The Fast-Paced World of Field Guides

My latest piece for Slate.com is up today - about the history and future of birding field guides.  Here it is:

The High-Tech Future of Staring at Birds in the Woods

Birds at Large: Bob Odenkirk

Fans of anything good in this world know Bob Odenkirk from somewhere.  His most visible roles have been as half the titular comedy duo on Mr. Show with Bob and David or as the seedy lawyer "Better Call" Saul on Breaking Bad, but he's also been on a million other shows, comedy podcasts etc.

BUT IS HE ALSO A BIRDER?  No.  No, I don't think so.  BUT MAYBE.  Two recent Odenkirk or Odenkirk-approved shows have featured jabs at birding, more than enough to warrant a mention on this dumb blog.

Here, first, is Odenkirk's appearance on the IFC show Comedy Bang! Bang! as Tommy Shalders, a former prodigy bird-calling champion.

So, there are clearly many, many errors with the songs, the bird names, and the photos there.  All errors.  It's all full of errors.  Still, I get a bit of satisfaction from hearing Odenkirk and Scott Aukerman, two of my favorite comedians, say "White-rumped Sandpiper" on TV.

Lemme get into a bit of the nitty grit on this.  Hit the 2:25 mark on that video when the host, Aukerman, asks Odenkirk to give his best bird call.  Odenkirk says he'll be performing the White-rumped Sandpiper, and sets the stage as May 28 on the shore of Lake Huron.

Okay.  First things first, what are the chances of seeing a White-rumped Sandpiper on the shore of Lake Hebron in May?  You know, it's possible!  Here's the eBird map:

Unlikely, but possible.  Next, how much does the song Odenkirk sings sound like a White-rumped.  About zero percent.  No percent.  Check out the Xeno-Canto calls for a WRSA here (there's a recording from May at the very bottom)(also, damn Xeno-Canto is the best goddamn website).  Sorry.

Himalayan Snowcock?  No.

The second Odenkirk birding clip comes from a new sketch show called The Birthday Boys, for which Odenkirk serves as writer, executive producer and actor.  Check out this sketch, which is a fake "Tips" video that makes the activities look far too easy (the birding stuff starts at the 1:15 mark, but the whole thing is funny):

Okay, they also got everything wrong.  All the birds are fake, as are the noises that go with them.  Also, here's a screenshot of the checklist the guy was marking off at the end.  There are African birds like the Carmine Bee-eater on there and also Indian birds like the Emerald Dove ... so I don't know what that checklist is for but it certainly ain't American birds.

All in good fun, though!  I give props to the troupe for not making birding the butt of the joke.

I saw The Birthday Boys when the live Comedy Bang! Bang! tour swung through DC - they were hilarious and deserving of birders support.  Odenkirk is a comedy legend and I wish him all the best on his Breaking Bad Saul spin-off.  After all this Walter White nonsense, Saul will probably looking for a new, calm activity he can enjoy in his new life in Omaha - how about birding?

Ben Franklin, Eagles, and Turkeys

Check out my latest piece for Slate.com about Ben Franklin's grousing about eagles and turkeys on the Great Seal of the United States.  Hope you enjoy!

Richard Crossley's Advertising Career

I'm sure you've seen the innovative new field guides from Richard Crossley.  They're great, and you should all go here to purchase them.

What you may have missed, though, is that Crossley's groundbreaking collage style did not begin with field guides.  Crossley worked out his stylistic kinks during his career in the advertising industry.  I've done some deep research and found some of Crossley's ads, all of which show his style in development.

Read more »

Scary Birding Stories!

Halloween is the best holiday.  No honoring anything, no family obligations, no guilt trips, no presents to buy, just good old fashioned scaring each other and eating candy.  Other than Valentine's Day (which is a baloney holiday cooked up by greeting card companies), Halloween is the only holiday that honors an emotion: fear.  It's always seemed incredible to me that we would dedicate a day to scaring the crap out of each other, and that's part of the reason I love it.

I'm not sure what emotion that word "birder" evokes in non-birders.  Unfortunately, it's probably "bored" or something.  Those people are dumb.  Birders experience the full spectrum of emotions: joy, disappointment, envy, lust, hope, anxiety, doubt, and, yes, fear.  To prove it, I asked some birding friends to share with me their scariest birding stories.  Read them below...IF YOU DARE!

Read more »

Let's Rename Some Birds After Different People

John Cassin.  Georg Steller.  Edward Harris.  John Kirk Townsend.  All of these guys have a couple things in common.  First, they were each top-notch naturalists in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Second, each are honored in the common names of multiple North American birds.  Third, if it weren't for these species, current birders would probably say these guys' names a lot less frequently.

Having a species named after you is scientific immortality.  It's the highest honor a naturalist can recieve.  The naturalists listed above are each fully deserving of their species based on their contributions to scientific discovery, but it seems a problem remains - important scientific contributions to ornithology didn't stop in the 1800s.  There have been plenty of people deserving of having a species of American bird named after them, why should these guys get more than one?

Read more »

Spy Birds

I've noticed a couple of stories in the news recently about birds being detained in foreign countries, suspected of being spies.  Here is one from Egypt.  Here's another recent one from Turkey. 

In both of these cases, some folks saw a bird with tagged, either leg-banded or wearing a GPS backpack.  The average bird not typically being accessorized, these people became suspicious that the birds had more complicated backstories, and detained the birds so they could be checked out by the authorities.  In both cases, the birds were cleared of all "charges" and released.

These stories were represented as "News of the Odd" in the East, peppered with "in a case that ruffled feathers..." puns and "check out these wacky foreigners!" attitudes.  It's a frustrating condescension, because these stories tell me something much more interesting and sad about the current state of things.

Read more »