Index: Birds, Birding, Nature

My most popular stories on birds, nature, bird identification shortcuts, and a few butterflies

Amethyst Qu

May 26·2 min read

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, migrating, southern Louisiana, April 2021 — Photo of migrating adult male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak by the Author

3 Ways To Identify Birds With No Field Marks

When you’re looking right at the bird and still can’t tell what it is

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Loggerhead Shrikes Might Be Lurking in a Parking Lot Near You

A pair of survivors are back to to breed again

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Three Encounters With Red-Headed Woodpeckers

Watching birds can be mere watching — or it can be seeing

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Two Mind-Boggling Hours in Bolivia, No Coca Needed

A rocky creek and a wide spot in a forest road reveal an awe-inspiring variety of butterflies

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We Think We See More Rufous Hummingbirds Even While Their Population Crashes

The passenger pigeon dilemma

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The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Is Officially Extinct

Seventy years stuck in the denial stage of grief

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Bathing Beauty at the Birdbath

A photo story featuring a fluffy female cardinal who appreciates my art

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The Apocalypse of the Baby Hawks Haunts Me

Why must the innocent pay the price?

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The Squeaky, Complaining, Utterly Lovable Baby Mockingbirds Are Here

When you’re on the run from angry birds in your own yard, it’s fledgling time

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Blue-Throated Macaws: A Rediscovered Species

On Endangered Species Day, I think of a bold baby bird I met a decade ago

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Invasion of the Spice Finches

I for one welcome our scaly-breasted overlords

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The Rise and Rise of the Inca Dove

Random notes from the conquest of a continent

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A Pollinator Named Polly

When they mentioned the birds and the bees, you didn’t see this one coming, did you?

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Neighbors Are Quiet Drama

A tale of two Whistling-Ducks, a Starling family, and a Red-Headed Woodpecker in southeast Louisiana

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The Badly Named Woodpeckers Are Pleased to Introduce the New Babies

My Red-Bellied Woodpeckers delight the heart with their July fledglings

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Non-Random Encounters With Swallow-Tailed Kites

Not a symbol of grace but grace itself

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How a Hummingbird Bathes in a Tropical Storm

Don’t laugh at these photos, well, all right, go ahead and laugh

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Little Ripples

Thinking about the so-called butterfly effect 20 years after 9/11

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A Butterfly’s Friendly Message After Hurricane Ida

Storms come and go, but a buckeye will find its flower

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Why Stock Photo Agencies Make Nature Writers Swear

Some photographers tag their photos any old thing under any old name

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Amethyst Qu

Author of “The Moldavite Message.” Seeker, traveler, birder, crystal collector.