@richardlovesbirds
Theoretical ecologist based in Athens, GA. Into disease ecology and animal migration. Love birds and native gardening. he/him Lab: https://halllab.ecology.uga.edu/ Wildlife from the backyard: https://www.instagram.com/richhallagram/
A remarkable trio of wintering species in my yard today - an Ovenbird, Baltimore Oriole (one of 16 visiting my feeders!) and a Rufous Hummingbird. While the latter two species have been increasingly observed locally in recent winters, the Ovenbird is a 1st January record for North Georgia.
Nice write-up of our efforts to document and prevent bird collisions with windows on the UGA campus. ecology.uga.edu/project-maca...
At the opening reception with movement ecology rising star Robin Bauknecht
At the poster session with Hiroyuki Yokomizo, who I hadn't seen in almost 20 years!
Mulled wine and a festive Edinbugh skyline with Andrew Park
Catching up with the amazing Christina Faust at Edinburgh Castle.
Had a wonderful time at #BES2025 in lovely Edinburgh. Nice to finally meet the J. Anim. Ecol editorial board, & catch up with colleagues old and new in movement, disease & invasion ecology. Shout-out to Matt Silk for taking me birding at Portobello - Long-tailed Ducks put on a show!
nobody puts juncos in the corner
Any chance of a field trip to Mountain Lake for Cerulean Warblers and recreating iconic scenes from Dirty Dancing? I'll be there (with a watermelon)
Neotropical warbler season is over but I was charmed by the frenetic bathing of this Swamp Sparrow today, a less than annual visitor to my yard
I am sure one will find your sprinklers eventually!
With all of the horrors 2025 has brought I haven't had much enthusiasm to engage with this platform, but warblers help make the world a little bit better, so thought I would share some warbler joy from a few days ago at my backyard birdbath in Athens GA. Migration is amazing!
Graphic with IBP logo that says "The Institute for Bird Populations could really use your help right now."
🪶 Today, more than 1/3 of the federal grant $$ we were relying on to finance our science & conservation work in 2025 is paused w/ no indication of when, or if, we will be able to access it again. Your tax-deductible donation helps us weather this period of uncertainty. birdpop.org/pages/do... 1/2
Georgia's second ever Hooded Oriole. This is a young male with an all-yellow body and black bib. DIstinguished from nearby Baltimores by its narrow curved bill and long skinny tail
For the past 3 days I've been hosting Georgia's 2nd ever Hooded Oriole in my yard - it showed up right after last weekend's storms from the west. Since then almost 80 people have showed up to admire it. Amidst all the turmoil & bad news it's been nice to share a slice of joy with Georgia birders!
Some much needed bird therapy - the huge blackbird/ cowbird/ grackle/ starling roost in a bamboo patch in west Athens. The wheeling flocks were occasionally thrown into disarray by a marauding Cooper's Hawk.
I hope to be there if I still have funding! 😬
@mariusgrabow.bsky.social, today we are reading your paper on blood parasite effects on hirundine movement in our graduate journal club on the interface of animal behavior and disease!
Rare in winter this far north, a Lincoln's Sparrow is overwintering along the N Oconee River Greenway in Athens, highlighting the value of this urban corridor. The video includes comparison with lookalike Song Sparrow in foreground (note fine streaks, slender body & bill, & buffy malar of Lincoln's)
Nice pics! Although Blackcaps have always been a summer breeder in the UK, these wintering birds come from continental Europe, some even flying north for winter from Spain! Temperate UK winters plus food subsidies in gardens allow them to return to breeding sites earlier & secure best territories
A flock of breeding plumage Great Northern Divers (Common Loons) against a foggy wooded backdrop in Athens Georgia
A close up of a breeding plumage Common Loon showing bright red eye and white neck collar, Athens GA
A Great Northern Diver in flight giving its yodelling call over Lake Chapman, Athens, GA.
It's the year of the Great Northern Diver! It's always to joy to see these birds staging in Athens in late March on their northbound migration. Overnight rains can sometimes result in 50+ birds in breeding attire, giving their haunting yodelling calls.
cool paper alert!
flower mites use hummingbirds as taxis to move from flower to flower
ok, super cool, but how do they quickly jump onto this taxi?
turns out they sense the hummingbird's electric field and use electrostatic attraction to hop on!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
I just realized that your name in reverse is Dat Sallad.
We need a caption contest for this photo! If you'll lettuce
Post-migratory movements in the nonbreeding season are in fact displayed by a surprising number of birds around the world, with diverse resource- or weather-based cues. Two former students in the lab wrote a paper documenting examples of this: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
After hatch year female Rufous Hummingbird hovering in side profile , showing an all-green back, orange flanks and a square of pink iridescent feathers in the throat.
Some local birding cheer - a female Rufous Hummingbird has showed up at a friend's feeder following the recent cold snap. As more Neotropical birds attempt to overwinter in temperate regions, cold snaps may well lead to more mid-winter displacements of migrants.
A gorgeous drake American Wigeon showing his green head iridescence and salmon flanks. The first on UGA's campus since 2009, brought in by yesterday's winter storm.
The frigid for Georgia 18F/-8C temperatures brought a sprinkling of ducks to Lake Herrick on the UGA campus, most notably a pair of American Wigeon. Supporting cast included 5 Redheads, 3 Hooded Mergansers and a Ruddy Duck.
Added to the top of my reading list: analysis of nocturnal flight calls of migrants suggests interspecies communication! Social associations across species during nocturnal bird migration: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Asst. Prof Quantitative Insect Ecologist in University of Georgia's Entomology Dept! Great folks at UGA working on insects in this and other units.
www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/406...
Birds connect places! Using movements of >10K inds of a migratory shorebird, quantified site<->site connectivity across a flyway. Identified 49 highly connected sites 🐦
But, many are unprotected. Considering connectivity improves conservation for migratory species 🌎 🧪
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
20 years on from the start of a novel avian disease epidemic that has led to catastrophic population declines in several UK species we are finally getting some significant movement on advice regarding bird feeding
www.theguardian.com/environment/... 1/2 #Ornithology #UKbirding
New paper out in @rsocpublishing.bsky.social! Research from our group shows that males of the polygynous ruff visit many potential breeding sites within a breeding season, travelling up to 9000 km and visiting up to 23 different sites! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 1/7
5 Baltimore Orioles in various plumages from a black-and-orange adult male to a pale yellow immature visiting my jelly feeder.
They do - Baltimore Orioles are my favourite Christmas ornament!
One of the last birds I saw in the UK before moving to Athens, GA. Now I have a flock of them wintering in my yard!
Nelson's Sparrow, a secretive marsh bird, perches in the open on a boat dock with a coffee mug in the foreground. An incongruous setting for this skulking species, very high tides can push them out into the open.
A mugshot of a Nelson's Sparrow sitting on the boat dock during a very high tide on the St Catherines Island Christmas Bird Count.
