Swainson’s Thrushes, aka Olive-backed Thrushes, hopefully Olive-backed replaces Swainson’s in the coming removal of eponymous English names by the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It is easy to miss Olive-backed Thrushes in their deep-forest, forest floor haunts until they sing. Like their forest thrush taxonomic cousins they have a flutelike upward-spiraling ethereal song.But even then you […]
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An immature – yellow eyes & brown streaking – Cooper’s Hawk in our urban, deep inside-the-perimeter of Atlanta yard. This is increasingly common urban occurrence. Cooper’s Hawks are overall short to medium distance migrants. But there is growing evidence that during dispersal if a young adult emigrates to an urban setting they tend to stay […]
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There is nothing a Summer Tanager, in this case a fall migrating female, enjoys more than a fat wasp (or bee). But what about the stinger? They catch their victim in the air, take it back to a branch, & roughly rub it on the bark to remove the stinger. Then down the hatch. This […]
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Female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds seem to never stop feeding, even for simple body functions. But of course, what goes in has to go out. This is especially true for hummers. Hummingbirds are unique ‘peeers’ in the bird world. Every day, hummingbirds ingest their body weight + in nectar. That nectar is 75 – 80% water. To […]
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Ruby-throated Hummingbirds’ tongues are not simple straws. They are shapeshifting, liquid trapping and transport, nectar pumping devices. The tongue’s tip is forked and can spread and close. There are two grooves in each tip that expand when the tips are open and flattened. The grooves compress and create tube-like structures when the tongue is retracted […]
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Biomimicry: Learning from and emulating nature’s forms, processes, and ecosystems to create solutions for problems in the human-made world. There are many examples of biomimicry in practice, e.g., sharkskin and antifouling ship hulls, termite mounds and efficient building ventilation, humpback whale fins and low drag wind turbine blades, burdock plant burrs and Velcro, ,,, the […]
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It is not a coincidence that the birds featured in this post are on a rotting stump in our yard. We leave stumps & snags – when safe – for the very reasons tree removal companies tell us not to: To attract ‘pests’. Pests like the wasps, beetles, spiders, ants and caterpillars that live in […]
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Eastern Towhees are sparrows and an exception to the sparrow look of ‘Little Brown Jobs’. Eastern Towhees and Spotted Towhees of the western North America were considered one species, Rufous-sided Towhee, until 1995. Famous for their “drink-your-tea” song, a group of towhees are called a “teapot”. Common and frequently heard across their range, but not […]
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