a Gilded Flicker and a European Starling. He took the photo at Tonto National Forest in Maricopa County, Arizona, on
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Second Place
GREAT HORNED OWLS Danielle Rockett of Ottawa, Ontario, captured second place with this image of a Great Horned Owl and its young owlet in their nest. “Every year, in late December, a pair of Great Horned Owls come to a park where I often go birding,”
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Final Frame
Evening Grosbeaks Evening Grosbeaks are expected to move south in good numbers into southern Canada and the northern United States this winter, according to the Finch Research Network’s “Winter Finch Forecast.” As if on cue, in late October, a group
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Third Place
BALD EAGLE Stan Bysshe of Marshall, Virginia, took third place with this dramatic photo of a Bald Eagle in a snowstorm in Alaska. “Winter weather on the Kachemak Bay, Alaska, can change in a minute,” Stan explains. “On this February windy, gray morni

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