The next time you’re walking through the Forest enjoying the symphony being trilled from the trees, remember this: The birds are having an emotional response, too! According to a new study, birds respond to the songs of their fellows in much the same way we respond to Beethoven’s “Pastoral” or the theme song the “Twilight Zone.” So much for bird brains … ~AR
(via Birds Found to Have Emotional Reactions to Song - NYTimes.com)
Saturday, December 8! Mark that one down on your calendar, birders. And if you haven’t the tiniest inkling as to what a “birder” is, mark it down anyway—you might learn something. Debbie Becker has been our resident bird expert for over 25 years, and while Saturdays throughout the year are always a good time to catch her leading Bird Walks around the NYBG’s 250 acres, this day is particularly special.
With the annual Christmas Bird Count taking place in the five boroughs throughout December, the 8th is our chance to help veteran birdwatchers brush up on their craft. But it’s an even better opportunity to enlist new recruits in the biggest birdwatching event of the year. Finally, it’s all for a scientific cause! Click here for more information on how to get involved. —MN
(via avoca)
Because it is almost impossibly beautiful. And because it includes thousands of beautifully rendered plants. And because it has a birding reference. And because it seems to be web-comic Wednesday. And because I am a huge nerd. For all these reasons I am reblogging today’s XKCD. It is absolutely worth several minutes of your time. ~AR
ps - Yes I did type the name wrong initially. What can I say, I’m also a huge fan of Fraiser.
Absolutely loving this story of Genevieve Jones—and subsequently her family after her untimely death—who set out to write the “missing” companion to Audubon’s Birds of America. Genevieve and the Jones family set out to illustrate a volume documenting the nests and eggs that Audubon had omitted from his epic work. In the end they only were able to document one state, Ohio, but their multi-generational book has now been turned into a biography, America’s Other Audubon. Via Design*Sponge.
This is awesome! I have always wondered whether woodpeckers get headaches or brain damage from all their insistent pecking. Turns out, they don’t, and it also turns out that some of my own half-baked reasoning (usually dreamed up while trying to get back to sleep after being awoken by one banging away on the bedroom’s external walls) including bone density and anatomical buttressing, are in fact true.
What does this have to do with the Garden? Well, we have a lot of woodpeckers, including a very rare Pilleated Woodpecker which was spotted recently in the Garden for the first time in 73 years. Want a chance to see him (or her?), come along for one of our free Saturday morning Bird Walks! Bring your binoculars! ~AR
The Garden’s resident hawks have been really active today. I saw one riding a thermal with a crow when I went out for lunch, and this morning Sarah Paulson, Coordinator of Teen Programs in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, watched “Mr. and Mrs. Hawk land in side by side tree tops,” (maybe it was Rose and Vince?). Sarah continues saying that, “neither joined the other in the same tree. Maybe that only happens when we aren’t watching!” Bird watching, just another perk to one of the best jobs in New York City! ~AR
Mockingbirds can be annoying, especially when they feel the need to mock a car alarm at 3 a.m., but they are also mighty adorable. Here are three photos from Library staffer Paul Silverman of this little bird sitting in a Viburnum dilatatum behind the Watson Education Building.
We have been very remiss in noting the great “Bird Week” posts that the Times’ City Room Blog has been publishing this week. If you haven’t been following along, head over there now.
And if “Bird Week” has piqued your interest in giving birding a try, NYBG is a fantastic place to visit with your binoculars! We have free weekly bird watching walks on Saturdays from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (leaves from the Reflecting Pool in front of the Leon Levy Visitor Center), and we have had a confirmed (and photographed) siting of one of the Times’ Ten birds “Worth the Wait.” It’s migration time, so come and spot ‘em while the spotting’s good!
— The New York Times - New Yorkers in Feathers, Counted in the Cold
The City Birder and friends came to the Garden and met our turkeys (along with plenty of other avian friends).
Rosemary (in NYBG pot) and friend
Love you, Mom <3
Happy National Public Gardens Day! A female carpenter bee visiting the pea vines yesterday. She’s California’s largest bee.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
This Mother’s Day don’t just go local—go native: Fill your weekend with flowers and garden parties at the city’s botanical...
Be the change you want to see in the world.
-Gandhi
Lovely tree peonies at the NY Botanical Garden
