#birds of america

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Photo: Paul Reeves

"Although its name sounds like a cartoonist's invention, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker does exist. This species is common in the north and east, and is replaced by close relatives in the west. Quiet in winter, it becomes noisy in spring, with cat-like calls and staccato drumming."

- Audubon Field Guide

[quotespile]

What makes humans human is precisely that they do not know the future. That is why they do the fateful and amusing things they do: who can say how anything will turn out? Therein lies the only hope for redemption, discovery, and — let’s be frank — fun, fun, fun! There might be things people will get away with. And not just motel towels. There might be great illicit loves, enduring joy, faith-shaking accidents with farm machinery. But you have to not know in order to see what stories your life’s efforts bring you. The mystery is all.

Lorrie Moore, Birds of America

[stone-cold-groove]

Snowy Heron or White Egret detail. John James Audubon - 1835.

[bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Common Ground Dove

^Image credit: MarshBunny

Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina)

The Common Ground Dove typically forages on the ground, feeding on vegetation, seeds, and fruits. They often eat whilst still moving and searching for other food items. There are 17 recognised subspecies of the Common Ground Dove.

[bugcowboyart]

Crested Caracara

Did you know that caracara faces can change color from a lemon yellow to dark red?

[u-mspcoll]

New Labels for an Old Book: Audubon’s Birds of America

American Goldfinch, Fringilla Tristis, Linn. (Plate XXXIII). The Birds of America; From Original Drawings by John James Audubon (182-1830)

The Special Collections Research Center is pleased to announce the installation of new labels contextualizing John James Audubon’s The Birds of America, which is on display in the newly-renamed Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room. the new labels acknowledge Audubon's role as an enslaver and vocal opponent of abolition, and further contextualize both The Birds and its author within the social and scientific landscape of the 19th century. Read more!

[depressedlorelai]

[quotessentially]

From Lorrie Moore’s Birds of America

[hillwoodhouse]

Common Cardinal Grosbeak, Plate 203 from The Birds of America from Drawings Made in the United States

[litsnaps]

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Pink-headed Warbler

Photo: Don Marsille

"Unmistakable small warbler of highlands in Guatemala and Chiapas. Favors humid conifer forest, pine-oak forest, and adjacent brushy areas; locally fairly common to scarce. Usually in pairs, foraging at all levels, often moving with mixed-species feeding flocks. Red overall with silvery-pink head and breast and dark wings and tail."

- eBird

[quotespile]

Marriage, she felt, was a fine arrangement generally, except that one never got it generally. One got it very, very specifically.

Lorrie Moore, Birds of America

[bishopsbox]

source: bishopsbox

From Audubon's Birds of America: Carolina parrot (extinct)

De Birds of America, de Audubon: Cotorra de Carolina (extinta)

[bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: California Quail

^Image credit: Jörg Hempel

California Quail (Callipepla californica)

As its name suggests, the California Quail is the state bird of California, a title which was selected in 1931. They are highly sociable birds, gathering in small flocks known as 'coveys'. They commonly engage in communal dust bathing, wriggling and flapping about in small indentations in soft ground that they create with their bellies.

[sometimesiwastetimehere]

[u-mspcoll]

The Clements Bookworm: A Library Looks at Audubon, Both His Birds and His Background

A conversation with Gregory Nobles, moderated by Marieka Kaye and Caitlin Pollock of the U-M Library

20 October 20 2023, 10-11am

Gregory Nobles will discuss the legacy of John James Audubon (1785-1851) as both a brilliant artist/naturalist and unrepentant slaveholder, inviting us to explore the connection between the personal background of this flawed figure and the continuing impact of his remarkable art. Details on joining the event here!

Read more!