One of the most interesting birds around is also among the most disliked. I speak of the villainous brown-headed cowbird. Understandably, birders are critical of the cowbird, a brood parasite that deposits its eggs in other birds’ nests. This makes...

Rockford's minor league baseball team changed its name this year, morphing from RiverHawks to Aviators. The new name recalls the city's bit role in aviation history. It wasn't a bad choice. I suspect, however, that if birders had made the call, th...

People who are looking at something through binoculars always get my attention. I think you know why. Pulling into work on a recent morning I saw such a person. Naturally, I rolled down the driver’s-side window and asked the obvious, “Are you looki...

In my first column back in 2004, I had the “Gumption” to say that birding is like a box of chocolates. It wasn’t the most original thing to say, perhaps, but it still applies. April proved it for me and for lots of other eager watchers who worked ar...

April is a time of rising anticipation for local birders. We know the best of spring migration is just ahead. Soon the dazzling buntings, grosbeaks, orioles, tanagers and warblers will arrive in numbers, a yearly spectacle that never gets old. I en...

So there I was in Miami last month, stalking a middle-class neighborhood with my binoculars, searching for a red-whiskered bulbul. The bulbul is originally from Asia, but despite its nonnative status it’s considered a “countable” species by the Amer...

So there I was in Miami last month, stalking a middle-class neighborhood with my binoculars, searching for a red-whiskered bulbul. The bulbul is originally from Asia, but despite its nonnative status it's considered a “countable” species by the Amer...

A cool thing happened in January when I least expected it. While walking from the Glen Ellyn YMCA to the Walgreens next door, I noticed that the neighboring water detention area was full of ducks. All mallards was my first impression, and they were...