The Hawaii: Spring 2025 Regional Report is out!
Highlights include an "unprecedented" amount of Kermadec Petrel sightings and a Laysan x Black-footed Albatross hybrid.
Read the report here: www.aba.org/hawaii-sprin...
Happy birthday, beautiful.
(image I took 25 years ago from the roof of the Sears Tower)
Join me and @n8swick.bsky.social Nate Swick at NOON Central TODAY! We'll be working through some tricky IDs (did someone say LBJs?), taking your questions, and more, on @aba.org ABA's What's This Bird LIVE!
www.youtube.com/live/l0ngIYW...
Join me and @n8swick.bsky.social Nate Swick for some tricky IDs, bird banter and more, at @aba.org ABA's WTB LIVE, today at NOON central!
www.youtube.com/live/wMAkOk1...
1) yes
2) virtually every day
(Illinois)
Everyone is shitting on the Post for implying that Bad Bunny, from Puerto Rico, is a “immigrant,” not an American citizen. But WaPo is actually being honest about the Trumpist immigration agenda, for which dutifully if dully supports. The Trumpist agenda is white nationalist.
/1
If you can, be nice to yourself and go birding this weekend.
More attention here, please.
Three new species added to the ABA Checklist!
Two splits (Whimbrel, Yellow Warbler) and a recent distributional record (Waved Albatross) raise the ABA Area list to 1,161 species.
Learn more here: www.aba.org/aba-checklis...
Join me and Nate to talk bird ID and more at noon central!
www.youtube.com/live/usr-iYl...
... now, what was I saying?
They had several efforts going leading up to Jan 6. They tried rigging and bribing, and fake electors, and when that didn’t work, violence. They have purged or in other ways removed things that blocked them 4 years ago.
I would optimistically put the chances of an election happening in November at 50%.
Book reviewer Rebecca Heisman, writing in the Jan. 2026 issue of Birding, explains how British science writer Matt Ridley’s newest book, "Birds, Sex, and Beauty," is an attempt to answer a deceptively simple question: Why are some birds so astonishingly beautiful?
www.aba.org/why-birds-ar...
and lo! The rattatattat and chop-chop-chop hearkens!!
Time to get this party started.
#YippieKiYay
The annual highlight of the birding calendar is, for so many birders, the Christmas Bird Count. Birding Editor Ted Floyd and ABA cartoonist Sal Palmero team up to celebrate "Birding's Grandest Tradition" in this article in the Dec. 2025 Birding. Seasons Greetings!
www.aba.org/birdings-gra...
... but yeah, this has been a weird one. The extreme cold moved them quickly. Numbers at Jasper-Pulaski:
2025
2024
2023
2022
Join me and Nate to talk some tricky bird IDs and more. This week we tackle one of everyone's favorite gulls!
www.youtube.com/live/8_OWKSH...
From the archives!
In "Out Owling for Saw-whets," the ABA's Greg Neise provides tips for finding saw-whets in late fall and early winter you might not have known about, including knowing several different vocalizations.
Good luck to all saw-whet seekers!
www.aba.org/out-owling-f...
Bohemian Waxwing, by Sarah Shute
Non-finches are on the move too!
Keep your eyes and ear peeled for Bohemian Waxwings as they follow fruit crops south. Flocks can be large, with several dozen birds or even hundreds moving together, often appearing overnight.
Join me and Nate Swick today, Nov. 21, at 1:00pm ET to discuss ID challenges and get your bird ID questions answered on What’s This Bird LIVE!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTVT...
NEW — I spoke to DoorDash about the White House claiming the company's report shows "inflation has been tamed" and whether that's an interpretation one should make. An economist also weighed in, pointing out dictatorships use data obfuscation as a tool, and right now they're "grasping at straws."
