WarblerWatch (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
(Drawing of Bachman's Warbler, left) Here’s three questions I’ve received recently, but I’m too busy with deadlines this week (and, in addition, I’m preparing to teach an Ornithology class at Merritt College that begins soon, I’ve got “one-liners” for answers. 1. Warbler Guy: How many wood-warbler (Parulidae Family) members are there within the A.O.U. checklist...
Notes from soggy bottom (Free subscription) | 09/15/2009
For some reason, a large number of people seem to be in quite a hurry to declare the Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinct. This is not a new phenomenon; it has been going on for nearly 100 years. Nor is it unique to the Ivorybill; there always are voices declaring the extinction of organisms that have not gone missing for nearly enough time to justify such a judgement. In the case of North America's three...
WarblerWatch (Free subscription) | 08/07/2009
Yes, Jeremy S. (Tucson, AZ). Here’s the answers: 1. Can you name the two hybrid forms that sometimes result when Golden-Winged and Blue-Winged Warbler mate? Answer: Lawrence’s and Brewster’s 2. Can you name two wood-warbler species that are breeding endemics to one USA state? Tropical Parula and Golden-Cheeked 3. On the West Coast, which wood-warbler is one of the earliest dispersing...
Notes from soggy bottom (Free subscription) | 05/20/2009
In recent months I have begun to think more and more about one particular possible cause for the decline and (we hope) near-extinction of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Bachman's Warbler. I am suspecting that a fundamental driver might have been the elimination of beavers from eastern North America. Beavers were (and now once again are) active in the large river swamps, not just the small streams...
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