Laura Erickson's For the Birds
Science Podcasts
"For the Birds" began airing on KUMD in Duluth, MN, in May, 1986, and is the longest continually-running radio program about birds in the U.S. Hundreds more episodes are available for free at http://www.lauraerickson.com/radio/.
Location:
United States
Description:
"For the Birds" began airing on KUMD in Duluth, MN, in May, 1986, and is the longest continually-running radio program about birds in the U.S. Hundreds more episodes are available for free at http://www.lauraerickson.com/radio/.
Language:
English
Episodes
Jelly Redux
5/21/2024
Laura sparked unprecedented anger in a listener last week because of a program and blogpost from 2007. (All my blogpost/transcripts have photos, and some are longer than the program itself, but this program's linked transcript/blogpost has a *lot* more information than I could include in the program, along with pertinent photos and a video.)
Duration:00:07:23
Review: Kenn Kaufman's new book, The Birds that Audubon Missed. Part 2
5/17/2024
*The Birds That Audubon Missed* by Kenn Kaufman is a clear-eyed and surprisingly exciting portrait of a time and place that have long ago disappeared, and an important and timely book as well. Laura can’t recommend it highly enough.
Duration:00:05:51
Kenn Kaufman's new book: The Birds That Audubon Missed, Part 1
5/16/2024
Kenn Kaufman has written an important new book. Laura begins her review by talking about her own personal feelings about Audubon and his work before Kaufman's rich and enlightening book gave her a broader, more truthful picture of a deeply flawed yet important human being and his contemporaries.
Duration:00:05:58
Lincoln's Sparrow
5/14/2024
Laura's been in love with a pretty little sparrow since she first saw it in 1977.
Duration:00:06:56
My favorite spring arrivals
5/7/2024
With birds, as with her children, Laura has trouble picking a favorite.
Duration:00:05:38
Rat Poison
5/3/2024
Yet more owls have died, this time in Chicago, from rat poison.
Duration:00:07:11
May Day!
5/2/2024
Not much is happening in Laura's yard yet, but things will be popping within the coming week or two. (Lang Elliott recorded the Carolina Wren's rolling trill. Laura recorded the wren's song.)
Duration:00:04:43
Don't Count Your Chickens...
5/1/2024
Chickens haven't established themselves as wild, feral birds in most places in the world, but they're still the most abundant bird on the planet.
Duration:00:05:59
Here come the chickens!
4/18/2024
If chickens found their way to Hawaii on their own, things would have worked out okay for everyone. Unfortunately, they brought humans along, too.
Duration:00:05:05
The Sapsucker–Hummingbird Connection
4/17/2024
During spring migration, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds usually arrive a couple of weeks after Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers do, for a very good reason.
Duration:00:05:51
Hawaii before chickens and humans arrived
4/16/2024
Millions of years ago, Hawaii was off to a rocky start.
Duration:00:05:47
Chickens, Part 1.5: Kin of Chickens
4/11/2024
The rules of counting non-native birds are not always consistent.
Duration:00:05:54
Chickens, Part I: Domestication
4/10/2024
The most abundant bird on the planet, feeding billions of humans every day, is the chicken. Laura talks about how they became domesticated and some genetic differences between domestic birds and their wild ancestor, the Red Junglefowl. The recording used in this program is of a wild Red Junglefowl in India, recorded and contributed to Xeno-Canto by Lars Lachmann.
Duration:00:05:38
Solar Eclipse!
4/8/2024
Laura remembers a wonderful eclipse from three decades ago.
Duration:00:05:57
Trip Guilt and Guilt Trips
4/5/2024
Is using energy always the same as squandering it?
Duration:00:05:19
Redpolls!
4/3/2024
Along with Duluth's spring blizzard came redpolls! (In the background throughout, the sound is a recording of the redpolls at Laura's feeder made this past Saturday, March 30.)
Duration:00:05:26
Jim Baker Announces a New Product!
4/1/2024
New for the traveling birder!
Duration:00:04:19
Flaco: Post Mortem
3/29/2024
A post-mortem established that Flaco, the famous Eurasian Eagle-Owl whom a vandal released from the Central Park Zoo, was carrying lethal amounts of three anti-coagulants, a pigeon herpesvirus, and even a toxic metabolite of the pesticide DDT. Is anyone actually "free" if they have no alternative but to eat poisoned food?
Duration:00:05:43
Stopping by Peabody Street on a Snowy Morning
3/27/2024
Laura waxes poetic about a poet.
Duration:00:04:24
Separation Anxiety
3/26/2024
It's hard watching children, or a Pileated Woodpecker, move on to independence.
Duration:00:04:33