My First Bird Book

The Green Book of Birds of America

by Frank Ashbrook

I recently uncovered a box of stuff I had not gone through in years. Among the things inside the box was this old bird book. The inscription, in my mother's handwriting, shows it was given to me in 1956. This was one volume of a series of four books originally published in 1931. Mine was a later edition published in 1954. I once had all four books: red, yellow, blue and green. However, the green one was apparently the only one to survive my childhood. Each of the books includes several bird families, and together they cover all the common birds of North America. I bet I know what you are thinking. "Why don't you go online and see if you can buy the other three at a used book site?" Well, I did. In the next week or so the four volume set will be complete as the Green Book is joined by the Blue Book, the Red Book and the Yellow Book. I can hardly wait!

My Mother's Simple Inscription

Hanging Out to Dry

Double-crested Cormorant drying its feathers

Cormorants dive underwater to catch fish. To aid them in staying beneath the surface for long periods of time, their feathers are not waterproof. Therefore, when they have finished feeding they must stand and dry their feathers with wings outstretched. On an afternoon with plenty of sunshine it often looks like wash day at the cormorant colony with dozens of the birds standing in this posture.

I Sing Because I'm Happy

Grasshopper Sparrow

This singing Grasshopper Sparrow made me think of a favorite hymn, written in 1905 by Mrs. Civilla D. Martin. The words explain not only why this Grasshopper Sparrow was singing, but also why you and I should be singing praises to God every day.

His Eye Is on the Sparrow

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain:
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Yellow Legs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Shorebirds, such as these Lesser Yellowlegs, are starting to migrate south again. So it's time to head out to some nearby mudflats and flooded fields to see what birds are coming through. How about it? Will I see you out there? Well, if not, I will try to share with you what I find. Believe me, there are a lot of good things to see in the mud.

Seeing Spots

Spotted Towhee

The Spotted Towhee is a common bird in the Great Plains. They live in scrubby, wooded draws and hillsides throughout most of the western U.S. Until 1995, these birds were known as Rufous-sided Towhee. Then it was discovered that the two regional forms of this bird were actually two separate species. Rufous-sided Towhee was then "split" into Spotted Towhee and Eastern Towhee. The two birds are essentially the same in appearance, except the Eastern Towhee lacks the spots shown in the bird here.

Bird Devotional 25

Bobolinks by Paul O. Roisen

Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus

“In order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” Nehemiah 5:2

Millions of Bobolinks feasted on rice crops in the southeastern United States in the nineteenth century. Today’s verse could be either a statement made by the southeastern rice growers, or the cry of the Bobolinks that feasted on their rice during the southward migration. The farmers slaughtered the birds by the thousands, fearing for their crops. The birds were a delicacy of the time, sold as “reed birds” or “butter birds” and served skewered on a stick.

Today, the Bobolink is protected and no longer an item on dinner menus. Seed and grain are still a staple food during migration and during the winter months spent in Argentina. However, insects form a larger part of their diet on the breeding grounds in the northern United States and southern Canada where they nest in meadows and hayfields. They are in fact, quite useful to farmers in eliminating insects that damage crops. The population of this bird is seriously affected by early harvest of hay crops and by modern mowing and raking equipment that mean death to many young birds. They are also susceptible to chemicals and pesticides in South America where they are still sometimes killed as agricultural pests. The Bobolink is named for the male’s song that continuously bubbles from the bird’s throat. The male, with its light yellow head, white back and black underside, is one of very few birds that is light colored on top and dark underneath.

Today’s verse tells of a cry for help during a time of famine. The people pleaded, “In order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” God heard the cry of the people in the Book of Nehemiah, and He will also hear our cries for help. In Philippians 4:19, Paul states that, “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Let us believe His promises and trust Him to provide for all our needs.

Dear Lord, I ask you to provide for all my needs. I thank you that your promises are true. Amen.

Summer Loon

Common Loon in Non-breeding Plumage

There have been three Common Loons in the Pierre area all summer. Loons are often seen here during migration as they make their way between their northern breeding grounds and the southern U.S. where they spend the winter. However, every so often some young loons that are not yet "breeders" will say, "To heck with flying all the way to Canada, let's just spend the summer here." So this summer three of them are eating fish and hanging out in a quiet area of the east tailrace below Oahe Dam. There is no record of Common Loons ever breeding in South Dakota, but it is nice to have these youngsters spending time here and enjoying Central South Dakota hospitality.

Wild Duck Chase

I spent all day today on a Wild Duck Chase. I left the house at 3:30 this morning and drove to eastern South Dakota where I met up with my friend Paul Roisen. We were going to look for a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks that had been seen on private property near Sioux Falls. I kept thinking what a wonderful blog entry it was going to be, complete with a photo of the cute little ducks. The ducks were the first-ever Black-bellied Whistling Ducks seen in the state of South Dakota, and would be a life bird for both Paul and me. Alas, we did not see them. They had been present on a small lake from July 17 through July 22, and then disappeared. Sometimes when looking for birds you get lucky...and sometimes you don't. But Paul and I seem to be particularly unlucky with Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. This is the third time Paul has gone to a location where the birds had been spotted only to discover that he was a day or two late. Like I said, sometimes they come easy and sometimes they come hard. But it's fun either way. Just think how much we will appreciate the sight of those ducks when we eventually do get to see them!

Red-winged Blackbird?

Female Red-winged Blackbird

I once heard a story about a man who was told a bird like this one was a female Red-winged Blackbird. The man insisted that it was not a Red-winged Blackbird. He said, "I have seen Red-winged Blackbirds. We have Red-winged Blackbirds on our farm in Minnesota. THAT is not a Red-winged Blackbird." Well, the Minnesota farmer was looking at a female Red-winged Blackbird whether he realized it or not, and the bird pictured above is a female Red-winged Blackbird despite its lack of red wings. It makes me think of this verse from the Bible: "I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God" (1 Timothy 2:9-10). The female Red-winged Blackbird's modest dress helps to hide her from view when she is on her nest deep within the reeds. It's a pretty wise fashion choice if you ask me.

I'm Molting!

American White Pelicans

Do you see the pelican with the black feathers on its head? The bird is molting from its breeding plumage into its non-breeding attire. They don't all do this at precisely the same time, and not all of them get the black feathering on the top of the head. Over the next few weeks they will all undergo this process before heading south to warmer climates. In the journals of Lewis and Clark, Captain Clark described this pelican molting process in an entry on August 8, 1804 near present-day Onawa, Iowa: "We had seen but a few aquatic fouls of any kind on the river since we commenced our journey up the Missouri. this day I saw a great number of feathers floating down the river those feathers had a very extraordinary appearance as the appeared in such quantities as to cover pretty generally sixty or seventy yards of the breadth of the river. for three miles after I saw those feathers continue to run in that manner, we did not perceive from whence they came, at length we were surprised by the appearance of a flock of Pillican at rest on a large sand bar. The number of which would if estimated appear almost in credible they appeared to cover several acres of ground. The island which we called after them from the number we saw on it. I fired at random among the flock with my rifle and brought one down; I measured this pouch and found it's contents 5 gallons of water." What a sight that must have been! A raft of feathers sixty yards wide! Molting seems like such a tedious process...one more reason I'm grateful not to be a bird!

Three Crosses

Three Crosses

Along U.S. Highway 281 near Armour, South Dakota, someone has erected three crosses atop a small hill. I have driven past those crosses every week for several years, but until yesterday I had never given them much thought. However, yesterday a Red-tailed Hawk was perched on the center cross, so I stopped to take some pictures. My interest in birds caused me to stop and consider the cross yesterday morning. There are countless millions of people who never stop to consider the cross at all. But there must be something - like the Red-tailed Hawk was for me - that will cause each one of them to stop for a minute and look at the cross. What is it for you? What causes you to stop what you are doing and consider The Cross?

Red-tailed Hawk clinging to the Cross

Grandpa's Gulls

Franklin's Gull (Photos by Paul O. Roisen)

This story appears in the July/August issue of Connections for evangelical Lutheran Christians, published by Bible Alive Ministries of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. www.bible-aliveministries.com

GRANDPA’S GULLS

by Bill Bossman

“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea? (Job 38:16).”

Will Wendte, my maternal grandfather and namesake, was born in the fall of 1888 on a farm in Dixon County, Nebraska. At family gatherings, I often point out with a twinkle in my eye that Grandpa was conceived during the Great Blizzard of January 1888. To us in the twenty first century, everyday life back then would have seemed impossibly difficult with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no telephones and no motorized vehicles. Like all farm boys back then, Grandpa went to country school through the 8th grade, and then began his life as a farmer. By his mid-twenties, he had bought his own farm down the road from the family homestead and married my grandmother. My mother, the eldest of his three children, was born prior to World War I and grew up on the family farm. One of the stories she told me about those days was Grandpa’s fascination with the “seagulls” that miraculously appeared in the spring to feast upon the worms and grubs turned up behind his plow. In my imagination I can see him stopping his team of horses, turning his head, wiping his brow with his sleeve, and staring at dozens of hungry white birds gorging themselves in the rich, black soil. He wondered where they came from and what they were doing so far away from water. Grandpa never traveled far from home, and I am sure he marveled that these birds of the sea came back to his fields year after year. Where did they come from? Where were they going? After pausing briefly in awe of the beauty and mystery of God’s creation, I imagine he turned back around, commanded his horses to pull, and continued to prepare his field for planting.

Grandpa’s gulls were most likely Franklin’s Gulls, birds that undertake a remarkable migratory journey twice each year. They spend the winter on the western coast of South America from Chile to Ecuador. In the spring they fly north to their breeding grounds in the marshes of the Great Plains, from South Dakota to the prairie provinces of Canada. Every autumn the birds make the return trip to the southern hemisphere. They survive during the long migration by stopping at places like my grandfather’s farm to rest and feed. Franklin’s Gulls in their spring breeding plumage are strikingly handsome, with black heads, gray backs, and white undersides tinged with pink.

Anyone observing Franklin’s Gulls as my grandfather did, and wanting to know where they came from and where they were going, might be tempted to ask them a question similar to this one from the Book of Job: “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea? (Job 38:16).” That verse is part of a lengthy passage in which God questioned Job. “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? (Job 38:2).” Job was grilled about the mysteries of creation; he was chastised for his arrogance and pride. In the middle of the questioning Job responded, “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth (Job 40:4).” God continued to exhort Job until the broken man finally reached the point of repentance: “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:3-6).”

I think my grandfather would have agreed with Job that there are “things too wonderful for me to know.” In Proverbs is a list of four impossible-to-understand concepts that correspond with Job’s statement. “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden (Proverbs 30:18-19).” A person can study ornithology or any other field of endeavor for an entire lifetime, and still have questions that cannot be answered. Yet most of us in our arrogance usually feel that we can “figure things out for ourselves.” We tend to rely on our own brain power and common sense when we should rely totally on God. There are some things that we must accept on faith, a faith like my grandfather’s.

Last year I came across a worn obituary of my grandfather that my mother had saved for me. He was described as a “quiet, modest, warmhearted man of God, with a neighborly spirit and a radiant loyalty to his Lord.” I like to think that all those springs spent contemplating the migrating gulls had something to do with Grandpa’s Christian faith. In the same way my grandfather did, we must put our trust in God and acknowledge there are some things we cannot comprehend. For our arrogance and pride we can only humble ourselves like Job, and “repent in dust and ashes.”

Bird Devotional 24

Green Violet-Ear by Paul O. Roisen

Green Violet-Ear, Colibri thalassinus

“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Matthew 25:35

In September 2006, a Green Violet-Ear was present for 8 days at a backyard in Sioux City, Iowa. This hummingbird was only the second of its species ever observed in Iowa. News of the sighting spread rapidly, and soon birders from all over the Midwest were making the pilgrimage to Sioux City in order to see the rare bird. Fortunately for the Green Violet-Ear, the homeowners provided a well-supplied nectar feeder and a luxuriant flower garden to meet the bird’s needs. They were equally good hosts to the human visitors. Not many people would graciously welcome a constant stream of strangers into their backyard or patiently answer endless phone calls with a cheery, “Yes, the bird is still being seen today.”

The Green Violet-Ear’s name is actually its physical description. It is a large, emerald green hummingbird with dark violet patches on each side of the head. Most birds also have patches of violet on the breast. This hummingbird is not rare in its normal range from South America to southern Mexico, but it is not often seen in the United States. Just why single birds sometimes wander hundreds of miles north of their usual homes is not well understood.

Today’s Bible verse records the words of Jesus: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” If He is speaking to you and me in this passage, just how have we given Him food or drink or invited Him in? Jesus provided the answer: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me” (Matthew 25:40). How have you treated “the least of these brothers of mine?” Do you feed the poor or invite them in? Just as the gracious Sioux City homeowners welcomed an unusual bird and some equally unusual birders, let us provide a loving welcome to those God sends our way. When we do so, we are doing it for Him.

Lord, help me to reach out to others with your love. Amen.

My Fellow Americans

American Robin

American Avocet

American Goldfinch

American White Pelican

American Kestrel

American Tree Sparrow

American Bittern by Paul O. Roisen

American Coot

American Crow

American Dippers

American Pipit

Under Prairie Skies

Female Northern Harrier surveying her domain

I have seen this female Northern Harrier almost every time I drive this stretch of gravel road in Stanley County, South Dakota. Ususually I observe her actively hunting over the prairie. Earlier this week I found her perched on a fence post as if she were an over-sized meadowlark. She did not like me invading her space, and flew off just after I took her picture. She certainly lives in a beautiful place, doesn't she?

Number Two

American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana

One of my first blog entries last winter included a list of my ten favorite birds. Number two was the American Avocet. I love the upward sweep of the ultra-thin bill. Take a look at the bird's scientific name above. Do you see the word, "recurve," in the genus name? That seems appropriate, doesn't it? I don't get to see these birds every day, but there are some around central South Dakota all summer. If I poke around in the right habitat I can find a few. Sometimes they surprise me, though, and pop up when I least expect them. I took this photo by the side of a busy highway last week while driving to work.

Amber Waves of Grain

Yellow-headed Blackbird

The grain harvest is just getting under way in South Dakota. This week I passed a beautiful golden field of ripened grain and had to stop for some photographs. Well, this Yellow-headed Blackbird somehow got in the way. As I admired both the field and the blackbird, the opening line of America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates came to mind: "Oh, Beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain..." I looked up those lyrics last night and read every verse. My favorite part is the refrain at the end of the second verse: "America! America! God mend thine every flaw; confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law." What a prayer for our country! It should be prayed every day by every American.

More Bugs, Daddy!

Yesterday I found this male Yellow Warbler feeding a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird near South Dakota's Fort Randall Dam. What a wonderful adoptive father he is! As I mentioned in some previous posts, Brown-headed Cowbirds do not build their own nests, nor care for their own young. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and rely on those other birds to raise the young cowbirds. Yellow Warblers become foster parents in that fashion more than any other species. I watched this dutiful Yellow Warbler for close to a half hour. He made dozens of trips bringing worms and insects to his large, brown baby.

Male Yellow Warbler feeding juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird

Upside-Down

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker

People who design and sell bird feeders are always coming up with ideas to make the feeders more attractive to the birds we want to see. Sometimes this is accomplished by making the feeders unattractive to birds and other creatures we consider "undesirable." If you have ever had your suet feeders overrun by a flock of European Starlings, you might appreciate a feeder that only allows access from underneath. Starlings do not have the type of feet that allow them to easily hang on upside down. However, woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches have no difficulty feeding in this manner. This male Red-bellied Woodpecker is showing off his ability to get suet from an "upside-down" feeder.

Bird Devotional 23

Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo

“Wild by nature.” Romans 11:24

The Wild Turkey was first domesticated in the western hemisphere between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D. Mayas, Aztecs, and peoples of the southwestern Pueblo culture were all known to have raised domesticated turkeys. In the 1500s the Spanish took turkeys to Europe where further selective breeding occurred, and the popularity of the birds spread. At the time of the settlement of North America by Europeans, Wild Turkeys existed in areas of southern Canada, the eastern United States, and throughout Mexico. Indiscriminate hunting and habitat destruction eliminated the birds in much of their former range. However, they were successfully re-introduced into many portions of their original territory in the mid-twentieth century. Today they are a common sight throughout much of the country, and a popular target of hunters. Wild Turkeys, unlike their uniformly white domestic cousins, are a beautiful iridescent bronze and green.

Today’s Bible verse is part of a passage that compares Gentiles, that is anyone who is not a Jew, to wild olive branches that are grafted into a cultivated olive tree. Paul writes, “You were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree” (Romans 11:24). Paul explains, “You…now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root…You do not support the root, but the root supports you” (Romans 11:17-18). Jesus also spoke of people being like branches: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Yes, you and I are like those branches described by Paul and Jesus. We cannot have true life on our own. We are “wild by nature,” and we can receive the eternal life of God only if we are grafted into the “True Vine.” Leave your wild nature behind. Become part of that vine. Remain in Him and you will produce much fruit.

Lord, I am grateful that you took me, a wild branch, and grafted me into the true vine. Help me to remain in you. Amen.

Shelter of Your Wings

Juvenile Western Grebe riding on back of adult

"I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings" (Psalm 61:4).

That says it all.

I Say, "Toe-may-toe," You Say, "Toe-mah-toe"

Piping Plover

So, you think you know how to pronounce bird names, huh? Well, maybe I can confuse you a little, or at least make you a little uncomfortable next time you have to say one of these bird names out loud. Here, from a conglomeration of different sources, are "correct" pronunciations of some difficult names. Where there are two, my preference is indicated first.

Bewick's, BYEW-icks (just like the car) Bewick's Wren is pictured at left.

Curlew, CURL-yoo (some very knowledgeable birder friends pronounce it, cur-LOO or CUR-loo, but try to put the Y sound in it if you can bring yourself to do so)

Goshawk, GOSS-hawk (not gosh)

Gyrfalcon, JUHR-fal-kehn (not jeer)

Jacana, zha-seh-NAH (if I ever see one, I am just going to silently write the name in my notebook)

Jaeger, YAY-gehr (yumpin' yimminy, is it Swedish?)

Lazuli, LAZ-yoo-lie (not la-ZOO-lee)

Pileated, PILL-lee-ay-tid or PIE-lee-ay-tid (this one is hotly debated, but I am going to stick with pill for the first syllable)

Plover, PLUH-ver or PLO-ver (you hear both, but I prefer the former) Piping Plover is pictured at the top.

Prothonotary, pro-THON-eh-tor-ee, pro-theh-NO-tor-ee (the second one just sounds silly to me) Prothonotary Warbler is pictured at left.
Vaux's, vawks (not voxes, or the French voh)

Fly Like a Kite

Mississippi Kite

One of the most common birds I saw in Oklahoma City last week was the Mississippi Kite. There seemed to be some of them soaring in the sky whenever I would look up. Kites are a type of hawk. Their name comes from the birds' habit of gliding and soaring with wings outstretched. Their diet is almost entirely large insects which they capture and eat on the wing. Mississippi Kites are approximately the same size as Peregrine Falcons, but weigh only one-half to one-third as much. This lighter body mass is what allows the kite to...well..."kite." Mississppi Kites breed in the south central United States and spend the winter in South America.

Seven Heron Morning

Snowy Egrets

I spent part of one morning last week birding around a lake in Oklahoma City. I saw seven different heron or egret species, including these gorgeous Snowy Egrets. For those of you into lists, these were the seven birds I saw: Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and American Bittern. The Little Blue Heron and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron were life birds 346 and 347.

Baby Food

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

I spent a few days in Oklahoma last week, and had several encounters with the Oklahoma state bird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. The bird pictured above had caught a nice fat insect. Shortly after I snapped the photo, it flew to a small tree and landed on a nest. It proceeded to feed the morsel to one of its youngsters.

Bird Devotional 22

Cape May Warbler, Photo by Paul O. Roisen

Cape May Warbler, Dendroica tigrina

“Like the gathering of the caterpillar…he shall run upon them.” Isaiah 33:4 (NKJV)

I remember my first sighting of a Cape May Warbler. It was a warm spring day at Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge in western Wisconsin, and the still leafless trees were full of warblers. I was in a hurry to leave, but glanced up into the trees one more time. There on the tip of a branch just twenty feet away was a beautiful little yellow and brown bird with a bright orange ear patch. For several minutes it sat there in the late afternoon sun, allowing me plenty of time to observe the soft shades of color. The bird had made the trip from its wintering grounds in the Caribbean, and was resting up for the remainder of the journey that would take it to northern Minnesota or southern Canada. Cape May Warblers are primarily insectivorious, although they do eat some berries. They breed in coniferous forests in extreme northern United States and southern Canada. This warbler is particularly fond of spruce budworms, a serious pest in eastern spruce and fir forests. The spruce budworm is highly cyclical, and its numbers vary significantly over time. In fact there is a direct correlation between the populations of the two species. During periods of high spruce budworm infestation, Cape May Warblers will lay larger clutches of eggs and raise more young birds than at times when there are few spruce budworms available.

Today’s Bible verse from Isaiah speaks of an infestation of caterpillars. Isaiah uses this image of a gathering of caterpillars to illustrate God’s judgment. However, Isaiah also speaks of God’s mercy and kindness: “O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress” (Isaiah 33:2). Those who depend upon the lumber industry in the north woods welcome the Cape May Warbler and its affinity for spruce budworms. The warblers can be a type of salvation during outbreaks of that scourge of the forests. In the same way, God is our salvation during times of distress.

Dear God, I need your salvation during times of distress. I thank you for being my strength every morning. Amen.

Kids' Clothes

Juvenile Northern Mockingbird

This Northern Mockingbird does not yet have the adult plumage it will acquire later this year. The spots on the breast indicate it is still a juvenile.

Do Not Eat!

Double-crested Cormorant

Are you like me? There are some commandments from the Book of Leviticus that I find quite difficult to always follow, such as, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). Others are quite easy: "These are the birds you are to...not eat...the cormorant" (Leviticus 11:13,17). So go out there today and "Love your neighbor." But please, "Do not eat the cormorants!"

Pretty Bird

Rock Pigeon, Columba livia

"A pigeon is a pretty bird." I bet that is one sentence you never thought you would read. But take a look at this photo and then try to disagree with me.

The Art of Perching

Yellow-headed Blackbird

There is a large group of birds called passerines or "perching birds," that includes ravens, sparrows, and everything in between. These birds have feet that are specially adapted to allow them to grasp the objects on which they perch. Sometimes, as is the case with this Yellow-headed Blackbird, they must work pretty hard just to hang on. I wonder if the art of perching is easy for young birds to learn, or if it takes practice to get it right.