Rick Wright

Nov 29, 2024 | birdnote.org | Rick Wright

BirdNote®Western Hummingbirds, EastWritten by Rick WrightThis is BirdNote. Not that long ago, the only hummingbird someone living in the eastern United States and Canada could hope to see was the familiar little Ruby-throated Himmingbird. [Ruby-throated hummingbird chips and wing noises]But things have changed. Over the past couple of decades, more and more western and tropical hummingbird species have been discovered far out of what used to be considered their “normal” range.

Nov 26, 2024 | birdnote.org | Rick Wright

BirdNote®Waxwing NightlightWritten by Rick WrightThis is BirdNote. For the better part of two thousand years, the waxwing was credited with an amazing power. [Richard Wagner, Siegfried-Idylle][Bohemian Waxwing calls and “song,” ML 170762, 04:26 and following]It was believed in all earnestness that these gentle, crested fruit-eaters glowed in the dark. Pliny reported that their feathers were said to “shine like flames” in the dark forests of central Europe.

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.