“God loves a curved universe,” said designer and engineer Buckminster Fuller.
Articles with Birds
A flock of red knot • Photo by Don Faulkner (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Red-winged blackbird • Photo © Tom Raymo
It’s not pretty, but it says ‘spring’
One day this week we’ll hear the red-winged blackbird.
A great blue heron in flight • Photo by Tom Raymo (© 2021)
Tuned into the deepest mysteries
Pinned to the wall above my desk is a quote I found many years ago. I can’t remember where it came from, or anything about the author except that his/her name is Dixon.
A hoopoe • Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash
Those strange-looking birds in the church window
In the parish church of the village of Selborne, England, is a three-paneled stained-glass window depicting “St. Francis Preaching to the Birds.”
The nest of a kildeer • Photo by David Moulton (CC BY 2.0)
Chemistry with a cosmic spark
Why do killdeers build their nest on open ground?
John Tenniel's classic illustration of Alice and the Dodo, along with a modern reconstruction • Photo by BazzaDaRambler (CC BY 2.0)
Survival of the ugliest
The dodo became extinct 175 years before Lewis Carroll introduced his favorite bird to his favorite little girl in “Alice in Wonderland.”
Photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash
Seeing the animal in ourselves
For the past several weeks tree swallows have been nesting in bluebird boxes on conservation land nearby. The boxes weren’t meant for swallows, but — well, its spring and first come, first serve.
Rufous Fantail feeding Brush Cuckoo • Photo by Damien.cook.frog (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Birds of a different feather
Consider the cuckoo. When the female cuckoo is ready to lay, she seeks a bird of another species that is building a nest — a reed warbler, say. The cuckoo perches on a nearby branch and waits.
Great auk • John James Audubon
A real-life shmoo
This is the sad story of the great auk, a 2‑foot high flightless bird, the original “penguin,” now extinct. The events recounted here happened hundreds of years ago, but the great auk’s fate is a lesson for our time.
Eastern Bluebird • Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren (CC BY 2.0)
Bluebirds back home
If you are looking for the bluebird of happiness, it helps to have neighbors with meadows, hedgerows, fruit trees, organic gardens, and nesting boxes designed especially for bluebirds.