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SIB Reports – Here’s to the Birdwatchers!
Birders are “the most curious creature of all. Hyper-focused. Single-minded. Intense. Devoted. They speak in reverent tones and hushed whispers and can walk with preternatural silence across a bed of leaves. They wield binoculars with the nonchalance of a sommelier sampling a Dom Pérignon. They can crouch in shrubbery for endless hours. They speak in…
Ask SIB: Why are there so many Wood Storks?
If you’ve driven past the Lake House lately, you’ve probably noticed a large number of big, white birds gathering on the banks of the little lagoon across the street. These are Wood Storks, one of several species of stork, and the only stork native to North America. Wood Storks are a common sight on Seabrook…
SIB Reports – eBird Taxonomy Update Coming Soon!
Cornell Lab All About Birds and eBird will soon be updating our checklists for the upcoming Taxonomy Update. And it’s a big update! According to Cornell Lab All About Birds, “each October, the eBird taxonomy is updated to reflect the latest science on bird classification—including new species, splits, lumps, shuffles, and other changes. This year’s…
Move over Maverick, Hummingbirds are the real Top Guns!
If you’re a fan of the movie “Top Gun”, you’ve surely seen the sequel in which Maverick (Tom Cruise) reaches Mach 10 during a test flight of his Darkstar aircraft. Impressive, to say the least, but then it’s Hollywood. The G-force at this speed would likely have been 8-9 Gs. Most pilots could sustain 9…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Roseate Spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbill – Platalea ajajaLength: 32″; Wingspan: 50″; Weight: 52oz. The next time you see a Roseate Spoonbill, check out the long, flat, spoon shaped bill. Spoonbills feed by walking in shallow, muddy bottom water and tidal ponds foraging by sweeping their bill from side to side with it slightly open to sift up small fish,…
SIB Reports: State of the Birds
“Five years ago, most ornithologists had a general sense that birds were declining – more than 3 billion birds lost in the past 50 years. In May 2025 a new expansive study of North American bird population trends showed that bird declines have continued, and in some cases accelerated in recent years. But this study…
Thoughts of a New Bird Watcher
Occasionally through the years I would look at what birds were doing for a few minutes and then go back to what I was supposed to be doing. I never thought watching birds would be so interesting and so much fun. But that was before last spring when I put two bird feeders outside my…
Update #3 – Red Knot Tracking (and Hurricane Erin)
We are happy to report that both of the Red Knots tracking over the Atlantic Ocean have successfully reached land! LP7 veered slightly west of the impending storm, flying through the Caribbean Sea before making landfall in Venezuela just a couple hours before midnight on 8/15! It is now at Salina Solar Los Olivitos, a Western Hemisphere…
Latest Update! Red Knot Tracking
We have big news on the tracking front with two birds (LN5 and LP7) flying over the open Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Bermuda, and possibly on a collision course with tropical system, Erin. LP7 departed from Port Nelson, Hudson Bay, CA on the evening of 8/10, while LN5 left from James Bay, CA a day…
SIB Reports: Fall Migration and Bird Cast
BirdCast Migration Dashboard is back online for fall migration. Starting Friday, August 1, the site will report daily, radar-based measurements of nocturnal bird migration across every state and county in the contiguous U.S., including estimates of the total number of birds migrating, their directions, speeds, and altitudes. If you’re in the lower 48 states, check…
