A seasonal song
The Eastern Towhee returns David LiebmannSpring 2013Walk to the trailhead behind the Audubon Society's Beechwood Farms nature center on Dorseyville Road, and you'll briefly head down toward the meadow and then uphill, west, toward the upper fields. Stroll beneath the canopy of older trees until you reach the clearings. Look up, look low and listen. That black, white, and rufous bird singing with its head thrown back in spring abandon? That scratching in last fall's leaf litter? That brilliant, unfamiliar song? The eastern towhee, returned north, awaits your discovery. more >
The Canada goose
Our wild, honking neighborsOne fall evening in New England when I was an undergraduate, I heard honking so loud it had the force of an approaching train, lasting for several minutes as geese flew by. They faded into the night but have stayed with me since. more >
Final flight: Lessons of the Passenger Pigeon
On the wing During our colonial period, America’s forests were felled slowly. Beginning in New England, subsistence farming and the promise of better lands to the west meant regions were settled and cleared for agriculture, then abandoned, only to regenerate. This pattern cycle of destruction and reforestation, created a patchwork of fields that gave way to second growth woodlands, a rolling wave of ecological change. more >
The Pittsburgh pigeon
From droppings to DarwinDavid LiebmannSpring 2012Some displaced Pittsburghers soon will come home again. The pigeons of Mellon Square, bumped by renovations scheduled to culminate next year, are some of my favorite birds to watch, a bit of the wild smack dab in the middle of “dahntahn.” Don’t disparage these half-pound fast fliers. more >
A model specimen
Making the most of a fallen beautyDavid LiebmannSummer 2012There is a reason i am a birder and not a surgeon. As I was driving one spring, I passed something bright orange on the side of the street. I couldn’t quite make it out, but I had my suspicions. Like many birders, I’m willing to watch a bird wherever it might be: perched on a twig, swimming in a pond, soaring over Sandcastle, downtown in a park. Yes, this bird was in a roadside gutter, but I knew when I passed it that only meant I’d get an even better look. Roadkill birds also count. more >
Return of the falcon
A peregrine program's successWinter 2012A pigeon flaps lazily above the University of Pittsburgh campus. Suddenly, a streaking peregrine falcon dives toward its unaware prey at 100 to 150 miles an hour. more >
Bold & beautiful
The wild turkey is truly America's—and Pittsburgh's—birdFall 2011I have always had a thing for road kill; not for death as spectacle, but for the opportunity to see something wild up close. Though there are limits to what I'll inspect, I'm usually drawn to at least making an identification of the species, particularly if it happens to be avian. more >
The common nighthawk
Debugging the summer skySummer 2011It’s the seventh inning stretch on a warm night at PNC Park. The sun has gone down, and the bright lights of baseball illuminate the summer sky. Downtown buildings glow across the river: Federated, Highmark, UPMC, the arched alcove of the Renaissance Hotel. more >
Chimney Swifts
Artful, darting fliers
Chimney swifts twitter, but they do not tweet. These are creatures not of the virtual world, but of our vernal skies. When warm weather returns to Pittsburgh and the new green of spring washes over the hills, Chimney Swifts will soon appear.
more >The Bald Eagle
On the wingWhenever I see something white in a riverbank tree, I’m hopeful it’s a Bald Eagle. More than once, I’ve called out the sighting in eastern Pennsylvania, crossing the Susquehanna at 70 miles an hour. Most of the time, I’ve been wrong. And why would there be a Bald Eagle in Sharpsburg on the Allegheny, a few miles up river from Heinz Field, a few hundred yards from the traffic on Route 28?
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The Cooper's Hawk
A common accipiter Fall 2010 Near the iron gates of a hidden garden in Shadyside, a vigilant Cooper’s Hawk scans for prey. A Japanese Snowbell separates the bird from a row of roses fading into fall. There is a window, and the face of a man peering out with excitement and wonder. He can see the hawk, its beautiful warm brown color, its smallish head, curved beak, and body about as big as a crow. He sees the talons gripping the branch. He’s about to take its photo when it launches out with a majestic burst of light and speed.
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The Indigo Bunting
Seeing beauty bare Let me lead you to the bird. It is neither bluebird nor blackbird but may look like both. It is the Indigo Bunting. Follow these directions to one of two destinations. Head toward Squirrel Hill and the curve where Beechwood Boulevard bends into the car lot for Frick Park. more >
