American kestrels are striking, with burnt-red backs and tails, steel-blue wings on the males, and bold falconid markings, black and white on the face. All this is packaged into a little hawk that could perch on your finger, and can… Continue Reading
We are just beyond the United State’s election season, and it’s not too big a stretch to see red, white, and blue in some of our feathered aboriginals. Many colorful birds have headed to Mexico for the winter, but northern… Continue Reading
It doesn’t take much water for this goldfinch to enjoy a good bath! Photo by Larry Jordan Emily Dickinson famously wrote “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Now, under the oppressive disorientation of Covid-19, massive wildfires, technological manipulation, and political… Continue Reading
If you have a bird feeder in the continental United States you have almost certainly been visited by house finches. On both sides of the Mississippi their hungry flocks coat feeders like displays of cherry and root beer lollipops. They… Continue Reading
G-r-rick! G-r-rick! The woodland call of the ash-throated flycatcher manages to sound both dry and optimistic, and this bird has reason to feel both. It is well adapted to the summer conditions of the arid west. Although it sports a… Continue Reading
Nature with its feathers and its viruses does not dance for our pleasure or pain. Water does not need us to make a river. But we, of course, can both minimize natural suffering and enjoy natural beauties. There are uncounted… Continue Reading
Our world may have begun as a garden, but it’s not seeming quite right these days. Coronavirus and the other horsemen are trampling the flowers, and the misshapen economy will make next year’s seeds a stingier find. And even then,… Continue Reading
How many feathers are on a swan? How many miles does a black swift fly in a year? How many breaths does a hummingbird take in ten seconds? Numbers can tell fascinating stories. Unfortunately, they can also become a blur… Continue Reading
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