BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Watching a white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) cascade along the steep slope of a tree brought to mind the playground at Oakville Elementary, and made me wonder if the species' iconic bottoms-up foraging style is the result of a...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Maybe Bobby McFerrin was a house wren (Troglodytes aedon) in a previous life. This thought popped into my mind when, after listening to On Being’s Krista Tippett interview the singer, I went out for a walk with my canine companion. We hadn’t...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret, Never to be told. Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a bird, You must not miss.* ONE... I'll concede to the...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Ever wonder why hens’ teeth (or any other kind of avian teeth for that matter) are rare? It’s because teeth are heavy. That’s a problem if you live life on the wing but can’t use a knife and fork to cut your meals up into easy-to-swallow...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [Thanks to Lafayette Square residents Jim and Carolyn Willmore for reporting a brown creeper sighting near the Cook Pavilion of Lafayette Park.] On frosty mornings, Mercury is uncharacteristically slow to leave that snug thermometer bulb... and...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD I don’t know what American grade school kids are being taught these days—my days at Oakville Elementary ended a couple of decades ago (okay, fine—several decades ago) so I don’t have direct access to 21st century homework assignments. But I’ll...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [FYI... Feathered Feature is switching to a winter schedule of every-other-week posts. There are still plenty of birds in the park during the colder months but with everyone (that includes me) extra busy over the holidays, it seems like a...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [In honor of Halloween, a species dressed for the occasion!] Even though our cultural sings the praises of summer, it's not my favorite season. I always welcome the crisp air, deeper blue (and, admittedly sometimes flat gray) skies, and...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD It seems to happen once each century. In 1775 the Redcoats showed up in Boston, the Beatles made a big splash about 200 years later in 1964, and in the sweet-spot in-between the House Sparrows (Passer domestics) arrived. It’s difficult to...
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Last Sunday morning I unexpectedly found myself sitting ringside for a brief but furious brawl. Two male red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) were having a boundary dispute that started with an argument over some shrubbery, then...