Scarlet Tanagers are bright red – but this one is yellow

One of the great pleasures of birding is that you can run into something new and unexpected anytime, anywhere. This summer (June and July 2020) I’ve been birding around my local neighborhood in Deerfield, MA, and even though I’ve lived here for three years now, every day still brings new discoveries. A recent morning produced […]

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A Cerulean-like song variant of Black-throated Blue Warbler

This recording includes one song of Cerulean Warbler and one of Black-throated Blue Warbler. Can you tell them apart? Distinguishing Black-throated Blue Warbler and Cerulean Warbler by song is usually not too difficult, even though both have buzzy songs with a more or less rising trend. The typical songs of both species are distinctive, and

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Another update of coming events

I will be appearing at several virtual events in the next few weeks, celebrating the publication of my new book “What It’s Like to Be a Bird“. I hope you can connect with one or more of these! WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 at 7pmPittsburgh Arts & Lectures, Pittsburgh, PALink: https://pittsburghlectures.org/lectures/david-sibley/ THURSDAY, MAY 7 at 8pmMagic City Books/BookSmart

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Updates on my new book

Ordering signed copies You can now order signed copies of “What It’s Like to Be a Bird” from my local independent bookstore, The Odyssey Bookshop. Just follow the link for information and to place an order. Events and interviews My NPR interview from Weekend Edition is now online at WGBH, along with an extended 23-minute

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12 days until “What it’s like to be a Bird” goes on sale, with a starred review!

My newest book becomes available April 14th, in bookstores everywhere. You can read a little more about it at these links: here in my web store An excerpt is available at my publisher’s website and a starred review has been published in Library Journal I’ll be posting more in the coming days, stay tuned, and

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The head shape of Herring Gulls seems to change seasonally

sketch of gull head shapes

I always enjoy studying Herring Gulls, just looking at variation and trying to categorize the birds into age, sex, and regional groups. Last winter I was watching the gull flock at Turners Falls, MA, paying special attention to when the adults molted into breeding plumage. My thought was that the early-molting birds would be from

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Events page updated

I’ve just updated my map of upcoming events, and here is what’s on the calendar for this spring and summer: The University of Mississippi Museum is hosting an exhibit of my original art, including many plates from the Guide to Birds, some from the Guide to Trees, and a few earlier drawings and paintings (going

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