Friday afternoon I got to visit a nearby marsh/wetland reserve, where--for the first time ever!--I spotted a "Wilson's" (so-called)
snipe.

It was hard to get any sort of photo--e & I were separated by stalks & muddles of plants like bog sedge & tule rushes as tall as I am, which sprouted or lay in mounds every few feet between us. But this photo should give an idea of eir camouflage (e *is* the marsh) & eir superb tuck-under- the-arm, snuggly-handbag shape.

#Shorb #Shorbs #BirdNamesForBirds

Rosy woodpecker* looking for a bite to eat while pulling a Fred Astaire (as though the snag were eir lamppost).

Actually, "the world is your lamppost" seems like a great invitation generally, and very apt for these rosy-cheeked friends. Maybe their common name should be the "leerie"?

*technically "Lewis's" woodpecker #BirdNamesForBirds

Here's another photo of the black-capped warbler from this morning, this time cocking eir head so we can get a good luck at eir cap. #BirdNamesForBirds

I've been hearing yellow warblers everywhere lately, but I've been failing to catch them on camera (they've been playing hide and seek with me amongst the wild plums).

Fortunately, this black-capped warbler* was happy to pause in eir morning foraging to let me capture their photo.

*technically "Wilson's" warbler
#BirdNamesForBirds #Oregon

Happy #Wrensday from the chaparral* wren who greets me each morning with song and struts about each afternoon spying on the hummingbirds from my willow tree.

*technically "Bewick's" wren

#Oregon #BirdNamesForBirds

I got to make so many new friends when I visited Crater Lake today, including a Western tanager, a grey-crowned rosy-finch, a golden-mantled ground squirrel, and, especially, these excellent woodpecker crows (technically, "Clark's" nutcrackers).

These excellent creatures were hilariously chatty, and the black and white fan of their wings in flight was just incredible. They are a new "lifer" bird for me and just wonderful to see.

#Birds #Oregon
#BirdNamesForBirds

Such a noisy chatter of whistles & scratches by the river this morning--much of it made by the babies in the bottom of this "sock" that is the oriole's nest I found. Here are some scenes from the merry (to me), busy (to the orioles*) to-do I spent a long while watching and listening to on the trail.

*These are technically "Bullock's" orioles, but I like to call them canopy orioles, because that's where I find them, and nobody owns the birds. 😉

#Birding #Nests #BirdNamesForBirds #Oregon

The #BirdNamesforBirds proposal to change all eponymous bird names is divisive and very unpopular. See my analyses on public reactions here: https://osf.io/tnzya

Chaparral wren* on my back fence last night like a tiny sentinel standing watch at the garden turret.

*technically "Bewick's" wren, but pffft

Spotted on #Wrensday. #Birbs #Oregon #BirdNamesForBirds

I'm a big fan of the #BirdNamesForBirds movement, to remove names of old, often terrible, white men like "Wilson's" and "Swainson's" from common names of birds and replace them with more useful names like "Black-crowned" or "Spotted". But I'm much more excited about learning their first names, the ones given by local Indigenous people, as long as the people whose language it is are willing to share them.

South Africa now has a full isiZulu bird list:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/12/can-you-spot-the-phezukomkhono-thats-zulu-for-red-chested-cuckoo

#birds #Africa

In terms of color, western tanagers are the closest thing we have in Oregon to a parrot. Just startlingly pretty. They're fairly common summer birds, but I'm still always stopped in my tracks when I see one for the first time each year. The thrush, which deserves a better name, was a nice treat too.

80) Western Tanager
81) Swainson's Thrush

#BirdsOf2023 #BirdsSeenIn2023 #oregon #pnw #BirdNamesForBirds

I mean, come on....it only makes sense...

#AOU #AOS #Birds #Meme #Birdnamesforbirds

New paper on bird names in the contexts of history, language, and culture – posted as a preprint:

https://osf.io/34bg7/

People are passionate about animal names, and we’ve been arguing about them for two centuries. #BirdNamesforBirds renewed these debates. I take a deep dive into the subject. There is something for everyone here.

New paper on bird names in the contexts of history, language, and culture – posted as a preprint:

https://osf.io/34bg7/

People are passionate about animal names, and we’ve been arguing about them for two centuries. #BirdNamesforBirds renewed these debates. I take a deep dive into the subject. There is something for everyone here.

Rare "Steller's" jay speaking on camera only on condition of anonymity.

#Birds #Oregon #BirdNamesForBirds

Passing along another event notice from the Galbatross project (I don't work for them, just love their work):

Martha Harbison & Purbita Saha are presenting a (free, online) workshop on female bird identification, Wed, 5/24, 5pm PST/8pm EST.

I've attended one of Purbita Saha's webinars before and she's very enthusiastic and takes participant questions. I learned a lot! The webinar is planned to be 40 minutes long and will be closed captioned.

#Birding #BirdNamesForBirds #LifelongLearning

i went out to the big tree in front of my parents house to look for warblers and was completely startled when this guy just swoops in right next to me. they stuck around for a minute checkin the tree for snacks and then flew off to the back yard to check there. i love cooper's hawks, don't love their name though. maybe we could name them red eyed tiny beaklers? (okay yeah i should not be in charge of renaming birds but let's lose the current one please)

#birds #BirdNamesForBirds #hawk

Took a break from grading my students' rhetorical analysis essays to do a little repair work on some old tshirts I have from Audubon (rubbing out the name with nail polish remover, lol). I wish it were that easy to remove the Audubon name from other places. 😏 #BirdUnion #BirdNamesForBirds

Warbler season is officially here. Had OC's and Wilson's (let's call them black-capped, #BirdNamesForBirds) in the yard this morning, chasing bugs around the flowering trees.

67) Orange-crowned Warbler

#BirdsOf2023 #Spring #Oregon

Morning chaparral wren* singing eir heart out to, I presume, "Make Your Own Kind of Music" by the Mamas and the Papas (at least, that's the song I've become stuck with after hearing em sing).

*Technically "Bewick's wren," but he's not here, and I'll fight him for it.

#BirdNamesForBirds #Oregon #birds