Hummingbirds Are Magical Creatures I think few would disagree that hummingbirds are magical creatures. Often sporting bright iridescent feathers that shimmer in the sunlight, they come in every color of the rainbow. There is the red gorget of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the bright orange of the Rufous Hummingbird, and the rich yellow of the...
A Quest for Knowledge – Banding at Turning Point Island
Help For A Friend A good friend of Tim’s, Bruce Buckingham, could use our help. In conjunction with the Ohio Ornithological Society, we have started a fundraiser to support the purchase of a year’s worth of “color bands” for use in banding Herring Gulls at Turning Point Island in Sandusky, OH. Our goal is...
The Controversial Case of Mexican Ducks
Every year around this time, birders anxiously await the decisions of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) Classification Committee. Dive into the taxonomy of Mexican Duck, which has proven controversial, as it is still recognized as a separate species by some taxonomic authorities and as a sub-species by others.
Where are all of the ducks?
My impression is that duck numbers are really low this year. So, I decided to dig into eBird data to see if there was evidence of this beyond my own birding experience.
Welcome to the World of Phylogenetics
I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while, but I didn’t have a recent/decent photo to go with it. Yesterday, however, fellow Rogue Birder and friend, Jacob Roalef, messaged me with a fantastic photo of a Merlin that he had taken at Eastwood MetroPark. Given that I was about 15 minutes away, I...
