A Field Guide to the Bird Posts

Welcome to the Field Guide to the Bird Posts. This guide is meant to be useful in identifying current internet posts, usually blog entries, that have to do with birds. The scope of the guide is global. For each post, keys for useful identification are given, as well as brief sketches of the meaning, or content, of the post.

But a guide is just a guide. Your actual exploration of these posts will be a most rewarding experience, so do click on all the links!

No guide to the bird posts can be current for long. Keep an eye out for the next edition of this guide, which will be published on May 17th, 2007, on Via Negativa. You can contact Dave at Via Negativa by translating the following code into a you-know-what mail: dave (dot) bonta (at) yahoo (dot) com. That last dot was the period at the end of the sentence.

Also, please visit our home page on 10,000 birds, where you will find deeply discounted editions going back to #1.

Authors who find their posts missing should contact me as soon as possible and I’ll be sure to get them in the next printing.

Enjoy!

Picturesque Posts

Picturesque Posts are recognized by their excellent photographs. While excellent photographs may be found on many posts not in this category, the distinguishing mark of members of this group is the centrality of the photograph itself. In its purest form, this is simply a photograph that is posted, but more commonly, the photograph forms the focal point of a discussion related, typically, to birds. It has been argued that these are most commonly found in the Spring, when the birds are more likely to stand still and lighting conditions are more often optimal.

Behind the Veil, at Fragments from Floyd (From the blue ridges of Floyd County in Southwestern Virginia). This post is easily distinguished from others by it’s grey backgroun with white text and yellowish brown highlights. A photograph of a crow inspires the author to opine the contrast between city vs. rural individuals, and the functional anatomy of preening and display. Range: Eastern US.

Close to Home on Ben Cruachan Blog (A blog about birds and nature). A light greenish yellow base with white post area floated above it, and a scenic header easily identifies this post. A photo of the smartly dressed Chestnut-breasted Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides) graces this bird-watching foray report from Australia. (Close to home. on Ben Crauchan’s Blog) This is a nice post that is going to make every birder who does not live in Australia feel inadequate and depressed. Those marsupial birds are just so pretty. It has been claimed that his post should be reclassified as a member of the Birdwatching Foray group. Range: Downunder.

Birding Has Been Good at The Nemesis Bird. A Tour de force of warbler watching, with seven warbler species identified and many other non-warblers spotted. The post provided three photographs (chipping sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler, and brown thrasher) for your viewing pleasure. This post is also framed in the context of spring migratory patterns. Range: Northern US.

Birding After Work at Lovely Dark and Deep (from kingbirds to kookaburras…). This post can be identified by it’s grey background and very thin slightly darker margin surrounding several centered photographs of a variety of birds, especially a particularly angry looking marsh wren. Range: Albany, NY (The birthplace of yours truly, by the way). No, not New York City … UPSTATE New York. Gimmeabreak.

Super Cool Yard Birds at The Egret’s Nest (my life and the birds in it). White Breast with Photos and Pinkish Header, photos tend to be centered rather than right or left justified on this unmistakable Andreas themed Wordpress blog. This post addresses scavenging by a crow or raven, and the activities of a pair of goldfinches and a hummingbird. This is one of the better home-made photographs of a hummingbird you are likely to see, very rare indeed. Range: Central California.

Revolution on Bell Tower Birding (Birding Adventures in the Heart of Ann Arbor). This post is identified by its invaluable information on bird photography, as well as several beautiful photographs and one ugly one. This is a must-read post for anyone with a camera and a bird who would like to get the two together. Range: Upper US Midwest.

Close views of Musk Lorikeets, on Trevor’s Birding. This down under post is easily identified by it’s excellent photographs and pertinent species information on the Musk Lorikeets. (No photo available.)

Science and Ecology Posts

These posts tend to address habitat ecology, taxonomy, and other aspects of bird science. They are often, but not always, found on science blogs.

Over Our Heads on via negativa (weblog of Dave Bonta). This post is unmistakable given a centrally placed sonogram of a Canada warbler flight call, together with the total absence of any photographs of actual birds. Perhaps this seems odd; a graph instead of a snapshot on the blog of a photographer, but it is actually one of the more startling and eye-opening (or should I say “ear opening”) posts covered in this guide. A fascinating story about the sounds made by night time migrants. Range: via negativa, Pennsylvania, USA

A new genus of Frogmouth from the Solomon Islands on Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted). This post can be easily confused with several other posts owing to the “science blogger” common look and feel, but with only a little experience one can quickly spot the unique and colorful DNA and Bird motif of the header. This particular post explores the discovery of a new genus .. that’s genus, not species … of frogmouth. Of particular interest is the erudite and informative discussion of how classification works in this modern day of DNA evidence combined with morphology. Range: Science Blogs, “Living the Scientific Life” and the Solomon Islands.

How the Ribble Works on Save the Ribble (A blog dedicated to preserving the beauty of the River Ribble…). This ecologically aware blog is trimmed in green and is graced with photographs demonstrating habitats as exemplified in “How the Ribble Works.” The Ribble is thought to be a British Estuarine ecosystem, and this particular post is a nice example of the interplay between geology, hydrology, ecology and bird life. Range: Britain.

It’s spring, so let’s gather ’round the radar, on Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (The study and conservation of birds and their habitat in and around the Gulf of Mexico). The People of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory do not merely watch birds. They paint them with radar. “It’s spring, so let’s gather ’round the radar,” shows actual radar images of birds in migration. (Modern technology obviates the possibility that invading airplanes will not be mistaken for migrating birds, I assume.) Remarkable. Range: Southern United States.

Birds Are Like Amoebas on Birds Etcetera - Birds, Birding, Birders, and Bird Watching (personal reflections and commentary on wild birds and other natural history topics of interest). This post is easily spotted by its use of white space for formatting and the picture of the bearded mountain man guy. This is a musing on the nature of bird natural ranges, density of bird populations, and the dynamic aspects of species and habitat. Range: Amoeba like.

Behavior and Reproduction

These posts focus on mating, nesting, hatching, and rearing of the young, as well as other key bird behaviors. Often, the photographs are as excellent as those in the Picturesque category, but on occasion artistic excellence is sacrificed to provide a difficult to obtain shot of a behavior regardless of factors such as lighting.

Oh baby, baby, baby! on Journey Through Grace (a blog about grace). Rimmed in light blue with a dark blue header and many photographs, this post documents in words and pictures the reproductive efforts of a bluebird pair. Features an outstanding photograph of a begging baby blue bird. Range: Somewhere in North America.

Awwwwwww. on The Greenbelt (Language Liberalism Freethought Birds). Photographs of and text about excessively cute newly hatched gossling babies and their families are the most obvious keys in identifying this post, also clearly distinguished from others by the several shades of green. Also note the ironic presence of the face of a cat, especially visible when the post is roosting or preening. Range: The Greenbelt, Somewhere in Maryland, USA.

Olive-backed Sunbird: Mating Dance on Bird Ecology Study Group Nature Society (Singapore). This greyish background green highlighted post could easily be missclassified as a member of the Picturesque Post group owing to the outstanding pair of photographs if the sunbird in the process of a mating dance. Sunbirds are the hummingbirds of the Old World, and this is an excellent example. This post has an almost Darwin-esque style, as exemplified here:

“Then looking up from his perch at the females, the male began to vibrate, and the wings opened out, also vibrating in great frequency. What was most amazing, and for me a first-time observation, was that the male had these orange-yellow fluffs of fine feather extending out at the very same moment, from his shoulders (left). I am not sure if these feathers can be called lesser coverts.”

Range: Asia.

Life Lists in the Making

These posts are usually, but not always, easily identified by the presence of a list of birds spotted over a particular period of time.

Good Going at Garret Mountain on 10,000 Birds (Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere). This post, with simple white background and excellent use of white space to organize its elements, is easily distinguished by the fact that it is, well, very distinguished. An excellent day of birding is chronicled with many groups represented including shorebirds, rapters, and numerous little brown birds. Includes a drop dead photograph of a nuthatch. Range: US East Coast, West Patterson, New Jersey.

Clare birds in France - In which I realize that the bird identification section of my brain has atrophied into a small dried garbonzo bean, on The House and other Arctic Musings. This post is instantly recognized by it’s very long and humorous title. This is about a birding foray in a far away land, which is the best kind. Thrushes and sparrows of the old world will be familiar to new world birders, but the wagtails and some other forms are more exotic. Range: Europe.

Frontera Audubon Thicket on Antshrike’s Bird Blog (Birding in the Rio Grande Valley and beyond.) This daily county list resembles many other birder’s life lists, owing to the rich species diversity of this particular habitat. The post is colorful, with green highlighting and sans-serif typeface. A good example of a morning in the life of a birder, with a focus on a particular rare warbler. Range: Texas, US.

Sparrows and Bitterns at Poplar Point on A DC Birding Blog. This post can be spotted from a great distance with it’s leafy header and distinctly marked sidebars. It chronicles the search for the rare Seaside Sparrow as well as a very sucessful bird watching foray that also yielded two different species of bittern. In all, a remarkable fifty species of birds were observed, making this one of the more impressive posts in this category. This post was also part of the Blogger BioBlitz. Range: Eastern United States.

Warbler Mania Begins! on Big Spring Birds (All things to do with birds of the Big Spring Watershed and Soutwestern Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, along with other more general birding topics…). This post could easily be classified as a behavior post, but experts disagree. While the observed list is short, this post has important information about the challenging enterprise of seeking out and observing the elusive warblers. Range: Eastern United States, Pennsylvania.

Exotics

The Exotics category includes a wide range of material not easily classified into the more typical categories found elsewhere in this guide. But even though they are hard to classify, each and every one of these posts is worth tracking down and reading.

Landfill of Memories on The Hawk Owl’s Nest (Dedicated to birding, bugs, plants and other random nature stuff). Birdwatching at the dump can yield not only very large numbers of birds, but also, more diversity than one might expect. Range: The Dump.

They’re ba-a-a-a-a-a-ack, on Time’s Fool. Is it a bird or is it a weed? Sometimes it is hard to tell. This is an exploration of the post migration return of the Zombie Canada Geese. Range: Northeastern US.

The Myths that surround the Monk Parakeet. on Introduced Birds Weblog. John: Are you sure it’s a myth? Or might it be that we just don’t know…. This is the most exotic of the exotics because it is about …. exotics. Range: Introduced.

The alarm clock, on Earth Wind and Water. Birds are birds, and alarm clocks are alarm clocks. But sometimes a bird is an alarm clock. This post is about a bird that is not only an alarm clock, but an alarm clock with its own version of Daylight Savings Time. Range: Caribbean.

Ducks in Trees in Murmuring Trees (Musing from the Mountain). Out of the mouths of babes often come accurate and interesting observations of nature, even when the adults do not believe it. Range: In a tree somewhere.

Free Avian Anatomy Handbook on Living the Scientific Life. This is not a bird post so much as it is a post about a bird book that you can get for free on the Internet.

For those of you who study birds or who like to look at them, Julian Baumel’s celebrated Handbook of Avian Anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium, 2nd Edition, published in 1993 by the Nuttal Ornithological Club, is now available as a free PDF download.

Go get it! Range; The Internet.

Note: Hill 70 has gone extinct and thus was removed from the guide at the last printing.