It was an interesting winter in my backyard, highlighted by three common redpolls at the thistle feeder on Super Sunday. It was the first time we'd hosted this species since moving to Glen Ellyn in 1997. Another satisfying feeder sighting - on the ...

In the history of American bird-watching, two names stand out: John James Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson. They were the giants, each from a different era. Audubon lived from 1785 to 1851. He was a painter, not a birder as we think of birders today...

This column was born five years ago this month, though not in this newspaper. I'm grateful that the Daily Herald picked it up last spring, essentially promoting Words on Birds to the major leagues. In doing so, the paper also recognized that this bi...

I have no reason to think that I'm being observed. But if my neighbors ever watched me mow the lawn, they'd see something strange: I'm always pausing to look up. And quite often they'd see me stop the mower and jog up to the top of my driveway - to ...

Does the name Sandy Komito ring a bell? Probably not, unless you read "The Big Year," a book about three men who in 1998 each tried to set a record for the most North American bird species seen in a calendar year. Komito won handily, with 748 specie...

Except for the most hard-core birders, these are the "dog days" of summer. Things are a bit slow. There are birds to be found, but nothing like the variety of species we enjoy during the spring and fall migration seasons, when every day seems to bri...