Category Archives: bird banding

Bird Names For Birds

Posted on 14 July 2020 by Tim O'Connell

It’s long past time to consider, learn, care about, and correct a problem in our nomenclature for birds. via Historical Bios

Posted in academics, animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birding, birds/nature, career, environment, evolution, history, IUCN, mentoring, National Audubon Society, nature deficit disorder, No Child Left Inside, ornithological newsletter, professional development, skepticism and science, wildlife | Tagged #AOS, #BirdNamesForBirds, #nomenclature, EDI, environment, history, ornithology, science, URM | Leave a comment

My lifer Whooping Crane – something I thought I might never see

Posted on 26 July 2019 by Tim O'Connell

It’s been a long time coming, but I was recently guided to my lifer WHOOPING CRANE by my nephews Benjamin and Matt Hack (+ special guest star Matt’s friend Kaitie) at a lake near Dexter, Michigan. This is an ENDANGERED … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, birding, birds/nature, editorial, Endangered Species Act, environment, history, IUCN, migrants, population estimates, wildlife | Tagged ABA, Aransas NWR, birding, consevation, endangered species, ESA, extinction, Michigan, success story, USFWS, Whooping Crane, wildlife, Wood Buffalo NP | Leave a comment

The Wild Side for April 2019

Posted on 25 April 2019 by Tim O'Connell

Check out the latest newsletter of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Wildlife Diversity Program. Note: Only do this if you want to learn cool stuff about wildlife in the Sooner State and how to support them through your education … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bat conservation, bird banding, birding, birds/nature, Endangered Species Act, environment, evolution, IUCN, life, Links, migrants, monarch butterfly, National Audubon Society, No Child Left Inside, Partners in Flight, population estimates, population monitoring, professional development, skepticism and science, wildlife | Tagged chestnut-collared longspur, citizen science, gray treefrog, herps, non-game, ODWC, Oklahoma, pollinators, The Wild Side, Wildlife Diversity Program, wildscaping | Leave a comment

The Wild Side newsletter – March 2018

Posted on 22 March 2018 by Tim O'Connell

The Wildlife Diversity Program of our Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation publishes a great little e-newsletter: The Wild Side. This month’s issue hearkens to the extraordinary ecosystem diversity our state packs into its relatively modest area: mixed-grass prairie, Ozark caves, … Continue reading →

Posted in bat conservation, bird banding, birding, birds/nature, Endangered Species Act, environment, evolution, life, migrants, population estimates, population monitoring, wildlife | Tagged Banded Darter, citizen science, environment, migration, nature, ODWC, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, The Nature Conservancy, The Wild Side, Wildlife Diversity Program | Leave a comment

AUTHOR BLOG: To the Grasshopper Sparrow, the Grass May Be Greener on the Other Side — Auk & Condor Updates

Posted on 12 October 2017 by Tim O'Connell

Emily Williams Linked paper: Patterns and correlates of within-season breeding dispersal: A common strategy in a declining grassland songbird by E.J. Williams and W.A. Boyle, The Auk: Ornithological Advances 135:1, January 2018. Late in the summer of 2013, when Alice … Continue reading →

Posted in academics, animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birding, birds/nature, environment, evolution, Links, skepticism and science, wildlife | Tagged Alice Boyle, dispersal, Emily Williams, Flint Hills, Grasshopper Sparrow, grassland birds, Kansas State University, Konza Prairie, Ornithological Advances, ornithology, territoriality | Leave a comment

eBird News, July 2014

Posted on 31 July 2014 by Tim O'Connell

Check out the latest from Team eBird, including priority species for midsummer eBirding. Also, there’s this: Discounted BNA Online Subscription Rates for eBirders! Just a reminder, that as an eBird participant, you are entitled to discounted subscription rates to the … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, birding, birds/nature, environment, IUCN, life, Links, wildlife | Leave a comment

Wilson Journal of Ornithology: table of contents for vol. 126, #2

Posted on 9 July 2014 by Tim O'Connell

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (formerly The Wilson Bulletin) Journal of the Wilson Ornithological Society Volume 126, Number 2 CONTENTS June 2014 Major Articles 179 The avian biogeography of an Amazonian headwater: the Upper Ucayali River, Peru Michael G. Harvey, … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birding, birds/nature, environment, evolution, life, Links, migrants, skepticism and science, wildlife | Tagged ornithology, Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Wilson Ornithological Society | 1 Comment

Puffin Cams and other delights from the National Audubon Society

Posted on 28 June 2014 by Tim O'Connell

The latest Audubon newsletter features Green Heron nestlings, live feeds of nesting puffins on Seal Island, ME, and lots of other cool stuff. Check it out! Atlantic Puffin burrow-cam! (The Common Tern soundtrack sure brings back memories.) Here’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birding, birds/nature, environment, evolution, Great Auk, Links, weather, wildlife | Tagged Atlantic Puffin, Audubon, explore.org, National Audubon Society, puffin, Seal Island | Leave a comment

The “rim-laying” Black Robins of the Chatham Islands

Posted on 3 January 2014 by Tim O'Connell

The islands of New Zealand are, like those throughout much of the Pacific, a hotbed of ornithological endemism. Thousands – and millions – of years in isolation from mammalian predators led to the evolution of vast numbers of species poorly … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birds/nature, Endangered Species Act, environment, evolution, history, IUCN, life, Links, skepticism and science, wildlife | Tagged Black Robin, captive breeding, Chatham Islands, conservation genetics, Ed Yong, evolution, founder effect, genetic bottleneck, Massaro et al. 2013, National Geographic, natural selection, New Zealand, Petroica traversi | Leave a comment

Spoonbill Sandpipers displays tenacity amid adversity

Posted on 8 October 2013 by Tim O'Connell

Wild species, even ridiculously cute wild species, can be remarkably tough. Witness the wanderings of the adult male Spoon-billed Sandpiper in the latest Cornell Lab of Ornithology e-News.

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birding, birds/nature, Endangered Species Act, environment, evolution, IUCN, Links, skepticism and science, wildlife | Tagged Spoon-billed Sandpiper | Leave a comment

Visualizing cuckoo (Old World) migration

Posted on 7 May 2012 by Tim O'Connell

The BBC Nature News included a story on research into cuckoo migration from the British Trust for Ornithology. Researchers have now tracked the migration routes of at least two cuckoos from the south of England, across the Sahara to Equatorial … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, birds/nature, environment, evolution, IUCN, life, Links, migrants, skepticism and science, wildlife | Tagged cuckoo, migration, Sahara | Leave a comment

Portraits of pretty birds

Posted on 30 April 2012 by Tim O'Connell

I recently had the pleasure of spending a couple of days in the field with my friend Greg and the sole purpose of mist-netting and banding a variety of birds. I took Greg to one of my local study sites … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, birding, birds/nature, environment, life, migrants, wildlife | Tagged bird photos, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, carolina chickadee, Kentucky Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Red-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, White-throated Sparrow | 1 Comment

“Known Biters”

Posted on 23 April 2012 by Tim O'Connell

For a brief time when we were first married, my wife worked at a daycare center. She mentioned one evening that some of the kids had “KB” annotated next to their names on some list they used to organize activities, … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, birds/nature, environment, life, Links, migrants, wildlife | Tagged carolina chickadee, rose breasted grosbeak | 3 Comments

Chinquapin taking a break in the Bahamas

Posted on 30 August 2011 by Tim O'Connell

Tremendous story here chronicling the autumn migration of a Whimbrel from its breeding grounds in Arctic Canada, through then-Category 3 Hurricane Irene, and popping out on Eleuthera in the Bahamas, apparently none the worse for wear. Chinquapin has been a … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, birds/nature, environment, evolution, Links, migrants, skepticism and science, weather, wildlife | 2 Comments

Cornell Lab of Ornithology eNews, June 2011

Posted on 22 June 2011 by Tim O'Connell

Highlighted: efforts to begin captive breeding program for the endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper; voices of the White-rumped Sandpiper; more extreme birding milestones. Newsletter here.

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birding, birds/nature, editorial, Endangered Species Act, environment, evolution, IUCN, Links, migrants, weather, wildlife | Leave a comment

Beak deformities – a growing problem for wild birds?

Posted on 9 November 2010 by Tim O'Connell

Photo by Caroline van Hemert News Release November 8, 2010 Colleen Handel 907-786-7181 cmhandel@usgs.gov Caroline Van Hemert 907-786-7167 cvanhemert@usgs.gov Deformed Beaks May Signal a Greater Environmental Problem ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The highest rate of beak abnormalities ever recorded in wild … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birds/nature, editorial, environment, evolution, IUCN, Links, migrants, skepticism and science, wildlife | Leave a comment

Cornell Lab of Ornithology e-newsletter – 10/28/10

Posted on 7 November 2010 by Tim O'Connell

Cornell Lab eNews October 28, 2010 Through the Lens: White-tailed Ptarmigan White-tailed Ptarmigans by Gerrit Vyn View the incredible terrain on Mount Ranier’s alpine tundra and see stunning images of the ptarmigans that live there. Watch a short narrated piece … Continue reading →