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Contemplating California Condors

10,000 Birds

The newest bird on the brink to capture her fertile imagination is the California Condor, on which she graciously shares her research and ruminations: Sometimes as a writer you recognize there’s been something overlooked in your midst—something quietly abiding. Condors, like all New World vultures, can disturb the human psyche.

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Justified and Ancient

10,000 Birds

Sandhill Cranes , ancient and currently abundant – the most abundant species of crane in the world – are nevertheless almost miraculous to me every time I see them. The five subspecies – Greater, Lesser, Mississippi, Florida, Cuban – show the genetic marks of what the species has had to do to survive.

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What is the National Bird of Columbia?

10,000 Birds

They get a bad rap due to their dependence on carrion to survive, but I look at it a different way: these species do not have to kill in order to thrive! Most humans cannot say that. Columbia has chosen one of the world’s most massive flying species as its national bird: the Andean Condor.

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I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. The California Condor has a story well-known by anyone with an interest in birds.

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Listening to Falcons: The Peregrines of Tom Cade

10,000 Birds

such as California Condors and Passenger Pigeons. Except for the falconer’s jesses and bell, they were to be allowed freedom to pursue life in the wild, life with minimal human contact. Author Sherrida Woodley thinks deeply about dearly departed birds. She’s already written about Rachel Carson: Secret Birder.

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On Jeff Corwin's 100 HEARTBEATS

Animal Person

It has entertaining stories, includes animals people care about because they like them (and also addresses that concept), and it describes how the numbers of various species decreased to the point of being classified as "endangered" or worse. But again, he's a conservationist, so none of this is a surprise.

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15 Years: Things Will Never Be The Same

10,000 Birds

For example, in California, populations of birds like Aleutian Cackling Goose have dramatically increased…but where did our Fulvous Whistling-Ducks go? We have more California Condors , Bald Eagles , and Peregrine Falcons , but there seem to be less Spotted Owls , Burrowing Owls , Sooty Shearwaters.

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