Birds at Large: Recent Items Relevant to My Interests as Someone Who Complains About Things

Among the many things I enjoy -- a list that also includes Cape Cod Dark Russet chips; rubbing my face really hard; deeply inhaling a fresh can of Play-doh; gas station coffee; calling people "Big Dog" when I can't remember their names; new socks; and Monty Python records -- is complaining when birds are shown incorrectly in the world of normals. Here are some recent ones.

A Bag of Thistle Seed at ACE Hardware.

Attracts House Finches, American Goldfinches and ... let's see here ... Siberian Nuthatches. ACE Hardware stocking that magic seed, attracting species from across oceans and potentially healing nations at odds. A bargain at any price.

Novartis Super Bowl Commercial

Listen I know that this is months old and no one even cared at the time. Who cares who cares fuck you who cares but I just want people to know that whatever CGI bird retired NFL Tight End Tony Gonzalez is holding in this commercial isn't a real species of bird. I just felt compelled to say. It's like some kind of hybrid Oriole and American Robin or something but it's neither of those and not real. That's all.

Texas 2026 Part 2 - Birding Top 5s

After the Texas Library Association Conference I talked about in Part 1 it was time for some bird-finding. Texas has one of the biggest bird lists in the country, and my friend Brendan and I had five whole days to check it out. 

I've birded southern Texas a bunch of times but Brendan had never been, so much of our trip was spent pursuing lifers for him. There were a couple of new ABA birds I could get, but that wasn't really the focus. We left Houston before dawn on March 31 and picked down the Gulf coast, then across to the Rio Grande and Lower Rio Grande Valley for a few days, then up to Hill Country and back to Houston. In total we saw 206 species, a pretty damn good number for a few days in a single state. Here's the trip report if you're interested. 

I don't have time to go into a whole narrative! Sorry to the zero people who would read it! But I do like doing Top 5 lists on this internet website, so lemme do some of those.

Top Five Best Birds

5. Stilt Sandpiper

No no I know it's not the craziest bird or anything but I feel like I rarely ever get to see Stilt Sandpipers, but we saw some at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas. We went for other reasons (more in a moment), and it was one of those times in birding where you go to a spot that you know nothing about and it's awesome. The Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, at least in early April at the start of a good migration, was crammed with shorebirds. Crammed! And it was one of those boardwalk spots you see in the south (like Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Florida) where all the birds were super up close. It was awesome. Here's the checklist. 

4. Elf Owl

It was well known among birders in the Lower Rio Grande Valley that there was an Elf Owl nesting in a telephone pole just outside the entrance to Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley SP. Folks had been winking and "hey didja know"-ing about it during our visit in the morning, and so we returned at dusk and waited for it to pop its little face out of its hole. Groups of birders and photographers wandered up around the time and got in place and then there it was. My photo stinks because it was dark, but you can see it in there. 

3. Golden-cheeked Warbler

I just love Hill Country, really. It's really pretty up there, and such a welcome change of scenery after spending time in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. I've been to Lost Maples SNA once before, and Brendan and I returned to go after his lifer Golden-cheeked Warbler (and others). We saw a couple in one of the stream valleys on the way up the main trail, and they're just cool.

2. Crimson-collared Grosbeak

I only got two ABA birds on the trip, and so all things considered I count those as my "best" birds. No big deal. There's been a Crimson-collared Grosbeak hanging out for a bunch of weeks at the Edinberg Scenic Wetlands / World Birding Center, and we went to see it. We arrived and had that terrible birder experience when you get to a spot that a million people have seen a bird at but you just don't see it. You follow all the directions to the letter but either the directions are wrong or the bird's just not there. We were annoyed, but it ain't the World Birding Center for nothing. We went over to the front desk and a naturalist named Will took us right over to where the bird was just hanging out in a tree eating leaves. They eat leaves. Good bird. Thanks, Will!

1. Mottled Owl

A major focus of the trip was a couple of guided trips down into Santa Margarita Ranch looking for Brown Jays and the long-staying Mottled Owl. The owl is the first living individual ever seen in the ABA area - they're usually found no closer than Mexico. We joined a small group and headed down to the banks of the Rio Grande and, after just a moment, there it was. Incredible. 

 

Five Biggest Misses

5. I can't really think of any 

4.

3. Red-footed Booby

We didn't really even know there was a Red-footed Booby in the waters around Corpus Christi until we were driving through. We stopped for a bit and looked but couldn't find it. No worries. We didn't even bother looking for the Cattle Tyrant because we didn't have time. 

2. American Flamingo

I've never seen an American Flamingo but there had been one hanging out at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center all winter. Except for, like, a day before we showed up. No dice.

1. Brown Jays

This one hurt. It's the only one, really. I've wanted to see a Brown Jay in the U.S. forever, and have been a bunch of times town to Salineño Wildlife Preserve -- where they used to be seen reliably before I was a birder -- but no luck. They'd been gone for years, after a flood or something. Some are back, just south of Salineño along the river at Santa Margarita Ranch. They were seen reliably at the tour we booked (both the evening and the daytime one) but BUT but BUT BUT BUT BUTUTTTTTTT we missed them. We missed em! They might have been building a nest nearby, or something, the guide said. Ugh. They were seen the days before and the days after and every friggin day of all time but not the day we were there. It's fine. 

Five Best Meals

I am not ranking these in order, but just listing all the five star meals (not a real rating) we had during the trip. I fuckin love the food in south Texas.

• El Angel Food to Go. Salineño. Simple, delicious Mexican food we ate from styrofoam containers on the hood of our rental car. Tough to beat. 

• Carne Asadas Don Omar. Rio Grande City. Good god these may have been the best tacos I've ever had. Hit the spot so hard after a long day of travel. 

• Rudy's BBQ. Brownsville. This is a chain I guess with a bunch of restaurants across the southwest but it was fantastic! Everyone was super friendly and there were really cold beers. 

• Rocha's Restaurant. Mission. I'm not generally super anal about what's "authentic" or not. I don't really even know what that means, but it's fun sometimes to feel like you're in a new place. I feel really guilty about not being able to speak Spanish, and we were certainly the only people here who didn't speak Spanish. We didn't feel unwelcome, or anything, but it was just kind of a rush to have that kind of cultural experience in the U.S. It was great. There was a lady softly singing from her table and when she was done she walked around and we all gave her a few bucks. 

• The Smoke Ring BBQ. Mission. Good as hell. Brendan got a huge brisket burrito.  

• Lost Maples Cafe. Utopia. Southern comfort food -- pies, hush puppies, fried catfish, etc. -- was a welcome change of pace from the food in the Valley and we filled up.  

• The Bungalows on Shary. Mission / Mcallen. This wasn't a meal but a hotel. Brendan found it, somehow, and it was so cheap that we were suspicious, but we loved it. Right near a whole bunch of birding hotspots, and with access to a pool and a great bar. The best deal of the whole trip, I can't recommend it enough.

Things About Texas

2. The Wall. The border wall sucks so hard. It's stupid as shit. It's ugly, and tons of the gates and lights don't work already. It's keeping construction companies in business, I guess, and scams are good for that kind of thing, but it was so pathetic and sad to see it everywhere. 

1. No Subarus. Haha we counted like 3 total Subarus our entire time in Texas. 

 

Texas 2026 Part 1 - Texas Library Association Conference

Ugh I typed this all out once and none of it saved for some reason. I'll do a shorter version here sorry.

I went to Texas last week. I spent the first part of the trip in Houston, promoting my new book World Without Birds at the Texas Library Association conference. 

Up here where I live, I can't think of a conversation about Texan librarians that isn't about how they're facing book bans and other harassment. I guess if you had asked me what I'd expect out of the Texas Library Association I'd say that it'd be a pretty demoralized group of folks. I'd have severely underestimated them. Looking out onto the massive conference floor, it was incredible to see thousands of brave folks defiantly but quietly doing what they'd always done and what they love to do: educating kids. It was emotional, if I'm being honest. I was proud to be a part of it.

I was on a panel about non-fiction books alongside a set of talented writers (Katie Kennedy [also repped by Kate McKean!]; Lesa Cline-Ransome; Sharon McMahon; and Tami Charles). It went OK, I think--I wish I had better answers to some of the questions--and the book signing afterwards was really lovely and humbling. I really appreciate my great editors and media folks at Hachette and Workman Kids, including Amanda, Laura, Karen, and many more. It's a genuine pleasure to work with these folks.

Plus, I have to say, I really love World Without Birds. Writing about extinction for a young audience is really hard, and I put a lot of thought and effort alongside my editors into how I could write something so heavy without it being too much. I'm proud of the result, and am glad that some reviewers recognize and agree with the approach I took. 

OK, so, a really nice couple of days in Houston, and then my friend Brendan flew down to meet me for some serious, serious, serious, serious birding. That'll be in Part 2. 

Part of the Hachette booth at the TLA Conference. World Without Birds is up there on the left, alongside a tons of other great books (including, just below mine, The Forest Revealed by Maine's own Jada Fitch)

World Without Birds Book Release

My latest book, World Without Birds, came out on March 3, 2026, and it's been a fun week. 

An odd part about a book coming out is that it's been a long time since I wrote it. The researching and writing for World Without Birds happened in 2021 and 2022, mostly. There was quite a bit of editing and fact checking since then, along with time for the good folks at Workman to work with the amazing Asia Orlando on illustrations, to lay out and design the thing, and get it printed. The end result, for me, is that the hard work I put in seems long ago, and all this release celebration is just several cherries on top. It's nice.

Here is some of what's happened, mostly to stoke my own pleasant memories when I am old and gray.

I did a book signing at Barnes and Noble in South Portland. It was really nice. Barnes and Noble is a big company, but it's an awesome kind of bookstore - a big giant celebration of books. It was really flattering to have people show up, and I really enjoyed myself. Here I am with my friend Kristen's kids.

The day before I was invited to Bowdoin College to speak at their monthly Audubon page-turning event. The Bowdoin Library has a massive double-elephant folio of Birds of America, and they invite someone to speak when they turn the page to a new bird every month. The crowd doesn't know what the new bird will be (but I do). I spoke a bit about my experience as a birder, and how I have worked to dispel some myths about birding -- that it's boring, that it's for old people, etc. -- in my career. Then I transitioned to the new bird, the Brown-headed Cowbird, and spoke about dispelling some of the myths that follow that bird around. My dad and many others in my family went to Bowdoin, and he really wanted me to apply. I wanted to leave Maine for school, though, but it was fun to tell him that I finally got in to Bowdoin.

Next, I want to talk a little bit about the kit Workman put together to send around to some different folks to get the word out about the book. Nothing like this has happened for one of my book releases before, and it's, again, flattering to be a part of it. I know it's just how things work, but I appreciate it. They put a big box together with different products, here's how it looks.

There's an insane corduroy chickadee hat from Bird Collective, the best damn bird clothing company on the face of the planet. I've been doing some writing for Bird Collective recently, and so it was fun to see them involved here. Plus you can buy my book from their site!

Next there are some really cool songbird socks from Conscious Step. Not only are they beautiful socks, but when I looked on the back I saw that they supported the National Parks Conservation Association, the organization I worked at for 8 years and where I met my wife. Rad!

Last but not least were included some crochet kits from The Woobles. I know these kits are super popular, so I'm really appreciative that they agree to be involved.

Next, I was honored to join Nate on the American Birding Association podcast to talk about the book and its message (and also a whole bunch of other funny stuff). Always a great time with him.

Finally, but perhaps most importantly, World Without Birds has been getting some really good reviews in the places that matter. The Booklist website gave the book a starred review (that's good!), and complimented the tone, the research, and, of course, Asia's illustrations. School Library Journal also had some really nice things to say, calling it "An important book for middle grade readers and bird lovers." 

Good reviews are really satisfying. I really wrestled during the writing of this book with how to present the information without overwhelming readers or causing them to lose hope. There was a lot of helpful back-and-forth with my editors trying to find the right balance, and it's validating to read reviewers who understand our challenge and compliment how we handled things. 

I'm proud of how this book came out, and hope you enjoy it.

World Without Birds out now!

Really proud to announce that my new book, WORLD WITHOUT BIRDS, is out today from Workman!

It's a rollicking and positive run through bird conservation topics around the world. A follow-up to writer Mark Kurlansky's 2012 book WORLD WITHOUT FISH, Birds is a great introduction for young folks (8-15) to learn about bird threats and conservation successes in habitats around the world.

It's a brisk read despite the serious subjects. I cover different ecosystems around the world -- deserts, temperate forests, tropical forests, islands, and more -- and talk about how humans have both caused a bird to go extinct in that habitat but are also saving species from extinction there. For example, I write about how the Dodo's evolution on the island of Mauritius left it vulnerable to extinction, but also how people are working successfully to save another unique island bird, the Kagu of New Caledonia. 

The book is filled with beautiful illustrations from Asia Orlando, one of the most talented wildlife illustrators on the planet. I'm proud of this book and I hope you like it! 

The Worst Shirt I've Ever Seen

Everything in the world is terrible and it's not even fun to point it out anymore. Social media is a wasteland of unending complaints, where slights, slams, digs, bitches, moans, jabs, and whines pile up and blow around like dunes. Like a desert, it's a slog and it stings your eyes.

Worst of all, dust is just dust. All the complaints are given equal weight (which is to say, no weight at all). There's no line between posts protesting America's growing authoritarianism or pointing out the criminal hypocrisy of our ruling classes and, like, post complaining about how gummy bears aren't as brightly colored any more or some shit. It sucks out there.

But my complaints are different. More important, and better observed. Like, take this shirt that was advertised to me on Facebook. How could I not complain about it?

Woof. How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.

1. Loons do not perch in trees. Ever. Loons are water birds, with bodies specially evolved to maximize their swimming abilities. They can barely fly, and even more barely walk. They cannot land in or perch in trees. They just can't. A loon has never been in a tree on purpose.
   
   
2. Snowy Owls also very rarely perch in trees. There are no trees on the tundra where Snowy Owls live. They'll occasionally perch in trees when they come south in the winter (I've seen it happen!), but it's still very rare. They much prefer to hang out on the ground, or on a rooftop.
   
   
3. What the hell is that third thing. There just is not a bird that looks like that. It's a complete fabrication. Why did they do that.
   
   
4. Cardinals are not "Birds of the North Woods." Northern Cardinals are expanding northward, but they are definitely not north woods birds. They barely range into Canada at all. C'mon.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Cardinals have orange bills, not yellow bills.  I talk about this a lot. It's pissed me off forever. Northern Cardinals are nearly always presented in popular media as having yellow bills, but they simply do not have yellow bills. The bird in this image has, like, some kind of shadowed bill that's not as bright yellow as other representations, but it's still bad. Because I said so.
   
   
6. UPDATE: The Snowy Owl has blue eyes. Fran on Twitter (@graveyardgnome) pointed out that the Snowy Owl's eyes are blue in this image, rather than their famous yellow. Unforgiveable. 

OK that's all for now. Be excellent to each other.

An a Couple of Podcasts

Hey all I just wanted to post these here so I have them and don't forget them and maybe one day stumble upon them as an old man trying to remember what my voice once sounded like. 

I was honored to join Tommy Siegal and Billy Libby on their excellent Extremely Accurate Bird Songs podcast to talk about one of the world's gnarliest birds, the Osprey. Listen on Spotify here or Apple Podcasts here. 

 

 

I love this podcast. Tommy is a famous cartoonist, the author of the Extremely Accurate Birds calendars, and cartoons in the New Yorker and elsewhere. Billy Libby is a musician and composer and, incidentally but perhaps most importantly, is from Portland, Maine. It was great to join then and their Osprey song absolutely rips.

I was also honored to be asked to join the American Birding Association (every birder should be a member) for their This Month in Birding Podcast, along with birding luminaries Jennie Duberstein and Brodie Cass Talbot. 

 

We had a great talk, as always, and I was particularly proud of some of the hoped-for hybrids I came up with, including the Smooth Groove Ani (Groove-billed x Smooth-billed). Good times.