Barry MacKay

Jul 10, 2024 | birdnote.org | Barry MacKay |Rick Wright

BirdNote®A Renaming Committee of OneWritten by J. Drew LanhamThis is BirdNote. I’m J. Drew Lanham, an ornithologist, naturalist and writer. As we consider redacting the names of people from birds, it’s important to remember birds are flesh, feather and bone monuments of life, hope and higher aspiration. So it does matter. But I’m just one Black, bird-loving ornithologist, so what can I do? This is what. I’m taking the lark by the horns and forming my own committee of one.

May 4, 2024 | birdnote.org | Barry MacKay |Rick Wright |Bob Sundstrom

Gulls seem so much a part of the sea that we often just call them "seagulls," a colloquial title for these graceful, ubiquitous creatures. Twenty-two species breed in North America. The Pacific coast is home to the aptly named Western Gulls. The familiar Ring-billed Gull nests all across the northern states and Canadian provinces. Herring Gulls breed along the Great Lakes and Northeast waterways, while these Laughing Gulls nest all along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. BirdNote®Gulls or Seagulls?

Mar 20, 2024 | birdnote.org | Barry MacKay |Rick Wright |Conor Gearin

BirdNote®Janet Ng on Becoming a Wildlife Biologist Written by Conor GearinThis is BirdNote.     [Saskatchewan wetland soundscape]When Janet Ng was a kid, there was a very specific moment when she realized what she wanted to be as a grown-up. Janet Ng:  I actually expressly remember watching a nature documentary, and they were interviewing a wildlife biologist.

Nov 6, 2023 | birdnote.org | Barry MacKay |Rick Wright |Conor Gearin

BirdNote®Using Machine Learning to Forecast Bird MigrationWritten by Conor GearinThis is BirdNote.     [Snow Geese flying overhead]Scientists can now forecast bird migration based on weather and how it affects bird flight. But weather isn’t the whole story – habitats on the ground also influence the birds’ journeys, says PhD student Mikko Jimenez.