Sharp-shinned & Cooper’s Hawks are 2 of the most mis-identified birds in North America based on their similar markings & structure. The smallest members of the Genus „Accipiter“ in North America, these birds are woodland hawks characterized by long tails & short wings, which aid them in chasing avian prey through […]
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As many people are aware, starting with the winter of 2012/2013, Snowy Owls staged a dramatic and widespread invasion into southern Canada and the northeastern United States, with the biggest numbers being from December to February. Gyrfalcons, the other massive arctic raptor, also pushed further south and in larger numbers […]
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Noah Strycker is an enthusiastic birder, a great writer, and is presently on the adventure of a lifetime! For many years he penned a featured column in WildBird magazine and was affectionately referred to as „BirdBoy“. He has long since outgrown that nickname, and currently works as an Associate Editor of „Birding“ […]
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The 2014 annual Spring eight-day Broome-Ashmore-Lacepedes-Broome expedition through Queensland, Australia, organized by George Swann of Kimberley Birdwatching (KBW), ran from October 20 – 27, 2014. The birding personnel were Tim Faulkner, Liz Faulkner, Rob Gibbons, Ian Halliday, Brian Johnston, Peter Madvig, Wayne Merrit, Scott Ryan, Jenny Spry, John Weigel, George Swann & […]
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If it looks like a sandpiper, acts like a sandpiper and flies like a sandpiper it must be a sandpiper, except when it’s a duck. There is only one duck that regularly and artfully pulls off a sandpiper impersonation: the Green-winged Teal. Green-winged Teal frequently forage on mudflats, busily poking […]
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Chukotka, Russia is where I’ve spent the last three Summers, coaxing spoon-billed sandpiper chicks from eggs to fully-fledged birds. The village of Meinypil’gyno – a multicoloured cluster of stilt houses with no roads in or out – is surrounded by moraine hills which are the only known breeding ground for […]
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When I start talking to people about Serbia, the images that most people conjure up in their minds is the vision of the devastating atrocities that occurred during the Yugoslav Wars of the nineties. I, too had the same thoughts when I was originally invited to visit Serbia’s capital, Belgrade in […]
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Something new to look at on juvenile night-herons? Adult Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night-Herons look quite different, rarely presenting an identification challenge. Juvenile night-herons on the other hand can be challenging if you don’t know what to look for. There are a number of well-known differences. Yellow-crowned have longer legs and […]
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As winter approaches, birders in North America will soon be confronted with the identification challenge of separating Snow Geese from Ross’s Geese. Typically this is pretty easy, but the small numbers of Snow X Ross’s goose hybrids that exist add an additional layer of difficulty. In this photo, we have […]
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Like many species of waterbirds, shorebirds often fly in mixed flocks. Call me crazy, but looking through a mixed flock of fast-moving birds trying to sort out all the species involved is one of my favorite things to do. It can be quite a challenging exercise and requires concentration, stable […]
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