North American Bird Blogs

What follows is a list of active and inactive North American (Canada to Panama) bird blogs that are personally known to me. There are certainly many others that I have not yet discovered, with more being created daily. My goal is to make this list as comprehensive as possible. I plan to update the list frequently, so if you know of other North American bird blogs (or have one yourself) that should be included here, please leave a comment.

Active:

200 Birds (UT)

600 Birds (WI)

2008 Colorado Big Green Year (CO)

10,000 Birds (NY)

A Charm of Finches (TX)

A DC Birding Blog (DC)

A Spattering (PA)

A Year of Birds on Stony Lake (ON)

Adventure Birding (AZ)

Adventures of Bird Girl (MD)

Afield in Oklahoma (OK)

AGBirder (CT)

Aimophila Adventures (AZ)

AKA Bird Nerd (WA)

Alan Contreras Birds (OR)

Alan Murphy Photography (TX)

Alice the Owl News (MN)

Ali's Birding Journal (NC)

Alis Volat Propiis (CA)

Angela's Birding Blog (ON)

Antshrike's Bird Blog (TX)

Antwren (CO)

Apartment Biology (OR)

Arctic Refuge Project News—Shorebird Conservation (MA)

Arkansas Birding (AR)

Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

As the Mind Wanders (TX)

Ask the Birds and They Will Tell You (SD)

At the Bird Feeder (MB)

At the Water (MN)

Audubon Birdscapes (PA)

Avian Tendencies (MI)

Avimor Birding Blog (ID)

Backyard Birder (Dave in PA)

Backyard Birder (Dorothy in TX)

Backyard Birds Utah (UT)

Badbirdz - Reloaded (FL)

Bay Area Bird Blog (CA)

Beakspeak (TX)

Beaverton Bird Blog (OR)

Beginning to bird (PA)

Behind the Bins (NY)

Bell Tower Birding (MI)

Best Bets for Birding (OH)

Betsy's Bird Journal (VA)

Big Country Audubon Society Blog (TX)

Big Fat Birder (TN)

Bike-by Birding (CA)

Bill of the Birds (OH)

Biological Ramblings (NY)

Bird Advocates

Bird Banding in Saskatchewan (SK)

Bird brained stories!

Bird Blog (NF)

Bird Blog - River Legacy Parks (TX)

Bird Brio (ID)

Bird by bird (CA)

Bird Diva Blog (NY)

Bird Girl's Birding Adventures (OH)

Bird Names

Bird Nut's Blog (NM)

Bird Photos (OH)

bird QUIZ (NY)

Bird Sense: A Birding Blog (VA)

Bird the Bend (TX)

Bird Traveling (AR)

Bird Treatment and Learning Center (AK)

Bird Watch (BC)

Bird Watching Binoculars

Bird Watching Blog (NY)

Bird Watching Guatemala Photoblog (Guatemala)

BirdBlog (FL)

BirdBreath Blog (CA)

Birdchick Blog (MN)

Birdernaturalist (AZ)

Birder’s Lounge (TX)

Birder's World Field of View

Birders on the Border (AZ)

BirdFellow (OR)

Birdfreak: The Bird Conservation Blog (IL)

Birding (NY)

Birding (TX)

Birding Across the World

Birding and Mountain Biking (FL)

Birding and Other Chatter (AK)

Birding Berrien and Beyond (MI)

Birding Business News

Birding Bytes

Birding Depot’s Bird Feeder (CA)

Birding Dude (NY)

Birding in Canada (MB)

Birding in Chico (CA)

Birding in Florida (FL)

Birding in Maine (ME)

Birding in Michigan (MI)

Birding in New Jersey (NJ)

Birding in Pátzcuaro and Michoacán, Mexico (TX)

Birding in Saulte Ste. Marie (ON)

Birding is NOT a crime!!!!

Birding Life (NY)

Birding Life Photography (ON)

Birding Newfoundland with Dave Brown (NF)

Birding News and Features @ eBird

Birding News, Sightings, and More

Birding North Central Massachusetts...and Beyond (MA)

Birding Notes (GA)

Birding on Broadmeade (TX)

Birding Sonoma County (CA)

Birding the Toledo Area and Beyond (OH)

Birding to the EDG@Nikon

Birding to the End (NY)

Birding Travel

Birding With Kenn and Kim (OH)

Birding With Ray and Anne

Birding With Tucker (IA)

Birding!—A Growing Obsession! (IN)

Birding/Wild Birds@About.com

Birdinggirl (MA)

Birdinginyelapa.com (Mexico)

BirdNote (WA)

BirdOculars.com Blog

Birdorable Blog (IL)

BirdPost

Birds@Suite101.com

Birds and Climate Change

Birds and Nature (CO)

Birds Etcetera (MI)

Birds from Behind (OH)

Birds ‘n Such (VA)

Birds in My Bins & Lens (MI)

Birds in Your Backyard (GA)

Birds O' the Morning (CO)

Birds of Bay Area (CA)

Birds of Illinois (IL)

Birds of Maine (ME)

Birds of Plymouth Gardens (CA)

Birds on the Brain (GA)

Birdsbykim

Birdspot (NY)

Birdwatch–Tucson Arizona (AZ)

BirdWatchers Blog (MI)

BirdwatchingBlog—Bird Cams

BirdwatchRadio Blog (GA)

Birdy on My Window

Bloomingdale Village (NY)

Blossoms & Birdsong (ON)

Blue Lizard Birding (DE)

Bluebird of Friendliness (NY)

Blythe Birds and Silliness (CA)

Bob's Birding Blog (ID)

βoingbird—Extreme Birdwatching (MT)

bootstrap analysis (MI)

Boreal Bird Blog

Born Again Bird Watcher (OR)

Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds (CA)

BPBO Research Station Blog (ON)

Brandon’s Birding Blog

BRDPICS (CO)

Brett's Backyard Birds (OH)

Brewster’s Linnet (MA)

Broken Bow Birder (NE)

BrooklynParrots (NY)

Bubba's Birding Blog (Belize)

'Burgh Birder (ON)

Burning Hawk Blog (CA)

California Condor Conservation (CA)

Campephilus Woodpeckers (NY)

Caroline County MD Bird Club (MD)

Cass County Birding Page (MN)

CD 1000 - Clay's Digiscoping 1000

Central Park Wildlife Photography (NY)

Checkett Out@Ducks Unlimited (TN)

Chickadees, Juncos, and Jays Oh My! (CA)

Coastal Georgia Birding (GA)

Coffee & Conservation - Birds (MI)

Colder by the Lake (MN)

Colorado Birding (CO)

Colorado Field Ornithologists Photo Quiz (CO)

Columbus Peregrine Falcon Update (OH)

Confessions of a Backdoor Biologist (OK)

Confessions of a Reluctant Birder (NY)

Conservation Conversations (MO)

Corvid Corner

Cory's Blog (NE)

Costa Rica Living and Birding (Costa Rica)

Craig's Bird Watching and Nature Blog (FL)

Craig's Birds

Dakota’s All Natural Experience (IL)

Dave's Bird Watching Blog (NC)

DaveA's Birding Blog (CO)

DC Audubon Society (DC)

Delewaredunlins.com Blog (DE)

Drew's Birds (FL)

Donald the Birder's Blog (OH)

Dream Birding (TX)

Drive-By Birder (OH)

Duncraft's Wild Bird Blog

Earbirding.com (CO)

Earthbird’s Blog

eBirdseed.com

Ecobirder (MN)

El Chirimoyo for Birders (Michoacan, Mexico)

ETN Birder (TN)

Eugene Backyard Birds (OR)

Eureka Nature (AR)

Fairfax Birding (VA)

Falcon Blog (IN)

Falconry and Rehab Page (WY)

Falconstars (NY)

Feather Weather (CA)

Feathered Friends

Feeder Watch Fotos (NY)

Field and Swamp: Bird Blog (NC)

Field Notes@Maine Outdoor Journal (ME)

Fledging Birders Blog (NJ)

Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas Birding Blog (FL)

Fowl Visions—Birding (FL)

From My Perch (MI)

Front Range Birding (CO)

GBBC Blog

Great Auk—or Greatest Auk? (NY)

Greensboro Birds (NC)

Greg’s Blog

Heather of the Hills (OH)

Hondu Birding (Honduras)

Hooked on Birding (CA)

Hummingbird Feeding Guide

Huron River Birding (MI)

I and the Bird

I Bird, You Watch (WI)

IBWO: Carolina Ivorybills (NC/SC)

IBWO: IBW Found Updates—As it Happens! (AL)

IBWO: Ivory-bills LiVE!!

IBWO: Updates from Florida (FL)

Idaho Bird Observatory (ID)

Imprints—Journal of the Rochester Falconcam (NY)

In a Cabin by a Wood (TX)

In the Field@Operation Migration (NY/ON)

International Bird Rescue Research Center (CA)

Introduced Birds Weblog (MI)

Iowa Voice (IA)

It's a bird thing (NM)

It's just me

Ivar's Birds (MN)

Jabberwocky of Jays (IL)

Jamestown Audubon Bird Sightings (NY)

Jeffrey A. Gordon (DE)

Jerry’s Birding / Digiscoping Blog (MI)

Jersey Birder (NJ)

John Rakestraw (OR)

JohnTheBirder (SK)

Josh Covill's Birding Blog (OR)

Julie Zickefoose (OH)

Kayak Paddle Tales (FL)

Kevin Bolton—Jersey Digiscoping (NJ)

Keweenaw Raptor Survey (MI)

Kitchen Window Birder (MA)

Lanny McDowell Avian Art (MA)

Larusology (ON)

Laura Goes Birding (OR)

Laura’s Birding Blog (NY)

Lee’s Birdwatching Adventures Plus (FL)

Liberating Wings (FL)

Life of Birds

Life, Birds, and Everything (AZ)

Local Birding Magazine (NY)

Looking Out from Central Massachusetts (MA)

LoonWatch (WI)

Macbirder's Blog (CA)

Mad Birders (VT)

Magnificent Frigatebird - North America

Maine Birds (ME)

Manistee Audubon (MI)

Marie Winn's Central Park Nature News (NY)

Married to a Birder (IN)

Mary's Corner of the World (CA)

MI-Birder (MI)

Michigan Hummingbird Guy (MI)

Michigan Important Bird Areas Program (MI)

Midway Field Journal—Albatross Conservation (HI)

Midwest Birder (MI)

Mike's Birding & Digiscoping Blog (WI)

Minnesota Birdnerd (MN)

Missouri’s birds (MO)

Mokka mit Schlag - Birding

Mon@rch’s Nature Blog (NY)

My Avian Friends (IL)

My Bird Tales

My Birding Blog (CA)

My Birds Blog (OH)

My Birdy Blog (OH)

My "Little Year" in 2008 (CA)

My Orange County Birding Blog (CA)

My Purple Martin Blog (FL)

Natural History Artwork (NY)

Natural Notes - Florida (FL)

NaturalVisions Blog - Birds

Nature Knitter (MN)

NCIOS - North Central Illinois Ornithological Society (IL)

Nebraska Birding (NE)

NEO Birding@The Plain Dealer (OH)

Nervous Birds (MD)

Net Results (MI)

New Jersey Bird Photos (NJ)

New Jersey Osprey Project (NJ)

New Jersey Outdoors (NJ)

New Mexico Birds (NM)

Night Flight Images

Nomadic Birder (OH)

North Coast Diaries (OR)

Northern Maine Birds (ME)

Notes from soggy bottom (TN)

Notes from the Wildside (PA)

Nutty Birder (IN)

NYC Birds (NY)

NYC Nova Hunter (NY)

OC Birding (CA)

OC Warbler (FL)

Ocellated (Birding) (AZ)

Of a Feather (PA)

Ohio Birds and Biodiversity (OH)

On Carolina Wings (NC)

Ornitholature (MN)

Ortego Birds (TX)

Our Neck of the Woods (WI)

Owl Box - It's an Owl's Life (NJ)

PAHawkowl (PA)

Palemaleirregulars (NY)

Patzcuaro Birder (Michocan, Mexico)

Pedernales Falls State Park Prothonotary Warbler Nest Box Study (TX)

Peeps Online@ABA

Peregrinations (NY)

Peregrine Chick Blog (MB)

Pete at Midway (HI)

Phantom Birder (FL)

Phenomenological Visions (MN)

Pickings from the Chum Stick (NY)

Picus Blog (MA)

Pioneer Birding (MA)

Pish (MA)

Placer County Big Year! (CA)

Portland Backyard Birds (OR)

Prairie Ice (MT)

Presque Isle Bird Banding (PA)

Puffinpalooza

QC Birding 2009 (QC)

Quebec Birding 2008 (QC)

RAPTOR Inc. Blog (OH)

Random Musing (WA)

Raven Watcher (ME)

Ravens in Hollywood (CA)

Recent Bird Reports from Quebec (QC)

Red and Peanut (OH)

Redhawk's Raptor Diaries (FL)

Rich Ditch's Photography Blog (AZ)

Roger's bird blog (OR)

Rosyfinch Ramblings (FL)

Round Robin (NY)

Rural Chatter: Birds, Nature, and Environment (CO)

Ruthven Park Nature Blog (ON)

San Diego Birding and Photography (CA)

Saskatchewan Birds, Nature and Scenery (new) (SK)

Saskatchewan Birding, Nature & Scenery (old) (SK)

Saw-whet Owl Research (PA)

Saw-whets News (WA)

ScottCronenweth (ME)

SE Colorado Birding (CO)

SE Texas Wildlife (TX)

SEANET Blog (MA)

Search and Serendipity

Semipalmated Llama (OH)

Shearwater's Journeys (CA)

Shorebirder (CT)

Sibley Guides Notebook (MA)

Sitka Nature (AK)

Sitta Canadensis (ON)

Six-hundred Fifty Eight (MB)

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's Blog (DC)

So Much Work, So Little Time..So Let’s Go Birding (AZ)

Something Clever (OR)

South Carolina Birder (SC)

South Shore Journal (MA)

Southeastern Shrike Adventures (GA)

Sparroworking in Quebec (QC)

SpeakBeak

Steph’s Birding Blog (IL)

Stokes Birding Blog (NH)

Surner Birding (MA)

Susan Gets Native (OH)

Such-N-Such Bird Blog (CO)

Swampblog (TX)

Tails of Birding (VT)

Talking Nature (CT)

Team Fly or Die (NJ)

Ted Eubanks' BirdSpert (TX)

Tern Island 2008 (HI)

Tern Island Times (HI)

Texas Bird Conservation Alliance (TX)

The Armchair Birder (GA)

The Bird Boy (NY)

The Birdchaser (PA)

The Birdcouple (MD)

The Bird Nerd (CA)

The Birder's Library (GA)

The Birder's Report (CA)

The Birding Blog of a California Young Birder (CA)

The Birding Life (OK)

The Birding Retailer’s Merchandising/Marketing Blog

The Birdist

The Bluebird’s Laugh (WI)

The Brownstone Birding Blog (CT)

The Bufflehead Birder (PA)

The Celery Farm & Beyond (NJ)

The City Birder (NY)

The Contemplative Nuthatch (NY)

The Curious Birder (MA)

The Distracted Birders

The Drinking Bird (NC)

The Endless Wilderness (UT)

The Epicurean Birder

The Eyrie—ABA’s Blog for Young Birders

The Fat Finch Bird Brain Blog (NM)

The Feather and the Flower (NY)

The Firefly Forest - Arizona Birds (AZ)

The Flycatcher (OR)

The Flying Mullet (FL)

The Gulls of Appledore (ME)

The Hawk Owl's Nest (NJ)

The Houston Birder (TX)

The Hudson River Birder (NY)

The Leica Birding Blog (FL)

The Meadowlands Blog (NJ)

The Near Georgia Report (GA)

The Nemesis Bird (PA)

The Networked Bird Observatory Blog (TX)

The Nightjar (NY)

The Oceanwanderers Book Shelf (NY)

The Origin of Species (NY)

The Ovenbird (NY)

The Passionate Birder

The Pelee Chickadee (ON)

The Perch—Audubon Magazine’s Blog (NY)

The Plover Warden Diaries (MA)

The Remnant Writer (IL)

The Shorebird Project (NJ)

The Spark Bird Blog (OH)

The SW WI Birder (WI)

The Tiny Aviary (IL)

The Urban Pantheist - Birds (NY)

The Wild Bird (WA)

The Zen Birdfeeder (NY)

There’s An Ibis in My Backyard! (FL)

Thoughts of an Iowa Birdwatcher (IA)

Tick Magnate (NY)

Tigrina Times@Cape May Bird Observatory (NJ)

Tim Avery Birding Blog (UT)

Tina's Bird Yarns (PA)

Today in NJ Birding History (NJ)

Toronto Bird Observatory Blog (ON)

Towheeblog (CA)

Twitterpated (IL)

Twin Beaks (NY)

Two Birders to Go (CA)

Ultimate Guide to Bird Feeders and Feeding (OH)

Under Clear Skies (CT)

Urban Birder (MO)

Urban Hawks (NY)

Vagrant

Veracruz Hawkwatch(Veracruz, Mexico)

Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VT)

View from the Cape@Cape May Bird Observatory (NJ)

Vickie Henderson Art (TN)

Vulture Cafe (PNW)

Walk With Me (IL)

Warbler Watch (CA)

WBPO - Owls (MI)

WBPO - Sightings (MI)

Whitefish Point Bird Observatory - Waterbirds (MI)

WBU's Birding Blog (FL)

Weekend Shooter (MN)

Wekiva Basin Banding Station (FL)

Well Regarded Birds (CA)

West Coast Birding (BC)

Wholly Natural (PA)

Whooper Happenings

Wild Birds Unlimited (Lansing, MI)

WildBird on the Fly (CA)

Wildbirds Broadcasting (NE)

WingbarsCafe

Wingbeat: The WINGS Birding Blog

Winged Wonders (NJ)

Wingnut (MN)

Wings Sprit (GA)

Woodcreeper (NJ)

Words on Birds (IL)

World Bird Sanctuary (MO)

Zugunruhe (CO)

Inactive (i.e., no blog-posting in more than a year):

“Witchities” World Series of Birding Blog (NJ)

A View from the North (MB)

Alan's BirdCam Blog (GA)

B and B - Birds (TX)

Backyard Birding

Bird Notes from West Houston (TX)

Bird Watching for Birders

Bird Watching in Westcliffe (CO)

birdDC (DC)

Birding Virginia (VA)

Birdspotting (BC)

Birdwatch (Veracruz, Mexico)

Birdwatchin' Buzz (CA)

BirdWatching

Citizen Science Projects - Ornithology

Dave Slager’s Blog (MI)

East Bay Birders (WA)

Florida Big Year (FL)

For Elect Eyes Only (WA)

Gulf Crossings (TX)

Home Bird Days (NJ)

IBWO: Cornell's Arkansas Search Travel Log 2007-08 (AR)

IBWO: Cornell’s Mobile Search Team Travel Log 2006-07 (NY)

IBWO: Cornell’s Mobile Search Team Travel Log 2007-08 (NY)

IBWO: Feathered Ghosts

IBWO: Ivory-bill Skeptic (now known as Tom Nelson; the last significant post about IBWOs appeared in mid-September 2007--see here) (MN)

IBWO: News from the 2007 Search (ON)

IBWO: The Choctawhatchee Search (FL)

Illinois Birds (IL)

Little Big Year (WI)

Migrateblog (IL)

My Backyard Birds (VA)

Night of the Kingfisher (ON)

Omar's Birding (NJ)

Ornitheologisms

Ornithology (OH)

Osprey Project(IN)

Quebec year list 2007 (QC)

rkbirding (CA)

Southwestern Birding Tales (NV)

The Chronicles

The Incorrigible Birder (Veracruz, Mexico)

The QUBS Review (CO)

The Rookie Birder (IL)

Towhee.net Birding Blog (CA)

Whitefish Point Bird Observatory Owl Research (MI)

Windy City Birder (IL)

Last revised: 03/25/10.

African Bird Blogs

What follows is a list of active African bird blogs that are personally known to me. I’m sure that there are others that I have not yet discovered. My goal is to make this list as comprehensive as possible. I plan to update the list frequently, so if you know of other African bird blogs (or have one yourself) that should be included here, please leave a comment.

Active:

A Raptors Ramblings (South Africa)

Accipiters of Southern Africa (South Africa)

Adam Welz's Weblog (South Africa)

Aliwal Birdblog (South Africa)

Birding Limpopo (South Africa)

Birding With Trish (South Africa)

Birdman (Tanzania)

Bryan Groom (South Africa)

Colin's Bird Atlassing Blog (South Africa)

Ernst’s Birding Blog (South Africa)

GetBirding.com (South Africa)

Kersten Birding (South Africa)

KZN Atlasing (South Africa)

KZN Midlands Bird Club (South Africa)

mafikeng birds (South Africa)

My Bird Sightings (South Africa)

Stuart Groom (South Africa)

Inactive:

Birding in South Africa (South Africa)

Last revised: 03/30/10.

South American Bird Blogs

What follows is a list of active and inactive bird blogs of South America that are personally known to me. I’m sure that there are others that I have not yet discovered. My goal is to make this list as comprehensive as possible. I plan to update the list frequently, so if you know of other South American bird blogs (or have one yourself) that should be included here, please leave a comment.

Active:

Area de Ornitologica (Peru) [Spanish]

Aves de Jaú (Brazil) [Portuguese]

Aves do Território Alagoano (Brazil) [Portuguese]

Birding in Peru and South America (Peru)

Birding in Southern Peru (Peru)

Birding in the Falkland Islands

Birds in Brasil (Brazil)

Birds in Peru (Peru)

Birds of Prey - Aves de Rapina (Brazil) [Portuguese]

Brazil (Brazil)

Brazilian Birder (Brazil)

Caapora (Brazil) [Portuguese]

Expedições Ornitológicas (Brazil) [Portuguese]

Passarinhando (Brazil) [Portuguese]

Surucuá e Tristezas do Jeca (Brazil) [Portuguese]

Teach Me About Birdwatching!!! (Peru)

Inactive:

Peru Birding (Peru)

The Dodo Blog (Brazil)

Last revised: 4/14/09.

Bird Blogs of Australia and New Zealand

What follows is a list of active and inactive bird blogs of Australia and New Zealand that are personally known to me. I’m sure that there are others that I have not yet discovered. My goal is to make this list as comprehensive as possible. I plan to update the list frequently, so if you know of other Australian or New Zealand bird blogs (or have one yourself) that should be included here, please leave a comment.

Active:

A Bird in the Bush (NSW)

An Australian Bird Bander (ACT)

Ben Cruachan - Natural History

Bird Anonymous (NSW)

Bird Explorers (NSW)

Bird Note—Words on Birds (NSW)

Birding - with Max (NSW)

Birds and Things (QLD)

Birds in Tasmania (TAS)

Blackbirdblog (New Zealand)

Cooloola Birds (QLD)

Craig Miller - Blogography (NSW)

Gouldiae's Blog (VIC)

Lucky's bird photography adventures (NSW)

Mark Young's Birding Blog (NSW)

My Birding Blogs (NSW)

Nordmann's Greenshank (NSW)

Nyoman's Birdwatching (QLD)

Richard Hall's Birding Blog (SA)

Sandy Straits and Beyond

Search and Serendipity

Steve Happ Photography

The Northern Myth – Birds (NT)

Trevor's Birding (SA)

Tyto Tony (QLD)

Inactive (i.e., no blog-postings in more than a year):

ACT Big Twitch (ACT)

Birding South Australia (SA)

Dabbler (WA)

Local birds etc. (VIC)

Of Emus and Fairy Wrens

Last revised: 6/27/09.

Asian Bird Blogs

What follows is a list of active and inactive English-language Asian bird blogs that are personally known to me. I’m sure that there are others that I have not yet discovered. My goal is to make this list as comprehensive as possible. I plan to update the list frequently, so if you know of other Asian bird blogs (or have one yourself) that should be included here, please leave a comment.

Active:

A Birdwatcher's Diary (India)

Addi the Birde (India)

Amazing Borneo (Malaysia)

Bird Ecology Study Group (Singapore)

Bird Group – MNS Selangor Branch (Malaysia)

Birders of Sabah Borneo Island (Malaysia)

Birding Babylon (Iraq)

Birding India (India)

Birding Israel (Israel)

Birding Kabul (Afghanistan)

Birding Mongolia (Mongolia)

Birds and Nature Photography (Malaysia)

Birds Rule!!! (Singapore)

Birdwatching of Indonesia (Indonesia)

Burung Sulawesi (Indonesia)

Carmo Police (Japan)

Dartford Waffler - Thailand (Thailand)

Dig Deep (Malaysia)

Electric Birding (Thailand)

Friendly Animals (India)

Gallicissa (Sri Lanka)

Hakodate Birding (original) (Japan)

Hakodate Birding (new) (Japan)

Hirobirder (Japan)

Indian Birder (India)

John’s Hong Kong Birding Blog (Hong Kong)

My Birding field trips (Malaysia)

Nordmann's Greenshank (Australia)

Phuket Birders Blog (Thailand)

Shore Birds in Japan (Japan)

Sri Lanka Birds (Sri Lanka)

The Jewelthrush Diaries

Those magnificent flying machines (India)

Urban Babblers (India)

Wildlife, Bird Watching, etc. (India)

Wild Birding Philippines (Philippines)

Inactive (i.e., no blog-posting in more than a year):

Easy Bird Watching Guide

Kazu Birding (Japan)

Thai Birds and More (Thailand)

Tokyo Birder (Japan)

Last revised: 6/27/09.

Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant

All of the existing Cooper’s Hawk Wineries and Restaurants seem to be located in the Chicago metropolitan area. I can’t vouch for the quality of the wine or the sumptuousness of the food, but these upscale establishments look like they’d be fun to visit.

Open Letter to David Sibley

I found this tongue-in-cheek letter from My 42 Cents to bird artist/field-guide author David Sibley rather humorous. To my knowledge, Sibley has not replied (nor would I expect him to).

Carnivorous Chickens

Credit: Photo is by canong2fan at Flickr.

One night earlier this month I was mumbling in my sleep to such an extent that it woke Marj. I was making such a racket, apparently, that she was afraid I was having a heart attack. I was also flailing my arms and hands in the air, seemingly trying to ward off attacks from an intruder that only I was aware of.

After prodding me until I was partially awake, Marj asked me what my problem was. I replied sleepily, “Hmmm? Oh, nothing.”

I immediately started dozing off back to sleep. But before I did, I roused myself just enough to mutter, “Oh, now I remember. I was dreaming about carnivorous chickens.”

Whereupon, I promptly passed out again, probably leaving Marj a bit bemused and chuckling to herself, wondering what the hell I had been dreaming.

I remembered the dream the next day. There was no doubt that I had been fighting off giant, carnivorous chickens—Moas, maybe (yeah, I know they were herbivores, but let's just pretend otherwise)—in my sleep. I could remember that they were going after my face with their bills. But I didn’t spend much time thinking about it or trying to interpret the meaning of the dream.

A week or so later, a serendipitous Google search for “carnivorous chicken” turned up an article from Scientific American with the following eye-catching title: Was T. Rex Really King of the Lizards—or Just a Big, Carnivorous Chicken? To summarize the major finding of the paper:

Scientists extracted collagen from the femur of a 68-million-year-old T. rex and found that its protein sequences were most similar to those of chickens, among modern animals.

I guess there was a good reason why I was talking to myself and flailing my arms and hands in the air. Those chickens, or whatever they were, might have been even bigger than I imagined. One thing is certain: I'll never again look at a chicken without being reminded of that dream!

From Birds to Beetles

Sir Paul McCartney has revealed that he liked birds so much as a kid that he wanted to be an ornithologist. But somewhere along the way to his chosen career he went astray, instead becoming an award-winning singer/songwriter.

Shackleton’s Owl Shacks

Cliff Shackleton, nongame ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife by day, is a manufacturer of nest boxes for owls by night, as described in this article. Check out Cliff’s Owl Shacks here.

Chapman’s “Christmas Bird-Census”

Tom Baine does an excellent job of putting into historical context the birth of Frank M. Chapman’s brilliant vision, the Christmas Bird Count, way back in 1900.

Ornithologist = Tour Guide?

Study four years to be an ornithologist and you, too, can become a bird-tour guide. At least that's what this article from African Executive seems to imply . . . not that there’s anything wrong with being a tour guide, mind you!

Birds of Christmas 2008

Caption: Female Northern Cardinal, by Henry McLin, as posted at Flickr.

Today was a day spent visiting with friends and family. But between the social events, I managed to keep an eye out for the birds. Here’s a list of the 17 species seen or heard in or from the yard on this lovely Christmas Day:

Ring-billed Gull – 1 adult flying over the house enroute to the landfill

Mourning Dove – 4 at the feeders

Great Horned Owl – a distant bird heard calling at about 7:00 AM

Downy Woodpecker – 2 at feeders

Blue Jay – 2 birds heard

Black-capped Chickadee – 2 birds arguing over sunflower seeds

Tufted Titmouse – 1 at the bird bath and later the feeders

White-breasted Nuthatch – 1 bird at suet feeder

American Tree Sparrow – half a dozen birds at feeders

White-throated Sparrow – 1 immature below feeders

Dark-eyed Junco – dozens of birds at the feeders

Northern Cardinal – 2 females

Purple Finch – 1 female at feeders

House Finch – half a dozen birds at feeders

Pine Siskin – several dozen birds at feeders

American Goldfinch – several dozen birds at feeders

House Sparrow – 5 birds

Christmas Cheer

On Christmas Eve, I’d like to send out a little something that will put a smile on people’s faces, so here’s an example of my quirky sense of humor. Enjoy!

Ghost Bird: An Interview

Here’s an excellent interview—from NPR local affiliate KUAF 91.3 in Fayette, Arkansas—that focuses on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and features Scott Crocker, producer/director of Ghost Bird (the movie), and Alan Mueller, avian conservation program manager for The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas. The interview runs about 10 minutes in length.

In Crocker’s words, the movie “conjures up nostalgia and longing.”

eBird Continues to Grow and Improve

eBird, the massive online checklist project administered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, continues to grow, including more than 1,000,000 checklists submitted in a single month. Read the eBird Annual Report for 2008 here.

Better yet, add the eBird blog—Birding News and Features—to your regular reading list. One of my favorite entries of late was the explanation of the new, updated Bar Charts feature, which is a marked improvement over the previous version. Others may enjoy the recent discussion of crossbill vocalizations.

Bush Pardons Killer of Bald Eagles

A Missouri man, as reported here:

Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo., who pleaded guilty in 1995 to unlawfully killing three bald eagles in southeast Missouri. He improperly used pesticide in hamburger meat to kill coyotes, but ended up killing many other animals, including the bald eagles. Collier, who was convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, was sentenced Feb. 2, 1996 in the Eastern District of Missouri.

More news coverage of this story can be found here. Of particular interest is this source, which features a video of former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s musical tribute to the American Bald Eagle. Not to be missed!

Christmas Bird Count Tragedy

Onik Arian was taking advantage of a break in the storm to go out on the Crescent City [California] jetty and spot a few birds Sunday.

That's when a wave swept the local emergency room physician off the concrete breakwater into the rocks below, where he died of blunt force head trauma.

An avid bird-watcher for many years, Arian was taking part in the National Audubon Society's annual holiday bird count early Sunday.

Click here to read the rest of the story from the The Daily Triplicate. This is the first I’ve ever heard of someone dying while participating in a Christmas Bird Count (but that's probably not something Audubon would choose to publicize). I wonder if there have been other mortalities in the past? The manner in which Dr. Arian died is particularly tragic.

Media Coverage of the Niles Christmas Bird Count

The 46th annual Niles Christmas Bird Count was held yesterday. The following article appeared on page B1 of the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune on Sunday, December 21, 2008:

Counting birds for Niles annual census

Area birders count species and numbers in flocks.

By SHERRY VAN ARSDALL
Tribune Staff Writer

NILES — Alison Village likes the competitive edge of counting birds.

"I like seeing if I can see something (birds) before someone else," Alison, 16, said.

She took part in the 46th annual Niles Area Christmas Bird Count Saturday with her partner, Mary Jo Canaday, of Berrien Springs.

The area for the bird count has been divided into eight territories which encompasses a circle with a 15-mile diameter that includes Niles, Buchanan and Berrien Springs.

The pair watched a bald eagle soar along the St. Joseph River four different times while taking count of birds along the river.

"That's been a treat," Alison, of Berrien Springs, said.

They saw a Lapland Longspur (a sparrow-like bird) at the Berrien County Landfill in Buchanan and that's been a first sighting of the species in this area since 1989, according to Wendy Jones, coordinator of the bird count.

"They are only seen in the winter around here," said Jones, a naturalist and education manager at Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve.

There were about 450 seagulls[sic] and 2,000 to 3,000 starlings at the landfill, as well as a red-tailed hawk.

"Hawks like to eat off that kind of stuff," said Canaday. "It was a very aromatic experience."

Alison and Canaday started their count at 5:30 a.m. and finished about 4 p.m.

They'd find a place that looked like a good habitat for birds, an open field or a deeply wooded area, Canaday said.

"In order to see the birds, we used a CD with distress calls and the birds would come in to stave off the predator," she said.

It amuses Canaday to watch the reaction of birds to the CD.

"I appreciate the variety of birds and I enjoy their behavior," Canaday said. "I work long hours so it's very relaxing to be in nature. I appreciate the stillness and it keeps me going."

Dick and Pat Schinkel, of Berrien Springs, saw a robin in a berry tree in the parking lot of McDonald's in Buchanan and a tundra swan on the St. Joseph River.

"They migrate through here but normally don't stop here," Dick Schinkel said. "We've been doing the count for 30 years and know the area of our territory."

The data collected by the field counters at lunch time was 54 species, said Jones. She also had feeder counters (people that count bird feeders at their homes) that mail in their data.

And bird counters have been referred to as citizen scientists for several years, Jones said.

"We're not trained scientists, but we can gather data that professional scientists can never get due to time and money," she said.

A history of bird counting

The bird count celebrates its 109th year with more than 42,000 birders taking part in the annual census.

The 2007 Niles Area Christmas Bird Count included 11,521 individual birds, a record high, and 72 species.

Data from each count provide valuable information to ornithologists, scientists that [sic] study birds.

The National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count was established in 1900 by Frank Chapman, an ornithologist with the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

He began publishing “Bird Lore,” which became a unifying national form for the Audubon movement.

Chapman felt it was better to count birds than shoot them, which was a sport on Christmas Day, to see how many birds could be shot.

The first bird count extended throughout the U.S. from Mexico to Canada.

Mantra for True Believers

Some things have to be believed to be seen.
—Ralph Hodgson

This would seem to be the perfect mantra for folks in hot pursuit of rarities such as the Ivory-billed Woodpecker or creatures of a more crytological nature such as Bigfoots and Thunderbirds.

Not to poke too much fun at true believers—and you know who you are!—it could also be the mantra for hard-core birders everywhere seeking rare and unusual birds of all kinds.

My sincerest thanks to Marjorie Foster for making me aware of this quote.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Analogy

In a piece making light of the lack of Southerners among Obama’s Cabinet appointments, Wonket asks:

. . . are there even any Southern Democrats alive anymore? Or are they like the ivory-billed woodpecker, another mythical Southern rarity?

We all know that IBWOs are not mythical, but you get the point.

Seabirds Keep Stranded Fishermen Alive

While doing some random Web-surfing this morning, I ran across this incredible story of survival at sea.

Kellan Lutz pictures

Kellan Lutz is the American film and television actor who plays Emmett Cullen in the recent film Twilight. He also used to be an Abercrombie & Fitch model!

Other recent posts:

Get the male model tool bar at hot male celebs

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The Birds Barbie Doll

From Mattel, comes the perfect gift for the birder in your life who has everything else, a Barbie commemorating Alfred Hitchcock’s classic ornithological thriller, The Birds.

Veracity of Ivory-billed Woodpecker Claims

If we go a couple more years without proof that at least one Ivory-billed Woodpecker still lives in North America, I think that claims of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers will lose all veracity.—Geoffrey E. Hill (as quoted in this interview, published May 8, 2007, on the blog of Oxford University Press, the publisher of Hill’s Ivory-bill Hunters).

We must now be coming very, very near to the tipping point on this one. In his book, Hill had claimed the existence of at least nine pairs of these crow-sized woodpeckers along the Choctawhatchee River in the Panhandle of Florida. Last I knew, Hill et al.’s claims still remain unverified, their evidence not yet accepted as conclusive by the Florida Ornithological Society’s Records Committee.

New Buffalo Christmas Bird Count: 29-Year History

The center of the oddly-named New Buffalo (Michigan) Christmas Bird Count (located at ) is actually much closer to the village of Three Oaks than it is to New Buffalo. But by virtue of the fact that the count center is located so far to the east of downtown New Buffalo, which sits on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, the count circle encompasses some of my old boy-hood haunts around the village of Galien. I’ll be covering some of those areas during the New Buffalo CBC this coming weekend. With that thought in mind, I was driven to prepare this historical sketch of the first 29 years of the count.

During the 29-year history of the New Buffalo CBC, some 272,504 individuals of 142 species have been tallied.

Frequency of Occurrence/Yearly Regularity
Twenty-five species (18 percent) were recorded in each of the 29 years, forty-one (29 percent) in 25 or more years, sixty-six (46 percent) in 15 or more years (i.e., on more than half of all counts), forty-three (30 percent) in fewer than 10 years, and seventeen (12 percent) in just one year.

The Top Ten Species: The following species are ranked in decreasing order of abundance based on a combination of three criteria: (a) total number recorded; (b) mean count when detected, and (c) median count when detected. The values for each of these criteria are presented as percentages relative to the highest-ranking species in each category (European Starling;i.e., the median count for Northern Cardinal was 27.3 percent that of the starling). Ranks (overall and for individual critera) are in curly brackets. Each of the species listed below ranked in the top 10 in at least one of the three abundance criteria:

European Starling {1}: (a) 100{1} [n=35,778] – (b) 100{1} [Mean=1,234] – (c) 100{1} [Median=951]

Herring Gull {2.7): (a) 76.8{2) – (b) 76.7{2} – (c) 49.7{4}

House Sparrow {2.7}: (a) 75.6{3} – (b) 75.5{3} – (c) 74.0{2}

Dark-eyed Junco {3.7}: (a) 56.4{4} – (b) 56.6{4} – (c) 58.4{3}

Ring-billed Gull {5}: (a) 45.9{5} – (b) 52.2{5} – (c) 43.7{5}

American Tree Sparrow {6.7}: (a) 32.9{6} – (b) 32.9{7} – (c) 34.9{7}

American Crow {7}: (a) 29.4{7} – (b) 29.4{8} – (c) 37.2{6}

Mourning Dove {9}: (a) 25.5{8} – (b) 25.5{10} – (c) 26.1{9}

Northern Cardinal {10}: (a) 21.1{10} – (b) 21.1{12} – (c) 27.3{8}

House Finch {10}: (a) 20.5{11} – (b) 27.1{9} – (c) 25.8{10}

The 10 species enumerated above accounted for 65 percent of individuals recorded on the New Buffalo CBC. Three of the 10 most abundant species (European Starling, House Finch, House Sparrow) are introduced; collectively, these three species alone account for 26 percent of the total individuals.

29-year Summary:

The status of each species recorded during the 45-year history of the Niles CBC is summarized using the following conventions: Species Name—Number of years recorded (remarks, where appropriate): Median count (High count in Year(s)). Example: Great Blue Heron—26: 4 (15 in ‘98). Names of species recorded fewer than 10 times are italicized. Names of species recorded on more than half of the counts are boldfaced. Names of species ranked in the top 10 in terms of abundance are boldfaced and underlined. For species recorded 10 or more times, high counts that exceed the median by a factor of 10 or more are underlined. Asterisks (*) denote high counts that occurred in three or more years. Years are denoted as follows: ’70 is 1970, ’05 is 2005, etc.

Snow Goose—3: 1 (1*), Canada Goose—22: 165.5 (615 in ’01) {includes “Blue” form—1: 1 (in ‘87)}, Mute Swan [I]—5 (first in ’86): 2 (16 in ’04), Tundra Swan—2: 24 (46 in ’94), swan sp.—1: 6 (in ’98), Wood Duck—7: 1 (3 in ’00), Gadwall—8: 3.5 (18 in ’01), American Wigeon—5: 1 (2 in ’93 & ’94), American Black Duck—23: 8 (46 in ’86), Mallard—29: 168 (738 in ’06), Northern Shoveler—4: 1 (12 in ’97), Northern Pintail—3: 2 (3 in ’03), Green-winged Teal—3: 1 (7 in ’96).

Canvasback—5: 6 (8 in ’96), Redhead—11: 2 (24 in ’99), Ring-necked Duck—5: 2 (4 in ’01), Greater Scaup—20: 8.5 (272 in ’93), Lesser Scaup—17: 9 (133 in ’99), scaup sp.—16: 5 (3,000 in ’98), King Eider—1: 1 (in ’98), Harlequin Duck—1: 1 (in ’93), Surf Scoter—7: 2 (36 in ’98), White-winged Scoter—14: 2.5 (60 in ’69), Black Scoter—8: 4 (23 in ’98), Long-tailed Duck—10: 2 (21 in ’73), Bufflehead—28: 76 (253 in ’94), Common Goldeneye—29: 95 (663 in ’93), Barrow’s Goldeneye—1: 1 (in ’97), Hooded Merganser—15: 2 (8 in ’98), Common Merganser—22: 15.5 (59 in ’95), Red-breasted Merganser—26: 18.5 (1,190 in ’07), Ruddy Duck—2: 1 (in ’75 & ’87), duck sp—4: 30 (500 in ’04).

Ring-necked Pheasant [I]—26: 5.5 (101 in ’73), Ruffed Grouse—4 (last in ’87): 2 (9 in ’71), Wild Turkey—6 (first in ’00): 1 (15 in ’02), Northern Bobwhite—5 (last in ’74): 19 (61 in ’73).

Red-throated Loon—6: 3 (15 in ’06), Common Loon—14: 3 (25 in ’94), loon sp.—3: 1 (1*), Pied-billed Grebe—11: 1 (15 in ’71), Horned Grebe—12: 2.5 (12 in ’06), Eared Grebe—1: 1 (in ’02), Aechmophorus sp.—1: 1 (in ’06), Double-crested Cormorant—2: 1 (1 in ’90 & ’92), Great Blue Heron—16: 2 (8 in ’87).

Turkey Vulture—2: 1 (1 in ’89 & ’92), Bald Eagle—3: 1 (1*), Northern Harrier—24: 4 (23 in ’94), Sharp-shinned Hawk—21: 2 (4*), Cooper’s Hawk—29: 3 (9*), Northern Goshawk—4: 1 (1*), Accipiter sp—7: 1 (3 in ’95), Red-shouldered Hawk—17: 2 (6 in ’98), Red-tailed Hawk—29: 26 (47 in ’94), Rough-legged Hawk—29: 7 (29 in ’94), Buteo sp.—6: 1 (1*), hawk sp.—3: 1 (2 in ’94), American Kestrel—29: 16 (37 in ’91), Merlin—3: 1 (1*).

Virginia Rail—1: 1 (in ’75), American Coot—12: 3.5 (220 in ’71), Killdeer—9: 2 (12 in 87), Pectoral Sandpiper—1: 1 (in ’87), Purple Sandpiper—3: 1 (1*), Wilson’s Snipe—3: 1 (2 in ’72), Dunlin—1: 2 (in ’74), Red Phalarope—1: 3 (in ’87).

Bonaparte’s Gull—9: 3 (29 in ’03), Ring-billed Gull—28: 415.5 (2,739 in ’03), California Gull—1: 1 (in ’04), Herring Gull—29: 473 (6,185 in ’04), Thayer’s Gull—8: 1 (5 in ’04), Iceland Gull—4: 1 (1*), Lesser Black-backed Gull—10: 1 (3 in ’99 & ’04), Glaucous Gull—12: 1 (5 in ’04), Great Black-backed Gull—9: 1 (4 in ’01), Black-legged Kittiwake—3: 1 (1*), gull sp—18: 63 (2,225 in ’04), jaeger sp—1: 1 (in ’00).

Rock Pigeon [I]—25 (first tallied on CBCs in ’73): 167 (298 in ’92), Mourning Dove—29: 248 (1,506 in ’74), Eastern Screech-Owl—28: 4.5 (23 in ’89), Great Horned Owl—26: 2 (12 in ’71), Snowy Owl—4: 1 (1*), Barred Owl—25: 2 (6 in ’96), Long-eared Owl—4: 1 (3 in ’71), Short-eared owl—12: 1 (3 in ’87), Northern Saw-whet Owl—2: 1 (1 in ’89 & ’91), owl sp.—3: 1 (2 in ’97).

Belted Kingfisher—20: 2 (10 in ’71), Red-headed Woodpecker—26: 7 (120 in ’71), Red-bellied Woodpecker—29: 46 (84 in ’94), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker—11: 1 (3 in ’71), Downy Woodpecker—29: 81 (129 in ’97), Hairy Woodpecker—29: 16 (29 in ’71), Northern Flicker—29: 14 (52 in ’69), Pileated Woodpecker—17: 3 (6 in ‘107), Eastern Phoebe—1: 1 (in ’74).

Northern Shrike—2: 1 (4 in ’95), Blue Jay—29: 206 (480 in ’71), American Crow—29: 354 (863 in ’97), Horned Lark—28: 48.5 (676 in ’75), Black-capped Chickadee—29: 161 (372 in ’93), Tufted Titmouse—29: 115 (212 in ’97), Red-breasted Nuthatch—28: 14 (52 in ’95), White-breasted Nuthatch—29: 90 (169 in ’94), Brown Creeper—29: 5 (20 in ’87).

Carolina Wren—26: 4.5 (14 in 03), Winter Wren—17: 2 (10 in ’71), Golden-crowned Kinglet—22: 2 (15 in ’73), Ruby-crowned Kinglet—4: 1 (1*), Eastern Bluebird—26: 26.5 (82 in ’05), Hermit Thrush—5: 1 (1*), American Robin—24: 4.5 (765 in ’98), Gray Catbird—1: 1 (in ’69), Northern Mockingbird—7: 1 (2 in ’70), Brown Thrasher—2: 1 (1 in ’69 & ’71).

European Starling [I]—29: 951 (3,697 in ’73), American Pipit—1: 1 (in ’04), Bohemian Waxwing—1: 14 (in ’95), Cedar Waxwing—23: 35 (207 in ’98), Yellow-rumped Warbler—15: 2 (20 in ’69), Common Yellowthroat—2: 1 (1 in ’75 & 87).

Eastern Towhee—6: 1 (3 in ’88), American Tree Sparrow—29: 332 (1,600 in ’71), Chipping Sparrow—1: 1 (in ’80), Field Sparrow—9: 6 (12 in ’71), Fox Sparrow—5: 2 (12 in ’88), Song Sparrow—29: 34 (91 in ’73), Swamp Sparrow—18: 2.5 (17 in ’75), White-throated Sparrow—17: 3 (12 in ’88), White-crowned Sparrow—27: 8 (53 in ’94), sparrow sp—5: 11 (21 in 01), Dark-eyed Junco—29: 555 (1,902 in ’75) {includes “Oregon” Junco—2: 1.5 (2 in ’71) and “Slate-colored” Junco—29: 555 (1,902 in ’75)}, Lapland Longspur—16: 16.5 (4,141 in ’73), Snow Bunting—26: 69.5 (902 in ’07).

Northern Cardinal—29: 260 (418 in ’00), Red-winged Blackbird—22: 6 (235 in ’01), Eastern Meadowlark—9: 3 (20 in ’70), Rusty Blackbird—2: 2 (3 in ’74), Common Grackle—11: 3 (26 in ’07), Brown-headed Cowbird—15: 5 (224 in ’01), blackbird sp.—2: 1.5 (2 in ‘o4), Baltimore Oriole—1: 1 (in ‘03).

Pine Grosbeak—2: 4.5 (6 in ’87), Purple Finch—26: 16 (56 in ’69), House Finch [I]—22 (first in '86): 245.5 (879 in ’95), Red Crossbill—1: 22 (in ’72), crossbill sp.—1: 12 (in ’07), Common Redpoll—16: 8.5 (400 in ’69), Hoary Redpoll—1: 1 (in ’07), Pine Siskin—23: 15 (90 in ’90), American Goldfinch—29: 188 (552 in ’86), Evening Grosbeak—13: 5 (64 in ’72), House Sparrow [I]—29: 704 (2,709 in ’74).

Swan Crashes into Truck’s Windshield

The following article—posted as a Traffic Brief on page B2 of the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune on Monday, 12/15/2008—caught my attention:

EDWARDSBURG – A Vandalia man escaped serious injury Saturday after a swan flew into his windshield while he was driving along U.S. 12, authorities said.

The Ontwa Edwardsburg Police Department said Merle Ramsey, age unknown, was headed west about 2:15 p.m. when the swan crashed into his pickup truck and went completely through the windshield.

Ramsey refused treatment at the scene for possible head injuries. A passenger, Ali Lynn Scott, of Cassopolis, was not injured.

There was no immediate word on the condition of the swan.

Three species of swans can be encountered in southwestern Michigan at this time of year (Mute, Trumpeter, and Tundra), with the Mute Swan being the one most likely to be encountered. In my opinion, it's highly unlikely that this bird survived a crash through the windshield of a pickup truck.

Niles Christmas Bird Count: 45-Year Summary

During the 45-year history (1961-1978 and 1981-2007) of the Niles (Michigan) Christmas Bird Count (CBC), 275,735 individuals of 132 species have been recorded. I live in the count circle, and plan to participate in the count for the first time next weekend. That has prompted me to prepare this brief summary of the 45-year history of the count.

Frequency of Occurrence/Yearly Regularity:

Seventeen species (13 percent) were recorded in each of the 45 years, twenty-six (20 percent) in 40 or more years, 67 (51 percent) in 23 or more years (i.e., on more than half of all counts), fifty-three (40 percent) in fewer than 10 years, and twenty-one (16 percent) in just one year.

Superabundant Species:

The fifteen most abundant species (underlined and boldfaced in the list below) accounted for 83 percent of the individuals recorded on the Niles CBC. Four of the 15 most abundant species (European Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Rock Pigeon) are introduced; collectively, these four species alone account for 30 percent of total individuals.

45-Year Summary:

The status of each species recorded during the 45-year history of the Niles CBC is summarized using the following conventions: Species Name—Number of years recorded (remarks, where appropriate): Median count (High count in Year(s)). Example: Nothern Harrier—16: 1 (3 in ’90). Names of species recorded fewer than 10 times are italicized. Names of species recorded on more than half of the counts are boldfaced. Names of species ranked in the top 15 in terms of abundance are boldfaced and underlined. For species recorded 10 or more times, high counts that exceed the median by a factor of 10 or more are underlined. Asterisks (*) denote high counts that occurred in three or more years. Years are denoted as follows: ’70 is 1970, ’05 is 2005, etc. Introduced species are denoted [I].

Snow Goose—6: 1 (5 in ‘70) {includes “Blue” form—4: 1 (2 in ’70) and “White” form—1: 3 (in ’70)}, Canada Goose—37: 434 (2,297 in ‘07), Cackling Goose—1: 5 (in ’07), Mute Swan [I]—15 (first in ’78): 1 (16 in ‘05), Tundra Swan—3: 1 (1*), Wood Duck—23: 2.5 (21 in ‘75), Gadwall—10: 3.5 (12 in ‘95), American Wigeon—1: 1 (in ’97), American Black Duck—33: 17 (86 in ‘61), Mallard—45: 278 (690 in ‘87), Blue-winged Teal—2: 1 (1*), Northern Pintail—4: 1 (2 in ‘97), Green-winged Teal—3: 3 (6 in ‘65).

Canvasback—9: 1 (16 in ‘74), Redhead—8: 1.5 (3 in ‘06), Ring-necked Duck—6: 1 (44 in ‘99), Greater Scaup—1: 1 (in ’05), Lesser Scaup—3: 3 (6 in ‘74), unidentified scaup—1: 2 (in ’94), White-winged Scoter—1: 2 (in ’98), Long-tailed Duck—1: 1 (in ’76), Bufflehead—32: 2 (13 in ‘07), Common Goldeneye—37: 44 (431 in ‘76), Barrow’s Goldeneye—1: 1 (in ’77), Hooded Merganser—26: 3 (60 in ‘91), Common Merganser—31: 9 (60 in ‘61), Red-breasted Merganser—5: 1 (3 in ’67 & ‘97), Ruddy Duck—4: 1 (4 in ‘06), unidentified duck—5: 2 (8 in ’99).

Ring-necked Pheasant [I]—33: 7 (98 in ‘70), Ruffed Grouse—23 (last in ’93): 3 (10 in ’71 & ‘73), Wild Turkey [I]—9 (first in ’94): 11 (121 in ‘05), Northern Bobwhite [I]—9 (last in ’78): 15 (71 in ‘73).

Common Loon—6: 1 (2 in ’91), Pied-billed Grebe—26: 1.5 (24 in ’75), Horned Grebe—4: 2 (3 in ’74), Eared Grebe—1: 1 (in ’83), unidentified grebe—1: 2 (in ’04), Double-crested Cormorant—1: 1 (in ’03), Great Blue Heron—26: 4 (15 in ‘98).

Turkey Vulture—1: 2 (in ’63), Bald Eagle—6: 1 (3 in ’00), Nothern Harrier—16: 1 (3 in ’90), Sharp-shinned Hawk—33: 2 (7 in ’89), Cooper’s Hawk—39: 3 (10 in ’05), Northern Goshawk—2: 1(in ’88 & ’07), unidentified Accipiter—7: 1 (4 in ’95), Red-shouldered Hawk—25: 1 (5 in ‘04), Red-tailed Hawk—45: 15 (53 in ’95), Rough-legged Hawk—33: 2 (12 in ’94), unidentified Buteo—8: 2.5 (5 in ’95), unidentified hawk—2: 1 (in ’98 & ’07), American Kestrel—45: 7 (24 in ’92), Merlin—1: 1 (in ’82), unidentified falcon—1: 1 (in ’98).

American Coot—22: 10.5 (177 in ’99), Sandhill Crane—1: 4 (in ’05), Killdeer—11: 1 (10 in ’98), Wilson’s Snipe—13: 2 (9 in ’76), American Woodcock—6: 1 (2 in ’73 & ’75), Ring-billed Gull—32: 37.5 (2,253 in ’07), Herring Gull—42: 9.5 (1,446 in ’05), unidentified gull—12: 61 (271 in ’94).

Rock Pigeon [I] (first tallied on CBCs in ’73)—33: 111 (276 in ’95), Mourning Dove—44: 291.5 (1,188 in ’74), Barn Owl—4: 1 (3 in ’76), Eastern Screech-Owl—41: 9 (181 in ’73), Great Horned Owl—40: 4 (41 in ’81), Snowy Owl—1: 1(in ’76), Barred Owl—26: 2 (4 in ’75 & ’92), Long-eared Owl—7: 1 (1*), Northern Saw-whet Owl—3: 1 (2 in ’73), Short-eared Owl—3: 1 (1*), unidentified owl—1: 1 (in ’93).

Belted Kingfisher—40: 4 (12 in ’78 & ’84), Red-headed Woodpecker—38: 2 (34 in ’71), Red-bellied Woodpecker—44: 28.5 (105 in ’04), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker—26: 1.5 (8 in ’69), Downy Woodpecker—45: 62 (119 in ’95), Hairy Woodpecker—45: 9 (22 in ’63), Northern Flicker—43: 15 (56 in ’02), Pileated Woodpecker—12: 2 (7 in ’07), Eastern Phoebe—1: 1 (in ’87).

Northern Shrike—5: 1 (1*), Blue Jay—45: 183 (409 in ’84), American Crow—45: 239 (781 in ’99), Horned Lark—38: 34.5 (388 in ’75), Black-capped Chickadee—45: 131 (478 in ’87), Tufted Titmouse—45: 90 (186 in ’89), Red-breasted Nuthatch—36: 6 (39 in ’99 & 07), White-breasted Nuthatch—45: 85 (181 in ’89), Brown Creeper—44: 6 (25 in ’86).

Carolina Wren—25: 4 (15 in ’05), Winter Wren—20: 2 (6 in ’74), Golden-crowned Kinglet—35: 5 (22 in ’02), Ruby-crowned Kinglet—3: 2 (2 in ’74 & ’87), Eastern Bluebird—35: 14 (103 in ’06), Townsend’s Solitaire—1: 1 (in ’07), Swainson’s Thrush—1: 1 (in ’78), Hermit Thrush—16: 1 (4 in ’02), American Robin—38: 8 (305 in ’98), Gray Catbird—2: 1 (1 in ’74 & ’06), Northern Mockingbird—11: 3 (9 in ’76), Brown Thrasher—4: 1 (1*).

European Starling [I]—45: 561 (4,700 in ’69), Bohemian Waxwing—1: 1 (in 74), Cedar Waxwing—39: 59 (775 in ’90), Yellow Warbler—1: 1 (in ’93), Yellow-rumped Warbler—28: 4 (13 in ’78), Palm Warbler—1: 1 (in ’78), unidentified warbler—1: 1 (in ’94).

Eastern Towhee—15: 1 (4 in ’71), American Tree Sparrow—45: 190 (890 in ’71), Field Sparrow—24: 8 (62 in ’00), Vesper Sparrow—2: 1 (1 in ’87 & ‘88), Savannah Sparrow—1: 1 (in ’71), Fox Sparrow—10: 1 (3 in ’89), Song Sparrow—45: 26 (100 in ’63), Lincoln’s Sparrow—2: 4 (7 in ’63), Swamp Sparrow—31: 2 (16 in ’71), White-throated Sparrow—27: 3 (17 in ’05), White-crowned Sparrow—30: 3 (31 in ’84), unidentified sparrow—10: 5.5 (140 in ’95), Dark-eyed Junco—45: 590 (1,145 in ’75) {includes “Oregon” Junco—5: 2 (11 in ’64), “Pink-sided” Junco—1: 1 (in ’07), and “Slate-colored Junco”—39: 513 (1,745 in ’75) }, Lapland Longspur—8: 2 (5 in ’71), Snow Bunting—22: 51.5 (360 in ’73).

Northern Cardinal—45: 244 (507 in ’89), Red-winged Blackbird—17: 2 (107 in ’83), Eastern Meadowlark—14: 2 (22 in ’69), Rusty Blackbird—2: 2 (3 in ’87), Brewer’s Blackbird—1: 2 (in ’90), Common Grackle—27: 4 (300 in ’06), Brown-headed Cowbird—23: 4 (131 in ’73), unidentified blackbird—1: 1 (in ’04).

Pine Grosbeak—2: 7.5 (10 in ’85), Purple Finch—41: 12 (61 in ’87), House Finch [I]—24 (first in ’84): 274.5 (815 in ’91), Red Crossbill—3: 5 (8 in ’75), unidentified crossbill—1: 3 (in ’82), Common Redpoll—19: 12 (730 in ’69), Hoary Redpoll—1: 1 (in ’93), Pine Siskin—25: 14 (236 in ’87), American Goldfinch—45: 199 (532 in ’88), Evening Grosbeak—14: 10.5 (167 in ’69), House Sparrow [I]—45: 650 (2,000 in ’66).