10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

The first half describes the problem (why birds hit windows, the scale of the deaths, scientific research, what happens when birds strike windows) and the second half discusses what to do about it (community and worldwide education, window deterrent solutions, legal mandates and building codes, citizen science–what individuals can do).

New York City 264

New York City Birds Illinois Science 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

UNLESS that is you get yourself down to the internationally-renowned Tambopata Research Centre in southern Peru where literally hundreds of macaws (and other parrots) congregate around a 50 meter high clay bank. That’s right – birds eating clay. Chestnut-fronted Macaws Ara severa. And that’s just in the lowlands!

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 South America 255

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

Author Joshua Hammer, who previously wrote about a different type of real-life-unexpected-caper in The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu , read about Lendrum in the Times of London in 2017, realized the possibilities, did the research. And, how they betrayed that trust, stealing eggs for years and, possibly even worse, falsifying research data.

Falcons 242

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 242

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2018

He roots the theft in the history of collecting bird skins, in the brief life history of Edwin Rist, in the secretive world of classic fly tying, and in his own efforts to follow up on a police investigation that got the man but not all of the loot. The skins were invaluable tools for ornithological, ecological, environmental research.

Collecting 107

Collecting Iraq Ostriches Science 107