• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

birding

Ed Zahniser: Woodpecker Wake-up Calls

March 6, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Downy Woodpecker courtesy Evan LiptonOne morning early, as I slept in our mountain cabin Mateskared, a woodpecker landed on the cabin’s wood siding. Its profound rapid-fire pecking jerked me out of sound sleep.

Did we have robo-termites?

Not in the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Ed Zahniser: Woodpecker Wake-up Calls

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: birding, birds, nature, Wildlife, woodpeckers

Some Woodpeckers Imitate a Neighbor’s Plumage

March 4, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

look-alike-woodpeckers-300x222In the first global test of the idea, scientists have found evidence that some woodpeckers can evolve to look like another species of woodpecker in the same neighborhood. The researchers say that this “plumage mimicry” isn’t a fluke – it happens among pairs of distantly related woodpeckers all over the world. [Read more…] about Some Woodpeckers Imitate a Neighbor’s Plumage

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: birding, birds, nature, Wildlife, woodpeckers

Downy or Hairy Woodpecker?

March 3, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

hairy_downy-300x179“That’s a downy. No wait, it’s a hairy – definitely a hairy. Well, hang on…maybe it is a downy.” I admit it: I’ve had this happen to me more than once. [Read more…] about Downy or Hairy Woodpecker?

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: birding, birds, nature, Wildlife, woodpeckers

Hairy Woodpecker: Insect Hunter Extraordinaire

March 2, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

TOS_HairyWoodpeckerA woodpecker frequently visits our feeder, alighting on the wooden supporting post and hopping up the post to the suet. Its medium size and striking markings – black wings spotted with white, a large white patch on the back, and a red spot on the back of the head – identify the bird as a male hairy woodpecker.  The female, which also comes to our feeder, lacks the red patch on the head.

The hairy woodpecker is easy to confuse with its almost identical cousin, the downy woodpecker, another of our feeder guests. However, the hairy is about one-third larger than the downy and has a longer, sturdier bill – about the same length as its head. [Read more…] about Hairy Woodpecker: Insect Hunter Extraordinaire

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: birding, birds, nature, Wildlife, woodpeckers

Pileated Woodpeckers: Denizens Of Our Old Forests

March 1, 2021 by Tom Kalinowski Leave a Comment

male Pileated woodpecker foraging on a treeWhile most natural winter sounds tend to carry only short distances, there is one that is loud enough to travel well over a hundred yards.

Even when the limbs and boughs are coated with an audio-absorbing layer of snow, the voice of the pileated woodpecker periodically breaks the silence and resounds through our mature woodlands. [Read more…] about Pileated Woodpeckers: Denizens Of Our Old Forests

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: birding, birds, nature, Wildlife, winter, woodpeckers

Even The Common House Sparrow Is In Decline Study Finds

February 13, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

European House Sparrow by Donald MetznerHouse Sparrows were introduced in Brooklyn in 1851. They expanded rapidly to become one of the most common species in the U.S. and Canada.

The European House Sparrow has a story to tell about survival in the modern world. In parts of its native range in Europe, House Sparrow numbers are down by nearly 60%. Their fate in the U.S. and Canada is less well known. [Read more…] about Even The Common House Sparrow Is In Decline Study Finds

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Nature Tagged With: birding, birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, nature, Wildlife

Starling Success Traced to Rapid Adaptation

February 10, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

European Starling by Marcy CunkelmanLove them or hate them, there’s no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the journal Molecular Ecology examines this non-native species from the inside out.

The study looks at what exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded from just 80 birds released in New York City’s Central Park in 1890, peaking at an estimated 200 million breeding adults spread all cross North America. [Read more…] about Starling Success Traced to Rapid Adaptation

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: birding, birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, nature, Wildlife

Great Backyard Bird Count Starts Friday

February 9, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Blue Jay by Patricia BlylerThe 24th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is set to take place February 12th through 15th.

During the Great Backyard Bird Count people from around the world count the birds they see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, and then enter their checklists online. [Read more…] about Great Backyard Bird Count Starts Friday

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: birding, birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, nature, Wildlife

Precipitous Decline In Atlantic Canada Goose Cuts Hunting Season Short

February 4, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Atlantic Population (AP) Canada geese nest throughout northern Quebec and winter from New England to South Carolina. The largest concentrations of AP geese occur on the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware and the eastern shores of Maryland & Virginia). [Read more…] about Precipitous Decline In Atlantic Canada Goose Cuts Hunting Season Short

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: birding, birds, hunting, nature, Wildlife

The Wild Turkey in Winter

January 20, 2021 by Tom Kalinowski Leave a Comment

There are only a few dozen species of birds capable of surviving the rigors of an Adirondack winter, and of these, the wild turkey is one that is more closely associated with the warmer and less snowy regions of New York than those to the north. [Read more…] about The Wild Turkey in Winter

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: birding, birds, nature, weather, Wildlife, winter

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 6
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Help Us Reach Our Fundraising Goal

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Louis deGonzague on WWI Vet, Belgian Painter Edward Buyck in NY
  • Chris Traskos on Frances Perkins, One of America’s Most Influential Women, Remains Unrecognized
  • Leslie Mankes on Catskills Resorts: The Beginning of the End
  • David Gibson on Rangers Respond to Deadly Snowmobile Accident, Injured Hiker
  • DOMINIC JACANGELO on How Snowmobilers Won Their Special Privileges To Ride On Forever Wild Lands
  • Shannon on John H. Moffitt’s North Country Political Biography
  • Phil Brown on Presidential Pardon Power: What The Founders Thought
  • HorseWeb on The Unpleasant Side of Life With Horses in Cities
  • Kathy Chappell on Preservation Failures: The Hardenbergh House
  • Rico Viray on Esopus: Wiltwyck School For Boys Lecture

Recent New York Books

The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret
Historic Crimes of Long Island
Its a Helluva Town
The Long Crisis
rebuilding the republic
The 20th Century Civil Rights Movement
first principles
An American Marriage
too long ago
the long year of the revolution

Secondary Sidebar

New York State Historic Markers