Collecting a couple of birding-related links from various places:
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Andrea Alfano explains how the conjunctivitis epidemic among House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) was tracked with citizen science observers through Project FeederWatch.
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Christopher Cokinos calls out one of my particular bêtes noires: the indiscriminate use by sound designers of vocalizations of Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).
One irony of this hawk’s cry becoming the popular call of the wild is that red-tails occupy a range of habitats we don’t normally think of as “nature.” I’ve seen red-tails flying over busy streets and perching on light poles by shopping centers while they tear apart chipmunks or mice.
Where do I see this hawk most frequently? Posted up somewhere along the Beltway.
Not to mention Hollywood’s ventriloquizing that puts this noble buteo’s voice in the beak of Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Leta doesn’t know much about birds, but she does know that this squeaky-voiced eagle really sounds like Mike Tyson.