Nicholas Lund

Nicholas Lund

nature and science
Audubon •

How Movies and TV Made Birdwatchers Uncool—and Then Cool Again

I started birding in 2005 after pulling a used field guide off a bookstore shelf. I had never been birding, didn’t know any birders, and only knew one birding fact: It was not cool. But where did I get that idea? Without knowing any birders personally, I decided that my aversion must have come from the media—from cultural opinions I had picked up by osmosis. I wondered: Was it true that the media portrayed birding as dorky? Was it always that way? To investigate, I’ve searched back as far as I...
Bird Collective •

Falcons of North America: Meet the 6 Species That Rule the Skies

One of the most famous of all birds, renowned as being the fastest animal on earth. The Peregrine Falcon achieved its record speed during one of its stooping dives, where it plummets headlong out of the sky (usually with the sun behind it to make it harder to see) at speeds upwards of 240 miles per hour. These two-foot-tall falcons are found on all continents except Antarctica, and can be identified by their black-and-white striped breast and black hood and “moustache.”Lesser known than but clos...
Bird Collective •

What's the Difference Between a Heron and an Egret?

Great Egret and Great Blue Heron. The biggest of our herons and egrets, these birds can grow to 4 feet tall. Both species have a wide distribution across the country, and are usually stand-and-wait predators: standing frozen in one place and watching for an unsuspecting fish (or frog, or rat, or lizard) to appear.Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret. A smaller set of species, found mostly in the southeast or along the Gulf coast. Egretta herons are more active hunters,...
Bird Collective •

What's the Difference Between a Pigeon and a Dove?

The Most Common Pigeons and Doves in AmericaThe most common pigeons and doves in America are the Rock Pigeon and the Mourning Dove. The Rock Pigeon is maybe the most famous bird in the country. Everyone knows it. You can’t walk down the street of any city without seeing these (mostly) gray birds strutting along the sidewalk looking for food or wheeling in flocks overhead. Many people by now know the story: Rock Pigeons were brought to North America from Europe in the early 1600s and have since...
Audubon •

These Are the Greatest eBird Checklists for the United States

Since eBird’s launch in 2002, there have been more than 61 million U.S. checklists submitted to the community birding platform, from more than 703,000 birders. The majority of them are fairly mundane—a couple of American Robins in the backyard, maybe, or some Ring-billed Gulls in a parking lot. Some are awesome—a fun morning of spring migration or a rare bird on your favorite patch. But a small set of checklists are something else entirely: the best of the best. These are those checklists—the g...
Audubon •

These eBird Checklists Document Some of the Last Sightings of Extinct U.S. Species

The massive database of bird sightings made possible by eBird, a community birding platform, has helped reveal detailed trends in bird populations, but it also serves as a record of some American species that are no longer with us. Over the years, thousands of “historical” checklists have been entered into the site, uploaded by birders, archivists, museums, relatives of the deceased, and others. These lists are available to everyone, and looking through them reminds birders of the world we’ve lo...
Audubon •

Birdist Rule #84: Know the Dos and Don'ts of a Rare Bird Stakeout

Chasing rarities is one of birding’s unique pleasures. Vagrant birds, whether they be simply lost or blown off track from a big storm, can show up anywhere, anytime. That means you’ve got to be ready to ditch all your plans and head to wherever the bird is if you want to see it. No other hobby includes that unexpectedness—the spontaneity of one minute living your normal life and the next barreling down some backroad or standing in a stranger’s backyard. It brings me joy every single time. It al...
Slate •

American Birds Are Getting New Names. Now Comes the Hard Part.

Last November, the American Ornithological Society, or AOS, announced that it would change the common names of all American birds named after people. There are 152 such “eponymic” names (that is, birds that are named after a specific person, like Bicknell’s Thrush) on the AOS’ official checklist, and the group is planning to start with between 70 and 80 species predominantly found in the U.S. and Canada. In the coming years, birds like Cooper’s Hawk, Wilson’s Snipe, and Lincoln’s Sparrow will be
Slate •

A.I. Came for Our Jobs, Our Art, and Our Souls. Now It’s Coming for Our Birds.

Last week, a friend tagged me in a post about a weird bird. I’m used to it—as a known bird guy, friends are constantly making me aware when some new study comes out or a rare bird shows up. But this post was different. From a Facebook page called “Route 370—Newfoundland News & Weather,” the post had what appeared to be a photo of a red-and-white bird perched on a snowy branch. The text read: “A rare Red and White cardinal in it’s festive colors makes an appearance in Canada. It’s unusual look i
Audubon •

Can New AI Chatbots Like ChatGPT Help You Identify Birds?

There’s that quote from the movie Jurassic Park that goes: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” In the case of Artificial Intelligence, or AI, I feel like scientists and just about every person on Earth has thought about whether we should and decided we shouldn't. But here we are, doing it anyway. To be clear, I'm not talking about I, Robot stuff (yet), but the various advanced online AI chatbots suddenly being released by tech
Audubon •

Birdist Rule #85: Write In Your Field Guides

I thought every birder did this. Do we not all do this? I chased some birds this winter, eventually finding my milestone 700th ABA Continental bird—a Common Gull in Eastport, Maine. Afterward, I shared some photos on Twitter of the handwritten notations I made in my Sibley field guide and got a lot of responses. Many birders said they do the same, and shared images of their well-loved books. Others had their own methods of keeping physical records. But some responses caught me off guard: What
Workman Publishing •

The Ultimate Biography of Earth

"An entertaining and educational read, The Ultimate Biography of Earth is a delightful journey through the history of the universe with a focus on Earth and life. Highly recommend for curious children who are elementary and middle school aged." — YABC The Ultimate Biography of Earth is a treasure trove of fun facts and knowledge about our planet's history. Arranged in a clear, engaging chronological format, this book invites readers to see the Earth as a friend with a storied past—and a fut

Into the Wild: Know what to do when animals attack | The Portland Phoenix

We don’t have to worry too much about dangerous wildlife in Maine. Mountain lions were killed off long ago (I don’t care what your great-uncle thought he saw crossing the road outside Millinocket) and we don’t have any venomous snakes or spiders. But you still need to be prepared. Here are some important tips to protect yourself out in the woods: • Black bear — Wikipedia’s certainly reliable list of fatal bear attacks in the United States includes just a single entry from Maine: a captive black

Into the Wild: Will you be arrested for picking up a feather? | The Portland Phoenix

Let’s just get this out of the way up front: Yes, it’s illegal to collect the feathers of native birds, even if you just found them on the ground. The law says that you are not allowed to collect feathers. The technical reason is that native birds and their parts are covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The act is one of our most important wildlife protection laws, put in place around the turn of the 20th century in part to help stop the rampant hunting of egrets, whose feathers were us
Audubon •

Inside the Amazing Cross-Continent Saga of the Steller’s Sea-Eagle

The journey of the lost Asian bird started more than a year ago. Follow along as birders gather in awe and speculate on its next moves. At 10 pounds and with a 7-foot wingspan, the Bald Eagle is one of the largest flying birds in the United States. Yet the two juvenile Bald Eagles I saw perched in a tree in Massachusetts on December 20, 2021 looked like pigeons compared to the other bird on the limb with them: a Steller’s Sea-Eagle. Everything about seeing a Steller’s Sea-Eagle in New England i

Into the Wild: Maine’s Top 10 rare birds of the past year | The Portland Phoenix

Birders tell themselves that it’s fun to bird in December, but c’mon. Wiping ice out of your binocular eyecups while you try to identify gulls in the whipping wind? Not great. Waking up before sunrise for a Christmas bird count where you find six total species? Not great, either. Birding in December is best for talking about how good birding is in the spring, and also for reminiscing. Let’s look back now on the rarest birds found in Maine last year. 10 — Ash-throated flycatcher, Nov. 8-17, Bi
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