I recently returned from my near annual pilgrimage to Veracruz, Mexico, to see the fall hawk migration at the biggest hawk migration site in the world.
The area on the Gulf Coast of Mexico near Veracruz City has become well known in recent years for its astounding hawk migration, a phenomenon that has become known as [...]

Yes, I’m an avid birder and professional bird conservationist — but that doesn’t mean I don’t take time for other flying things…like hundreds of thousands of bats.
I took a few days off in late August and went down to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southeastern New Mexico, an easy drive for me from my [...]

Successful bird conservation is far harder than it looks. But there are some wonderful examples out there that show how we can have more and better bird habitat and benefit people, too.
One of the coolest examples that I know about is the work being done by The Nature Conservancy in Washington in the delta of [...]

I just learned, courtesy of my local newspaper, that tomorrow (September 5, 2009) is International Vulture Awareness Day!  Consider celebrating by stocking your feeders with carrion (which reminds me of several bad jokes, but I’ll put those at the end), cruising your local highways for road kill (aka, vulture food), or just getting out and observing [...]

Here’s an update on the whereabouts of the Long-billed Curlews that were tagged in Montana this past May, the 7 birds seemed to have temporarily settled down. We’ll see if they stay there or continue to move as fall draws nearer.
Of the 7 birds, 3 are now in the southern United States and 4 are in [...]

While I personally would never advocate that bloggers like myself flog merchandise, I have to make an exception for a very valuable thing you should consider purchasing for your very own: a Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp.
This stamp, better known as the “Duck Stamp,” is an inexpensive way to support the conservation of bird [...]

One of the best parts of my job as director of The Nature Conservancy’s migratory bird program is reading the reports that come in from the research we sponsor — especially on birds about whose wintering habits we previously knew little.
I recently received the final report of the field research being conducted by my colleague [...]

In late June, I posted about the new project to track Long-billed Curlew migrations from eastern Montana.
Well, the fall migration has started for these birds and they are moving out!
As of early this week, 4 of the 7 birds had taken off and left the Montana prairie for points south. Currently, one bird is in northeastern Colorado, [...]

A research team that I’m part of just completed initial field work on a project to capture and tag Long-billed Curlews in the northern Great Plains of North America — a big step toward solving a huge mystery about this amazing bird.
The Long-billed Curlew is the continent’s largest shorebird and one of high conservation priority, according to [...]

Most of you probably missed it, but last weekend marked the 8th annual High Plains Lesser Prairie-Chicken Festival in Milnesand, New Mexico (its hard to find, though I’ve put a picture above to help out!).
I’ve been a participant and field trip leader for the festival for many years and it’s one of the highlights of [...]